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Getting Started

Use Supabase with Android Kotlin

Learn how to create a Supabase project, add some sample data to your database, and query the data from an Android Kotlin app.

AI Prompt
Help me add Supabase to my Android Kotlin project. Create a Supabase project at database.new and run the instruments table SQL. Then: 1. Create a new Android project in Android Studio. 2. Add the Kotlin serialization plugin, Ktor client, and Supabase BOM to `build.gradle.kts`. 3. Add `<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />` to `AndroidManifest.xml`. 4. Initialize the Supabase client in `MainActivity.kt` with your project URL and publishable key. 5. Add a serializable `Instrument` data class. 6. Use `LaunchedEffect` and `LazyColumn` to fetch and display the instruments table. 7. Click Run in Android Studio to start the app. REFERENCE https://supabase.com/docs/guides/getting-started/quickstarts/kotlin.md

1. Create a Supabase project#

To start, you need a Supabase project.

Create a new Supabase project from the Dashboard of any organization you belong to.

2. Set up your database#

When your Supabase project is up and running, create an instruments table with some sample data. Then set only the privileges each Postgres role needs, add Row Level Security (RLS) for enhanced security for database data by default, and create an RLS policy to make the data in the table publicly readable.

Do these steps within your project's dashboard by copying and running the snippet in your project's SQL Editor.

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-- Create the table
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create table instruments (
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  id bigint primary key generated always as identity,
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  name text not null
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);
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-- Insert sample data into the table
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insert into instruments (name)
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values
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  ('violin'),
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  ('viola'),
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  ('cello');
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-- Grant the privileges the role needs, which is read access
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grant select on public.instruments to anon;
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-- Enable row level security for the table
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alter table instruments enable row level security;
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-- Create a policy to allow the anon role to read from the instruments table
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create policy "public can read instruments"
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on public.instruments
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for select to anon
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using (true);

3. Create an Android app with Android Studio#

Select the Android Studio > New > New Android Project menu item.

4. Set up AI tooling (optional)#

Supabase provides two ways to give AI tools context about your project: Agent Skills, which give your AI coding agent procedural knowledge, and the MCP server, which connects AI assistants to your Supabase project directly.

Agent Skills#

Agent Skills is a curated set of instructions that give your AI agent procedural knowledge about working with Supabase.

Install them so your AI coding agent can produce more accurate, reliable code using current Supabase patterns, such as authentication, server-side rendering, and database migrations, rather than relying solely on training data.

Installing Agent Skills#

To install, run the following command in the root of your project:

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npx skills add supabase/agent-skills

Supabase MCP server#

The Supabase MCP server connects AI assistants to Supabase, so they can inspect your schema and act on your projects on your behalf. Find out how to add it to your client in the MCP docs.

5. Install dependencies#

Open build.gradle.kts (app) file and add the serialization plugin, Ktor client, and Supabase client.

Replace the version placeholders $kotlin_version with the Kotlin version of the project, and $supabase_version and $ktor_version with the respective latest versions. For example, Kotlin 2.2.21, supabase-kt BOM 3.5.0, and Ktor 3.0.3.

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plugins {
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  ...
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  kotlin("plugin.serialization") version "$kotlin_version"
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}
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...
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dependencies {
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  ...
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  implementation(platform("io.github.jan-tennert.supabase:bom:$supabase_version"))
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  implementation("io.github.jan-tennert.supabase:postgrest-kt")
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  implementation("io.ktor:ktor-client-android:$ktor_version")
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}

6. Add internet access permission#

Add the following line to the AndroidManifest.xml file under the manifest tag and outside the application tag.

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...
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<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
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...

7. Initialize the Supabase client#

You can create a Supabase client whenever you need to perform an API call.

For a quick example, create a client at the top of the MainActivity.kt file below the imports.

Replace the supabaseUrl and supabaseKey with your own, which you can get from the helper below, or from the project Connect panel:

Open Connect panel

 
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import io.github.jan.supabase.postgrest.from
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import ...
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val supabase = createSupabaseClient(
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    supabaseUrl = "YOUR_SUPABASE_URL",
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    supabaseKey = "YOUR_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY"
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  ) {
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    install(Postgrest)
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}
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...

Get API details#

To interact with data in database tables, you use the client libraries that wrap the auto-generated Data API endpoints, authenticating using the Project URL and key from the project Connect dialog.

Project URL
Publishable key

8. Create a data model for instruments#

Create a serializable data class to represent the data from the database.

Add the following below the createSupabaseClient function in the MainActivity.kt file.

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import kotlinx.serialization.Serializable
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@Serializable
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data class Instrument(
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    val id: Int,
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    val name: String,
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)

9. Query data from the app#

Use LaunchedEffect to fetch data from the database and display it in a LazyColumn.

Replace the default MainActivity class with the following code.

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class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
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    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
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        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
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        setContent {
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            // A surface container using the 'background' color from the theme
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            Surface(
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                modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize(),
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                color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.background
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            ) {
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                InstrumentsList()
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            }
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        }
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    }
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}
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@Composable
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fun InstrumentsList() {
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    var instruments by remember { mutableStateOf<List<Instrument>>(listOf()) }
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    var error by remember { mutableStateOf<String?>(null) }
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    LaunchedEffect(Unit) {
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        withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
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            try {
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                instruments = supabase.from("instruments")
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                                  .select().decodeList<Instrument>()
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            } catch (e: Exception) {
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                error = e.message
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            }
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        }
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    }
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    if (error != null) {
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        Text(
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            "Error loading instruments: $error",
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            modifier = Modifier.padding(8.dp),
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        )
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        return
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    }
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    LazyColumn {
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        items(
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            instruments,
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            key = { instrument -> instrument.id },
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        ) { instrument ->
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            Text(
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                instrument.name,
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                modifier = Modifier.padding(8.dp),
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            )
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        }
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    }
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}

10. Start the app#

Run the app on an emulator or a physical device by clicking the Run app button in Android Studio.

Production requirements#

The quickstart procedure in this guide optimizes for getting you to a working app, not for production.

Before you deploy:

  • If your app reads or writes through the Data API, review your Row Level Security policies. Any policy you added here is scoped to this quickstart's sample data, not to real user data.
  • Set your Supabase credentials as environment variables on whatever platform you deploy to, rather than committing them to source control.
  • Configure a custom domain for your Supabase project once you're ready to go live.

Next steps#