Android Guide

barK integrates seamlessly into any Android project — Kotlin Multiplatform or Android-only — with zero boilerplate and automatic tag detection.

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Installation

Add barK to your project via Maven Central:

Kotlin DSLGroovy

build.gradle.kts

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

kotlin {
    sourceSets {
        commonMain.dependencies {
            implementation("com.ivangarzab.bark:bark:<version>")
        }
    }
}

build.gradle

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

kotlin {
    sourceSets {
        commonMain {
            dependencies {
                implementation 'com.ivangarzab.bark:bark:<version>'
            }
        }
    }
}

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Initialization

Train barK once at app startup — typically in your Application class:

MyApplication.kt

class MyApplication : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()

        if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
            Bark.train(AndroidLogTrainer())                         // (1)!
        } else {
            Bark.train(AndroidLogTrainer(minLevel = Level.WARNING)) // (2)!
        }
    }
}

1. Routes all logs to Android Logcat. Uses the SYSTEM pack — only one system trainer can be active at a time.
2. In production, only WARNING and above reach Logcat. Keeps logs meaningful and reduces noise.

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Logging

Use barK from anywhere in your app. Tags are detected automatically from the calling class:

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

        // Tag: [MainActivity]
        Bark.v("Verbose detail")
        Bark.d("Debug info")
        Bark.i("User logged in: ${user.name}")
        Bark.w("Token expiring soon")
        Bark.e("Network request failed", exception)
        Bark.wtf("Unrecoverable state reached")
    }
}

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Available Trainers

Trainer	Pack	Best for
AndroidLogTrainer	SYSTEM	Logcat output in app and instrumented tests
AndroidTestLogTrainer	SYSTEM	Logcat output scoped to test runs
UnitTestTrainer	CONSOLE	Plain console output in unit tests
ColoredUnitTestTrainer	CONSOLE	ANSI-colored console output in unit tests

Note

Both UnitTestTrainer classes automatically detects whether it's running in a test environment and activates accordingly — no configuration needed.

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Auto-Tag Detection

barK reads the calling class name from the stack trace at runtime. No manual TAG constant required:

class UserRepository {
    fun saveUser(user: User) {
        Bark.i("Saving user: ${user.name}")  // Tag: [UserRepository]
    }
}

class PaymentService {
    fun processPayment() {
        Bark.d("Processing payment")         // Tag: [PaymentService]
    }
}

Note

Android enforces a 23-character tag limit. barK truncates automatically when needed.

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Global Tags

Override auto-detection with a consistent tag across all classes — useful for SDK development:

Bark.tag("MySDK")

// All calls now use [MySDK] regardless of calling class
Bark.d("Initializing")
Bark.i("Ready")

Bark.untag()  // Return to auto-detection

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Runtime Control

Bark.muzzle()    // Silence all output
Bark.unmuzzle()  // Resume output

println(Bark.getStatus())  // Inspect current configuration

Tip

Useful for app flows that deal with sensitive data.

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Sample App

See barK in action with the included Android sample app:

./gradlew :sample-android:installDebug

The sample demonstrates realistic usage with the repository pattern, multiple trainers, and auto-tag detection across multiple classes.