gplay-vitals-monitoring

App Vitals Monitoring

Use this skill when you need to monitor app stability, performance, and errors from Google Play Console.

Preconditions

• Ensure credentials are set (gplay auth login or GPLAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT env var).
• Service account needs "View app information and download bulk reports" permission.
• App must have active installs generating vitals data.

Crash Monitoring

List crash clusters

gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app

Get crash cluster details

gplay vitals crashes get \
  --package com.example.app \
  --cluster-id CLUSTER_ID

Filter by time range

gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --start-time 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z \
  --end-time 2026-02-01T00:00:00Z

Filter by version code

gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --version-code 42

Filter by app version name

gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --version-name "1.2.0"

Paginate through all crash clusters

gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --paginate

Output as table for readability

gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --output table

ANR Monitoring

List ANR clusters

gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --type anr

Get ANR cluster details

gplay vitals crashes get \
  --package com.example.app \
  --cluster-id CLUSTER_ID \
  --type anr

Performance Metrics

Get performance overview

gplay vitals performance overview \
  --package com.example.app

Startup time metrics

gplay vitals performance startup \
  --package com.example.app

Filter by device type

gplay vitals performance overview \
  --package com.example.app \
  --device-type phone

Filter by OS version

gplay vitals performance overview \
  --package com.example.app \
  --os-version 14

Rendering metrics (slow/frozen frames)

gplay vitals performance rendering \
  --package com.example.app

Battery metrics

gplay vitals performance battery \
  --package com.example.app

Permission denials

gplay vitals performance permissions \
  --package com.example.app

Error Reporting

List error clusters

gplay vitals errors list \
  --package com.example.app

Get error details

gplay vitals errors get \
  --package com.example.app \
  --error-id ERROR_ID

Filter errors by severity

gplay vitals errors list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --severity critical

Filter errors by time range

gplay vitals errors list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --start-time 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z \
  --end-time 2026-02-01T00:00:00Z

Common Flags

Flag	Description
--package	App package name (required)
--start-time	Start of time range (RFC 3339)
--end-time	End of time range (RFC 3339)
--version-code	Filter by version code
--version-name	Filter by version name
--type	Event type (crash, anr)
--output	Output format (json, table, markdown)
--paginate	Fetch all pages
--pretty	Pretty-print JSON output

Workflow Examples

Daily stability check

# Check crash rate for the latest version
gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --version-name "2.1.0" \
  --output table

# Check ANR rate
gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --version-name "2.1.0" \
  --type anr \
  --output table

# Review performance
gplay vitals performance overview \
  --package com.example.app \
  --output table

Investigate a crash spike

# 1. List top crash clusters
gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --start-time 2026-02-10T00:00:00Z \
  --output table

# 2. Get details for the top cluster
CLUSTER=$(gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --start-time 2026-02-10T00:00:00Z | jq -r '.[0].clusterId')

gplay vitals crashes get \
  --package com.example.app \
  --cluster-id $CLUSTER \
  --pretty

# 3. Check if it's version-specific
gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --version-code 105 \
  --output table

CI/CD stability gate

# Check if crash rate exceeds threshold before promoting
CRASH_COUNT=$(gplay vitals crashes list \
  --package com.example.app \
  --version-name "$VERSION" | jq 'length')

if [ "$CRASH_COUNT" -gt 10 ]; then
  echo "Too many crash clusters ($CRASH_COUNT). Halting promotion."
  exit 1
fi

gplay promote \
  --package com.example.app \
  --from beta \
  --to production \
  --rollout 10

Best Practices

1. Monitor after every release - Check vitals within 24-48 hours of rollout.
2. Upload deobfuscation files - Ensure crash stack traces are readable.
3. Set up CI stability gates - Block promotion when crash rates exceed thresholds.
4. Track ANRs separately - ANRs impact Play Store ranking more than crashes.
5. Compare across versions - Filter by version code to detect regressions.
6. Use JSON output in scripts - Parse with jq for automated monitoring.