Add build dependencies

The Gradle build system in Android Studio makes it easy to include external binaries or other library modules to your build as dependencies. The dependencies can be located on your machine or in a remote repository, and any transitive dependencies they declare are automatically included as well. This page describes how to use dependencies with your Android project, including details about behaviors and configurations that are specific to the Android plugin for Gradle. For a deeper conceptual guide to Gradle dependencies, you should also see the Gradle guide for dependency management —but remember that your Android project must use only the dependency configurations defined on this page.

Dependency types

To add a dependency to your project, specify a dependency configuration such as implementation in the dependencies block of your module's build.gradle file.

For example, the following build.gradle file for an app module includes three different types of dependencies:

Groovy

plugins {
  id 'com.android.application'
}

android { ... }

dependencies {
    // Dependency on a local library module
    implementation project(':mylibrary')

    // Dependency on local binaries
    implementation fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])

    // Dependency on a remote binary
    implementation 'com.example.android:app-magic:12.3'
}

Kotlin

plugins {
    id("com.android.application")
}

android { ... }

dependencies {
    // Dependency on a local library module
    implementation(project(":mylibrary"))

    // Dependency on local binaries
    implementation(fileTree(mapOf("dir" to "libs", "include" to listOf("*.jar"))))

    // Dependency on a remote binary
    implementation("com.example.android:app-magic:12.3")
}

Each of these requests a different kind of library dependency as follows:

Local library module dependency

Groovy

implementation project(':mylibrary')

Kotlin

implementation(project(":mylibrary"))

This declares a dependency on an Android library module named "mylibrary" (this name must match the library name defined with an include: in your settings.gradle file). When you build your app, the build system compiles the library module and packages the resulting compiled contents in the app.

Local binary dependency

Groovy

  implementation fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])

Kotlin

  implementation(fileTree(mapOf("dir" to "libs", "include" to listOf("*.jar"))))

Gradle declares dependencies on JAR files inside your project's module_name/libs/ directory (because Gradle reads paths relative to the build.gradle file).

Alternatively, you can specify individual files as follows:

Groovy

  implementation files('libs/foo.jar', 'libs/bar.jar')

Kotlin

  implementation(files("libs/foo.jar", "libs/bar.jar"))
Remote binary dependency

Groovy

  implementation 'com.example.android:app-magic:12.3'

Kotlin

  implementation("com.example.android:app-magic:12.3")

This is actually shorthand for the following:

Groovy

  implementation group: 'com.example.android', name: 'app-magic', version: '12.3'

Kotlin

  implementation(group = "com.example.android", name = "app-magic", version = "12.3")

This declares a dependency on version 12.3 of the "app-magic" library, inside the "com.example.android" namespace group.

Note: Remote dependencies like this require that you declare the appropriate remote repositories where Gradle should look for the library. If the library does not already exist locally, Gradle pulls it from the remote site when the build requires it (such as when you click Sync Project with Gradle Files or when you run a build).

If you depend on an AGP dependency at compile-time, make sure to add it as an explicit dependency. Because AGP uses api/implementation configurations internally, some artifacts may be removed from your compile classpath and your compile classpath may change.

Native dependencies

As of Android Gradle plugin 4.0, native dependencies can also be imported in the manner described in this document.

Depending on an AAR that exposes native libraries will automatically make them available to the build system used by externalNativeBuild. To access the libraries from your code, you must link to them in your native build scripts. In this document, see Using native dependencies.

Dependency configurations

Inside the dependencies block, you can declare a library dependency using one of several different dependency configurations (such as implementation shown above). Each dependency configuration provides Gradle with different instructions about how to use the dependency. The following table describes each of the configurations you can use for a dependency in your Android project. The table also compares these configurations to those that were deprecated as of Android Gradle plugin 3.0.0.

Configuration Behavior
implementation Gradle adds the dependency to the compile classpath and packages the dependency to the build output. However, when your module configures an implementation dependency, it's letting Gradle know that you do not want the module to leak the dependency to other modules at compile time. That is, the dependency is available to other modules only at runtime.

Using this dependency configuration instead of api or compile (deprecated) can result in significant build time improvements because it reduces the number of modules that the build system needs to recompile. For example, if an implementation dependency changes its API, Gradle recompiles only that dependency and the modules that directly depend on it. Most app and test modules should use this configuration.
api Gradle adds the dependency to the compile classpath and build output. When a module includes an api dependency, it's letting Gradle know that the module wants to transitively export that dependency to other modules, so that it's available to them at both runtime and compile time.

