Kotlin Multiplatform Gradle DSL Reference

Multiplatform projects are in Alpha. Language features and tooling may change in future Kotlin versions.

The Kotlin Multiplatform Gradle plugin is a tool for creating Kotlin multiplatform projects. Here we provide a reference of its contents; use it as a reminder when writing Gradle build scripts for Kotlin multiplatform projects. Learn the concepts of Kotlin multiplatform projects, how to create and configure them.

Table of Contents

Id and version

The fully qualified name of the Kotlin Multiplatform Gradle plugin is org.jetbrains.kotlin.multiplatform. If you use the Kotlin Gradle DSL, you can apply the plugin with kotlin(“multiplatform”). The plugin versions match the Kotlin release versions. The most recent version is 1.4.21.

  1. plugins {
  2. id 'org.jetbrains.kotlin.multiplatform' version '1.4.21'
  3. }
  1. plugins {
  2. kotlin("multiplatform") version "1.4.21"
  3. }

Top-level blocks

kotlin is the top-level block for multiplatform project configuration in the Gradle build script. Inside kotlin, you can write the following blocks:

BlockDescription
<targetName>Declares a particular target of a project. The names of available targets are listed in the Targets section.
targetsAll targets of the project.
presetsAll predefined targets. Use this for configuring multiple predefined targets at once.
sourceSetsConfigures predefined and declares custom source sets of the project.

Targets

Target is a part of the build responsible for compiling, testing, and packaging a piece of software aimed for one of the supported platforms.

Each target can have one or more compilations. In addition to default compilations for test and production purposes, you can create custom compilations.

The targets of a multiplatform project are described in the corresponding blocks inside kotlin, for example, jvm, android, iosArm64. The complete list of available targets is the following:

NameDescription
jvmJava Virtual Machine
jsJavaScript
androidAndroid (APK)
androidNativeArm32Android NDK on ARM (ARM32) platforms
androidNativeArm64Android NDK on ARM64 platforms
androidNativeX86Android NDK on x86 platforms
androidNativeX64Android NDK on x86_64 platforms
iosArm32Apple iOS on ARM (ARM32) platforms (Apple iPhone 5 and earlier)
iosArm64Apple iOS on ARM64 platforms (Apple iPhone 5s and newer)
iosX64Apple iOS 64-bit simulator
watchosArm32Apple watchOS on ARM (ARM32) platforms (Apple Watch Series 3 and earlier)
watchosArm64Apple watchOS on ARM64_32 platforms (Apple Watch Series 4 and newer)
watchosX86Apple watchOS simulator
tvosArm64Apple tvOS on ARM64 platforms (Apple TV 4th generation and newer)
tvosX64Apple tvOS simulator
linuxArm64Linux on ARM64 platforms, for example, Raspberry Pi
linuxArm32HfpLinux on hard-float ARM (ARM32) platforms
linuxMips32Linux on MIPS platforms
linuxMipsel32Linux on little-endian MIPS (mipsel) platforms
linuxX64Linux on x86_64 platforms
macosX64Apple macOS
mingwX6464-bit Microsoft Windows
mingwX8632-bit Microsoft Windows
wasm32WebAssembly
  1. kotlin {
  2. jvm()
  3. iosX64()
  4. macosX64()
  5. js().browser()
  6. }

Configuration of a target can include two parts:

Each target can have one or more compilations.

Common target configuration

In any target block, you can use the following declarations:

NameDescription
attributesAttributes used for disambiguating targets for a single platform.
presetThe preset that the target has been created from, if any.
platformTypeDesignates the Kotlin platform of this target. Avaiable values: jvm, androidJvm, js, native, common.
artifactsTaskNameThe name of the task that builds the resulting artifacts of this target.
componentsThe components used to setup Gradle publications.

JVM targets

In addition to common target configuration, jvm targets have a specific function:

NameDescription
withJava()Includes Java sources into the JVM target’s compilations.

Use this function for projects that contain both Java and Kotlin source files. Note that the default source directories for Java sources don’t follow the Java plugin’s defaults. Instead, they are derived from the Kotlin source sets. For example, if the JVM target has the default name jvm, the paths are src/jvmMain/java (for production Java sources) and src/jvmTest/java for test Java sources. Learn how to include Java sources in JVM compilations.

