Android SDK

Install and use the GrowSurf Android SDK to capture referral attribution, create referred participants, and show a native referral window in your app.

If you're using an AI tool such as Cursor, Codex, Claude Code, or Antigravity to help you implement GrowSurf, we recommend utilizing our MCP server.

Install

The core library is lightweight, adding roughly ~1 MB to your Android app (attribution adapters add only tens of KB each).

Your app must use minSdk 24 or higher and compileSdk 36 or higher. Set targetSdk separately, to the level Google Play currently requires for app updates.

Add the core SDK from Maven Central. Choose one install path.

Kotlin DSL

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    implementation("com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk:0.4.0")
}

Groovy

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk:0.4.0'
}

If you use Branch, Adjust, AppsFlyer, or Singular, add the matching GrowSurf adapter.

Kotlin DSL

dependencies {
    implementation("com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk-attribution-branch:0.4.0")
    implementation("com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk-attribution-adjust:0.4.0")
    implementation("com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk-attribution-appsflyer:0.4.0")
    implementation("com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk-attribution-singular:0.4.0")
}

Groovy

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk-attribution-branch:0.4.0'
    implementation 'com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk-attribution-adjust:0.4.0'
    implementation 'com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk-attribution-appsflyer:0.4.0'
    implementation 'com.growsurf:growsurf-android-sdk-attribution-singular:0.4.0'
}

Keep your provider's SDK setup in your app. The GrowSurf adapter passes provider callback data into GrowSurf.

Initialize

Enable Mobile SDK access in your GrowSurf program on the instructions page, then configure the SDK once when your app starts or before your first GrowSurf call.

• Find campaignId in your GrowSurf program dashboard. It is the 6-character program ID, such as p9josq.

• Find publicKey in Program Editor > 5. Installation > Instructions page > Step 1. Android > Configure SDK.

import com.growsurf.sdk.GrowSurfSdk

val growsurf = GrowSurfSdk.configure(
    context = context,
    campaignId = "p9josq",
    publicKey = "pk_mobile",
)

Native apps use a public Mobile SDK key, which can safely be exposed. This is different than your REST API key on your backend, which you should always keep secret.

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Track referrals

Tracking referrals entails capturing attribution and creating new referred participants.

Capture attribution

Capture referral attribution before you create the referred friend's participant record.

1

For direct app links that open your installed app:

intent.data?.let { uri ->
    growsurf.handleDeepLink(uri)
}

Already support deep links? If you use an attribution provider (Branch, AppsFlyer, Adjust, Singular) or otherwise open your app from links, this is already set up — just forward the opened Intent's URI to handleDeepLink(uri).

Starting from scratch? Add a custom-scheme <intent-filter> (android:scheme) to your launch Activity in AndroidManifest.xml — the quickest path, no domain needed — and/or set up Android App Links (android:autoVerify="true" plus an assetlinks.json hosted on a domain you control) for verified https links. Then read intent.data in onCreate/onNewIntent and call handleDeepLink(uri) inside a coroutine scope.

2

For deferred deep links from an attribution provider:

View Adapter docs for your specific provider setup instructions.

For Google Play installs, addReferredParticipant() checks Play Install Referrer once when no explicit or pending attribution exists. You can still call handleDeferredDeepLink() yourself if you want to inspect attribution earlier:

lifecycleScope.launch {
    growsurf.handleDeferredDeepLink()
}

Create a referred participant

Use addReferredParticipant() for referred signups. This is typically where new users sign up in your app.

The SDK validates saved, explicit, or Play Install Referrer attribution and only creates the participant when the referral code is valid.

// Only creates a referred participant if the referral code is valid
val created = growsurf.addReferredParticipant(
    GrowSurfParticipantInput(
        email = "[e-mail]",
        firstName = "Gavin",
        lastName = "Belson",
        metadata = mapOf("plan" to "pro"), // Optional, saved as participant metadata
        // The referral code and app-install scoped identifier are passed automatically
    )
)

val participant = created.participant

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Generate referral links for your users

Generating referral links to users in your app entails generating a participant token by using the GrowSurf API, then opening the GrowSurf window.