This configuration behaves just like compile (which is now deprecated), but you should use it with caution and only with dependencies that you need to transitively export to other upstream consumers. That's because, if an api dependency changes its external API, Gradle recompiles all modules that have access to that dependency at compile time. So, having a large number of api dependencies can significantly increase build time. Unless you want to expose a dependency's API to a separate module, library modules should instead use implementation dependencies.
compileOnly Gradle adds the dependency to the compile classpath only (that is, it is not added to the build output). This is useful when you're creating an Android module and you need the dependency during compilation, but it's optional to have it present at runtime.

If you use this configuration, then your library module must include a runtime condition to check whether the dependency is available, and then gracefully change its behavior so it can still function if it's not provided. This helps reduce the size of the final app by not adding transient dependencies that aren't critical. This configuration behaves just like provided (which is now deprecated).

Note: You can't use the compileOnly configuration with AAR dependencies.

runtimeOnly Gradle adds the dependency to the build output only, for use during runtime. That is, it is not added to the compile classpath. This configuration behaves just like apk (which is now deprecated).
annotationProcessor

To add a dependency on a library that is an annotation processor, you must add it to the annotation processor classpath using the annotationProcessor configuration. That's because using this configuration improves build performance by separating the compile classpath from the annotation processor classpath. If Gradle finds annotation processors on the compile classpath, it deactivates compile avoidance, which negatively impacts build time (Gradle 5.0 and higher ignore annotation processors found on the compile classpath).

The Android Gradle plugin assumes a dependency is an annotation processor if its JAR file contains the following file:

META-INF/services/javax.annotation.processing.Processor

If the plugin detects an annotation processor that's on the compile classpath, it produces a build error.

Note: Kotlin projects should use kapt to declare annotation processor dependencies.

lintChecks

Use this configuration to include lint checks you want Gradle to execute when building your project.

Note: When using Android Gradle plugin 3.4.0 and higher, this dependency configuration no longer packages the lint checks in your Android Library projects. To include lint check dependencies in your AAR libraries, use the lintPublish configuration described below.

lintPublish Use this configuration in Android library projects to include lint checks you want Gradle to compile into a lint.jar file and package in your AAR. This causes projects that consume your AAR to also apply those lint checks. If you were previously using the lintChecks dependency configuration to include lint checks in the published AAR, you need to migrate those dependencies to instead use the lintPublish configuration.

Groovy

dependencies {
  // Executes lint checks from the ':checks' project at build time.
  lintChecks project(':checks')
  // Compiles lint checks from the ':checks-to-publish' into a
  // lint.jar file and publishes it to your Android library.
  lintPublish project(':checks-to-publish')
}

Kotlin

dependencies {
  // Executes lint checks from the ":checks" project at build time.
  lintChecks(project(":checks"))
  // Compiles lint checks from the ":checks-to-publish" into a
  // lint.jar file and publishes it to your Android library.
  lintPublish(project(":checks-to-publish"))
}
apk Gradle adds the dependency to the build output only, for use during runtime. That is, it is not added to the compile classpath. This configuration is deprecated (it's available in AGP 1.0-4.2).
compile Gradle adds the dependency to the compile classpath and build output, and exports the dependency to other modules. This configuration is deprecated (it's available in AGP 1.0-4.2).
provided Gradle adds the dependency to the compile classpath only (that is, it is not added to the build output). This configuration is deprecated (it's available in AGP 1.0-4.2).

All of the above configurations apply dependencies to all build variants. If you instead want to declare a dependency for only a specific build variant source set or for a testing source set, you must capitalize the configuration name and prefix it with the name of the build variant or testing source set.

For example, to add an implementation dependency only to your "free" product flavor (using a remote binary dependency), it looks like this:

Groovy

dependencies {
    freeImplementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-ads:9.8.0'
}

Kotlin

dependencies {
    freeImplementation("com.google.firebase:firebase-ads:9.8.0")
}

However, if you want to add a dependency for a variant that combines a product flavor and a build type, then you must initialize the configuration name in the configurations block. The following sample adds a runtimeOnly dependency to your "freeDebug" build variant (using a local binary dependency).

