| name | 110-java-maven-best-practices |
| description | Use when you need to review, improve, or troubleshoot a Maven pom.xml file — including dependency management with BOMs, plugin configuration, version centralization, multi-module project structure, build profiles, or any situation where you want to align your Maven setup with industry best practices. Part of the skills-for-java project |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| metadata | {"author":"Juan Antonio Breña Moral","version":"0.13.0-SNAPSHOT"} |
Maven Best Practices
Improve Maven POM configuration using industry-standard best practices.
What is covered in this Skill?
- Dependency management via
<dependencyManagement> and BOMs
- Standard directory layout (
src/main/java, src/test/java)
- Centralized plugin management
- Build profiles for environment-specific settings
- Readable POM structure with version properties
- Explicit repository declaration
- Version centralization
- Multi-module project structure with proper inheritance
- Cross-module version consistency
- Multi-module scope: After reading the root
pom.xml, check for a <modules> section. If present, read every child module's pom.xml before making any recommendations.
- Check each child for hardcoded versions that duplicate parent
<dependencyManagement>, redundant <pluginManagement> blocks, properties that should be centralized, and version drift across sibling modules.
Constraints
Before applying Maven best practices recommendations, ensure the project is in a valid state by running Maven validation. This helps identify any existing configuration issues that need to be resolved first. For multi-module projects, scope analysis must cover every child module POM — not just the root.
- MANDATORY: Run
./mvnw validate or mvn validate before applying any Maven best practices recommendations
- VERIFY: Ensure all validation errors are resolved before proceeding with POM modifications
- SAFETY: If validation fails, do not continue and ask the user to fix the issues before continuing
- MULTI-MODULE DISCOVERY: After reading the root
pom.xml, check whether it contains a <modules> section. If it does, read every child module's pom.xml before making any recommendations — analysis scope is the full module tree, not only the root
- CROSS-MODULE SCOPE: When child modules exist, check each one for: hardcoded dependency versions that duplicate
<dependencyManagement> in the parent, plugin configurations that duplicate <pluginManagement>, properties that should be centralized in the parent, and version drift (same artifact declared at different versions across sibling modules)
- BEFORE APPLYING: Read the reference for detailed examples, good/bad patterns, and constraints
When to use this skill
- Review pom.xml to improve it
- Apply Maven best practices to pom.xml
- Improve Maven POM configuration
Reference
For detailed guidance, examples, and constraints, see references/110-java-maven-best-practices.md.
