| name | kmp-compose-multiplatform |
| description | Expert Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) and Compose Multiplatform development guidance. Use when creating, reviewing, or modifying KMP projects with Compose UI, clean architecture, and multi-platform targets (Android, iOS, Desktop, Web). |
Kotlin Multiplatform + Compose Multiplatform Skill
You are an expert in Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) and Compose Multiplatform development. You follow Google's official architecture guidelines (as demonstrated in Now in Android), JetBrains Compose best practices, and the KMP community standards.
Core Principles
- Maximize shared code — write once in
commonMain, use everywhere
- Clean Architecture — strict layer separation: Data → Domain → Presentation
- Feature-based modularization — organize by feature, not by layer
- Unidirectional Data Flow (UDF) — state flows down, events flow up
- Interface-first design — define contracts, inject implementations
- Platform parity — same behavior on Android and iOS unless explicitly platform-specific
Project Structure
Recommended Module Layout
root/
├── app/ # Android app entry point
├── iosApp/ # iOS app entry point (Xcode project)
├── shared/ # KMP shared module (or multi-module)
│ └── src/
│ ├── commonMain/ # Shared code for all platforms
│ ├── androidMain/ # Android-specific implementations
│ ├── iosMain/ # iOS-specific implementations
│ └── commonTest/ # Shared tests
├── build-logic/ # Convention plugins (if multi-module)
│ └── convention/ # Gradle convention plugins
└── gradle/
└── libs.versions.toml # Version catalog (ALWAYS use this)
Feature Module Layout (inside commonMain)
Each feature must follow this exact structure:
feature/
└── [feature-name]/
├── data/
│ ├── local/
│ │ ├── dao/ # Room DAOs
│ │ └── entity/ # Room entities
│ ├── remote/ # API services
│ ├── repository/ # Repository implementations
│ └── mapper/ # Data ↔ Domain mappers
├── domain/
│ ├── model/ # Domain models (pure Kotlin)
│ ├── repository/ # Repository interfaces
│ └── usecase/ # Use cases (one action per class)
├── presentation/
│ ├── ui/ # Composable screens and components
│ ├── viewmodel/ # ViewModels
│ └── state/ # UI state data classes
└── di/ # Koin module for this feature
Architecture Guidelines
Layer Responsibilities
Data Layer
- Implements repository interfaces from domain
- Maps data models to/from domain models
- Handles network requests (Ktor) and local persistence (Room/DataStore)
- Never exposes data models to domain or presentation
Domain Layer
- Pure Kotlin — NO Android/platform dependencies
- Repository interfaces (abstractions)
- Use cases: single public function
operator fun invoke()
- Domain models (not database entities, not DTOs)
Presentation Layer
- ViewModels hold
StateFlow<UiState> — never expose mutable state
- UI State is a sealed class or data class
- Composables receive state + callbacks (no direct ViewModel access in nested composables)
- Navigation handled at screen level only
Resource/Result Pattern
Always use a sealed class for async results with typed domain errors (never raw strings):
sealed class Resource<out T> {
data class Success<out T>(val data: T) : Resource<T>()
data class Error(val error: AppError) : Resource<Nothing>()
data object Loading : Resource<Nothing>()
}
See references/error-handling.md for the full AppError hierarchy, safeApiCall wrapper, and error-to-UI-message mapping.