Groovy

configurations {
    // Initializes a placeholder for the freeDebugRuntimeOnly dependency configuration.
    freeDebugRuntimeOnly {}
}

dependencies {
    freeDebugRuntimeOnly fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
}

Kotlin

// Initializes a placeholder for the freeDebugRuntimeOnly dependency configuration.
val freeDebugRuntimeOnly by configurations.creating

dependencies {
    freeDebugRuntimeOnly(fileTree(mapOf("dir" to "libs", "include" to listOf("*.jar"))))
}

To add implementation dependencies for your local tests and instrumented tests , it looks like this:

Groovy

dependencies {
    // Adds a remote binary dependency only for local tests.
    testImplementation 'junit:junit:4.12'

    // Adds a remote binary dependency only for the instrumented test APK.
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.0.2'
}

Kotlin

dependencies {
    // Adds a remote binary dependency only for local tests.
    testImplementation("junit:junit:4.12")

    // Adds a remote binary dependency only for the instrumented test APK.
    androidTestImplementation("androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.0.2")
}

However, certain configurations don't make sense in this situation. For example, because other modules can't depend on androidTest, you get the following warning if you use the androidTestApi configuration:

WARNING: Configuration 'androidTestApi' is obsolete and has been replaced with
'androidTestImplementation'.

Add annotation processors

If you add annotation processors to your compile classpath, you'll see an error message similar to the following:

Error: Annotation processors must be explicitly declared now.

To resolve this error, add annotation processors to your project by configuring your dependency using annotationProcessor as shown below:

Groovy

dependencies {
    // Adds libraries defining annotations to only the compile classpath.
    compileOnly 'com.google.dagger:dagger:version-number'
    // Adds the annotation processor dependency to the annotation processor classpath.
    annotationProcessor 'com.google.dagger:dagger-compiler:version-number'
}

Kotlin

dependencies {
    // Adds libraries defining annotations to only the compile classpath.
    compileOnly("com.google.dagger:dagger:version-number")
    // Adds the annotation processor dependency to the annotation processor classpath.
    annotationProcessor("com.google.dagger:dagger-compiler:version-number")
}

Note: Android plugin for Gradle 3.0.0+ no longer supports android-apt plugin.

Pass arguments to annotation processors

If you need to pass arguments to an annotation processor, you can do so using the AnnotationProcessorOptions block in your module's build configuration. For example, if you want to pass primitive data types as key-value pairs, you can use the argument property, as shown below:

Groovy

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        javaCompileOptions {
            annotationProcessorOptions {
                argument 'key1', 'value1'
                argument 'key2', 'value2'
            }
        }
    }
}

Kotlin

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        javaCompileOptions {
            annotationProcessorOptions {
                arguments += mapOf("key1" to "value1",
                                   "key2" to "value2")
            }
        }
    }
}

However, when using Android Gradle plugin 3.2.0 and higher, you need to pass processor arguments that represent files or directories using Gradle's CommandLineArgumentProvider interface.

Using CommandLineArgumentProvider allows you or the annotation processor author to improve the correctness and performance of incremental and cached clean builds by applying incremental build property type annotations to each argument.

For example, the class below implements CommandLineArgumentProvider and annotates each argument for the processor. The sample also uses the Groovy language syntax and is included directly in the module's build.gradle file.

Groovy

class MyArgsProvider implements CommandLineArgumentProvider {

    // Annotates each directory as either an input or output for the
    // annotation processor.
    @InputFiles
    // Using this annotation helps Gradle determine which part of the file path
    // should be considered during up-to-date checks.
    @PathSensitive(PathSensitivity.RELATIVE)
    FileCollection inputDir

    @OutputDirectory
    File outputDir

    // The class constructor sets the paths for the input and output directories.
    MyArgsProvider(FileCollection input, File output) {
        inputDir = input
        outputDir = output
    }

    // Specifies each directory as a command line argument for the processor.
    // The Android plugin uses this method to pass the arguments to the
    // annotation processor.
    @Override
    Iterable<String> asArguments() {
        // Use the form '-Akey[=value]' to pass your options to the Java compiler.
        ["-AinputDir=${inputDir.singleFile.absolutePath}",
         "-AoutputDir=${outputDir.absolutePath}"]
    }
}

android {...}

Kotlin

class MyArgsProvider(
    // Annotates each directory as either an input or output for the
    // annotation processor.
    @get:InputFiles
    // Using this annotation helps Gradle determine which part of the file path
    // should be considered during up-to-date checks.
    @get:PathSensitive(PathSensitivity.RELATIVE)
    val inputDir: FileCollection,