  1. kotlin {
  2. jvm {
  3. withJava()
  4. }
  5. }

JavaScript targets

The js block describes the configuration of JavaScript targets. It can contain one of two blocks depending on the target execution environment:

NameDescription
browserConfiguration of the browser target.
nodejsConfiguration of the Node.js target.

Learn more about configuring Kotlin/JS projects.

Browser

browser can contain the following configuration blocks:

NameDescription
testRunsConfiguration of test execution.
runTaskConfiguration of project running.
webpackTaskConfiguration of project bundling with Webpack.
dceTaskConfiguration of Dead Code Elimination.
distributionPath to output files.
  1. kotlin {
  2. js().browser {
  3. webpackTask { /* ... */ }
  4. testRuns { /* ... */ }
  5. dceTask {
  6. keep("myKotlinJsApplication.org.example.keepFromDce")
  7. }
  8. distribution {
  9. directory = File("$projectDir/customdir/")
  10. }
  11. }
  12. }

Node.js

nodejs can contain configurations of test and run tasks:

NameDescription
testRunsConfiguration of test execution.
runTaskConfiguration of project running.
  1. kotlin {
  2. js().nodejs {
  3. runTask { /* ... */ }
  4. testRuns { /* ... */ }
  5. }
  6. }

Native targets

For native targets, the following specific blocks are available:

NameDescription
binariesConfiguration of binaries to produce.
cinteropsConfiguration of interop with C libraries.

Binaries

There are the following kinds of binaries:

NameDescription
executableProduct executable.
testTest executable.
sharedLibShared library.
staticLibStatic library.
frameworkObjective-C framework.
  1. kotlin {
  2. linuxX64 { // Use your target instead.
  3. binaries {
  4. executable {
  5. // Binary configuration.
  6. }
  7. }
  8. }
  9. }

For binaries configuration, the following parameters are available:

NameDescription
compilationThe compilation from which the binary is built. By default, test binaries are based on the test compilation while other binaries - on the main compilation.
linkerOptsOptions passed to a system linker during binary building.
baseNameCustom base name for the output file. The final file name will be formed by adding system-dependent prefix and postfix to this base name.
entryPointThe entry point function for executable binaries. By default, it’s main() in the root package.
outputFileAccess to the output file.
linkTaskAccess to the link task.
runTaskAccess to the run task for executable binaries. For targets other than linuxX64, macosX64, or mingwX64 the value is null.
isStaticFor Objective-C frameworks. Includes a static library instead of a dynamic one.
  1. binaries {
  2. executable('my_executable', [RELEASE]) {
  3. // Build a binary on the basis of the test compilation.
  4. compilation = compilations.test
  5. // Custom command line options for the linker.
  6. linkerOpts = ['-L/lib/search/path', '-L/another/search/path', '-lmylib']
  7. // Base name for the output file.
  8. baseName = 'foo'
  9. // Custom entry point function.
  10. entryPoint = 'org.example.main'
  11. // Accessing the output file.
  12. println("Executable path: ${outputFile.absolutePath}")
  13. // Accessing the link task.
  14. linkTask.dependsOn(additionalPreprocessingTask)
  15. // Accessing the run task.
  16. // Note that the runTask is null for non-host platforms.
  17. runTask?.dependsOn(prepareForRun)
  18. }
  19. framework('my_framework' [RELEASE]) {
  20. // Include a static library instead of a dynamic one into the framework.
  21. isStatic = true
  22. }
  23. }
  1. binaries {
  2. executable("my_executable", listOf(RELEASE)) {
  3. // Build a binary on the basis of the test compilation.
  4. compilation = compilations["test"]
  5. // Custom command line options for the linker.
  6. linkerOpts = mutableListOf("-L/lib/search/path", "-L/another/search/path", "-lmylib")
  7. // Base name for the output file.
  8. baseName = "foo"
  9. // Custom entry point function.
  10. entryPoint = "org.example.main"
  11. // Accessing the output file.
  12. println("Executable path: ${outputFile.absolutePath}")
  13. // Accessing the link task.
  14. linkTask.dependsOn(additionalPreprocessingTask)
  15. // Accessing the run task.
  16. // Note that the runTask is null for non-host platforms.
  17. runTask?.dependsOn(prepareForRun)
  18. }
  19. framework("my_framework" listOf(RELEASE)) {
  20. // Include a static library instead of a dynamic one into the framework.
  21. isStatic = true
  22. }
  23. }

Learn more about building native binaries.