Use Case Pattern
class GetUserUseCase(private val repository: UserRepository) {
suspend operator fun invoke(userId: String): Resource<User> {
return repository.getUser(userId)
}
}
ViewModel Pattern
Use data class UiState (not sealed class) for composable state with _uiState.update { }. Expose navigation events via a separate SharedFlow:
class HomeViewModel(
private val getItemsUseCase: GetItemsUseCase
) : ViewModel() {
private val _uiState = MutableStateFlow(HomeUiState())
val uiState: StateFlow<HomeUiState> = _uiState.asStateFlow()
private val _events = MutableSharedFlow<HomeEvent>()
val events: SharedFlow<HomeEvent> = _events.asSharedFlow()
fun loadItems() {
viewModelScope.launch {
_uiState.update { it.copy(isLoading = true, errorMessage = null) }
getItemsUseCase()
.onSuccess { items ->
_uiState.update { it.copy(isLoading = false, items = items) }
}
.onError { error ->
_uiState.update { it.copy(isLoading = false, errorMessage = error.toUserMessage()) }
}
}
}
fun onItemClicked(id: String) {
viewModelScope.launch {
_events.emit(HomeEvent.NavigateToDetail(id))
}
}
}
data class HomeUiState(
val isLoading: Boolean = false,
val items: List<Item> = emptyList(),
val errorMessage: String? = null
)
sealed class HomeEvent {
data class NavigateToDetail(val id: String) : HomeEvent()
data object ShowUndoSnackbar : HomeEvent()
}
Collect events in the screen composable:
@Composable
fun HomeScreen(
navController: NavHostController,
viewModel: HomeViewModel = koinViewModel()
) {
val uiState by viewModel.uiState.collectAsStateWithLifecycle()
LaunchedEffect(Unit) {
viewModel.events.collect { event ->
when (event) {
is HomeEvent.NavigateToDetail -> navController.navigate(Screen.Detail.createRoute(event.id))
is HomeEvent.ShowUndoSnackbar -> { }
}
}
}
HomeContent(uiState = uiState, onItemClick = viewModel::onItemClicked)
}
StateFlow from Repository Flow
Use stateIn() to convert a repository Flow into a ViewModel StateFlow:
val uiState: StateFlow<HomeUiState> = itemsRepository.observeItems()
.map { items -> HomeUiState(items = items) }
.stateIn(
scope = viewModelScope,
started = SharingStarted.WhileSubscribed(5_000),
initialValue = HomeUiState(isLoading = true)
)
Kotlin Multiplatform Patterns
Expect/Actual Pattern
Use expect/actual for platform-specific implementations:
expect fun getPlatformName(): String
expect class DatabaseBuilder(context: Any?) {
fun build(): AppDatabase
}
actual fun getPlatformName(): String = "Android"
actual class DatabaseBuilder actual constructor(private val context: Any?) {
actual fun build(): AppDatabase =
Room.databaseBuilder(context as Context, AppDatabase::class.java, "app.db").build()
}
actual fun getPlatformName(): String = "iOS"
actual class DatabaseBuilder actual constructor(context: Any?) {
actual fun build(): AppDatabase {
val dbFilePath = NSHomeDirectory() + "/app.db"
return Room.databaseBuilder<AppDatabase>(name = dbFilePath).build()
}
}
Source Set Configuration (build.gradle.kts)
kotlin {
androidTarget {
compilations.all {
compileTaskProvider.configure {
compilerOptions {
jvmTarget.set(JvmTarget.JVM_17)
}
}
}
}
listOf(iosX64(), iosArm64(), iosSimulatorArm64()).forEach { target ->
target.binaries.framework {
baseName = "shared"
isStatic = true
}
}
sourceSets {
commonMain.dependencies {
implementation(compose.runtime)
implementation(compose.foundation)
implementation(compose.material3)
implementation(compose.ui)
implementation(compose.components.resources)
implementation(libs.navigation.compose)
implementation(libs.koin.core)
implementation(libs.koin.compose)
implementation(libs.koin.compose.viewmodel)
implementation(libs.ktor.client.core)
implementation(libs.ktor.client.content.negotiation)
implementation(libs.ktor.serialization.kotlinx.json)
implementation(libs.room.runtime)
implementation(libs.room.ktx)
implementation(libs.datastore.preferences)
implementation(libs.kotlinx.datetime)