    @get:OutputDirectory
    val outputDir: File
) : CommandLineArgumentProvider {
    // Specifies each directory as a command line argument for the processor.
    // The Android plugin uses this method to pass the arguments to the
    // annotation processor.

    override fun asArguments(): Iterable<String> {
        // Use the form '-Akey[=value]' to pass your options to the Java compiler.
        return listOf("-AinputDir=${inputDir.singleFile.absolutePath}",
                      "-AoutputDir=${outputDir.absolutePath}")
    }
}

android {...}

After you define a class that implements CommandLineArgumentProvider, you need to create an instance and pass it to the Android plugin using the annotationProcessorOptions.compilerArgumentProvider method, as shown below.

Groovy

// This is in your module's build.gradle file.
android {
    defaultConfig {
        javaCompileOptions {
            annotationProcessorOptions {
                // Creates a new MyArgsProvider object, specifies the input and
                // output paths for the constructor, and passes the object
                // to the Android plugin.
                compilerArgumentProvider new MyArgsProvider(files("input/path"),
                                         new File("output/path"))
            }
        }
    }
}

Kotlin

// This is in your module's build.gradle file.
android {
    defaultConfig {
        javaCompileOptions {
            annotationProcessorOptions {
                // Creates a new MyArgsProvider object, specifies the input and
                // output paths for the constructor, and passes the object
                // to the Android plugin.
                compilerArgumentProvider(MyArgsProvider(files("input/path"),
                                                          file("output/path")))
            }
        }
    }
}

To learn more about how implementing CommandLineArgumentProvider helps improve build performance, read Caching Java projects.

Disable the annotation processor error check

If you have dependencies on the compile classpath that include annotation processors you don't need, you can disable the error check by adding the following to your build.gradle file. Keep in mind, the annotation processors you add to the compile classpath are still not added to the processor classpath.

Groovy

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        javaCompileOptions {
            annotationProcessorOptions {
                includeCompileClasspath false
            }
        }
    }
}

Kotlin

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        javaCompileOptions {
            annotationProcessorOptions {
                argument("includeCompileClasspath", "false")
            }
        }
    }
}

If you use Kotlin and kapt:

Groovy

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        kapt {
            includeCompileClasspath false
        }
    }
}

Kotlin

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        kapt {
            includeCompileClasspath = false
        }
    }
}

If you experience issues after migrating your project's annotation processors to the processor classpath, you can allow annotation processors on the compile classpath by setting includeCompileClasspath to true. However, setting this property to true is not recommended, and the option to do so will be removed in a future update of the Android plugin.

Exclude transitive dependencies

As an app grows in scope, it can contain a number of dependencies including direct dependencies and transitive dependencies (libraries which your app's imported libraries depend on). To exclude transitive dependencies that you no longer need, you can use the exclude keyword as given below:

Groovy

dependencies {
    implementation('some-library') {
        exclude group: 'com.example.imgtools', module: 'native'
    }
}

Kotlin

dependencies {
    implementation("some-library") {
        exclude(group = "com.example.imgtools", module = "native")
    }
}

Exclude transitive dependencies from test configurations

If you need to exclude certain transitive dependencies from your tests, the code sample shown above might not work as expected. That's because a test configuration (e.g., androidTestImplementation) extends the module's implementation configuration. That is, it always contains implementation dependencies when Gradle resolves the configuration.

So, to exclude transitive dependencies from your tests, you must do so at execution time as shown below:

Groovy

android.testVariants.all { variant ->
    variant.getCompileConfiguration().exclude group: 'com.jakewharton.threetenabp', module: 'threetenabp'
    variant.getRuntimeConfiguration().exclude group: 'com.jakewharton.threetenabp', module: 'threetenabp'
}

Kotlin

android.testVariants.all {
    compileConfiguration.exclude(group = "com.jakewharton.threetenabp", module = "threetenabp")
    runtimeConfiguration.exclude(group = "com.jakewharton.threetenabp", module = "threetenabp")
}

Note: You can still use the exclude keyword in the dependencies block as shown in the original code sample from the Exclude transitive dependencies section to omit transitive dependencies that are specific to the test configuration and are not included in other configurations.

