# Manual Configuration | Sentry for Android

## [Manual Installation](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/android/configuration/manual-init.md#manual-installation)

If you don't want the Sentry Gradle plugin to install the Sentry SDK automatically, you can define the dependency directly in the `build.gradle` file of your app module.

`app/build.gradle`

```groovy
dependencies {
    implementation 'io.sentry:sentry-android:8.31.0'
}
```

The [NDK integration](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/android/using-ndk.md) comes packaged with the SDK and requires API level 16, though other levels are supported. If you're using multiple Sentry dependencies, you can add a [bill of materials](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/android/configuration/bill-of-materials.md) to avoid specifying the version of each dependency.

## [Manual Initialization](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/android/configuration/manual-init.md#manual-initialization)

Initialize the SDK manually when you need to provide additional configuration to the SDK that cannot be specified in the manifest.

To initialize the SDK manually, disable the auto initialization. You can do so by adding the following line into your manifest:

`AndroidManifest.xml`

```xml
<application>
    <meta-data android:name="io.sentry.auto-init" android:value="false" />
</application>
```

Or, to completely remove the merging of the `ContentProvider`:

`AndroidManifest.xml`

```xml
<application>
    <provider
    android:name="io.sentry.android.core.SentryInitProvider"
    android:authorities="${applicationId}.SentryInitProvider"
    tools:node="remove"
  />

    <provider
    android:name="io.sentry.android.core.SentryPerformanceProvider"
    android:authorities="${applicationId}.SentryPerformanceProvider"
    tools:node="remove"
  />
</application>
```

The next step is to initialize the SDK directly in your code.

The SDK can catch errors and crashes only after you've initialized it. So, we recommend calling `SentryAndroid.init` in the instance your Application class right after the application is created. If you don't have a custom Application class yet, [checkout the official docs on how to create one](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Application).

Configuration options will be loaded from the manifest so that you don't need to have the static properties in your code. In the `init` method, you can provide a callback that will modify the configuration and also register new options.

```java
import io.sentry.SentryLevel;
import io.sentry.android.core.SentryAndroid;
import android.app.Application;

public class MyApplication extends Application {
  public void onCreate() {
    super.onCreate();

    SentryAndroid.init(this, options -> {
      options.setDsn("___PUBLIC_DSN___");
      // Add a callback that will be used before the event is sent to Sentry.
      // With this callback, you can modify the event or, when returning null, also discard the event.
      options.setBeforeSend((event, hint) -> {
        if (SentryLevel.DEBUG.equals(event.getLevel()))
          return null;
        else
          return event;
      });
    });
  }
}
```