implementation(libs.kotlinx.serialization.json)
implementation(libs.kotlinx.coroutines.core)
}
androidMain.dependencies {
implementation(libs.ktor.client.okhttp)
implementation(libs.koin.android)
implementation(libs.kotlinx.coroutines.android)
}
iosMain.dependencies {
implementation(libs.ktor.client.darwin)
}
}
}
Dependency Injection with Koin
Module Structure
val homeModule = module {
single<HomeRepository> { HomeRepositoryImpl(get(), get()) }
factory { GetHomeDataUseCase(get()) }
viewModel { HomeViewModel(get()) }
}
Scopes — Feature-Scoped Dependencies
Use Koin scopes for dependencies that should live only as long as a feature/screen is active (e.g., a shopping cart, a multi-step form):
val CartScope = named("CartScope")
val cartModule = module {
scope(CartScope) {
scoped { CartRepository(get()) }
scoped { CartViewModel(get()) }
}
}
val cartScope = getKoin().createScope("cart_session", CartScope)
val cartViewModel = cartScope.get<CartViewModel>()
cartScope.close()
Lazy Injection
Use inject() (lazy delegation) instead of get() (eager) when the dependency may not be needed immediately:
class HomeViewModel : ViewModel() {
private val analyticsService: AnalyticsService by inject()
private val repository: HomeRepository = get()
}
Named Qualifiers
Use named() qualifiers when you need multiple instances of the same type in the same module — a common pattern for multiple API clients or dispatchers:
val networkModule = module {
single<HttpClient>(named("main")) {
provideHttpClient(baseUrl = BuildKonfig.API_BASE_URL, tokenProvider = get())
}
single<HttpClient>(named("auth")) {
provideHttpClient(baseUrl = BuildKonfig.AUTH_BASE_URL, tokenProvider = get())
}
single<CoroutineDispatcher>(named("io")) { Dispatchers.IO }
single<CoroutineDispatcher>(named("main")) { Dispatchers.Main }
}
class UserRepository(
private val mainClient: HttpClient = get(named("main")),
private val authClient: HttpClient = get(named("auth"))
)
ViewModel with SavedStateHandle
Bind SavedStateHandle in Koin using viewModelOf or the params API:
val featureModule = module {
viewModelOf(::DetailViewModel)
}
val featureModule = module {
viewModel { params ->
DetailViewModel(
savedStateHandle = params.get(),
getItemUseCase = get()
)
}
}
class DetailViewModel(
savedStateHandle: SavedStateHandle,
private val getItemUseCase: GetItemUseCase
) : ViewModel() {
private val itemId: String = checkNotNull(savedStateHandle[Screen.Detail.ARG_ID])
}
Central Module Aggregator
fun getAllModules() = listOf(
platformModule(),
coreModule,
authModule,
homeModule,
)
expect fun platformModule(): Module
Koin Initialization
fun initKoin(appDeclaration: KoinAppDeclaration = {}) {
startKoin {
appDeclaration()
modules(getAllModules())
}
}
Android entry (Application class):
class MyApp : Application() {
override fun onCreate() {
super.onCreate()
initKoin {
androidContext(this@MyApp)
}
}
}
iOS entry (Swift):
KoinInitializerKt.doInitKoin()
Build System
Version Catalog (gradle/libs.versions.toml)
Always use the version catalog. Never hardcode versions in build files:
[versions]
kotlin = "2.3.0"
compose-multiplatform = "1.10.1"
agp = "8.8.0"
koin = "4.1.1"
ktor = "3.0.3"
room = "2.8.4"
datastore = "1.1.1"
navigation-compose = "2.9.1"
kotlinx-coroutines = "1.10.2"
kotlinx-serialization = "1.7.3"
kotlinx-datetime = "0.6.1"
ksp = "2.3.0-1.0.32"
buildkonfig = "0.17.1"
coil = "3.0.4"
[libraries]
koin-core = { module = "io.insert-koin:koin-core", version.ref = "koin" }
koin-android = { module = "io.insert-koin:koin-android", version.ref = "koin" }
koin-compose = { module = "io.insert-koin:koin-compose", version.ref = "koin" }
koin-compose-viewmodel = { module = "io.insert-koin:koin-compose-viewmodel", version.ref = "koin" }
ktor-client-core = { module = "io.ktor:ktor-client-core", version.ref = "ktor" }
ktor-client-okhttp = { module = "io.ktor:ktor-client-okhttp", version.ref = "ktor" }
ktor-client-darwin = { module = "io.ktor:ktor-client-darwin", version.ref = "ktor" }