Generate a participant token

To allow authenticated access to your logged-in users, you must call the GrowSurf backend to generate a participant token.

1

Call backend endpoint create a mobile participant token.

Here is an example cURL command:

curl -X POST "https://api.growsurf.com/v2/campaign/YOUR_PROGRAM_ID/mobile-participant-token" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
   "email": "[e-mail]",
   "firstName": "Gavin",
   "lastName": "Belson",
   "mobileInstanceId": "5f7d0f4c-3e7c-4aa9-8c41-d81d998f0bb1",
   "ipAddress": "203.0.113.10",
   "metadata": {
      "plan": "pro"
   }
}'

Only email is required. firstName, lastName, mobileInstanceId, and ipAddress are optional participant fields. metadata is optional and is not used by GrowSurf.

Using TypeScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, or Java for your backend? Use an official GrowSurf API Library.

Optional: To get the SDK-generated mobileInstanceId, use getMobileInstanceId().

This will create a new participant or return an existing one, along with a participant token that allows authenticated calls.

2

Pass it to the app, then store in the SDK via setParticipantToken().

Here is example SDK code:

// getMobileInstanceId() is a suspend function, so call it from a coroutine.
lifecycleScope.launch {
    val mobileInstanceId = growsurf.getMobileInstanceId() // Optional app-install scoped identifier
    val backendResponse = api.createMobileParticipantToken(
        email = user.email,
        mobileInstanceId = mobileInstanceId,
    )
    val participantToken = backendResponse.participantToken

    growsurf.setParticipantToken(participantToken)
}

Show the GrowSurf window

The GrowSurf window allows your participants to view/share their referral link and track the status of their referrals and rewards.

Call presentGrowSurfWindow() from your own button, menu item, or referral screen. Set the identity parameter to GrowSurfWindowIdentity.ExistingParticipantToken(), which will use the participant token you generated above.

growsurf.presentGrowSurfWindow(
    activity = this,
    identity = GrowSurfWindowIdentity.ExistingParticipantToken(participantToken),
    theme = GrowSurfWindowTheme(
        primaryColor = 0xFF13795B,
        presentationStyle = GrowSurfWindowPresentationStyle.AUTOMATIC,
    ),
    callbacks = GrowSurfWindowCallbacks(
        onShareTracked = { type ->
            Log.d("GrowSurf", "Share tracked: $type")
        },
        onError = { error ->
            Log.e("GrowSurf", "GrowSurf window error", error)
        },
    ),
)

---

[Optional] Google Contacts invites

Only needed when Google Contacts invites are enabled for your program. When a participant taps the Google Contacts button, the GrowSurf window takes them through Google's sign-in to grant access to their contacts (read-only) — the same experience as on iOS.

Unlike iOS, there is no in-app code to add on Android: the required Google Sign-In library is bundled with the SDK, and there is no URL scheme or URL forwarding to configure. The only requirement is a correctly configured Google Cloud OAuth client for your app.

1

Create an Android OAuth client as part of the Google Cloud setup. Set the application type to Android and register it with your app's package name and its SHA-1 signing-certificate fingerprint. Without this, the consent screen fails with a DEVELOPER_ERROR.

2

Get your SHA-1 fingerprint. The quickest way is the Gradle signing report, which prints the SHA-1 for every build variant:

./gradlew signingReport

Or read it directly from a keystore with keytool:

# Debug keystore (default location)
keytool -list -v \
  -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore \
  -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

# Release keystore
keytool -list -v \
  -keystore /path/to/your/release.keystore \
  -alias your-key-alias

Register both your debug and release SHA-1 fingerprints so Google Contacts works in development and production.

3

Using Google Play App Signing? Register the SHA-1 of the app signing key shown in Play Console → Test and release → App integrity → App signing key certificate — not just your upload key. Otherwise the consent screen will fail in production even after the steps above.

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Log out

If your user logs out of your app, call shutdown() to remove all participant data from the device:

growsurf.shutdown()

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Next steps

Attribution ProvidersAPI ReferenceModels and ErrorsGetting Started for Native Mobile