Gradle DSL reference

The Nucleus Gradle plugin (id("dev.nucleusframework")) exposes a single top-level extension, nucleus, for configuring packaging, signing, publishing, and GraalVM native builds from Kotlin. It builds on the JetBrains Compose Desktop DSL and adds Nucleus-specific formats, signing surfaces, and GraalVM settings. This page lists every property in the order it appears in the plugin source.

Top-level: nucleus { }

dev.nucleusframework.NucleusExtension:

• val application: JvmApplication — JVM app configuration (nucleus { application { … } }).
• val nativeApplication: NativeApplication — Kotlin/Native macOS targets.
• val dependencies: NucleusPlugin.Dependencies — runtime module coordinates and notations.

application { } — JvmApplication

• from(SourceSet) / from(KotlinTarget)
• disableDefaultConfiguration()
• dependsOn(vararg tasks: Task | String)
• fromFiles(vararg files: Any)
• var mainClass: String?
• val mainJar: RegularFileProperty
• var javaHome: String
• val args: MutableList<String> / args(vararg args: String)
• val jvmArgs: MutableList<String> / jvmArgs(vararg jvmArgs: String)
• val nativeDistributions: JvmApplicationDistributions — see below
• val buildTypes: JvmApplicationBuildTypes
• val graalvm: GraalvmSettings — see GraalVM

nativeDistributions { } — JvmApplicationDistributions

Methods:

• fun fileAssociation(mimeType, extension, description, linuxIconFile?, windowsIconFile?, macOSIconFile?)
• fun protocol(name, vararg schemes)
• Common (from AbstractPlatformSettings): iconFile, packageVersion, fileAssociation(...)

TargetFormat enum

18 formats, in source order:

RawAppImage, Pkg, Deb, Rpm, Dmg, Exe, Msi, Nsis, NsisWeb, Portable, AppX, AppImage, Pacman, Snap, Flatpak, Zip, Tar, SevenZ.

RawAppImage is the intermediate jpackage app-image; every other format is produced by electron-builder. Pkg, AppX, and Flatpak are store formats and require sandboxing.

macOS { } — JvmMacOSPlatformSettings

Extends AbstractMacOSPlatformSettings. Identification:

• packageName: String?, packageVersion, packageBuildVersion
• dmgPackageVersion, dmgPackageBuildVersion, pkgPackageVersion, pkgPackageBuildVersion
• dockName: String?, setDockNameSameAsPackageName: Boolean = true
• bundleID: String?, appCategory: String?, minimumSystemVersion: String?
• installationPath: String? = null — macOS install location; when unset the build defaults it to /Applications
• iconFile, layeredIconDir (macOS 26+ .icon directory)

Signing and sandbox:

• entitlementsFile: RegularFileProperty, runtimeEntitlementsFile
• provisioningProfile: RegularFileProperty, runtimeProvisioningProfile
• signing { … } — see Signing
• notarization { … } — see Notarization

macOS 26:

• macOsSdkVersion: String? = "26.0" — vtool patches the launcher Mach-O LC_BUILD_VERSION to gate Liquid Glass at SDK 26.

Composition:

• launchAgents { agent(plistName) { bundleProgram; arguments; startInterval } }
• infoPlist { extraKeysRawXml }
• dmg { … } — see DMG

macOS.signing { } — MacOSSigningSettings

• sign: Property<Boolean> (default false)
• identity: Property<String>
• keychain: Property<String>
• prefix: Property<String>

macOS.notarization { } — MacOSNotarizationSettings

Three mutually exclusive modes:

• Apple ID: appleID, password, teamID
• notarytool keychain profile: keychainProfile, optional keychainPath
• App Store Connect API key: apiKey, apiKeyId, apiIssuer

macOS.dmg { } — DmgSettings

• title: String?, iconSize: Int?, iconTextSize: Int?
• format: DmgFormat? (UDRW, UDRO, UDCO, UDZO, UDBZ, ULFO)
• size: String?, shrink: Boolean?, sign: Boolean
• background: RegularFileProperty, backgroundColor: String?
• icon: RegularFileProperty, badgeIcon: RegularFileProperty
• window { x; y; width; height }
• content(x, y, type: DmgContentType?, name: String?, path: String?) — DmgContentType is File, Link, Dir

windows { } — WindowsPlatformSettings

• iconFile, packageName
• console: Boolean, dirChooser: Boolean, perUserInstall: Boolean
• shortcut, menu, menuGroup
• upgradeUuid: String?, msiPackageVersion, exePackageVersion
• nsis { … } — see NSIS
• appx { … } — see AppX
• signing { … } — see Signing

windows.nsis { } — NsisSettings

• oneClick: Boolean
• allowElevation: Boolean, perMachine: Boolean
• allowToChangeInstallationDirectory: Boolean
• createDesktopShortcut: Boolean, createStartMenuShortcut: Boolean
• runAfterFinish: Boolean, deleteAppDataOnUninstall: Boolean
• multiLanguageInstaller: Boolean, installerLanguages: List<String>
• installerIcon, uninstallerIcon, installerHeader, installerSidebar
• license, script, includeScript

windows.appx { } — AppXSettings

• applicationId, publisherDisplayName, displayName, publisher, identityName
• languages: List<String>
• backgroundColor: String?, showNameOnTiles: Boolean
• storeLogo, square44x44Logo, square150x150Logo, wide310x150Logo
• minVersion: String?, maxVersionTested: String?
• addAutoLaunchExtension: Boolean, setBuildNumber: Boolean