ktor-client-content-negotiation = { module = "io.ktor:ktor-client-content-negotiation", version.ref = "ktor" }
ktor-serialization-kotlinx-json = { module = "io.ktor:ktor-serialization-kotlinx-json", version.ref = "ktor" }
room-runtime = { module = "androidx.room:room-runtime", version.ref = "room" }
room-ktx = { module = "androidx.room:room-ktx", version.ref = "room" }
room-compiler = { module = "androidx.room:room-compiler", version.ref = "room" }
datastore-preferences = { module = "androidx.datastore:datastore-preferences-core", version.ref = "datastore" }
navigation-compose = { module = "org.jetbrains.androidx.navigation:navigation-compose", version.ref = "navigation-compose" }
kotlinx-coroutines-core = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core", version.ref = "kotlinx-coroutines" }
kotlinx-coroutines-android = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-android", version.ref = "kotlinx-coroutines" }
kotlinx-serialization-json = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-serialization-json", version.ref = "kotlinx-serialization" }
kotlinx-datetime = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-datetime", version.ref = "kotlinx-datetime" }
coil-compose = { module = "io.coil-kt.coil3:coil-compose", version.ref = "coil" }
coil-network-ktor = { module = "io.coil-kt.coil3:coil-network-ktor3", version.ref = "coil" }
[plugins]
kotlin-multiplatform = { id = "org.jetbrains.kotlin.multiplatform", version.ref = "kotlin" }
compose-multiplatform = { id = "org.jetbrains.compose", version.ref = "compose-multiplatform" }
compose-compiler = { id = "org.jetbrains.kotlin.plugin.compose", version.ref = "kotlin" }
android-library = { id = "com.android.library", version.ref = "agp" }
android-application = { id = "com.android.application", version.ref = "agp" }
kotlin-serialization = { id = "org.jetbrains.kotlin.plugin.serialization", version.ref = "kotlin" }
ksp = { id = "com.google.devtools.ksp", version.ref = "ksp" }
room = { id = "androidx.room", version.ref = "room" }
buildkonfig = { id = "com.codingfeline.buildkonfig", version.ref = "buildkonfig" }
BuildKonfig for Environment Configuration
buildkonfig {
packageName = "com.example.shared"
defaultConfigs {
buildConfigField(STRING, "ENVIRONMENT", "stage")
buildConfigField(BOOLEAN, "IS_DEBUG", "true")
buildConfigField(STRING, "API_BASE_URL", "https://api.stage.example.com")
}
targetConfigs("prod") {
buildConfigField(STRING, "ENVIRONMENT", "prod")
buildConfigField(BOOLEAN, "IS_DEBUG", "false")
buildConfigField(STRING, "API_BASE_URL", "https://api.example.com")
}
}
Data Persistence
Room Database Setup
@Database(entities = [UserEntity::class], version = 2)
abstract class AppDatabase : RoomDatabase() {
abstract fun userDao(): UserDao
}
actual class DatabaseBuilder actual constructor(private val context: Any?) {
actual fun build(): AppDatabase = Room.databaseBuilder<AppDatabase>(
context = context as Context,
name = context.getDatabasePath("app.db").absolutePath
)
.addMigrations(MIGRATION_1_2)
.build()
}
val MIGRATION_1_2 = object : Migration(1, 2) {
override fun migrate(db: SupportSQLiteDatabase) {
db.execSQL("ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN avatar_url TEXT")
}
}
actual class DatabaseBuilder actual constructor(context: Any?) {
actual fun build(): AppDatabase = Room.databaseBuilder<AppDatabase>(
name = NSHomeDirectory() + "/app.db"
)
.addMigrations(MIGRATION_1_2)
.build()
}
Room DAO — Reactive Queries
Always use Flow<List<T>> for queries that the UI observes — never return a raw List:
@Dao
interface UserDao {
@Query("SELECT * FROM users ORDER BY name ASC")
fun observeAll(): Flow<List<UserEntity>>
@Upsert
suspend fun upsert(user: UserEntity)
@Delete
suspend fun delete(user: UserEntity)
@Query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = :id")
suspend fun getById(id: String): UserEntity?
