Best Practices Index

The table below provides a complete list of documented Gradle Best Practices.

There are currently X Best Practices.

Use this as a quick reference to track newly added recommendations, check adoption status, or explore areas for improving your build:

Filter by Section: Filter by Version:

Title Section Added in Gradle Version

Title	Section	Added in Gradle Version
Use Kotlin DSL	General	8.14
Use the Latest Minor Version of Gradle	General	8.14
Apply Plugins Using the `plugins` Block	General	8.14
Don’t Assume your Plugin is Applied after Another	General	9.4.0
Do Not Use Internal APIs	General	8.14
Set Build Flags in `gradle.properties`	General	9.0.0
Name Your Root Project	General	9.2.0
Do not use `gradle.properties` in subprojects	General	9.2.0
Avoid `afterEvaluate`	General	9.6.0
Consider use of `@Incubating` APIs carefully	General	9.7.0
Obtain Loggers via `Logging.getLogger(Class)` outside of Tasks	General	9.8.0
Modularize Your Builds	Structuring Builds	9.0.0
Do Not Put Source Files in the Root Project	Structuring Builds	9.0.0
Favor `build-logic` Composite Builds for Build Logic	Structuring Builds	9.0.0
Avoid Unintentionally Creating Empty Projects	Structuring Builds	9.1.0
Use Convention Plugins for Common Build Logic	Structuring Builds	9.3.0
Use Version Catalogs to Centralize Dependency Versions	Dependencies	9.0.0
Name Version Catalog Entries Appropriately	Dependencies	9.0.0
Set up your Dependency Repositories in the Settings file	Dependencies	9.0.0
Don’t Explicitly Depend on the Kotlin Standard Library	Dependencies	9.0.0
Avoid Redundant Dependency Declarations	Dependencies	9.0.0
Declare Dependencies using a single GAV (`group:artifact:version`) String	Dependencies	8.14
Use Content Filtering with multiple Repositories	Dependencies	9.1.0
Apply Exclusions Narrowly	Dependencies	9.2.0
Always Declare Attributes on Consumable and Resolvable Configurations	Dependencies	9.7.0
Avoid DependsOn	Tasks	8.14
Favor `@CacheableTask` and `@DisableCachingByDefault` over `cacheIf(Spec)` and `doNotCacheIf(String, Spec)`	Tasks	8.14
Do not call `get()` on a Provider outside a Task action	Tasks	9.1.0
Group and Describe custom Tasks	Tasks	9.0.0
Avoid using eager APIs on File Collections	Tasks	9.1.0
Don’t resolve Configurations before Task Execution	Tasks	9.1.0
Use `@PathSensitivity.NONE` for file inputs and `@PathSensitivity.RELATIVE` for directories	Tasks	9.2.0
Use unique output files and directories	Tasks	9.3.0
Don’t hardcode Task names unless they are documented as Public API	Tasks	9.7.0
Don’t access a `Project` instance during Task Execution	Tasks	9.7.0
Wire lazy task outputs using `map` and `flatMap`	Tasks	9.7.0
Favor collection property types over a `Property` holding a collection	Tasks	9.8.0
Prefer the `-bin` Gradle Distribution	Performance	9.4.0
Use UTF-8 File Encoding	Performance	9.0.0
Use the Build Cache	Performance	9.1.0
Use the Configuration Cache	Performance	9.1.0
Avoid Expensive Computations in Configuration Phase	Performance	9.0.0
Validate the Gradle Distribution SHA-256 Checksum	Security	9.1.0
Validate the Gradle Wrapper on every Upgrade	Security	9.3.0
Do not Run `./gradlew` on Untrusted Projects	Security	9.7.0
Build Output Should Be Byte-for-Byte Reproducible	Security	9.7.0
Build your Published Artifacts Securely	Security	9.8.0
Test your custom Task and Plugins with TestKit	Testing	9.4.0

Use Kotlin DSL

General

8.14

Use the Latest Minor Version of Gradle

General

8.14

Apply Plugins Using the plugins Block

General

8.14

Don’t Assume your Plugin is Applied after Another

General

9.4.0