Add resources and config files to your JAR using Gradle

Gradle Jar build.gradle Embedded Resource

Gradle Problem Overview

How do I add config files or any other resources into my jar using gradle?

My project structure:

> src/main/java/com/perseus/.. --- Java packages (source files) > > src/main/java/config/*.xml --- Spring config files

Expected jar structure:

> com/perseus/.. --- Java packages (class files) > > config/*.xml --- Spring config files

Gradle Solutions

Solution 1 - Gradle

I came across this post searching how to add an extra directory for resources. I found a solution that may be useful to someone. Here is my final configuration to get that:

sourceSets {
    main {
        resources {
            srcDirs "src/main/resources", "src/main/configs"
        }
    }
}

Solution 2 - Gradle

Move the config files from src/main/java to src/main/resources.

Solution 3 - Gradle

Thanks guys, I was migrating an existing project to Gradle and didn't like the idea of changing the project structure that much.

I have figured it out, thought this information could be useful to beginners.

Here is a sample task from my 'build.gradle':

version = '1.0.0'

jar {
   baseName = 'analytics'
   from('src/main/java') {
      include 'config/**/*.xml'
   }

   manifest {
       attributes 'Implementation-Title': 'Analytics Library', 'Implementation-Version': version
   }
}

Solution 4 - Gradle

By default any files you add to src/main/resources will be included in the jar.

If you need to change that behavior for whatever reason, you can do so by configuring sourceSets.

This part of the documentation has all the details

Solution 5 - Gradle

I ran into the same problem. I had a PNG file in a Java package and it wasn't exported in the final JAR along with the sources, which caused the app to crash upon start (file not found).

None of the answers above solved my problem but I found the solution on the Gradle forums. I added the following to my build.gradle file :

sourceSets.main.resources.srcDirs = [ "src/" ]
sourceSets.main.resources.includes = [ "**/*.png" ]

It tells Gradle to look for resources in the src folder, and ask it to include only PNG files.

EDIT: Beware that if you're using Eclipse, this will break your run configurations and you'll get a main class not found error when trying to run your program. To fix that, the only solution I've found is to move the image(s) to another directory, res/ for example, and to set it as srcDirs instead of src/.

Solution 6 - Gradle

Be aware that the path under src/main/resources must match the package path of your .class files wishing to access the resource. See my answer here.

Solution 7 - Gradle

As I have answered here, for more granularity while configuring the resource directories it's also possible to use srcDir.

sourceSets {
    main {
        resources {
            srcDir "src/main/resources"

            srcDir "src/main"
            include "configs/**/*.xml"
        }
    }
}

So, if you have src/main/java/config/*.xml jar structure will have configs/*.xml as asked.

Solution 8 - Gradle

This is for Kotlin DSL (build.gradle.kts).

Add the following code to your subproject or app build.gradle.kts file:

sourceSets {
    main {
        resources {
            srcDirs("src/main/configs", "src/main/misc")
        }
    }
    // OR another notation
    // main.get().resources.srcDirs("src/main/configs", "src/main/misc")
}

As mentioned by other answers, files in src/main/resources/ are automatically added to JAR. The srcDirs() function in above code adds its given paths to that existing path so files in those directories will be included in the JAR as well. You can add as many entries as you want.

Note that after adding the above code and syncing your changes with the IDE, some IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio show a helpful icon for those directories to indicate they are resources root directories:

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	Pritesh Mhatre	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Gradle	Wellington Souza	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Gradle	Peter Niederwieser	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Gradle	Pritesh Mhatre	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Gradle	geoand	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Gradle	Mickäel A.	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Gradle	mike rodent	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Gradle	Maicon Mauricio	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Gradle	Mahozad	View Answer on Stackoverflow