BARREL

Installation

How to install Barrel on your platform.

sudo dpkg -i Barrel_0.1.7_amd64.deb

sudo rpm -i Barrel-0.1.7-1.x86_64.rpm

chmod +x Barrel_0.1.7_amd64.AppImage
./Barrel_0.1.7_amd64.AppImage

Quick Start

Get up and running in minutes.

Dashboard

The home screen and device hub.

The Dashboard is your starting point. It shows all connected devices, provides quick-access shortcuts to each tool, and displays device properties.

Device Management

• Active Device dropdown - Select which connected device to target. All tools inherit this selection by default.
• Refresh button - Re-scans for connected devices.
• Device indicator - Green dot when connected, gray when no device detected.

Per-Module Device Selection

Each tool tab has its own compact device dropdown in the toolbar. By default it shows "Default device" (the globally selected device). You can override it per-tool to target different devices independently - browse files on device A while monitoring logcat on device B.

Device Info

The Device Info card shows: model name, Android version + API level, build ID, battery percentage + status, and serial number. Auto-updates when the device changes.

Custom Commands

Create reusable ADB command shortcuts that persist across sessions. Type a label and command, click Save (or press Enter twice), then Run any time. Output appears inline. Commands are saved to localStorage.

Session Save/Load

Save your entire workspace layout - all shell tab names, logcat configurations (filter, level, package), and per-module device overrides. Load to restore everything at once.

Wireless ADB

Connect devices over the network without USB.

1. On your device: Settings → Developer Options → Wireless Debugging → enable it
2. Tap "Pair device with pairing code" - you get an IP:Port and a 6-digit code
3. In Barrel's Dashboard, find the Wireless ADB card
4. Pair: Enter IP:Port code (e.g. 192.168.1.100:41241 123456) and click Pair
5. Connect: Enter the IP:Port shown under Wireless Debugging (different port, e.g. 192.168.1.100:39251) and click Connect

The device appears in the Dashboard dropdown and is ready to use with all tools.

Shell

Interactive PTY-based terminal with multi-tab support.

Each tab runs an independent shell session - local bash on the host machine, or adb shell on a connected device. Terminal output is rendered via xterm.js with a custom dark theme.

Getting Started

• A "Terminal 1" tab opens automatically with a local bash session.
• Type commands directly - behaves like a native terminal emulator.
• Copy/paste with Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V (smart: copies selected text, or sends SIGINT if nothing selected).

Device Shell

1. Select a device on the Dashboard.
2. Click Connect in the Shell toolbar.
3. The terminal switches from local bash to an adb shell session.
4. The toolbar indicator changes from LOCAL to DEVICE: <serial>.
5. Click Disconnect to return to the local shell.

Multi-Tab Management

Copy & Paste

Logcat

Real-time Android device log streaming with multi-tab support.

Each tab maintains its own filter, log level, and output buffer (capped at 1000 lines).

Getting Started

1. Select a device on the Dashboard.
2. Navigate to the Logcat tab.
3. Click Start to begin streaming logs.
4. Logs appear in real-time in the output pane.

Controls

Per-Tab Device Selection

Each logcat tab has its own device dropdown in the toolbar. By default it follows the Dashboard's active device, but you can target different devices per tab - monitor logs on device A while another tab watches device B.

Log Level Hierarchy

Levels are cumulative - selecting a level shows that level and everything above it in severity:

Color-Coded Output

File Explorer

Browse the Android device filesystem.

A collapsible tree view with support for su fallback on protected directories, plus file pull/push with native OS dialogs.

Getting Started

1. Select a device and navigate to the Files tab.
2. Click Refresh to load the root directory (/).
3. Click any directory to expand it (lazy-loaded on demand).

Usage

• Expand/collapse - click the arrow (▶/▼) next to a directory.
• Set active directory - click a directory name (the path appears in the toolbar).
• Select file - click a file name (highlighted row).
• Directories in blue, files in white.
• Symlinks to directories (e.g., /sdcard) detected as expandable.
• Protected directories auto-attempt su -c and su 0 fallbacks.

File Viewer

Double-click any file or hover and click View to open a syntax-highlighted preview modal. Supports JSON, XML, HTML, CSS, JS/TS, YAML, and shell scripts. Close with Escape, click outside, or the X button.

File Transfers

Pull (device → host): Click a file to select it, then click Pull. A Save As dialog appears.

Push (host → device): Navigate to the target directory, click Push, select a file. The tree refreshes automatically.

Network Inspector

Active TCP and UDP connections with proxy management.

Lists all connections from /proc/net/{tcp,udp,tcp6,udp6} with color-coded states, protocol badges, and a summary bar.

