Content Providers

Reading rows from an exported or shell-accessible ContentProvider on a connected device (adb shell content query). query_content takes a typed content:// URI plus optional projection, where selection, sort order, and --user scope — never a raw argument string — and parses content's Row: N col=val, … output into structured column→value maps (a value the provider rendered as NULL comes back as null). An empty result set is a valid response; a missing/unexported authority raises CONTENT_PROVIDER_NOT_FOUND.

query_content

Query a ContentProvider and return its rows: adb shell content query.

Reads from any provider exported to the shell (settings, media store, a test app's own provider, ...) and parses content's row output into structured column→value maps. Every knob is a typed field — there is no raw-argument passthrough. Reading is the only operation here; inserting, updating and deleting rows aren't implemented.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
serial	str	The target device's adb serial (see list_connected_devices).	required
uri	str	The provider URI to read, e.g. "content://settings/system". Must start with "content://".	required
projection	list[str] | None	Column names to return (--projection). Omit for all columns.	None
where	str | None	A SQL selection clause (--where), e.g. "name='volume_music'". Omit for no filter.	None
sort	str | None	A SQL sort order (--sort), e.g. "name ASC". Omit for the provider's default order.	None
user_id	int | None	Query the provider as this Android user (--user). Omit for the current user.	None

Returns:

Type	Description
ContentQueryResult	The serial, the uri and user_id that were queried, row_count, and rows — a list of column→value maps in provider order. A value content printed as the literal "NULL" comes back as null. An empty rows list means the query matched nothing (a valid result).

Error handling

A uri that doesn't start with "content://", a negative user_id, or a blank/empty projection entry raises INVALID_ARGUMENT before anything runs. An unknown serial or unresponsive adb binary raises DEVICE_NOT_FOUND/ADB_UNAVAILABLE. content exits 0 even when the authority is missing or unexported — that raises CONTENT_PROVIDER_NOT_FOUND. A provider that rejects the read raises PERMISSION_DENIED; any other non-zero exit raises BACKEND_ERROR.

Example

Called with serial="emulator-5554", uri="content://settings/system", where="name='volume_music'". A typical response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "1 row from content://settings/system on emulator-5554.",
  "data": {
    "serial": "emulator-5554",
    "uri": "content://settings/system",
    "user_id": null,
    "row_count": 1,
    "rows": [{"_id": "0", "name": "volume_music", "value": "5"}]
  },
  "error": null
}