CInterops

cinterops is a collection of descriptions for interop with native libraries. To provide an interop with a library, add an entry to cinterops and define its parameters:

NameDescription
defFiledef file describing the native API.
packageNamePackage prefix for the generated Kotlin API.
compilerOptsOptions to pass to the compiler by the cinterop tool.
includeDirsDirectories to look for headers.

Learn more how to configure interop with native languages.

  1. kotlin {
  2. linuxX64 { // Replace with a target you need.
  3. compilations.main {
  4. cinterops {
  5. myInterop {
  6. // Def-file describing the native API.
  7. // The default path is src/nativeInterop/cinterop/<interop-name>.def
  8. defFile project.file("def-file.def")
  9. // Package to place the Kotlin API generated.
  10. packageName 'org.sample'
  11. // Options to be passed to compiler by cinterop tool.
  12. compilerOpts '-Ipath/to/headers'
  13. // Directories for header search (an analogue of the -I<path> compiler option).
  14. includeDirs.allHeaders("path1", "path2")
  15. // A shortcut for includeDirs.allHeaders.
  16. includeDirs("include/directory", "another/directory")
  17. }
  18. anotherInterop { /* ... */ }
  19. }
  20. }
  21. }
  22. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. linuxX64 { // Replace with a target you need.
  3. compilations.getByName("main") {
  4. val myInterop by cinterops.creating {
  5. // Def-file describing the native API.
  6. // The default path is src/nativeInterop/cinterop/<interop-name>.def
  7. defFile(project.file("def-file.def"))
  8. // Package to place the Kotlin API generated.
  9. packageName("org.sample")
  10. // Options to be passed to compiler by cinterop tool.
  11. compilerOpts("-Ipath/to/headers")
  12. // Directories for header search (an analogue of the -I<path> compiler option).
  13. includeDirs.allHeaders("path1", "path2")
  14. // A shortcut for includeDirs.allHeaders.
  15. includeDirs("include/directory", "another/directory")
  16. }
  17. val anotherInterop by cinterops.creating { /* ... */ }
  18. }
  19. }
  20. }

Android targets

The Kotlin multiplatform plugin contains two specific functions for android targets. Two functions help you configure build variants:

NameDescription
publishLibraryVariants()Specifies build variants to publish. Learn more about publishing Android libraries.
publishAllLibraryVariants()Publishes all build variants.
  1. kotlin {
  2. android {
  3. publishLibraryVariants("release", "debug")
  4. }
  5. }

Learn more about compilation for Android.

The android configuration inside kotlin doesn’t replace the build configuration of any Android project. Learn more about writing build scripts for Android projects in Android developer documentation.

Source sets

The sourceSets block describes source sets of the project. A source set contains Kotlin source files that participate in compilations together, along with their resources, dependencies, and language settings.

A multiplatform project contains predefined source sets for its targets; developers can also create custom source sets for their needs.

Predefined source sets

Predefined source sets are set up automatically upon creation of a multiplatform project. Available predefined source sets are the following:

NameDescription
commonMainCode and resources shared between all platforms. Available in all multiplatform projects. Used in all main compilations of a project.
commonTestTest code and resources shared between all platforms. Available in all multiplatform projects. Used in all test compilations of a project.
<targetName><compilationName>Target-specific sources for a compilation. <targetName> is the name of a predefined target and <compilationName> is the name of a compilation for this target. Examples: jsTest, jvmMain.

With Kotlin Gradle DSL, the sections of predefined source sets should be marked by getting.

  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets {
  3. commonMain { /* ... */ }
  4. }
  5. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets {
  3. val commonMain by getting { /* ... */ }
  4. }
  5. }

Learn more about source sets.

Custom source sets

Custom source sets are created by the project developers manually. To create a custom source set, add a section with its name inside the sourceSets section. If using Kotlin Gradle DSL, mark custom source sets by creating.