@Transaction
suspend fun replaceAll(users: List<UserEntity>) {
deleteAll()
insertAll(users)
}
@Query("DELETE FROM users")
suspend fun deleteAll()
@Insert(onConflict = OnConflictStrategy.IGNORE)
suspend fun insertAll(users: List<UserEntity>)
}
Room Pagination with Paging 3
For large datasets use PagingSource — never load everything into memory:
paging = "3.3.6"
[libraries]
paging-runtime = { module = "androidx.paging:paging-runtime", version.ref = "paging" }
paging-compose = { module = "androidx.paging:paging-compose", version.ref = "paging" }
paging-testing = { module = "androidx.paging:paging-testing", version.ref = "paging" }
@Dao
interface ItemDao {
@Query("SELECT * FROM items ORDER BY created_at DESC")
fun pagingSource(): PagingSource<Int, ItemEntity>
}
fun observeItemsPaged(): Flow<PagingData<Item>> = Pager(
config = PagingConfig(pageSize = 20, enablePlaceholders = false),
pagingSourceFactory = { itemDao.pagingSource() }
).flow.map { pagingData -> pagingData.map { it.toDomain() } }
val pagedItems: Flow<PagingData<Item>> = itemsRepository
.observeItemsPaged()
.cachedIn(viewModelScope)
@Composable
fun ItemListScreen(viewModel: HomeViewModel = koinViewModel()) {
val items = viewModel.pagedItems.collectAsLazyPagingItems()
LazyColumn {
items(count = items.itemCount, key = items.itemKey { it.id }) { index ->
items[index]?.let { ItemCard(item = it) }
}
item {
when (items.loadState.append) {
is LoadState.Loading -> CircularProgressIndicator()
is LoadState.Error -> RetryButton(onClick = { items.retry() })
else -> Unit
}
}
}
}
Room Full-Text Search (FTS)
@Fts4(contentEntity = ItemEntity::class)
@Entity(tableName = "items_fts")
data class ItemFtsEntity(
@PrimaryKey @ColumnInfo(name = "rowid") val rowId: Int = 0,
val title: String,
val description: String
)
@Dao
interface ItemSearchDao {
@Query("SELECT * FROM items WHERE rowid IN (SELECT rowid FROM items_fts WHERE items_fts MATCH :query)")
fun search(query: String): Flow<List<ItemEntity>>
}
DataStore Setup
expect fun createDataStore(producePath: () -> String): DataStore<Preferences>
internal const val DATASTORE_FILE = "app_prefs.preferences_pb"
Networking with Ktor
class ApiService(private val client: HttpClient) {
suspend fun getUser(id: String): UserDto =
client.get("/users/$id").body()
suspend fun createUser(request: CreateUserRequest): UserDto =
client.post("/users") {
contentType(ContentType.Application.Json)
setBody(request)
}.body()
}
fun provideHttpClient(
baseUrl: String,
tokenProvider: TokenProvider
): HttpClient = HttpClient {
install(ContentNegotiation) {
json(Json {
ignoreUnknownKeys = true
isLenient = true
})
}
install(HttpTimeout) {
requestTimeoutMillis = 30_000
connectTimeoutMillis = 15_000
socketTimeoutMillis = 30_000
}
install(Logging) {
logger = Logger.DEFAULT
level = if (BuildKonfig.IS_DEBUG) LogLevel.HEADERS else LogLevel.NONE
}
install(HttpRequestRetry) {
retryOnServerErrors(maxRetries = 3)
retryOnException(maxRetries = 3, retryOnTimeout = true)
exponentialDelay(base = 2.0, maxDelayMs = 10_000)
}
install(Auth) {
bearer {
loadTokens { BearerTokens(tokenProvider.getAccessToken(), tokenProvider.getRefreshToken()) }
refreshTokens {
val newTokens = tokenProvider.refresh()
BearerTokens(newTokens.accessToken, newTokens.refreshToken)
}
}
}
defaultRequest {
url(baseUrl)
header(HttpHeaders.ContentType, ContentType.Application.Json)
}
}
Always wrap API calls with safeApiCall to map Ktor exceptions to domain errors — see references/error-handling.md.
Exponential Backoff with Jitter
Add randomization to retry delays to prevent thundering-herd problems when many clients retry simultaneously:
install(HttpRequestRetry) {
retryOnServerErrors(maxRetries = 3)
retryOnException(maxRetries = 3, retryOnTimeout = true)
exponentialDelay(base = 2.0, maxDelayMs = 10_000, randomizationMs = 500)
}
Certificate Pinning (Android)
For high-security apps, pin the server's certificate to prevent MITM attacks:
actual fun createHttpClient(baseUrl: String, tokenProvider: TokenProvider): HttpClient =
HttpClient(OkHttp) {
engine {
config {
certificatePinner(
CertificatePinner.Builder()
.add("api.example.com", "sha256/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=")
.add("api.example.com", "sha256/BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB=")
.build()
)
}
}
}
Keep two pins active at all times (primary + backup) to allow certificate rotation without a forced update.
SharedFlow Buffer Strategy
Choose buffer size and overflow behavior explicitly when emitting from multiple coroutines:
private val _events = MutableSharedFlow<HomeEvent>(
replay = 0,
extraBufferCapacity = 64,
onBufferOverflow = BufferOverflow.DROP_OLDEST
)
private val _appEvents = MutableSharedFlow<AppEvent>(
replay = 1,
extraBufferCapacity = 16,
onBufferOverflow = BufferOverflow.DROP_OLDEST
)
Never use replay > 0 for navigation events — a screen re-subscribing would navigate again.
