Live Jetpack Compose UI editing via AST/PSI mutations: Architecture & feedback

[JALAL591]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Product Feedback

Body

Hi all,

One of the continuous friction points in modern Android development with Jetpack Compose is the build latency when tweaking UI elements (paddings, colors, typography values) via Gradle.

To address this, I built an open-source tool called ComposeBridge for IntelliJ / Android Studio:

• On-Device Reflection: Connects to the running device to inspect and modify UI nodes directly.
• AST / PSI Mutations: Updates the Kotlin source code precisely using IntelliJ's Program Structure Interface (PSI) rather than brittle regex, enabling diff review and rollbacks.
• MCP Server Integration: Features an integrated Model Context Protocol (MCP) server so coding agents (like Claude Code or Cursor) can inspect the runtime layout tree for contextual UI fixes.

Repository: https://github.com/JALAL591/compose-bridge
JetBrains Plugin: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/35226-composebridge

I'd appreciate feedback from the community on this approach:

1. What are your architectural thoughts on utilizing PSI for live mobile UI code mutations?
2. How do you see MCP integration evolving for real-time mobile UI development?

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