getIntent

getIntent is a method in the Android Activity class that returns the Intent that started the activity. The Intent object carries information such as the action to perform, the data or URI to operate on, the MIME type, and a collection of extras—key-value pairs used to pass data between components.

Common usage involves reading the starting Intent shortly after an activity is created, typically in onCreate or onStart. For example, one can obtain the Intent with getIntent(), then read its contents: String action = getIntent().getAction(); Uri data = getIntent().getData(); String value = getIntent().getStringExtra("key"); int count = getIntent().getIntExtra("count", 0); boolean flag = getIntent().getBooleanExtra("flag", false).

Behavior with certain launch modes: If an activity is configured with launch modes such as singleTask or singleTop, a new Intent delivered to an existing instance will invoke onNewIntent(Intent intent) rather than creating a new activity. In this situation, getIntent() may still return the original Intent unless setIntent(intent) is called to update the internal reference.

In fragments, data can be accessed via getActivity().getIntent(), but fragments typically use their own argument bundles (setArguments/getArguments) to pass data, which reduces coupling to the hosting activity’s Intent.

Implementation notes: getIntent is a simple accessor and may return null for the extras in some edge cases, so null checks are prudent when calling getExtras() or getXxxExtra() methods. Developers should consider updating the activity’s Intent reference with setIntent(intent) if new data should be reflected by subsequent calls to getIntent.

See also: Intent, startActivity, onNewIntent.