Configure Wear OS app dependencies

Configuring dependencies for a Wear OS module is similar to that of any other module; that is, Wear OS modules use the same dependency configurations, such as implementation and compileOnly.

Wear modules also support variant-aware dependency management. As a result, if your base app module has a dependency on a Wear module, each variant of the base module consumes the matching variant from the Wear module. If you are building a simple app with a dependency on only one Wear module, where the module configures the same variants as your base module, you need to specify the wearApp configuration in your base module's build.gradle file as shown below:

Groovy


dependencies {
    // If the main and Wear app modules have the same variants,
    // variant-aware dependency management automatically matches
    // variants of the main app module with that of the Wear module.
    wearApp project(':wearable')
}

Kotlin


dependencies {
    // If the main and Wear app modules have the same variants,
    // variant-aware dependency management automatically matches
    // variants of the main app module with that of the Wear module.
    wearApp(project(":wearable"))
}

If you have multiple Wear modules and you want to specify a different Wear module per app flavor, you can do so using the flavorWearApp configuration, as follows (however, you can't include other dependencies that use the wearApp configuration):

Groovy


dependencies {
    paidWearApp project(':wear1')
    demoWearApp project(':wear1')
    freeWearApp project(':wear2')
}

Kotlin


dependencies {
    "paidWearApp"(project(":wear1"))
    "demoWearApp"(project(":wear1"))
    "freeWearApp"(project(":wear2"))
}

Remote repositories

When your dependency is something other than a local library or file tree, Gradle looks for the files in whichever online repositories are specified in the dependencyResolutionManagement { repositories {...} } block of your settings.gradle file. The order in which you list each repository determines the order in which Gradle searches the repositories for each project dependency. For example, if a dependency is available from both repository A and B, and you list A first, Gradle downloads the dependency from repository A.

By default, new Android Studio projects specify Google's Maven repository, and the Maven central repository as repository locations in the project's settings.gradle file, as shown below:

Groovy


dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
}

Kotlin


dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
}

If you want something from a local repository use mavenLocal():

Groovy


dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        mavenLocal()
    }
}

Kotlin


dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        mavenLocal()
    }
}

Or you can declare specific Maven or Ivy repositories as follows:

Groovy


dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        maven {
            url 'https://repo.example.com/maven2'
        }
        maven {
            url 'file://local/repo/'
        }
        ivy {
            url 'https://repo.example.com/ivy'
        }
    }
}

Kotlin


dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        maven(url = "https://repo.example.com/maven2")
        maven(url = "file://local/repo/")
        ivy(url = "https://repo.example.com/ivy")
    }
}

For more information, see the Gradle Repositories guide.

Google's Maven repository

The most recent versions of the following Android libraries are available from Google's Maven repository:

You can see all available artifacts at Google's Maven repository index (see below for programmatic access).

To add one of these libraries to your build, include Google's Maven repository in your top-level build.gradle file:

Groovy


dependencyResolutionManagement {

    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()

        // If you're using a version of Gradle lower than 4.1, you must instead use:
        // maven {
        //     url 'https://maven.google.com'
        // }
        // An alternative URL is 'https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/'.
    }
}

Kotlin


dependencyResolutionManagement {

    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()

        // If you're using a version of Gradle lower than 4.1, you must instead use:
        // maven {
        //     url = "https://maven.google.com"
        // }
        // An alternative URL is "https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/".
    }
}

Then add the desired library to your module's dependencies block. For example,the appcompat library looks like this:

Groovy


dependencies {
    implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.2.0'
}

Kotlin


dependencies {
    implementation("com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0")
}

However, if you're trying to use an older version of the above libraries and your dependency fails, then it's not available in the Maven repository and you must instead get the library from the offline repository.

Programmatic access

For programmatic access to Google's Maven artifacts, you can get an XML list of artifact groups from maven.google.com/master-index.xml. Then, for any group, you can view its library names and versions at:

maven.google.com/group_path/group-index.xml

For example, libraries in the android.arch.lifecycle group are listed at maven.google.com/android/arch/lifecycle/group-index.xml.

You can also download the POM and JAR files at:

maven.google.com/group_path/library/version /library-version.ext

For example: maven.google.com/android/arch/lifecycle/compiler/1.0.0/compiler-1. 0.0.pom.

