Kotlin Help

Build final native binaries (Experimental DSL)

Kotlin/Native targets are compiled to the *.klib library artifacts, which can be consumed by Kotlin/Native itself as a dependency but cannot be used as a native library.

To declare final native binaries, use the new binaries format with the kotlinArtifacts DSL. It represents a collection of native binaries built for this target in addition to the default *.klib artifact and provides a set of methods for declaring and configuring them.

Kotlin artifact DSL can help you to solve a common issue: when you need to access multiple Kotlin modules from your app. Since the usage of several Kotlin/Native artifacts is limited, you can export multiple Kotlin modules into a single artifact with new DSL.

Declare binaries

The kotlinArtifacts element is the top-level block for artifact configuration in the Gradle build script. Use the following kinds of binaries to declare elements of the kotlinArtifacts DSL:

Factory method

Binary kind

Available for

sharedLib

Shared native library

All native targets, except for WebAssembly

staticLib

Static native library

All native targets, except for WebAssembly

framework

Objective-C framework

macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS targets only

fatFramework

Universal fat framework

macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS targets only

XCFramework

XCFramework framework

macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS targets only

Inside the kotlinArtifacts element, you can write the following blocks:

The simplest version requires the target (or targets) parameter for the selected build type. Currently, two build types are available:

  • DEBUG – produces a non-optimized binary with debug information

  • RELEASE – produces an optimized binary without debug information

In the modes parameter, you can specify build types for which you want to create binaries. The default value includes both DEBUG and RELEASE executable binaries:

kotlinArtifacts { Native.Library { target = iosX64 // Define your target instead modes(DEBUG, RELEASE) // Binary configuration } }
kotlinArtifacts { it.native.Library { target = iosX64 // Define your target instead modes(DEBUG, RELEASE) // Binary configuration } }

You can also declare binaries with custom names:

kotlinArtifacts { Native.Library("mylib") { // Binary configuration } }
kotlinArtifacts { it.native.Library("mylib") { // Binary configuration } }

The argument sets a name prefix, which is the default name for the binary file. For example, for Windows the code produces the mylib.dll file.

Configure binaries

For the binary configuration, the following common parameters are available:

Name

Description

isStatic

Optional linking type that defines the library type. By default, it's false and the library is dynamic.

modes

Optional build types, DEBUG and RELEASE.

kotlinOptions

Optional compiler options applied to the compilation. See the list of available compiler options.

addModule

In addition to the current module, you can add other modules to the resulting artifact.

setModules

You can override the list of all modules that will be added to the resulting artifact.

Libraries and frameworks

When building an Objective-C framework or a native library (shared or static), you may need to pack not just the classes of the current project but also the classes of any other multiplatform module into a single entity and export all these modules to it.

Library

For the library configuration, the additional target parameter is available:

Name

Description

target

Declares a particular target of a project. The names of available targets are listed in the Targets section.

kotlinArtifacts { Native.Library("myslib") { target = linuxX64 isStatic = false modes(DEBUG) addModule(project(":lib")) kotlinOptions { verbose = false freeCompilerArgs += "-Xmen=pool" } } }
kotlinArtifacts { it.native.Library("myslib") { target = linuxX64 it.static = false modes(DEBUG) addModule(project(":lib")) kotlinOptions { verbose = false freeCompilerArgs += "-Xmen=pool" } } }

The registered Gradle task is assembleMyslibSharedLibrary that assembles all types of registered "myslib" into a dynamic library.

Framework

For the framework configuration, the following additional parameters are available:

Name

Description

target

Declares a particular target of a project. The names of available targets are listed in the Targets section.

embedBitcode

Declares the mode of bitcode embedding. Use MARKER to embed the bitcode marker (for debug builds) or DISABLE to turn off embedding. Bitcode embedding is not required for Xcode 14 and later.

kotlinArtifacts { Native.Framework("myframe") { modes(DEBUG, RELEASE) target = iosArm64 isStatic = false embedBitcode = EmbedBitcodeMode.MARKER kotlinOptions { verbose = false } } }
kotlinArtifacts { it.native.Framework("myframe") { modes(DEBUG, RELEASE) target = iosArm64 it.static = false embedBitcode = EmbedBitcodeMode.MARKER kotlinOptions { verbose = false } } }

The registered Gradle task is assembleMyframeFramework that assembles all types of registered "myframe" framework.

Fat frameworks

By default, an Objective-C framework produced by Kotlin/Native supports only one platform. However, you can merge such frameworks into a single universal (fat) binary. This especially makes sense for 32-bit and 64-bit iOS frameworks. In this case, you can use the resulting universal framework on both 32-bit and 64-bit devices.

For the fat framework configuration, the following additional parameters are available:

Name

Description

targets

Declares all targets of the project.

embedBitcode

Declares the mode of bitcode embedding. Use MARKER to embed the bitcode marker (for debug builds) or DISABLE to turn off embedding. Bitcode embedding is not required for Xcode 14 and later.

kotlinArtifacts { Native.FatFramework("myfatframe") { targets(iosX32, iosX64) embedBitcode = EmbedBitcodeMode.DISABLE kotlinOptions { suppressWarnings = false } } }
kotlinArtifacts { it.native.FatFramework("myfatframe") { targets(iosX32, iosX64) embedBitcode = EmbedBitcodeMode.DISABLE kotlinOptions { suppressWarnings = false } } }

The registered Gradle task is assembleMyfatframeFatFramework that assembles all types of registered "myfatframe" fat framework.

XCFrameworks

All Kotlin Multiplatform projects can use XCFrameworks as an output to gather logic for all the target platforms and architectures in a single bundle. Unlike universal (fat) frameworks, you don't need to remove all unnecessary architectures before publishing the application to the App Store.

For the XCFrameworks configuration, the following additional parameters are available:

Name

Description

targets

Declares all targets of the project.

embedBitcode

Declares the mode of bitcode embedding. Use MARKER to embed the bitcode marker (for debug builds) or DISABLE to turn off embedding. Bitcode embedding is not required for Xcode 14 and later.

kotlinArtifacts { Native.XCFramework("sdk") { targets(iosX64, iosArm64, iosSimulatorArm64) setModules( project(":shared"), project(":lib") ) } }
kotlinArtifacts { it.native.XCFramework("sdk") { targets(iosX64, iosArm64, iosSimulatorArm64) setModules( project(":shared"), project(":lib") ) } }

The registered Gradle task is assembleSdkXCFramework that assembles all types of registered "sdk" XCFrameworks.

Last modified: 09 January 2023