gradle-dependencyinsight

Gradle dependency tracing tool

TLDR

Trace a dependency to see why it is included

$ gradle dependencyInsight --dependency [library-name]

Trace a dependency in a specific configuration

$ gradle dependencyInsight --configuration [compileClasspath] --dependency [guava]

Show only a single path to each dependency (useful for large graphs)

$ gradle dependencyInsight --dependency [library-name] --singlepath

Trace a dependency in a specific subproject

$ gradle :[subproject]:dependencyInsight --dependency [library-name]

SYNOPSIS

gradle dependencyInsight [options]

gradle dependencyInsight traces why a specific dependency appears in the build. It shows the path from direct dependencies to the transitive inclusion, revealing how version conflicts are resolved.The --dependency value is matched partially against the group, name, or version of dependencies, so a query like `guava` will match `com.google.guava:guava:31.1-jre`.The task is essential for debugging dependency issues and understanding why specific versions are selected during resolution.

PARAMETERS

--dependency NAME

Required. The dependency to trace. Matches partially against group, name, or version.

--configuration NAME

Configuration to inspect (e.g., compileClasspath, runtimeClasspath). Defaults to compileClasspath for Java projects.

--singlepath

Show only one path to each dependency instead of all paths. Useful for large dependency graphs.

CAVEATS

The --dependency flag is required. Without --configuration, the task defaults to compileClasspath in Java projects. The dependency value uses partial matching, which may return unexpected results for common names.