Here’s a concrete fix plan based on a quick repo scan (scripts + e2e Docker + emulator config).

Probable root causes

Cold boot every run because snapshots are explicitly disabled (-no-snapshot, -no-snapshot-save) in test/integration/docker-agent-e2e.mjs, so the emulator always does a full boot.
The Docker image bakes a Play Store system image (system-images;android-34;google_apis_playstore;x86_64) which is slower to boot than google_apis.
In CI, image layers may be rebuilt without cache, re-downloading Android SDK bits and recreating the AVD (docker/e2e/Dockerfile).

Likely files/modules involved

Reproduction/verification steps

Run npm run test:e2e:docker and time from “emulator start” to “boot completed” in the logs.
Re-run in the same environment and compare boot time (should still be cold boot today).
After applying changes, re-run twice to confirm the second run uses a warm snapshot and is faster.

Minimal fix options (recommended first)

Remove -no-snapshot and -no-snapshot-save from cfg.emulator.extraArgs in test/integration/docker-agent-e2e.mjs.
Add -snapshot quickboot (or similar name) to extraArgs.
Bake a snapshot in the Docker image by starting the emulator once during build, waiting for boot, then saving a snapshot. This snapshot will live in the AVD directory inside the image and load quickly on subsequent runs.

Switch system image to non-Play Store: change google_apis_playstore to google_apis in docker/e2e/Dockerfile and keep the rest. This is usually a noticeably faster boot with less background setup.
CI layer caching: ensure build uses Docker buildx cache (inline cache, or cache-to/cache-from in GitHub Actions) so the SDK/AVD layers are reused. This addresses download + AVD creation time but not cold-boot time.

Suggested minimal implementation sketch (recommended approach)

In test/integration/docker-agent-e2e.mjs, change the emulator args to allow snapshots and request a named snapshot:
- Remove -no-snapshot and -no-snapshot-save.
- Add -snapshot quickboot.
In docker/e2e/Dockerfile, after avdmanager create avd ..., run a one-time boot and save:
- emulator -avd OpenPocket_AVD -no-window -no-audio -gpu swiftshader_indirect -no-boot-anim -accel off &
- adb wait-for-device + adb shell getprop sys.boot_completed loop
- adb emu avd snapshot save quickboot
- adb emu kill
Keep -no-snapshot-save for runtime if you want determinism, but keep -snapshot quickboot so it loads the baked snapshot.

Test cases to add/update

Add a timing/log assertion to ensure boot time decreases on the second run (e.g., compare elapsed boot wait for two sequential runs in the same container).
Add a simple check that adb emu avd snapshot list contains quickboot before starting the agent to catch missing snapshot early.

Risk and rollback notes

Snapshot-based boot can introduce state drift if the snapshot gets stale. Mitigation: bake the snapshot during image build and keep runtime -no-snapshot-save for deterministic runs.
Switching away from Play Store images may break tests that rely on Play Services/Play Store. Roll back by restoring google_apis_playstore.
If snapshot boot causes flakiness, roll back to cold boot by re-adding -no-snapshot and -no-snapshot-save.

Lightweight checks performed

Inspected scripts/test-e2e-docker.sh, docker/e2e/Dockerfile, docker/e2e/entrypoint.sh, test/integration/docker-agent-e2e.mjs, and src/device/emulator-manager.ts for emulator flags and boot flow.

Questions to confirm before changes

Do E2E tests require Play Store / Play Services, or is google_apis sufficient?
Are you OK with baking a snapshot during Docker build (slower build, faster test runs), or do you prefer snapshot creation at runtime?
Is there already a GitHub Actions cache for Docker layers we should align with?

Generated by issue-fix for issue #30

[test] Improve running speed of E2E testing #30

Description