Getting Started

1. Select a device and navigate to the Network tab.
2. Click Refresh to fetch connections.
3. Use the filter field to narrow by address, port, state, protocol, or UID.
4. Toggle Auto-refresh (3s) for live monitoring.

Color Legend

Proxy Settings

Configure and test an HTTP proxy on the connected device:

• Set Proxy - enter a host IP and port, runs settings put global http_proxy.
• Clear - removes proxy via settings put global http_proxy :0.
• Verify - sends a request through the proxy from the device using curl -x. Returns the HTTP status code.

Process Explorer

Live process list with filtering and kill capability.

Getting Started

1. Select a device and navigate to the Processes tab.
2. Click Refresh to fetch the current process list.
3. Use the filter field to narrow by name, PID, or UID.
4. Toggle Auto-refresh (3s) for live monitoring.

Killing a Process

Click Kill next to any process (PID > 1) to terminate it. A glass confirmation dialog appears. Terminating critical system processes may destabilize the device.

Columns

Package Manager

List, filter, install, and uninstall Android packages.

Getting Started

1. Select a device and navigate to the Packages tab.
2. Click Refresh to load the full package list.
3. Type in the Filter field to search by package name in real-time.

Install APK

Click Install APK, select an .apk via the native file dialog. Installs with -r (replace if exists). The list refreshes automatically on success.

Per-Package Actions

Every package row has quick actions for testing an installed app without leaving the app:

Uninstall

Click Uninstall next to any package. A glass confirmation dialog shows the package name. Click Yes, Uninstall to proceed. The list refreshes automatically.

If the standard uninstall is rejected (DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR - common for device-admin packages on newer Android, or when using an older adb client), Barrel automatically retries with adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 <pkg>, which works regardless of the host adb version.

Screen Capture

Screenshots, recording, and real-time mirroring.

Screenshot

Click Take Screenshot. A preview modal opens with the device screen. Save overwrites the previous file, Save As opens a file dialog to pick a location. Captured via adb exec-out screencap -p | base64 and rendered inline.

Screen Recording

1. Click Start Recording - runs adb shell screenrecord.
2. Interact with the device normally.
3. Click Stop & Save - the MP4 is pulled from the device and a Save As dialog appears.

Screen Mirroring (scrcpy)

Click Launch Mirror to stream the device display in real-time via scrcpy. Requires scrcpy to be installed on your system.

Frida Server Manager

3-step workflow to set up frida-server on a connected device.

Prerequisites

• frida-tools on your PC - pip install frida-tools (if using pipx, verify frida --version works; the pipx entry point may need a manual fix)
• curl and xz available on your system

1. Check Environment

Click Check Frida Version to verify frida is installed. Click Detect Device Arch to read the device CPU architecture. Both values are needed to download the correct frida-server binary.

2. Download & Deploy

Download & Decompress - downloads the matching frida-server from GitHub Releases and decompresses it. Push to Device - pushes the binary to /data/local/tmp/frida-server and sets permissions.

3. Server Control

• Start Server - launches frida-server in the background (tries su -c first).
• Stop Server - kills frida-server by PID.
• Refresh Status - polls pidof frida-server to check if it's running.

Once running, use the Shell tab to interact: frida -U -f com.example.app

Intent Sender

Craft and fire Android intents via ADB for security testing.

Intents are Android's inter-component messaging system. The Intent Sender lets you construct and send arbitrary intents to a connected device - useful for testing exported components, deep link handling, and broadcast receivers. Every field maps 1:1 to an adb shell am flag, so the Raw command panel always shows the exact command being sent.

Fields

Flags

Flags control how the intent is delivered. The checkboxes map to the following bit values:

Extras

Extras carry data into the component. Pick the type that matches what the target reads:

Mismatched types (e.g. sending a String when the component reads a Boolean) are silently ignored or throw a ClassCastException on the target - matching the correct type is key.

Modes

Implicit vs Explicit

Explicit - fill in Package/Class to target exactly one component (-n <pkg>/<class>). This is what you use to probe a specific exported activity, service, or receiver. If the component is not exported, Android rejects the intent.

Implicit - leave Package/Class empty and let Android resolve the intent through intent filters using Action + Data + MIME. This is how deep links and share sheets work, and it is the correct way to test URL-scheme handling.

Worked Example - Credential Leak via an Extra

Launch the exported APICreds2Activity in DIVA (an intentionally vulnerable app) and pass a Boolean extra that bypasses its PIN gate:

1. Mode: Start Activity
2. Package: jakhar.aseem.diva   Class: .APICreds2Activity
3. Flags: leave NEW_TASK checked (default)
4. + Add Extra - key check_pin, type Boolean, value false
5. Click Start Activity

adb shell am start -n jakhar.aseem.diva/.APICreds2Activity -f 0x10000000 --ez check_pin false

The activity reads check_pin and skips its PIN check, revealing hardcoded API credentials on the device screen. If the target is already open, force-stop it first (Packages tab) - this component only reads the extra in onCreate.

