Android Kit Integration

This guide is meant for integration partners who would like add their own SDK or functionality to the mParticle platform. mParticle integrates with over 100 partners in the mobile app ecosystem, and each integration is unique. Whereas most integrations are via our Firehose API, or developed internally for the server-side, the mParticle mobile SDKs are designed to be extensible in the form of “kits” for client-side integrations.

Kit Overview

The mParticle Core iOS and Android SDKs are responsible for detecting, initializing, and forwarding data to the kit framework. By default, the Core SDK dependency does not include any kits - each desired kit must be specified as an additional dependency. The kit framework allows you to hook into and listen for mParticle’s public APIs as well as crucial application lifecycle events. It’s the responsibility of the kit implementation to then map those APIs onto the respective partner APIs. Kits will often include a 3rd-party SDK, or they might just contain a bit of additional functionality.

Configuration

At runtime, the Core SDKs will receive configuration from the mParticle server, instructing it of which kits it should initialize. In a typical scenario whereby a kit wraps/embeds a 3rd-party SDK, the configuration will include a map of settings, including the API key/credentials that the given SDK needs in order to be initialized. Customers use the mParticle platform UI to enable kits and input their credentials.

Self-managed vs mParticle-managed

mParticle has developed and currently manages a large number of Android kits. Android SDK v6 kit source is organized as partner and version-track modules under kits/ in the Android SDK monorepo, and releases are performed by the mParticle engineering team. This is not a requirement though, some partners choose to manage their own kits, meaning they host the repository and perform releases however they prefer. This guide covers the few key differences between self-managed and mParticle-managed Android kits.

If you are building a self-managed kit, see the consideration in For Self Managed Kits.

Getting started

For an mParticle-managed kit, fork and clone the mParticle Android SDK. All maintained kits are regular Gradle modules in the SDK monorepo under kits/<partner>/<track>/. Do not add the kit as a Git submodule.

Use an existing kit with similar requirements as a reference for the module structure and implementation. For more information about the files to customize, see API Overview.

Add Your Kit to the Monorepo

1. Create a branch from the SDK’s main branch.
2. Create a normal source directory at kits/COMPANYNAME/COMPANYNAME-TRACK. A kit track identifies the supported major version of the partner SDK, such as appsflyer-6.
3. Email partner-integrations@mparticle.com to get your numeric kit ID.
4. Add the Gradle module to settings-kits.gradle:

include ':kits:COMPANYNAME:COMPANYNAME-TRACK'

5. Add a constant for the kit ID to the ServiceProviders interface in MParticle.java.
6. Add the kit ID and the fully-qualified integration class name to KitIntegrationFactory#setupKnownIntegrations() in the Android kit base module.

No separate repository, nested clone, or submodule configuration is required.

Test Your Kit Locally

First, build and publish the core modules to your local Maven repository:

./gradlew buildLocal
./gradlew -PisRelease=true clean publishReleaseLocal

Temporarily comment out every module except your kit in settings-kits.gradle, then run the kit’s release tests and publish its local artifact:

./gradlew -PisRelease=true clean testRelease publishReleaseLocal -c settings-kits.gradle

In a test app, add mavenLocal() above mavenCentral():

repositories {
    mavenLocal()
    mavenCentral()
}

repositories {
    mavenLocal()
    mavenCentral()
}

Add the locally published kit coordinate to the test app. The artifact ID matches the track directory name:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.mparticle:COMPANYNAME-TRACK:LOCAL-VERSION'
}

dependencies {
    implementation("com.mparticle:COMPANYNAME-TRACK:LOCAL-VERSION")
}

Use the version written to ~/.m2/repository/com/mparticle/COMPANYNAME-TRACK/ for LOCAL-VERSION. Follow the SDK docs to instrument the test app with the application key and secret provided by mParticle.

Some kits require a Kotlin version that is incompatible with the root build and are built from their own kit directory. Coordinate with the mParticle engineering team before introducing an isolated kit; the current process is documented in the SDK’s onboarding guide.

After your pull request is approved, the mParticle engineering team handles release and distribution.

API Overview - Editing Your Kit

Note: These conventions apply to an mParticle-managed kit in the Android SDK monorepo.

You’ll want to edit the following files to be specific to your implementation:

• ./build.gradle to add any necessary dependencies, such as your company’s SDK.

• .src/main/java/com/mparticle/kits/ExampleKit.java - this is where your primary implementation belongs.

  • Choose the additional interfaces that you need and have this class implement them. See below.
• ./README.md
• ./src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
• ./consumer-proguard.pro

For Self-managed Kits

• In ./build.gradle remove the classpath 'com.mparticle:android-kit-plugin:6.0.0' plugin. This plugin is only required for mParticle-managed kits and primarily contains standardized Gradle configuration options and release scripts.
• Add a dependency in ./build.gradle for the mParticle KitManager, for example:

dependencies {
    ...
    api 'com.mparticle:android-core:6.0.0'
}

dependencies {
    ...
    api("com.mparticle:android-core:6.0.0")
}

Kit Interfaces

The core of your implementation will live in ExampleKit.java (renamed for your company). This file must be a subclass of the KitIntegration class which is made available by the mParticle kit framework. This class provides additional interfaces that you must implement depending on the type of data that your kit can process:

KitIntegration.ActivityListener

Implement this interface when you require Activity callbacks for any reason.

KitIntegration.ApplicationStateListener

Implement this interface in order to receive application foreground and background callbacks.

KitIntegration.CommerceListener

Implement this interface in order to receive eCommerce events as they are sent into the mParticle SDK.

KitIntegration.EventListener

Implement this listener to ensure you receive events as they are sent into the mParticle SDK.

KitIntegration.IdentityListener

Implement this interface to receive callbacks when Identity API requests complete or when the current user changes.

KitIntegration.PushListener

Implement this interface when you have Google Cloud Messaging/push features.

KitIntegration.SessionListener

Implement this interface in order to listen for Session Start and Session End events.

KitIntegration.UserAttributeListener

Implement this interface to receive callbacks when user attributes are modified or consent state changes.

KitIntegration.AttributeListener (Deprecated)

see KitIntegration.UserAttributeListener

See the javadocs for more information on the KitIntegration class and its interfaces.

KitIds

KitId is a unique Integer that serves as the identifier for a Kit. When a configuration is received, kit settings, mappings and projections are stored on a per-kitId basis and the SDK is able to assign the correct kit configuration to the correct kit based on a list of “known kits” mapping. For mParticle managed kits, kitIds are added statically to the KitIntegrationFactory, but they also can be added at runtime via MParticleOptions.KitOptions. If you are testing a new kit and are not taking the approach that involves building the entire mParticle SDK, then you can register a new kitId (at runtime):

val options = MParticleOptions.builder(context)
    .configurations(
        KitOptions()
            .addKit({KIT-ID}, MyKit::class.java)
    )
    ...
    .build()
MParticle.start(options) 

KitOptions kitOptions = KitOptions()
    .addKit({KIT-ID}, MyKit.class);
MParticleOptions options = MParticleOptions.builder(context)
   .configurations(kitOptions)
   ...
   .build();
MParticle.start(options);

by replacing {KIT-ID} with the integer value of you kitId