Offline repository from SDK Manager

For libraries not available from the Google Maven repository (usually older library versions), you must download the offline Google Repository package from the SDK Manager.

Then you can add these libraries to your dependencies block as usual.

The offline libraries are saved in android_sdk/extras/.

Native dependencies with the Android Gradle plugin

AAR libraries can contain native dependencies that the Android Gradle Plugin can consume. AGP is also capable of producing AARs that expose native libraries to their consumers.

Using native dependencies

Starting with Android Gradle plugin 4.0, C/C++ dependencies can be imported from AARs linked in your build.gradle file. Gradle will automatically make these available to the native build system, but your build system must be configured to make use of the imported libraries and headers. Since C/C++ dependencies are distributed as AARs, the following links about generic AARs may be helpful:

  • Creating an Android Library for generic AAR documentation and how to integrate it into your project, especially when you want to use the AAR as a local C/C++ dependency.
  • Add build dependencies for information on adding dependencies to your build.gradle file, especially for the remote dependencies.

This document focuses on how to configure your native build system and assumes you've already added a C/C++ dependency AAR into your project's Gradle build environment.

Native dependencies in AARs

AAR dependencies of your Gradle modules can expose native libraries for use by your application. Inside the AAR, the prefab directory contains a Prefab package, which includes the headers and libraries of the native dependency.

Each dependency can expose at most one Prefab package, which comprises one or more modules. A Prefab module is a single library, which could be either a shared, static, or header only library.

The package and module names need to be known to make use of the libraries. By convention the package name will match the Maven artifact name and the module name will match the C/C++ library name, but this is not required. Consult the dependency's documentation to determine what names it uses.

Build system configuration

The prefab feature must be enabled for your Android Gradle module.

To do so, add the following to the android block of your module's build.gradle file:

Groovy

buildFeatures {
  prefab true
}

Kotlin

buildFeatures {
  prefab = true
}

Optionally, configure a version in your project's gradle.properties file:

android.prefabVersion=2.0.0

Typically the default version selected AGP will fit your needs. You should only need to select a different version if there is a bug you need to work around or a new feature you want.

Dependencies imported from an AAR are exposed to CMake via CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH. This value will be set automatically by Gradle when CMake is invoked, so if your build modifies this variable be sure to append rather than assign to it.

Each dependency exposes a config-file package to your build. These are imported with the find_package command. This command searches for config-file packages matching the given package name and version and exposes the targets it defines to be used in your build. For example, if your application defines libapp.so and it uses cURL, your CMakeLists.txt should include the following:

add_library(app SHARED app.cpp)

# Add these two lines.
find_package(curl REQUIRED CONFIG)
target_link_libraries(app curl::curl)

app.cpp is now able to #include "curl/curl.h", libapp.so will be automatically linked against libcurl.so when building, and libcurl.so will be included with the app.

Publishing native libraries in AARs

The ability to create native AARs was first added in AGP 4.1.

To export your native libraries, add the following to the android block of your library project's build.gradle file:

Groovy


buildFeatures {
    prefabPublishing true
}

prefab {
    mylibrary {
      headers "src/main/cpp/mylibrary/include"
    }

    myotherlibrary {
        headers "src/main/cpp/myotherlibrary/include"
    }
}

Kotlin


buildFeatures {
    prefabPublishing = true
}

prefab {
    create("mylibrary") {
      headers = "src/main/cpp/mylibrary/include"
    }

    create("myotherlibrary") {
        headers = "src/main/cpp/myotherlibrary/include"
    }
}

In this example, the mylibrary and myotherlibrary libraries from either your ndk-build or CMake external native build will be packaged in the AAR produced by your build, and each will export the headers from the specified directory to their dependents.

Dependency order

The order in which you list your dependencies indicates the priority for each: the first library is higher priority than the second, the second is higher priority than the third, and so on. This order is important in the event that resources are merged or manifest elements are merged into your app from the libraries.

For example, if your project declares the following:

  • Dependency on LIB_A and LIB_B (in that order)
  • And LIB_A depends on LIB_C and LIB_D (in that order)
  • And LIB_B also depends on LIB_C

Then, the flat dependency order will be as follows:

  1. LIB_A
  2. LIB_D
  3. LIB_B
  4. LIB_C

This ensures that both LIB_A and LIB_B can override LIB_C; and LIB_D is still higher priority than LIB_B because LIB_A (which depends on it) has higher priority than LIB_B.