windows.signing { } — WindowsSigningSettings

• enabled: Boolean
• certificateFile, certificatePassword, certificateSha1, certificateSubjectName
• algorithm: SigningAlgorithm (Sha1, Sha256, Sha512)
• timestampServer: String?
• Azure Artifact Signing: publisherName, azureTenantId, azureEndpoint, azureCertificateProfileName, azureCodeSigningAccountName

linux { } — LinuxPlatformSettings

• iconFile, shortcut: Boolean, packageName, packageVersion
• appRelease: String?, appCategory: String?, menuGroup: String?
• startupWMClass: String?
• debMaintainer: String?, debPackageVersion, debDepends: List<String>
• rpmLicenseType: String?, rpmPackageVersion, rpmRequires: List<String>
• pacmanPackageVersion: String?, pacmanDepends: List<String> — for the Pacman (Arch Linux) target
• appImage { … } — see AppImage
• snap { … } — see Snap
• flatpak { … } — see Flatpak
• signing { … } — see Signing

linux.signing { } — LinuxSigningSettings

GPG-signs DEB/RPM for distribution outside a store. See Code signing.

• enabled: Property<Boolean> (default false)
• keyId: Property<String> — GPG key id, fingerprint or email
• keyFile: RegularFileProperty — ASCII-armored private key, imported into a throwaway keyring (optional if the key is already in the signing keyring)
• passphrase: Property<String>
• debMethod: DebSignMethod (default Detached; also DpkgSig, Debsig)
• silentUpdate: Property<Boolean> (default false) — passwordless signature-verified self-update; requires enabled. See passwordless updates.

Defaults read from compose.desktop.linux.sign and compose.desktop.linux.signing.{keyId,keyFile,passphrase,silentUpdate}.

linux.appImage { } — AppImageSettings

• category: AppImageCategory? (AudioVideo, Development, Education, Game, Graphics, Network, Office, Science, Settings, System, Utility)
• genericName: String?, synopsis: String?
• desktopEntries: Map<String, String>

linux.snap { } — SnapSettings

• confinement: SnapConfinement (default Strict; also Classic, Devmode)
• grade: SnapGrade (default Stable; also Devel)
• summary: String?, base: String?
• plugs: List<SnapPlug> — 11 defaults
• autoStart: Boolean
• compression: SnapCompression? (Xz, Lzo)

SnapPlug: Desktop, DesktopLegacy, Home, X11, Wayland, Unity7, BrowserSupport, Network, NetworkBind, Gsettings, AudioPlayback, AudioRecord, Opengl, RemovableMedia, Cups.

linux.flatpak { } — FlatpakSettings

• runtime: String = "org.freedesktop.Platform"
• runtimeVersion: String = "23.08"
• sdk: String = "org.freedesktop.Sdk"
• branch: String = "master"
• finishArgs: List<String> — defaults: --share=ipc, --socket=x11, --socket=wayland, --socket=pulseaudio, --device=dri
• license: RegularFileProperty

publish { } — PublishSettings

• publishMode: PublishMode (Never, Auto, Always)
• github { enabled, owner, repo, token, channel, releaseType }
• s3 { enabled, bucket, region, path, acl }
• generic { enabled, url, channel, useMultipleRangeRequest }

ReleaseChannel: Latest, Beta, Alpha. ReleaseType: Release, Draft, Prerelease.

GraalVM — GraalvmSettings

• isEnabled: Property<Boolean> (default false)
• javaLanguageVersion: Property<Int> (default 25)
• jvmVendor: Property<JvmVendorSpec>
• imageName: Property<String>
• march: Property<String> (default "native")
• buildArgs: ListProperty<String>
• nativeImageConfigBaseDir: DirectoryProperty
• val macOS: GraalvmMacOSSettings — cStubsSrc, minimumSystemVersion = "12.0", macOsSdkVersion = "26.0"
• val windows: GraalvmWindowsSettings:
  • bundleCRuntime: Property<Boolean> = true — copy the MSVC runtime DLLs next to the native .exe
  • dlls: ListProperty<String> — defaults: vcruntime140.dll, vcruntime140_1.dll, msvcp140.dll
  • sourceDir: DirectoryProperty — directory the DLLs are copied from (defaults to the GraalVM toolchain bin)
• val metadataRepository: MetadataRepositorySettings:
  • enabled: Boolean = true
  • version: String = "0.10.6"
  • excludedModules: SetProperty<String>
  • moduleToConfigVersion: MapProperty<String, String>

Native app — NativeApplication

Currently macOS Kotlin/Native only.

• targets(vararg targets: KotlinTarget) — must be KotlinNativeTarget on Family.OSX
• val distributions: NativeApplicationDistributions

Annotations

• @ExperimentalNucleusLibrary — opt-in marker for unstable plugin DSL surface.

Other types

• class FileAssociation(mimeType, extension, description, iconFile?)
• class UrlProtocol(name, schemes: List<String>)
• class LaunchAgentSettings
• class JvmApplicationBuildTypes
• class ProguardSettings
• enum class CompressionLevel
• enum class SigningAlgorithm
• enum class ReleaseType, enum class ReleaseChannel, enum class PublishMode
• enum class SnapGrade, enum class SnapConfinement, enum class SnapCompression
• enum class AppImageCategory
• enum class DmgFormat, enum class DmgContentType

Notes

The plugin injects a nucleus/nucleus-app.properties resource into the packaged app containing app.id, app.version, app.vendor, app.aumid, startup.task.id, and similar keys. The NucleusApp runtime object reads these at startup, which is how the DSL configuration reaches the runtime library.

What's next

• Configuration — the nucleus { } DSL in a working build script.
• Packaging formats — what each TargetFormat produces.
• Code signing — the macOS, Windows, and Linux signing blocks.
• Publishing — the publish { } block and release channels.