Adding local .aar files to Gradle build using "flatDirs" is not working

I'm aware of this question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21882804/adding-local-aar-files-to-my-gradle-build but the solution does not work for me.

I tried adding this statement to the top level of my build.gradle file:

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
    flatDir {
        dirs 'libs'
    }
}

I've also put the slidingmenu.aar file into /libs and referenced it in the dependencies section: compile 'com.slidingmenu.lib:slidingmenu:1.0.0@aar' but it did not work at all.

I tried compile files('libs/slidingmenu.aar') as well but with no luck.

What am I missing? Any ideas?

P.S. Android Studio 0.8.2

Building upon Josiah's answer, here's how I got it to work.

Following his instructions (under edit) (File -> New-> New Module -> Import .JAR/.AAR) and import your .AAR.

Then in your project build.gradle (not the top level one, the one under 'app') add the following (in the dependencies section):

dependencies {
    compile project(':Name-Of-Your-Project')
}

Note Name-Of-Your-Project should match the name of the folder that was added after you imported the AAR file (at the same level as app/.idea under the top most level folder). Or to put it another way...

MyApplication
.idea
app
build.gradle (here's where to add compile project(':ProjectName') to dependency section)
ProjectName (added automatically after importing, matching the name of your aar file)
build
gradle
etc

This worked for me running Android Studio 0.8.0. Don't forget to synchronize gradle (using toolbar button or in File->Synchronize) after you do this.

(Thanks to Josiah for getting me going in the right direction)

(Note: prior to this I tried adding it to the libs folder, trying to manipulate the top level build.gradle and the app level build.gradle, but none of that worked for my aars files--jar's will work fine, but not the aar files)

Update : As @amram99 mentioned, the issue has been fixed as of the release of Android Studio v1.3.

Tested and verified with below specifications

• Android Studio v1.3
• gradle plugin v1.2.3
• Gradle v2.4

What works now

• Now you can import a local aar file via the File>New>New Module>Import .JAR/.AAR Package option in Android Studio v1.3

• However the below answer holds true and effective irrespective of the Android Studio changes as this is based of gradle scripting.

---

Old Answer : In a recent update the people at android broke the inclusion of local aar files via the Android Studio's add new module menu option. Check the Issue listed here. Irrespective of anything that goes in and out of IDE's feature list , the below method works when it comes to working with local aar files.(Tested it today):

Put the aar file in the libs directory (create it if needed), then, add the following code in your build.gradle :

dependencies {
   compile(name:'nameOfYourAARFileWithoutExtension', ext:'aar')
 }
repositories{
      flatDir{
              dirs 'libs'
       }
 }

Edit: The correct way (currently) to use a local AAR file as a build dependency is to use the module import wizard (File | New Module | Import .JAR or .AAR package) which will automatically add the .aar as a library module in your project.

Old Answer

Try this:

allprojects {
  repositories {
    jcenter()
    flatDir {
      dirs 'libs'
    }
  }
}

...

compile(name:'slidingmenu', ext:'aar')

I got this working on Android Studio 2.1. I have a module called "Native_Ads" which is shared across multiple projects.

First, I created a directory in my Native_ads module with the name 'aars' and then put the aar file in there.

Directory structure:

libs/
aars/    <-- newly created
src/
build.gradle
etc

Then, the other changes:

Top level Gradle file:

allprojects {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
        // For module with aar file in it
        flatDir {
            dirs project(':Native_Ads').file('aars')
        }
    }
}

App module's build.gradle file:

• no changes

Settings.gradle file (to include the module):

include ':app'
include 'Native_Ads'
project(':Native_Ads').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../path/to/Native_Ads')

Gradle file for the Native_Ads module:

repositories {
    jcenter()
    flatDir {
        dirs 'aars'
    }
}
dependencies {
    compile(name:'aar_file_name_without_aar_extension', ext:'aar')
}

That's it. Clean and build.

The easiest way now is to add it as a module

This will create a new module containing the aar file, so you just need to include that module as a dependency afterwards

This is my structure, and how I solve this:

>MyProject/app/libs/mylib-1.0.0.aar

>MyProject/app/myModulesFolder/myLibXYZ

On build.gradle

from Project/app/myModulesFolder/myLibXYZ

I have put this:

repositories {
   flatDir {
    dirs 'libs', '../../libs'
  }
}
compile (name: 'mylib-1.0.0', ext: 'aar')

Done and working fine, my submodule XYZ depends on somelibrary from main module.