For more information about how manifests from different project sources/dependencies are merged, see Merge multiple manifest files.

View module dependencies

Some direct dependencies may have dependencies of their own. These are called transitive dependencies. Rather than requiring you to manually declare each transitive dependency, Gradle automatically gathers and adds them for you. The Android plugin for Gradle provides a task that displays a list of the dependencies Gradle resolves for a given module.

For each module, the report also groups the dependencies based on build variant, testing source set, and classpath. The following is sample report for an app module's runtime classpath of its debug build variant and compile classpath of its instrumented test source set.

debugRuntimeClasspath - Dependencies for runtime/packaging
+--- :mylibrary (variant: debug)
+--- com.google.android.material:material:1.0.0@aar
+--- androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.0.2@aar
+--- androidx.constraintlayout:constraintlayout:1.1.3@aar
+--- androidx.fragment:fragment:1.0.0@aar
+--- androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable-animated:1.0.0@aar
+--- androidx.recyclerview:recyclerview:1.0.0@aar
+--- androidx.legacy:legacy-support-core-ui:1.0.0@aar
...

debugAndroidTest
debugAndroidTestCompileClasspath - Dependencies for compilation
+--- androidx.test.ext:junit:1.1.0@aar
+--- androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.1.1@aar
+--- androidx.test:runner:1.1.1@aar
+--- junit:junit:4.12@jar
...

To run the task, proceed as follows:

  1. Select View > Tool Windows > Gradle (or click Gradle in the tool windows bar).
  2. Expand AppName > Tasks > android and double-click androidDependencies. After Gradle executes the task, the Run window should open to display the output.

For more information about managing dependencies in Gradle, see Dependency management basics in the Gradle User Guide.

Fix dependency resolution errors

When you add multiple dependencies to your app project, those direct and transitive dependencies might conflict with one another. The Android Gradle plugin tries to resolve these conflicts gracefully, but some conflicts may lead to compile time or runtime errors.

To help you investigate which dependencies are contributing to errors, inspect your app's dependency tree and look for dependencies that appear more than once or with conflicting versions.

If you can't easily identify the duplicate dependency, try using Android Studio's UI to search for dependencies that include the duplicate class as follows:

  1. Select Navigate > Class from the menu bar.
  2. In the pop-up search dialog, make sure that the box next to Include non-project items is checked.
  3. Type the name of the class that appears in the build error.
  4. Inspect the results for the dependencies that include the class.

The following sections describe the different types of dependency resolution errors you may encounter and how to fix them.

Fix duplicate class errors

If a class appears more than once on the runtime classpath, you get an error similar to the following:

Program type already present com.example.MyClass

This error typically occurs due to one of the following circumstances:

  • A binary dependency includes a library that your app also includes as a direct dependency. For example, your app declares a direct dependency on Library A and Library B, but Library A already includes Library B in its binary.
    • To resolve this issue, remove Library B as a direct dependency.
  • Your app has a local binary dependency and a remote binary dependency on the same library.
    • To resolve this issue, remove one of the binary dependencies.

Fix conflicts between classpaths

When Gradle resolves the compile classpath, it first resolves the runtime classpath and uses the result to determine what versions of dependencies should be added to the compile classpath. In other words, the runtime classpath determines the required version numbers for identical dependencies on downstream classpaths.

Your app's runtime classpath also determines the version numbers that Gradle requires for matching dependencies in the runtime classpath for the app's test APK. The hierarchy of classpaths is described in figure 1.

Figure 1. Version numbers of dependencies that appear across multiple classpaths must match according to this hierarchy.

A conflict where different versions of the same dependency appears across multiple classpaths might occur when, for example, your app includes a version of a dependency using the implementation dependency configuration and a library module includes a different version of the dependency using the runtimeOnly configuration.

When resolving dependencies on your runtime and compile time classpaths, Android Gradle plugin 3.3.0 and higher attempt to automatically fix certain downstream version conflicts. For example, if the runtime classpath includes Library A version 2.0 and the compile classpath includes Library A version 1.0, the plugin automatically updates the dependency on the compile classpath to Library A version 2.0 to avoid errors.

