Connect Android Hello to deployed Cloud with published Kotlin SDK

[deku2026]

Android's Hello screen previously performed a local protobuf round trip. It now uses the published contracts-connect-client:1.0.0-ci.36.1 and Connect-Kotlin 0.9.0 to call https://arcforges.com/api using binary gRPC-Web. One button press sends one request, with a five-second deadline, pending/error states, explicit retry and cancellation on disposal. Completed state survives recreation; the JVM Hot Reload preview remains offline.

CI verifies the real SDK on Android and presses the button in the same R8-minified APK candidate that will be signed after merge. It checks the /api path, Content-Type, deadline headers and decoded server errors, and records the observed Native AOT/Worker revision. Local HTTP fixtures separately cover stalled responses and cancellation. Published dependency versions, locks, checksums and Dependabot grouping are updated.

Device verification found and fixed main-thread TLS cleanup and R8 removal of the generated getDefaultInstance() needed by the serializer. Code shrinking, normal TLS verification and StrictMode remain enabled.

Validation:

• Local JDK/JVM 21, strict dependency restoration including an empty cache, formatting, actionlint, release lint and repository/release guards passed.
• Transport unit tests and shared JVM/Android host tests passed; debug APK, test APK, minified release APK and AAB built.
• API 36 emulator: all five instrumentation tests passed, including eight real SDK RPCs against Cloud revision 6554400c04817491fe68d5e6319434034c5dc356.
• Separately installed minified release APK: one real button press displayed the server's Hello, World! response.
• PR CI run 35104075837 passed at 24c1c84aa2354dea77f783f8e45feee64adadfa4: Windows/Linux builds, all security checks, five Android tests and the minified APK's single-button live invocation. Downloaded evidence confirms the Cloud revision above and the eight expected gRPC outcomes. The UI test scrolls to its action and reports actual screen state on failure; CI retains logcat and protocol evidence before enforcing success.

No Cloudflare credential or new GitHub secret is required. The live anonymous Hello service must be available for the device gate. This is emulator and Hello integration evidence, not physical-device, account, Play Store or full product acceptance. Main-only signing/publication remains a post-merge check. The bounded review, implementation plan and local results are in docs/cloud-hello-plan.md.