Plugins

The kotlinx.rpc library offers plugins that simplify project configuration by automating repetitive tasks. Specifically, kotlinx.rpc provides two Gradle plugins:

org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.platform
org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.plugin

org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.platform

The org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.platform plugin is particularly useful for versioning project dependencies. It adds BOM dependency to your project, that specifies proper versions for kotlinx.rpc dependencies. With this, you can skip specifying versions for each runtime dependency:

            plugins {
                kotlin("jvm") version "1.9.24"
                id("org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.platform") version "0.1.0"
            }

            dependencies {
                // versions are set automatically to 1.9.24-0.1.0
                implementation("org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-rpc-runtime-client")
                implementation("org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-rpc-runtime-server")
            }
        

Using this plugin with version catalogs, your code can be rewritten like this:

            # gradle / libs.versions.toml
            [versions]
            kotlinx-rpc-core = "0.1.0";

            [libraries]
            kotlinx-rpc-client = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-rpc-runtime-client" }

            [plugins]
            kotlinx-rpc-platform = { id = "org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.platform"; version.ref = "kotlinx-rpc-core"; }
        

            // build.gradle.kts
            plugins {
                alias(libs.plugins.kotlinx.rpc.platform)
            }

            dependecies {
                implementation(libs.kotlinx.rpc.client)
            }
        

org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.plugin

The org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.plugin plugin has the same BOM functionality as org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.platform and it also sets up code generation configurations.

It is useful for multi-project setups where you define your RPC services in one set of subprojects and use in the other. In such a setup, you can add the plugin only to modules with service definitions to save time on building your project.

For kotlinx.rpc library to work correctly with user-defined services, two additional configurations are required: the Kotlin compiler plugin and the KSP plugin. By adding the kotlinx.rpc and KSP Gradle plugins, all necessary configurations will be automatically set up:

            plugins {
                kotlin("jvm") version "1.9.24"
                id("com.google.devtools.ksp") version "1.9.24-1.0.20"
                id("org.jetbrains.kotlinx.rpc.plugin") version "0.1.0"
            }

            dependencies {
                implementation("org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-rpc-runtime-client")
                implementation("org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-rpc-runtime-server")
            }
        

Last modified: 13 June 2024