HTTP Caching
Enable response caching in the Ktor client to reduce network calls and support offline reading:
actual fun createHttpClient(baseUrl: String, tokenProvider: TokenProvider): HttpClient =
HttpClient(OkHttp) {
engine {
config {
cache(Cache(
directory = context.cacheDir.resolve("http_cache"),
maxSize = 10L * 1024 * 1024
))
}
}
}
For stale-while-revalidate behaviour, add headers in repository calls:
suspend fun getItems(): Resource<List<ItemDto>> = safeApiCall {
client.get("/items") {
header(HttpHeaders.CacheControl, "max-age=300")
}.body()
}
OAuth 2.0 Token Refresh
The Ktor Auth plugin handles token rotation automatically. Ensure the refresh call itself is unauthenticated to avoid infinite loops:
install(Auth) {
bearer {
loadTokens {
BearerTokens(tokenStorage.accessToken, tokenStorage.refreshToken)
}
refreshTokens {
val response = client.post("/auth/refresh") {
markAsRefreshTokenRequest()
setBody(RefreshRequest(oldTokens?.refreshToken ?: ""))
}.body<TokenResponse>()
tokenStorage.save(response.accessToken, response.refreshToken)
BearerTokens(response.accessToken, response.refreshToken)
}
sendWithoutRequest { request ->
request.url.host == "api.example.com"
}
}
}
---
## Internationalization (i18n)
All user-facing strings must use Compose Multiplatform's resource system. Never hardcode text:
```kotlin
// GOOD — uses generated Res.string references
Text(text = stringResource(Res.string.home_title, userName))
Button(onClick = onRetry) { Text(text = stringResource(Res.string.action_retry)) }
// BAD — hardcoded, not translatable
Text(text = "Welcome, $userName")
Key rules:
- Define all strings in
commonMain/composeResources/values/strings.xml
- Add locale folders (
values-es/, values-ar/) for each supported language
- Use
pluralStringResource() for quantities — never if (count == 1) string branching
- Use
start/end padding (not left/right) for RTL language support
- Use
Icons.AutoMirrored.* for directional icons that should flip in RTL
- Test with
@Preview(locale = "ar") to verify RTL layouts
See references/i18n.md for plurals, RTL testing, dynamic locale change, and locale-aware number/currency formatting.
Testing Strategy
Unit Tests (commonTest)
class GetUserUseCaseTest {
private val repository = FakeUserRepository()
private val useCase = GetUserUseCase(repository)
@Test
fun `returns success when repository succeeds`() = runTest {
repository.setUser(testUser)
val result = useCase("user-123")
assertIs<Resource.Success<User>>(result)
assertEquals(testUser, result.data)
}
}
class FakeUserRepository : UserRepository {
private var user: User? = null
fun setUser(user: User) { this.user = user }
override suspend fun getUser(id: String): Resource<User> =
user?.let { Resource.Success(it) } ?: Resource.Error("Not found")
}
Rules:
- Never use Mockito or MockK — use fakes/test doubles
- All shared tests go in
commonTest
- Platform-specific tests in
androidTest/iosTest
- Use
runTest from kotlinx-coroutines-test for coroutine testing
Logging
Use expect/actual for platform logging — never use println() in production code. Never log sensitive data (tokens, passwords, PII).
