Gradle DSL reference

The Nucleus Gradle plugin (id("dev.nucleusframework")) exposes a single top-level extension: nucleus. It mirrors the JetBrains Compose Desktop DSL and extends it with formats, signing surfaces, GraalVM settings, store pipelines, and runtime wiring. This page lists every property in the order it appears in the plugin source.

Top-level: nucleus { }

dev.nucleusframework.NucleusExtension:

• val application: JvmApplication — JVM app configuration (nucleus { application { … } }).
• val nativeApplication: NativeApplication — Kotlin/Native macOS targets.
• val dependencies: NucleusPlugin.Dependencies — runtime module coordinates / notations.

application { } — JvmApplication

• from(SourceSet) / from(KotlinTarget)
• disableDefaultConfiguration()
• dependsOn(vararg tasks: Task | String)
• fromFiles(vararg files: Any)
• var mainClass: String?
• val mainJar: RegularFileProperty
• var javaHome: String
• val args: MutableList<String> / args(vararg args: String)
• val jvmArgs: MutableList<String> / jvmArgs(vararg jvmArgs: String)
• val nativeDistributions: JvmApplicationDistributions — see below
• val buildTypes: JvmApplicationBuildTypes
• val graalvm: GraalvmSettings — see GraalVM

nativeDistributions { } — JvmApplicationDistributions

Methods:

• fun fileAssociation(mimeType, extension, description, linuxIconFile?, windowsIconFile?, macOSIconFile?)
• fun protocol(name, vararg schemes)
• Common (from AbstractPlatformSettings): iconFile, packageVersion, fileAssociation(...)

TargetFormat enum

Dmg, Pkg, Msi, Exe, Nsis, NsisWeb, AppX, Portable, Deb, Rpm, AppImage, Flatpak, Snap, Zip, Tar, SevenZip, plus the intermediate RawAppImage.

macOS { } — JvmMacOSPlatformSettings

Extends AbstractMacOSPlatformSettings. Identification:

• packageName: String?, packageVersion, packageBuildVersion
• dmgPackageVersion, dmgPackageBuildVersion, pkgPackageVersion, pkgPackageBuildVersion
• dockName: String?, setDockNameSameAsPackageName: Boolean = true
• bundleID: String?, appCategory: String?, minimumSystemVersion: String?
• installationPath: String? = "/Applications"
• iconFile, layeredIconDir (macOS 26+ .icon directory)

Signing & sandbox:

• entitlementsFile: RegularFileProperty, runtimeEntitlementsFile
• provisioningProfile: RegularFileProperty, runtimeProvisioningProfile
• signing { … } — see Signing
• notarization { … } — see Notarization

macOS 26:

• macOsSdkVersion: String? = "26.0" — vtool patches the launcher Mach-O LC_BUILD_VERSION to gate Liquid Glass at SDK 26.

Composition:

• launchAgents { agent(plistName) { bundleProgram; arguments; startInterval } }
• infoPlist { extraKeysRawXml }
• dmg { … } — see DMG

macOS.signing { } — MacOSSigningSettings

• sign: Property<Boolean> (default false)
• identity: Property<String>
• keychain: Property<String>
• prefix: Property<String>

macOS.notarization { } — MacOSNotarizationSettings

Three mutually exclusive modes:

• Apple ID: appleID, password, teamID
• notarytool keychain profile: keychainProfile, optional keychainPath
• App Store Connect API key: apiKey, apiKeyId, apiIssuer

macOS.dmg { } — DmgSettings

• title: String?, iconSize: Int?, iconTextSize: Int?
• format: DmgFormat? (UDRW, UDRO, UDCO, UDZO, UDBZ, ULFO)
• size: String?, shrink: Boolean?, sign: Boolean
• background: RegularFileProperty, backgroundColor: String?
• icon: RegularFileProperty, badgeIcon: RegularFileProperty
• window { x; y; width; height }
• content(x, y, type: DmgContentType?, name: String?, path: String?) — DmgContentType is File, Link, Dir

windows { } — WindowsPlatformSettings

• iconFile, packageName
• console: Boolean, dirChooser: Boolean, perUserInstall: Boolean
• shortcut, menu, menuGroup
• upgradeUuid: String?, msiPackageVersion, exePackageVersion
• nsis { … } — see NSIS
• appx { … } — see AppX
• signing { … } — see Signing

windows.nsis { } — NsisSettings

• oneClick: Boolean
• allowElevation: Boolean, perMachine: Boolean
• allowToChangeInstallationDirectory: Boolean
• createDesktopShortcut: Boolean, createStartMenuShortcut: Boolean
• runAfterFinish: Boolean, deleteAppDataOnUninstall: Boolean
• multiLanguageInstaller: Boolean, installerLanguages: List<String>
• installerIcon, uninstallerIcon, installerHeader, installerSidebar
• license, script, includeScript

windows.appx { } — AppXSettings

• applicationId, publisherDisplayName, displayName, publisher, identityName
• languages: List<String>
• backgroundColor: String?, showNameOnTiles: Boolean
• storeLogo, square44x44Logo, square150x150Logo, wide310x150Logo
• minVersion: String?, maxVersionTested: String?
• addAutoLaunchExtension: Boolean, setBuildNumber: Boolean