  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets {
  3. myMain { /* ... */ } // create or configure a source set by the name 'myMain'
  4. }
  5. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets {
  3. val myMain by creating { /* ... */ } // create a new source set by the name 'MyMain'
  4. }
  5. }

Note that a newly created source set isn’t connected to other ones. To use it in the project’s compilations, connect it with other source sets.

Source set parameters

Configurations of source sets are stored inside the corresponding blocks of sourceSets. A source set has the following parameters:

NameDescription
kotlin.srcDirLocation of Kotlin source files inside the source set directory.
resources.srcDirLocation of resources inside the source set directory.
dependsOnConnection with another source set.
dependenciesDependencies of the source set.
languageSettingsLanguage settings applied to the source set.
  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets {
  3. commonMain {
  4. kotlin.srcDir('src')
  5. resources.srcDir('res')
  6. dependencies {
  7. /* ... */
  8. }
  9. }
  10. }
  11. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets {
  3. val commonMain by getting {
  4. kotlin.srcDir("src")
  5. resources.srcDir("res")
  6. dependencies {
  7. /* ... */
  8. }
  9. }
  10. }
  11. }

Compilations

A target can have one or more compilations, for example, for production or testing. There are predefined compilations that are added automatically upon target creation. You can additionally create custom compilations.

To refer to all or some particular compilations of a target, use the compilations object collection. From compilations, you can refer to a compilation by its name.

Learn more about configuring compilations.

Predefined compilations

Predefined compilations are created automatically for each target of a project except for Android targets. Available predefined compilations are the following:

NameDescription
mainCompilation for production sources.
testCompilation for tests.
  1. kotlin {
  2. jvm {
  3. compilations.main.output // get the main compilation output
  4. compilations.test.runtimeDependencyFiles // get the test runtime classpath
  5. }
  6. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. jvm {
  3. val main by compilations.getting {
  4. output // get the main compilation output
  5. }
  6. compilations["test"].runtimeDependencyFiles // get the test runtime classpath
  7. }
  8. }

Custom compilations

In addition to predefined compilations, you can create your own custom compilations. To create a custom compilation, add a new item into the compilations collection. If using Kotlin Gradle DSL, mark custom compilations by creating.

Learn more about creating a custom compilation.

  1. kotlin {
  2. jvm() {
  3. compilations.create('integrationTest') {
  4. defaultSourceSet {
  5. dependencies {
  6. /* ... */
  7. }
  8. }
  9. // Create a test task to run the tests produced by this compilation:
  10. tasks.register('jvmIntegrationTest', Test) {
  11. /* ... */
  12. }
  13. }
  14. }
  15. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. jvm() {
  3. compilations {
  4. val integrationTest by compilations.creating {
  5. defaultSourceSet {
  6. dependencies {
  7. /* ... */
  8. }
  9. }
  10. // Create a test task to run the tests produced by this compilation:
  11. tasks.register<Test>("integrationTest") {
  12. /* ... */
  13. }
  14. }
  15. }
  16. }
  17. }

Compilation parameters

A compilation has the following parameters:

NameDescription
defaultSourceSetThe compilation’s default source set.
kotlinSourceSetsSource sets participating in the compilation.
allKotlinSourceSetsSource sets participating in the compilation and their connections via dependsOn().
kotlinOptionsCompiler options applied to the compilation. For the list of available options, see Compiler options.
compileKotlinTaskGradle task for compiling Kotlin sources.
compileKotlinTaskNameName of compileKotlinTask.
compileAllTaskNameName of the Gradle task for compiling all sources of a compilation.
outputThe compilation output.
compileDependencyFilesCompile-time dependency files (classpath) of the compilation.
runtimeDependencyFilesRuntime dependency files (classpath) of the compilation.
  1. kotlin {
  2. jvm {
  3. compilations.main.kotlinOptions {
  4. // Setup the Kotlin compiler options for the 'main' compilation:
  5. jvmTarget = "1.8"
  6. }
  7. compilations.main.compileKotlinTask // get the Kotlin task 'compileKotlinJvm'
  8. compilations.main.output // get the main compilation output
  9. compilations.test.runtimeDependencyFiles // get the test runtime classpath
  10. }
  11. // Configure all compilations of all targets:
  12. targets.all {
  13. compilations.all {
  14. kotlinOptions {
  15. allWarningsAsErrors = true
  16. }
  17. }
  18. }
  19. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. jvm {
  3. val main by compilations.getting {
  4. kotlinOptions {
  5. // Setup the Kotlin compiler options for the 'main' compilation:
  6. jvmTarget = "1.8"
  7. }
  8. compileKotlinTask // get the Kotlin task 'compileKotlinJvm'
  9. output // get the main compilation output
  10. }
  11. compilations["test"].runtimeDependencyFiles // get the test runtime classpath
  12. }
  13. // Configure all compilations of all targets:
  14. targets.all {
  15. compilations.all {
  16. kotlinOptions {
  17. allWarningsAsErrors = true
  18. }
  19. }
  20. }
  21. }

