Android Studio Rabbit 1: What the Screenshot Testing Deprecation Means

An October 6 Reddit post asked why Android Studio Rabbit 1's “What’s New” screen linked to Compose screenshot-testing documentation marked “Deprecated.” Google's documentation narrows that notice to the legacy standalone plugin. Compose screenshot testing remains available through a different AGP test-suite integration, which is still experimental.

A screenshot test renders a Compose preview and compares it with an approved reference image. When a later render differs, the test produces an HTML report for a developer to inspect. The report identifies what changed; it does not decide whether the change is intentional. Teams still review reference images when approving a UI update.

What the deprecation covers

Google's Compose Preview Screenshot Testing page says the standalone plugin method using com.android.compose.screenshot is deprecated starting with Android Gradle Plugin 9.5.0-alpha03 and screenshot engine 0.0.1-alpha16. The overview labels the feature experimental and says its features and APIs may change. The separate test-suite guide also labels that integration experimental and warns that its APIs and DSL syntax may change. It does not give a separate date when existing builds will stop running the legacy setup.

The replacement integrates screenshot tests into AGP's native test-suite framework. Google says this gives the tests a standard Gradle lifecycle and supports multiple named suites and build variants. A module can define a suite such as screenshotTest or uiTests rather than relying on the standalone plugin's single configured source set.

Check the version combination

The test-suite guide requires Android Studio Rabbit 1 Canary 4 or later, AGP 9.5.0-alpha03 or later, screenshot engine 0.0.1-alpha16 or later, JDK 17 or later, and Compose enabled. The Android Studio release page lists stable Rabbit 1 as version 2026.2.1, with compatibility through AGP 9.4. A project on that stable combination does not automatically meet the preview integration's requirements.

What a migration changes

The test-suite guide moves configuration into a named suite in the module’s Gradle settings. A project enables the experimental screenshot and test-suite flags in its root properties, chooses an engine version and target variants, then places preview tests in the suite source set with @PreviewTest. Changing the engine version alone does not register or migrate previews.

Update and test tasks and reference paths are suite-specific; they replace the legacy plugin’s Debug tasks. Google documents no one-step conversion, so teams need to map their variants and update CI. Keep old baselines until regenerated images have been reviewed. The new HTML report can distinguish missing references, size mismatches, and pixel differences, but a developer still decides whether a change is intentional.

Does a Rabbit 1 project need to migrate today?

The deprecation notice identifies the standalone setup; it does not say that existing tests stop immediately or give a shutdown date. The replacement currently requires Rabbit 1 Canary 4 and AGP 9.5.0-alpha03, beyond Rabbit 1 stable’s AGP 9.4 range. A team moving now must choose a preview-capable toolchain and accept an experimental feature. Google has not posted a stable release date, so teams that need stability can plan while waiting rather than treating the notice as an emergency.

A reply to the Reddit post clarified that the label applies to the standalone plugin method. This remains one developer report, not evidence screenshot testing was broadly removed.