# ARTEMIS review

> ARTEMIS is an open-source Google tool that turns natural-language instructions into Android automation for testing and everyday tasks on real devices or emulators.

Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/google-artemis/

## TL;DR

ARTEMIS lets AI assistants and test suites operate Android phones from natural-language instructions. It is for developers and testers who want AI IDEs such as Antigravity, Claude Code, Codex, or Windsurf to drive devices through MCP. It offers a fast Flash profile and a Pro profile that plans and verifies, plus a web console, CLI, and Python SDK.

## ARTEMIS at a glance

- **Category:** [Coding agents](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/coding-agents/)
- **Maintained by:** Google (organization, [@google](https://github.com/google) on GitHub)
- **License:** Apache 2.0
- **Language:** Python, TypeScript, HTML
- **Repository:** [github.com/google/artemis](https://github.com/google/artemis)
- **First published:** Aug 13, 2026

## What ARTEMIS does

- ARTEMIS runs testing workflows and everyday tasks across Android apps from natural-language instructions.
- ARTEMIS includes an MCP server so AI IDEs can drive test devices and collect Logcat output and screenshots.
- ARTEMIS locates elements by index when available, with coordinate and visual fallbacks for custom Canvas, Compose, and Flutter interfaces.
- ARTEMIS offers a Flash profile, a reactive loop of about 3–5 seconds per step, for routine, deterministic UI tasks.
- ARTEMIS offers a Pro profile with a Planner, Operator, and Checker for planned, verified workflows of 100+ steps.
- ARTEMIS provides a web console with live screen mirroring, a prompt sandbox, and execution replays.
- ARTEMIS has a Python SDK for use in pytest or CI/CD pipelines, with typed Pydantic outputs.

### How it works

ARTEMIS runs on a host machine connected to an Android device or emulator over ADB. A startup script installs toolchains and can configure its MCP server in AI IDEs. You use it through a web console at localhost:8000, the CLI, the MCP server, or a Python SDK client. On first use it installs an accessibility helper app on the phone, which listens only locally.

## How to install ARTEMIS

**Clone on macOS or Linux**

```
git clone https://github.com/google/artemis.git && cd artemis
```

**Launch on macOS or Linux**

```
./start.sh
```

**Launch on Windows PowerShell**

```
.\start.bat
```

### Requirements

- An Android device with USB Debugging enabled, or an Android emulator.
- ADB, scrcpy, FFmpeg, and Python uv dependencies, which the startup script detects and installs.
- macOS, Linux, or Windows, each with its own startup script.

### First steps

1. Connect an Android device with USB Debugging enabled, or an emulator, before running the startup script.
2. Run the startup script, which opens http://localhost:8000 with a device connection wizard.
3. Run a task from the CLI: uv run artemis run "Open Settings, find Battery and tell me current level" --profile flash
4. Install the MCP server and rules for all supported IDEs with uv run artemis mcp --install all.

## Who ARTEMIS is for

- Android developers who want AI coding assistants to build, install, and test apps on connected devices.
- Mobile test engineers running exploratory and long-running stability tests.
- Teams adding natural-language Android tests to pytest or CI/CD pipelines.
- Developers reproducing bugs on real devices from within an MCP-enabled IDE.

### Limitations

- ARTEMIS supports Android only. iOS support is listed on the roadmap.
- The Flash profile has no task plan, no pre-execution safety net, no checkpoint verification or final report, and no ADB shell.
- The Pro profile is slower, at about 15–40 seconds per step.
- ARTEMIS installs an accessibility helper on the phone, and tools using UiAutomation can suppress it.

## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026)

- Board rank: #15 overall, #7 in Coding agents, momentum score 93
- New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: 0; Aug 16: 46; Aug 23: 74; Aug 30: 43; Sep 6: 3.8k; Sep 13: 4.2k; Sep 20: 2.2k; Sep 27: 563; Oct 4: 392; Oct 11: 890; Oct 18: 2.4k; Oct 25: 1.4k

## ARTEMIS alternatives

| Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | [Cindy](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/makecindy-cindy/) | 8.8k | – |
| #2 | [OpenMausBot](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/milind-soni-openmausbot/) | 9.6k | – |
| #3 | [Orca](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/stablyai-orca/) | 111.7k | – |
| #4 | [OpenBot](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/copilotkit-openbot/) | 9.1k | – |
| #5 | [Agent Reach](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/panniantong-agent-reach/) | 107.2k | – |
| #6 | [Skill Recorder](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/microsoft-skill-recorder/) | 5.6k | – |

## ARTEMIS FAQ

### Is ARTEMIS free and open source?

Yes. ARTEMIS's source code is on GitHub (google/artemis) under the Apache 2.0 license, so you can use it for free.

### How do I install ARTEMIS?

Run `git clone https://github.com/google/artemis.git && cd artemis`. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

### Is ARTEMIS still maintained?

Yes. The google/artemis repository was last updated on Oct 1, 2026.

### How popular is ARTEMIS?

ARTEMIS has 15.9k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 1.4k new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 1.3k a week. That made it #7 among AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board.

### What are the best alternatives to ARTEMIS?

Other AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: Cindy (#1), OpenMausBot (#2), Orca (#3), OpenBot (#4), Agent Reach (#5). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

### What is the difference between ARTEMIS Flash and Pro profiles?

Flash is a fast single-model observe-and-act loop of about 3–5 seconds per step, suited to routine tasks. Pro is a multi-agent planning and verification workflow of about 15–40 seconds per step. It adds a task plan, a pre-execution safety net, checkpoint checks, and ADB diagnostics.

### Which AI IDEs work with ARTEMIS?

ARTEMIS can install MCP configuration and rules into Antigravity, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Windsurf, VS Code, Cline/Roo, and OpenClaw. It also documents a manual configuration for Claude Desktop.

### What does ARTEMIS install on my phone?

ARTEMIS installs the Artemis Accessibility Helper on the first task. This small accessibility service reads the screen layout, listens only on the phone, and sends nothing elsewhere. You can remove it with uv run artemis helper uninstall, or use UIAutomator2 instead.

### Can ARTEMIS run in CI or pytest?

Yes. ARTEMIS has a Python SDK client with no runtime dependencies that connects to an ARTEMIS host. It returns typed Pydantic results you can assert on in pytest or CI/CD pipelines.

### Does ARTEMIS work with Flutter or Compose apps?

Yes. ARTEMIS combines accessibility hierarchies and OCR with visual models to locate elements in custom Canvas, Compose, and Flutter interfaces.

## Sources

1. [google/artemis on GitHub](https://github.com/google/artemis)
2. [ARTEMIS README](https://github.com/google/artemis/blob/main/README.md)
3. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)