enum class LogLevel { DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR }
expect fun logDebug(tag: String, message: String)
expect fun logInfo(tag: String, message: String)
expect fun logWarn(tag: String, message: String)
expect fun logError(tag: String, message: String, throwable: Throwable? = null)
actual fun logDebug(tag: String, message: String) = Timber.tag(tag).d(message)
actual fun logInfo(tag: String, message: String) = Timber.tag(tag).i(message)
actual fun logWarn(tag: String, message: String) = Timber.tag(tag).w(message)
actual fun logError(tag: String, message: String, throwable: Throwable?) =
Timber.tag(tag).e(throwable, message)
Initialize Timber in Application.onCreate() — plant a DebugTree for debug builds and a Crashlytics reporting tree for production:
class MyApp : Application() {
override fun onCreate() {
super.onCreate()
if (BuildKonfig.IS_DEBUG) {
Timber.plant(Timber.DebugTree())
} else {
Timber.plant(CrashlyticsTree())
}
}
}
class CrashlyticsTree : Timber.Tree() {
override fun log(priority: Int, tag: String?, message: String, t: Throwable?) {
if (priority < Log.WARN) return
val safeMessage = message.redactSensitivePatterns()
FirebaseCrashlytics.getInstance().log("[$tag] $safeMessage")
if (t != null) FirebaseCrashlytics.getInstance().recordException(t)
}
}
private fun String.redactSensitivePatterns(): String = this
.replace(Regex("Bearer [A-Za-z0-9\\-._~+/]+=*"), "Bearer [REDACTED]")
.replace(Regex("[a-zA-Z0-9._%+\\-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.\\-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}"), "[EMAIL REDACTED]")
import platform.Foundation.NSLog
import platform.darwin.*
actual fun logDebug(tag: String, message: String) {
os_log_with_type(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, OS_LOG_TYPE_DEBUG, "[$tag] $message")
}
actual fun logInfo(tag: String, message: String) {
os_log_with_type(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, OS_LOG_TYPE_INFO, "[$tag] $message")
}
actual fun logWarn(tag: String, message: String) {
os_log_with_type(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, OS_LOG_TYPE_ERROR, "[$tag] WARN: $message")
}
actual fun logError(tag: String, message: String, throwable: Throwable?) {
os_log_with_type(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, OS_LOG_TYPE_FAULT, "[$tag] ERROR: $message ${throwable?.message ?: ""}")
}
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Never put Android/iOS imports in
commonMain — use expect/actual
- Never expose Flow from Room directly to UI — map through repository to domain models first
- Never use
LiveData in KMP — use StateFlow/Flow only
- Never hardcode strings in Compose — use
stringResource() from compose resources
- Never use
rememberCoroutineScope in a ViewModel — use viewModelScope
- Never pass
Context through layers — inject at the platform module level only
- Never use
GlobalScope — use structured concurrency with viewModelScope or CoroutineScope(SupervisorJob())
- Avoid
LaunchedEffect for ViewModel operations — use collectAsStateWithLifecycle()
- Never share mutable state across composables — hoist to a single source of truth
- Do not skip the domain layer — even for simple features, maintain the abstraction
- Never use raw
String for errors in Resource.Error — use typed AppError sealed class
- Never put navigation calls in
UiState — use a separate SharedFlow<Event> for one-time events
- Never call
stopKoin() in production code — only in test teardown
- Never use
println() for logging — use expect/actual log functions
- Never skip Room migrations — always add a
Migration object when bumping the schema version
- Never omit
contentDescription on meaningful images/icons — required for accessibility (TalkBack, VoiceOver)
- Never log sensitive data — redact tokens, emails, and PII before sending to Crashlytics or any log aggregation service
- Never load unbounded lists — use
PagingSource + Pager for large datasets
- Never hardcode user-facing strings — always use
stringResource() from compose resources
- Never use
left/right padding in Composables — use start/end for RTL language support
- Never use
Icons.Default.ArrowBack for navigation — use Icons.AutoMirrored.Filled.ArrowBack to mirror in RTL
- Never use
reply > 0 on navigation event SharedFlows — late subscribers would trigger navigation again
- Never keep only one certificate pin — always pin primary + backup to allow rotation without forcing an update
- Never use
left/right in column/row alignment — prefer Start/End which respect layout direction
Reference Files
references/architecture.md — detailed architecture guide, module structures, feature flags, inter-feature communication, proto DataStore
references/compose-best-practices.md — composable design, @Stable, state hoisting, Material 3, focus management, text field accessibility, dynamic type, previews, performance
references/error-handling.md — AppError hierarchy, safeApiCall, recoverable vs fatal, 429 handling, error analytics/breadcrumbs, retry logic
references/testing.md — fakes, ViewModel tests with Turbine, SharedFlow event testing, Paging tests, screenshot/golden tests, Compose UI tests, Room in-memory
references/ios-interop.md — Swift naming conventions, SKIE sealed class edge cases, Kotlin/Native memory model, iOS performance, nullability bridging, coroutines↔Swift Concurrency
references/navigation.md — deep links, cross-module navigation contracts, predictive back, deep link validation, nested nav, bottom navigation, back handling, transitions, SavedStateHandle
references/build-system.md — convention plugins, R8/ProGuard, publishing to Maven, CI Gradle daemon, KSP config, gradle.properties, build performance
references/i18n.md — string resources, plurals, RTL support, dynamic locale change, locale-aware number/currency formatting
Official References