windows.signing { } — WindowsSigningSettings

• enabled: Boolean
• certificateFile, certificatePassword, certificateSha1, certificateSubjectName
• algorithm: SigningAlgorithm (Sha1, Sha256, Sha512)
• timestampServer: String?
• Azure Artifact Signing: publisherName, azureTenantId, azureEndpoint, azureCertificateProfileName, azureCodeSigningAccountName

linux { } — LinuxPlatformSettings

• iconFile, shortcut: Boolean, packageName, packageVersion
• appRelease: String?, appCategory: String?, menuGroup: String?
• startupWMClass: String?
• debMaintainer: String?, debPackageVersion, debDepends: List<String>
• rpmLicenseType: String?, rpmPackageVersion, rpmRequires: List<String>
• appImage { … } — see AppImage
• snap { … } — see Snap
• flatpak { … } — see Flatpak
• signing { … } — see Signing

linux.signing { } — LinuxSigningSettings

GPG-signs DEB/RPM for distribution outside a store. See Code signing.

• enabled: Property<Boolean> (default false)
• keyId: Property<String> — GPG key id, fingerprint or email
• keyFile: RegularFileProperty — ASCII-armored private key, imported into a throwaway keyring (optional if the key is already in the signing keyring)
• passphrase: Property<String>
• debMethod: DebSignMethod (default Detached; also DpkgSig, Debsig)

Defaults read from compose.desktop.linux.sign and compose.desktop.linux.signing.{keyId,keyFile,passphrase}.

linux.appImage { } — AppImageSettings

• category: AppImageCategory? (AudioVideo, Development, Education, Game, Graphics, Network, Office, Science, Settings, System, Utility)
• genericName: String?, synopsis: String?
• desktopEntries: Map<String, String>

linux.snap { } — SnapSettings

• confinement: SnapConfinement (default Strict; also Classic, Devmode)
• grade: SnapGrade (default Stable; also Devel)
• summary: String?, base: String?
• plugs: List<SnapPlug> — 11 defaults
• autoStart: Boolean
• compression: SnapCompression? (Xz, Lzo)

SnapPlug: Desktop, DesktopLegacy, Home, X11, Wayland, Unity7, BrowserSupport, Network, NetworkBind, Gsettings, AudioPlayback, AudioRecord, Opengl, RemovableMedia, Cups.

linux.flatpak { } — FlatpakSettings

• runtime: String = "org.freedesktop.Platform"
• runtimeVersion: String = "23.08"
• sdk: String = "org.freedesktop.Sdk"
• branch: String = "master"
• finishArgs: List<String> — defaults: --share=ipc, --socket=x11, --socket=wayland, --socket=pulseaudio, --device=dri
• license: RegularFileProperty

publish { } — PublishSettings

• publishMode: PublishMode (Never, Auto, Always)
• github { enabled, owner, repo, token, channel, releaseType }
• s3 { enabled, bucket, region, path, acl }
• generic { enabled, url, channel, useMultipleRangeRequest }

ReleaseChannel: Latest, Beta, Alpha. ReleaseType: Release, Draft, Prerelease.

GraalVM — GraalvmSettings

• isEnabled: Property<Boolean> (default false)
• javaLanguageVersion: Property<Int> (default 25)
• jvmVendor: Property<JvmVendorSpec>
• imageName: Property<String>
• march: Property<String> (default "native")
• buildArgs: ListProperty<String>
• nativeImageConfigBaseDir: DirectoryProperty
• val macOS: GraalvmMacOSSettings — cStubsSrc, minimumSystemVersion = "12.0", macOsSdkVersion = "26.0"
• val metadataRepository: MetadataRepositorySettings:
  • enabled: Boolean = true
  • version: String = "0.10.6"
  • excludedModules: SetProperty<String>
  • moduleToConfigVersion: MapProperty<String, String>

Native app — NativeApplication

Currently macOS Kotlin/Native only.

• targets(vararg targets: KotlinTarget) — must be KotlinNativeTarget on Family.OSX
• val distributions: NativeApplicationDistributions

Annotations

• @ExperimentalNucleusLibrary — opt-in marker for unstable plugin DSL surface.

Other types

• class FileAssociation(mimeType, extension, description, iconFile?)
• class UrlProtocol(name, schemes: List<String>)
• class LaunchAgentSettings
• class JvmApplicationBuildTypes
• class ProguardSettings
• enum class CompressionLevel
• enum class SigningAlgorithm
• enum class ReleaseType, enum class ReleaseChannel, enum class PublishMode
• enum class SnapGrade, enum class SnapConfinement, enum class SnapCompression
• enum class AppImageCategory
• enum class DmgFormat, enum class DmgContentType

Notes

The plugin injects a nucleus/nucleus-app.properties resource into the packaged app containing app.id, app.version, app.vendor, app.aumid, startup.task.id, etc. The NucleusApp runtime object reads these at startup — that's how DSL config flows into library code.