However, if the runtime classpath includes Library A version 1.0 and the compile classpath includes Library A version 2.0, the plugin does not downgrade the dependency on the compile classpath to Library A version 1.0, and you still get an error similar to the following:

Conflict with dependency 'com.example.library:some-lib:2.0' in project 'my-library'.
Resolved versions for runtime classpath (1.0) and compile classpath (2.0) differ.

To resolve this issue, do one of the following:

  • Include the desired version of the dependency as an api dependency to your library module. That is, only your library module declares the dependency, but the app module will also have access to its API, transitively.
  • Alternatively, you can declare the dependency in both modules, but you should make sure that each module uses the same version of the dependency. Consider configuring project-wide properties to ensure versions of each dependency remain consistent throughout your project.

Apply custom build logic

This section describes advanced topics that are useful when you want to extend the Android Gradle plugin or write your own plugin.

Publish variant dependencies to custom logic

A library can have functionalities that other projects or sub-projects might want to use. Publishing a library is the process by which the library is made available to its consumers. Libraries can control which dependencies its consumers have access to at compile time and runtime.

There are two separate configurations that hold the transitive dependencies of each classpath which must be used by consumers to consume the library as described below:

  • variant_nameApiElements: This configuration holds the transitive dependencies that are available to consumers at compile time.
  • variant_nameRuntimeElements: This configuration holds the transitive dependencies that are available to consumers at runtime.

To learn more about the relationships between the different configurations, go to The Java Library plugin configurations.

Custom dependency resolution strategies

A project may include a dependency on two different versions of the same library which can lead to dependency conflicts. For example, if your project depends on version 1 of module A and version 2 of module B, and module A transitively depends on version 3 of module B, there arises a dependency version conflict.

To resolve this conflict, the Android Gradle plugin uses the following dependency resolution strategy: when the plugin detects that different versions of the same module are in the dependency graph, by default, it chooses the one with the highest version number.

However, this strategy might not always work as you intend. To customize the dependency resolution strategy, use the following configurations to resolve specific dependencies of a variant that are needed for your task:

  • variant_nameCompileClasspath: This configuration contains the resolution strategy for a given variant’s compile classpath.
  • variant_nameRuntimeClasspath: This configuration contains the resolution strategy for a given variant’s runtime classpath.

The Android Gradle plugin includes getters that you can use to access the configuration objects of each variant. Thus, you can use the variant API to query the dependency resolution as shown in the example below:

Groovy

android {
    applicationVariants.all { variant ->
        // Return compile configuration objects of a variant.
        variant.getCompileConfiguration().resolutionStrategy {
        // Use Gradle's ResolutionStrategy API
        // to customize how this variant resolves dependencies.
            ...
        }
        // Return runtime configuration objects of a variant.
        variant.getRuntimeConfiguration().resolutionStrategy {
            ...
        }
        // Return annotation processor configuration of a variant.
        variant.getAnnotationProcessorConfiguration().resolutionStrategy {
            ...
        }
    }
}

Kotlin

android {
    applicationVariants.all {
        // Return compile configuration objects of a variant.
        compileConfiguration.resolutionStrategy {
        // Use Gradle's ResolutionStrategy API
        // to customize how this variant resolves dependencies.
            ...
        }
        // Return runtime configuration objects of a variant.
        runtimeConfiguration.resolutionStrategy {
            ...
        }
        // Return annotation processor configuration of a variant.
        annotationProcessorConfiguration.resolutionStrategy {
            ...
        }
    }
}

Dependency information for Play Console

When building your app using AGP 4.0.0 and higher, the plugin includes metadata that describes the library dependencies that are compiled into your app. When uploading your app, the Play Console inspects this metadata to provide alerts for known issues with SDKs and dependencies your app uses, and, in some cases, provide actionable feedback to resolve those issues.

The data is compressed, encrypted by a Google Play signing key, and stored in the signing block of your release app. We recommend keeping this dependencies file for a safe and positive user experience. However, if you’d rather not share this information, you can opt out by including the following dependenciesInfo block in your module’s build.gradle file:

android {
    dependenciesInfo {
        // Disables dependency metadata when building APKs.
        includeInApk = false
        // Disables dependency metadata when building Android App Bundles.
        includeInBundle = false
    }
}

For more information on our policies and potential issues with dependencies, see our support page on using third-party SDKs in your app.