# Anatomy of a Gradle Build

version 9.5.0-20260331024513+0000

A Gradle build is made up of several key components that work together to automate tasks like compiling code, running tests, and packaging artifacts.

At a high level, a build includes:

- Projects, which represent things you’re building (like apps or libraries)

- Tasks, which define the work to do (like compiling or testing)

- Build scripts, which configure the projects and tasks

- Plugins, which extend the build with reusable logic

Let’s first quickly review the directories in a simple Gradle project to better understand the components of a build:

    gradle-project          (1)
    ├── app
    │   ├── build.gradle.kts    (2)
    │   └── ...
    ├── settings.gradle.kts     (3)
    ├── gradle                  (4)
    │   └── ...
    ├── gradlew             (5)
    └── gradlew.bat         (5)

    gradle-project      (1)
    ├── app
    │   ├── build.gradle    (2)
    │   └── ...
    ├── settings.gradle     (3)
    ├── gradle              (4)
    │   └── ...
    ├── gradlew                 (5)
    └── gradlew.bat             (5)

1 | Root Directory - Gradle Project
2 | Build Script - Project-level configuration
3 | Settings File - Project inclusion and build identity
4 | Gradle Files - Wrapper executables and version pinning
5 | Gradle Wrapper - Script that automatically downloads and runs the correct Gradle version for a project

This basic Gradle build has a root project called `gradle-project` and contains one subproject called `app`.

The settings file in the root directory lets Gradle know about the structure of the build.

The build file in the `app` directory contains build logic specific to the `app` subproject such as declaring dependencies and applying plugins.

## Build Directory

The `build/` directory is the default output directory at the root of each project where Gradle places all generated files during a build.

It is created automatically when you run tasks like `build`, `assemble`, `test`, or others that produce outputs:

    gradle-project
    ├── app
    │   ├── build.gradle.kts
    │   └── ...
    ├── settings.gradle.kts
    ├── gradle
    │   └── ...
    ├── build                   (1)
    ├── gradlew
    └── gradlew.bat

    gradle-project
    ├── app
    │   ├── build.gradle
    │   └── ...
    ├── settings.gradle
    ├── gradle
    │   └── ...
    ├── build                   (1)
    ├── gradlew
    └── gradlew.bat

1 | Build directory

To remove the entire `build/` directory and all its contents, use:

    $ ./gradlew clean

This is useful when you want to ensure a fresh build with no leftover outputs.

| Gradle creates the `build` directory by default, so it must be writable. If a custom build directory is specified, it must exist and also be writable.

Gradle uses two main directories to perform and manage its work: the Gradle User Home Directory and the Project Root Directory.

## Project Root Directory

The Project Root Directory contains all source files from your project.

It also contains files and directories Gradle generates, such as `.gradle` and `build`, as well as the Gradle configuration directory: `gradle`.

| The `gradle` and `.gradle` directories are different.

While `gradle` is usually checked into source control, `build` and `.gradle` directories contain the output of your builds, caches, and other transient files Gradle uses to support features like incremental builds.

In this case, `./gradle-project` is the project root directory:

    gradle-project  (1)
    ├── .gradle         (2)
    │   ├── 4.8             (3)
    │   ├── 4.9             (3)
    │   └── ⋮
    ├── build           (4)
    ├── gradle
    │   └── wrapper (5)
    ├── gradle.properties   (6)
    ├── gradlew         (7)
    ├── gradlew.bat     (7)
    ├── settings.gradle(.kts)   (8)
    ├── subproject-one              (9)
    |   └── build.gradle(.kts)  (10)
    ├── subproject-two              (9)
    |   └── build.gradle(.kts)  (10)
    └── ⋮

1 | Root Project
2 | Project-specific cache directory generated by Gradle.
3 | Version-specific caches (e.g., to support incremental builds).
4 | The build directory of this project.
5 | Contains the JAR file and configuration of the Gradle Wrapper.
6 | Project-specific Gradle configuration properties.
7 | Scripts for executing builds using the Gradle Wrapper.
8 | The project’s settings file where the list of subprojects is defined.
9 | Usually, a project is organized into one or multiple subprojects.
10 | Each subproject has its own Gradle build script.

## Gradle User Home Directory

By default, the Gradle User Home (`~/.gradle` or `C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.gradle`) stores global configuration properties, initialization scripts, caches, and log files.

It can be set with the environment variable `GRADLE_USER_HOME`. Note that this directory is often abbreviated as `GUH`.

| `GRADLE_USER_HOME` is not to be confused with the `GRADLE_HOME`, the optional installation directory for Gradle.

It is roughly structured as follows:

    ~/.gradle   (1)
    ├── caches      (2)
    │   ├── 4.8     (3)
    │   ├── 4.9     (3)
    │   ├── ⋮
    │   ├── jars-3      (4)
    │   └── modules-2   (4)
    ├── daemon              (5)
    │   ├── ⋮
    │   ├── 4.8
    │   └── 4.9
    ├── init.d                  (6)
    │   └── my-setup.gradle
    ├── jdks                    (7)
    │   ├── ⋮
    │   └── jdk-14.0.2+12
    ├── wrapper
    │   └── dists                   (8)
    │       ├── ⋮
    │       ├── gradle-4.8-bin
    │       ├── gradle-4.9-all
    │       └── gradle-4.9-bin
    └── gradle.properties           (9)

1 | Gradle User Home
2 | Global cache directory (for everything that is not project-specific).
3 | Version-specific caches (e.g., to support incremental builds).
4 | Shared caches (e.g., for artifacts of dependencies).
5 | Registry and logs of the Gradle Daemon.
6 | Global initialization scripts.
7 | JDKs downloaded by the toolchain support.
8 | Distributions downloaded by the Gradle Wrapper.
9 | Global Gradle configuration properties.

Next Step: Learn how to structure Multi-Project Builds >>