Roadmap

Nucleus 2.0 provides the runtime and packaging foundation. Later releases add OS-integration modules for capabilities that JVM desktop apps otherwise reach through JavaScript or hand-written native code. This page lists what has shipped, what is planned, and what is still speculative.

Shipped in 2.0

• nucleusApplication { } unified entry point — single-instance, deep links, AOT, GraalVM init, AutoLaunch priming, Windows AUMID — all automatic.
• Tao backend — Wayland-native, multi-touch, pen pressure + tilt, native popups, embedded NativeView, drag-and-drop with diagnostics.
• 18 packaging formats from one Gradle DSL.
• updater-runtime — electron-builder-compatible auto-update, channels, post-update detection.
• GraalVM Native Image — end-to-end packaging pipeline (DMG, NSIS, DEB), static bytecode reflection analyzer, per-library reachability metadata.
• macOS Liquid Glass on SDK 26 — vtool patching means any JDK works.
• 40+ runtime modules: notifications, system tray, global hotkeys, media controls, taskbar progress, energy manager, system info, scheduler, autolaunch, dark mode, system color, native SSL, native HTTP, filesystem watcher, decorated windows with four toolkits.

Shipped in 2.1

Tooling and native-image work, no new runtime modules:

• Oracle GraalVM is now the recommended and default toolchain. Nucleus downloads and caches it automatically, and the default Tao backend builds native images on it — unlocking the advanced native-image features Nucleus relies on: Profile-Guided Optimization, -O3, and ML-inferred profiles that the Community editions do not offer. Oracle GraalVM is the edition formerly called Enterprise. Only the deprecated AWT backend still needs a local BellSoft Liberica NIK install, for its AWT/Swing native-image support.
• Compose Hot Reload — works out of the box. Apply the org.jetbrains.compose.hot-reload plugin and run hotRun; Nucleus resolves the entry point from nucleus.application.mainClass. Supported on the AWT and Tao backends.
• GraalVM toolchain auto-download — Oracle GraalVM on first build (Innovation by default, channel = GraalvmChannel.LTS for LTS). GRAALVM_HOME still takes precedence.
• Profile-Guided Optimization — record a profile with runWithPgoInstrument, commit it, and later native builds apply it automatically. Oracle GraalVM only.
• Smaller native images — optimization = NativeImageOptimization.SIZE (-Os), type-safe march, and automatic executable stripping on Linux and macOS.
• CompressionLevel.Ultra — extra post-processing recompression (LZMA DMG, xz -9e DEB) for smaller installers.
• --enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED in default JVM args for JDK 24+ (JEP 472).

Coming in 2.2

The first module group covers security and identity:

Coming in 2.3

OS-level events and IO:

Under consideration

Speculative — no commitment, no ETA. Open an issue if you want one of these earlier:

Influence the order

Open an issue describing your use case, link a sample app that needs the module, or sponsor a specific platform's implementation. Native modules are bounded mostly by JNI bridge complexity per OS — the more people that need one, the sooner it ships.

What's next

• Changelog — released versions and what each one contains.
• Modules — how runtime modules are structured and added to a build.
• Ecosystem — the modules available today.