What causes "App Manager does not have the required permission " in MuntashirAkon/AppManager?

Declare the permission in AndroidManifest.xml if it is a normal/install-time permission.

MuntashirAkon/AppManager · error · SecurityException

App Manager does not have the required permission

Error message

App Manager does not have the required permission

What it means

requireSelfPermission is an assertion helper: it checks whether App Manager itself holds the given permission and throws SecurityException("App Manager does not have the required permission " + permissionName) if not. It converts a soft permission check into a hard failure for operations that cannot proceed safely.

Source

Thrown at app/src/main/java/io/github/muntashirakon/AppManager/self/SelfPermissions.java:291

        }
        if (uid != Process.myUid()) {
            try {
                return PackageManagerCompat.getPackageManager().checkUidPermission(permissionName, uid)
                        == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED;
            } catch (RemoteException ignore) {
            }
        }
        return checkSelfPermission(permissionName);
    }

    public static boolean checkSelfPermission(@NonNull String permissionName) {
        return ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(ContextUtils.getContext(), permissionName)
                == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED;
    }

    public static void requireSelfPermission(@NonNull String permissionName) throws SecurityException {
        if (!checkSelfPermission(permissionName)) {
            throw new SecurityException("App Manager does not have the required permission " + permissionName);
        }
    }

    @NonNull
    public static String getCallingPackage(int callingUid) {
        if (callingUid == Ops.ROOT_UID || callingUid == Ops.SHELL_UID) {
            return SHELL_PACKAGE_NAME;
        }
        if (callingUid == Ops.SYSTEM_UID) {
            return "android";
        }
        return BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID;
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 0152f468fc)

Solutions

Declare the permission in AndroidManifest.xml if it is a normal/install-time permission.
Request the permission at runtime or direct the user to the special-app-access Settings screen before calling.
Check with checkSelfPermission() first and degrade gracefully instead of asserting blindly.
Verify on-device (adb shell appops get / dumpsys package) that the permission or op is actually granted.

Example fix

// before
SelfPermissions.requireSelfPermission(Manifest.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS);
// after
if (!SelfPermissions.checkSelfPermission(Manifest.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS)) {
    // prompt user to grant Usage Access in Settings, or skip the feature
    return;
}
SelfPermissions.requireSelfPermission(Manifest.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

boolean granted = ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(ctx, permissionName)
        == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED;
if (!granted) {
    // request the grant or route the user to Settings before proceeding
}

Try / catch

try {
    SelfPermissions.requireSelfPermission(permissionName);
    // proceed with privileged operation
} catch (SecurityException e) {
    // permissionName is in e.getMessage(); request grant or disable the feature
}

Prevention

Declare every permission requireSelfPermission may assert in AndroidManifest.xml.
For special permissions (Usage Access, etc.), guide the user to Settings instead of asserting blindly.
Re-check permissions on every app resume; grants can be revoked anytime.
Never call requireSelfPermission in startup paths that must not fail.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling requireSelfPermission for a permission that is not granted — not declared in the manifest, a special/AppOps permission (e.g. PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS, storage) not granted by the user, or revoked by the user or the system.

Common situations: Special permissions requiring manual grant in Settings, missing uses-permission manifest entries after refactoring, OS upgrades resetting special app-access grants, work/restricted profiles.

Understand the failure class

Background: Permission denied / not authorized / 403 Forbidden: access-control rejections when the caller lacks the required role, grant, or ownership — this error's family across 18 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of MuntashirAkon/AppManager@0152f468fc (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c9c51874b52a1594. Report an issue: GitHub.