Dependencies

The dependencies block of the source set declaration contains the dependencies of this source set.

Learn more about configuring dependencies.

There are four types of dependencies:

NameDescription
apiDependencies used in the API of the current module.
implementationDependencies used in the module but not exposed outside it.
compileOnlyDependencies used only for compilation of the current module.
runtimeOnlyDependencies available at runtime but not visible during compilation of any module.
  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets {
  3. commonMain {
  4. dependencies {
  5. api 'com.example:foo-metadata:1.0'
  6. }
  7. }
  8. jvm6Main {
  9. dependencies {
  10. implementation 'com.example:foo-jvm6:1.0'
  11. }
  12. }
  13. }
  14. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets {
  3. val commonMain by getting {
  4. dependencies {
  5. api("com.example:foo-metadata:1.0")
  6. }
  7. }
  8. val jvm6Main by getting {
  9. dependencies {
  10. implementation("com.example:foo-jvm6:1.0")
  11. }
  12. }
  13. }
  14. }

Additionally, source sets can depend on each other and form a hierarchy. In this case, the dependsOn() relation is used.

Source set dependencies can also be declared in the top-level dependencies block of the build script. In this case, their declarations follow the pattern <sourceSetName><DependencyKind>, for example, commonMainApi.

  1. dependencies {
  2. commonMainApi 'com.example:foo-common:1.0'
  3. jvm6MainApi 'com.example:foo-jvm6:1.0'
  4. }
  1. dependencies {
  2. "commonMainApi"("com.example:foo-common:1.0")
  3. "jvm6MainApi"("com.example:foo-jvm6:1.0")
  4. }

Language settings

The languageSettings block of a source set defines certain aspects of project analysis and build. The following language settings are available:

NameDescription
languageVersionProvides source compatibility with the specified version of Kotlin.
apiVersionAllows using declarations only from the specified version of Kotlin bundled libraries.
enableLanguageFeatureEnables the specified language feature. The available values correspond to the language features that are currently experimental or have been introduced as such at some point.
useExperimentalAnnotationAllows using the specified opt-in annotation.
progressiveModeEnables the progressive mode.
  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets.all {
  3. languageSettings {
  4. languageVersion = '1.4' // possible values: '1.0', '1.1', '1.2', '1.3', '1.4'
  5. apiVersion = '1.4' // possible values: '1.0', '1.1', '1.2', '1.3', '1.4'
  6. enableLanguageFeature('InlineClasses') // language feature name
  7. useExperimentalAnnotation('kotlin.ExperimentalUnsignedTypes') // annotation FQ-name
  8. progressiveMode = true // false by default
  9. }
  10. }
  11. }
  1. kotlin {
  2. sourceSets.all {
  3. languageSettings.apply {
  4. languageVersion = "1.4" // possible values: "1.0", "1.1", "1.2", "1.3", "1.4"
  5. apiVersion = "1.4" // possible values: "1.0", "1.1", "1.2", "1.3", "1.4"
  6. enableLanguageFeature("InlineClasses") // language feature name
  7. useExperimentalAnnotation("kotlin.ExperimentalUnsignedTypes") // annotation FQ-name
  8. progressiveMode = true // false by default
  9. }
  10. }
  11. }