Settings

Configure tool paths, appearance, and behavior.

Appearance

• Dark Mode - toggle between light and dark themes. Persisted across restarts.
• Font Size - slider (10–22px) with preset buttons (Small–XX-Large). Scales the entire interface via the --app-font-size CSS variable.

Tool Paths (Optional)

If auto-detection fails to find a prerequisite tool, you can set its path manually. Barrel normally finds tools via PATH, common install directories (/opt/homebrew/bin, /usr/local/bin, platform-tools), and WSL interop paths. Override only when needed.

• ADB - Android Debug Bridge executable.
• Frida - Frida CLI executable (frida).
• scrcpy - Screen mirroring tool.

When a path is set and saved, Barrel creates a bash wrapper script in ~/.local/bin/ so the configured binary is used by every part of the app. Click Detect to search common install locations, or type the path manually. Click Save to persist all settings to ~/.config/barrel/settings.json.

Updates

Stay up-to-date with automatic update notifications.

Barrel checks for new releases on every launch and displays the result in the Updates tab - green for up-to-date, pink when a new version is available with release notes and a one-click download button.

Update Channels

• Automatic check - on launch Barrel silently fetches the latest version from GitHub Releases.
• Manual check - click "Check for Updates" in the Updates tab at any time.
• One-click download - detects your platform (Linux deb/rpm/AppImage, macOS dmg, Windows msi) and opens the correct installer.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global and context-specific shortcuts.

Tab Shortcuts

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions.

"No devices detected"

• Ensure USB debugging is enabled on your Android device.
• Run adb devices in a terminal to verify the device is listed.
• If the device shows as "unauthorized", accept the RSA fingerprint prompt on the device.
• Click Refresh on the Dashboard after connecting.

Shell: "Terminal not ready"

• The first tab's shell session may still be initializing. Wait a moment and try again.
• Check the browser/console for errors (Ctrl+Shift+I in dev mode).

Shell: Connect fails

• Ensure a device is selected on the Dashboard.
• Verify the device is still connected (adb devices).
• The Connect button only works when the toolbar shows LOCAL mode.

Logcat: Shows old messages / No output

• Old messages are normal - adb logcat dumps the kernel buffer first. Click Stop, Clear, then Start to begin fresh.
• Ensure a device is selected and click Start (does not auto-start).
• Verify adb logcat works from a terminal.

File Explorer: Permission denied

• System directories require root - Barrel auto-attempts su fallback.
• Unrooted devices may not access directories like /data/data.

macOS: "Barrel cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified"

• This is expected - Barrel is not notarized by Apple. Use one of these workarounds:
• Right-click Barrel.app in Applications → Open → click Open in the dialog (one-time).
• Or run: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Barrel.app

Windows: SmartScreen / Windows Defender warning

• This is expected - Barrel is not code-signed with a Microsoft certificate.
• Click More info then Run anyway to launch the installer or app.
• You can verify the download authenticity using the signature verification steps.

App freezes on splash screen (logo visible, nothing happens)

• Run frida --version in a terminal. If it hangs, you have a broken frida binary. Barrel checks tool versions on startup - a hanging binary blocks the whole app. Remove or fix the broken frida in your PATH.
• Certain GPU/driver combinations can cause WebKit's hardware compositing to hang. Launch with software rendering:

WEBKIT_DISABLE_COMPOSITING_MODE=1 ./Barrel_0.1.7_amd64.AppImage

# Or for the installed version:
WEBKIT_DISABLE_COMPOSITING_MODE=1 barrel

• To make this permanent, add to your ~/.bashrc:

alias barrel='WEBKIT_DISABLE_COMPOSITING_MODE=1 barrel'

FAQ

Testimonials

Used by penetration testers and security researchers who need a fast, focused Android toolkit.

"I was jumping between three different tools to do what Barrel does in one window. Logcat with highlight rules alone saves me an hour a week."

- Mobile security researcher, red team operator

"The Frida integration is what sold me. No more manually downloading frida-server, pushing it, and remembering to chmod. One click and it's running."

- Pentester, freelance Android security auditor

"I keep a USB hub with 4 test devices on my desk. Barrel's per-tab device selector means I can run logcat on all of them without fighting with ADB serials."

- Android app security reviewer, financial sector

Licensing

Barrel is free to use. Paid licenses are coming for advanced features.