You can do it this way. It needs to go in the maven format:

repositories {
  maven { url uri('folderName')}
}

And then your AAR needs to go in a folder structure for a group id "com.example":

folderName/
  com/
    example/
       verion/
          myaar-version.aar

Then reference as a dependency:

compile 'com.example:myaar:version@aar'

Where version is the version of your aar file (ie, 3.0, etc)

This solution is working with Android Studio 4.0.1.

Apart from creating a new module as suggested in above solution, you can try this solution.

If you have multiple modules in your application and want to add aar to just one of the module then this solution come handy.

In your root project build.gradle

add

repositories {
flatDir {
    dirs 'libs'
}}

Then in the module where you want to add the .aar file locally. simply add below lines of code.

dependencies {
api fileTree(include: ['*.aar'], dir: 'libs')
implementation files('libs/<yourAarName>.aar')

}

Happy Coding :)

In my case the none of the answers above worked! since I had different productFlavors just adding

repositories {
    flatDir {
         dirs 'libs'
    }
}

did not work! I ended up with specifying exact location of libs directory:

repositories{
    flatDir{
        dirs 'src/main/libs'
    }
}

Guess one should introduce flatDirs like this when there's different productFlavors in build.gradle

In my case, I just put the AAR file in libs, and add

dependencies {
    ...
    api fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.aar'])
    ...
}

in build.gradle and it works. I think it is similar with default generated dependency:

implementation fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])

For anyone who has this problem as of Android Studio 1.4, I got it to work by creating a module within the project that contains 2 things.

1. build.gradle with the following contents:

   configurations.create("default")

   artifacts.add("default", file('facebook-android-sdk-4.7.0.aar'))

2. the aar file (in this example 'facebook-android-sdk-4.7.0.aar')

Then include the new library as a module dependency. Now you can use a built aar without including the sources within the project.

Credit to Facebook for this hack. I found the solution while integrating the Android SDK into a project.

This line includes all aar and jar files from libs folder:

implementation fileTree(include: ['*.jar', '*.aar'], dir: 'libs/')

If you already use Kotlin Gradle DSL, the alternative to using it this way:

Here's my project structure

|-root
|----- app
|--------- libs // I choose to store the aar here
|-------------- my-libs-01.aar
|-------------- my-libs-02.jar
|--------- build.gradle.kts // app module gradle
|----- common-libs // another aar folder/directory
|----------------- common-libs-01.aar
|----------------- common-libs-02.jar
|----- build.gradle.kts // root gradle

My app/build.gradle.kts

1. Using simple approach with fileTree

// android related config above omitted...

dependencies {
    // you can do this to include everything in the both directory
    // Inside ./root/common-libs & ./root/app/libs
    implementation(fileTree(mapOf("dir" to "libs", "include" to listOf("*.jar", "*.aar"))))
    implementation(fileTree(mapOf("dir" to "../common-libs", "include" to listOf("*.jar", "*.aar"))))
}

2. Using same approach like fetching from local / remote maven repository with flatDirs

// android related config above omitted...

repositories {
    flatDir {
        dirs = mutableSetOf(File("libs"), File("../common-libs") 
    }
}

dependencies {
   implementation(group = "", name = "my-libs-01", ext = "aar")
   implementation(group = "", name = "my-libs-02", ext = "jar")

   implementation(group = "", name = "common-libs-01", ext = "aar")
   implementation(group = "", name = "common-libs-02", ext = "jar")
}

The group was needed, due to its mandatory (not optional/has default value) in kotlin implementation, see below:

// Filename: ReleaseImplementationConfigurationAccessors.kt
package org.gradle.kotlin.dsl

fun DependencyHandler.`releaseImplementation`(
    group: String,
    name: String,
    version: String? = null,
    configuration: String? = null,
    classifier: String? = null,
    ext: String? = null,
    dependencyConfiguration: Action<ExternalModuleDependency>? = null
)

Disclaimer: The difference using no.1 & flatDirs no.2 approach, I still don't know much, you might want to edit/comment to this answer.

References:

1. https://stackoverflow.com/a/56828958/3763032
2. https://github.com/gradle/gradle/issues/9272

Add below in app gradle file implementation project(path: ':project name')