Senders

The following sections details the possible destinations for your crash reports: server backend, email, or any other destination you can imagine (if you implement the sender). And you can even send reports to multiple destinations.

Choosing a content type

All official report senders support two types of report formats: StringFormat.JSON and StringFormat.KEY_VALUE_LIST (form-data-compliant for http). Choose whichever your backend requires / which you like best:

Kotlin

initAcra {
    reportFormat = StringFormat.JSON
}

Java

coreConfigurationBuilder.withReportFormat(StringFormat.JSON)

Sending reports via HTTP

The most convenient way to send your report with no necessary user interaction is via HTTP.

Kotlin

httpSender {
    //required. Https recommended
    uri = "https://your.server.com/report"
    //optional. Enables http basic auth
    basicAuthLogin = "acra"
    //required if above set
    basicAuthPassword = "password"
    // defaults to POST
    httpMethod = HttpSender.Method.POST
    //defaults to 5000ms
    connectionTimeout = 5000
    //defaults to 20000ms
    socketTimeout = 20000
    // defaults to false
    dropReportsOnTimeout = false
    //the following options allow you to configure a self signed certificate
    keyStoreFactoryClass = MyKeyStoreFactory::class.java
    certificatePath = "asset://mycert.cer"
    resCertificate = R.raw.mycert
    certificateType = "X.509"
    //defaults to false. Recommended if your backend supports it
    compress = false
    //defaults to all
    tlsProtocols = arrayOf(TLS.V1_3, TLS.V1_2, TLS.V1_1, TLS.V1)
}

Java

new HttpSenderConfigurationBuilder()
    //required. Https recommended
    .withUri("https://your.server.com/report")
    //optional. Enables http basic auth
    .withBasicAuthLogin("acra")
    //required if above set
    .withBasicAuthPassword("password")
    // defaults to POST
    .withHttpMethod(HttpSender.Method.POST)
    //defaults to 5000ms
    .withConnectionTimeout(5000)
    //defaults to 20000ms
    .withSocketTimeout(20000)
    // defaults to false
    .withDropReportsOnTimeout(false)
    //the following options allow you to configure a self signed certificate
    .withKeyStoreFactoryClass(MyKeyStoreFactory::class.java)
    .withCertificatePath("asset://mycert.cer")
    .withResCertificate(R.raw.mycert)
    .withCertificateType("X.509")
    //defaults to false. Recommended if your backend supports it
    .withCompress(false)
    //defaults to all
    .withTlsProtocols(arrayOf(TLS.V1_3, TLS.V1_2, TLS.V1_1, TLS.V1))
    .build()

In PUT mode, ACRA adds the Report ID at the end of uri automatically.

See also Backends

Sending reports by email

For some applications, sending reports to a http based solution is not an option. The problem is that they require the INTERNET permission.

For pure offline applications, users might even be frightened to grant this permission and can be suspicious about the real goal of the app or the developer.

To get crash reports without granting INTERNET permission, you can use the mail sender:

Kotlin

mailSender {
    //required
    mailTo = "acra@yourserver.com"
    //defaults to true
    reportAsFile = true
    //defaults to ACRA-report.stacktrace
    reportFileName = "Crash.txt"
    //defaults to "<applicationId> Crash Report"
    subject = getString(R.string.mail_subject)
    //defaults to empty
    body = getString(R.string.mail_body)
}

Java

new MailSenderConfigurationBuilder()
    //required
    .withMailTo("acra@yourserver.com")
    //defaults to true
    .withReportAsFile(true)
    //defaults to ACRA-report.stacktrace
    .withReportFileName("Crash.txt")
    //defaults to "<applicationId> Crash Report"
    .withSubject(getString(R.string.mail_subject))
    //defaults to empty
    .withBody(getString(R.string.mail_body))
    .build()

Emails are sent with an ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE intent. This means that the following steps are required for the application user before any report is sent:

• pick preferred email client (if no default app set)
• review & actually send the email

Implementing your own sender

You can implement your own ReportSender and configure ACRA to use that instead of or in addition to other senders.

tip

Throwing a ReportSenderException from YourCustomSender.send() notifies ACRA of a failed delivery, and might trigger a retry (see RetryPolicy).

Kotlin

class YourOwnSender : ReportSender {

  override fun send(context: Context, report: CrashReportData) {
    // Iterate over the CrashReportData instance and do whatever
    // you need with each pair of ReportField key / String value
  }
}

class YourOwnSenderfactory : ReportSenderFactory {

    // requires a no arg constructor.

    override fun create(context: Context, config: ACRAConfiguration) : ReportSender {
        return YourOwnSender()
    }

    //optional implementation in case you want to disable your sender in certain cases
    override fun enabled(coreConfig : CoreConfiguration) : Boolean {
        return true
    }
}

Java

public class YourOwnSender implements ReportSender {

    @Override
    public void send(Context context, CrashReportData report) throws ReportSenderException {
        // Iterate over the CrashReportData instance and do whatever
        // you need with each pair of ReportField key / String value
    }
}

public class YourOwnSenderfactory implements ReportSenderFactory {

    // requires a no arg constructor.

    @Override
    public ReportSender create(Context context, ACRAConfiguration config) {
        return new YourOwnSender(someConfigPerhaps);
    }

    //optional implementation in case you want to disable your sender in certain cases
    @Override
    public boolean enabled(@NonNull CoreConfiguration coreConfig) {
        return true;
    }
}

Registering your sender

See Custom extensions.

You can also look at our example projects, which contain an example of a custom sender each.