jar-search

name

jar-search

description

Search dependency jars (packages, types, functions, methods) on a Gradle build's classpath using the self-contained jar-search.init.gradle.kts init script, without needing the dev-tools plugin applied to the target project. Use whenever you need to know what a Kotlin/Java dependency actually exposes — e.g. to check a type exists, find its members, or discover the right method/function signature before writing code against it.

Jar Search

Search packages, types, functions, and methods in resolved dependency jars via the jarSearch task, applied through the self-contained init script jar-search.init.gradle.kts. No plugin resolution, network access, or version pinning is required, and no target project build file needs to be modified.

Always pass -q/--quiet to ./gradlew — the task is designed to produce clean, token-efficient output only under quiet mode.

Setup

This skill bundles a self-contained copy of jar-search.init.gradle.kts (see jar-search.init.gradle.kts). Point --init-script at its absolute path from the target repository — no plugin resolution, network access, or copying into the target project is required:

./gradlew --init-script /absolute/path/to/.agents/skills/jar-search/jar-search.init.gradle.kts -q jarSearch --dependency <spec> [options]

The init script registers jarSearch on the root project and every subproject. Target a specific module with a task path, e.g. :app:jarSearch.

Workflow

1. List packages/types available in a dependency (by version-catalog alias, direct Gradle coordinate, or jar path):

   ./gradlew --init-script /absolute/path/to/.agents/skills/jar-search/jar-search.init.gradle.kts -q jarSearch --dependency arrow-core
   

2. Look up a specific type — an exact name match also dumps all of its declared members:

   ./gradlew --init-script /absolute/path/to/.agents/skills/jar-search/jar-search.init.gradle.kts -q jarSearch --dependency arrow-core --kind type --query Either
   

3. Find functions/methods matching a name across a dependency's jars:

   ./gradlew --init-script /absolute/path/to/.agents/skills/jar-search/jar-search.init.gradle.kts -q jarSearch --dependency "io.arrow-kt:arrow-core" --kind method --query fold
   

4. Search the whole classpath (e.g. when you don't know which dependency declares a type) by passing * or a configuration name:

   ./gradlew --init-script /absolute/path/to/.agents/skills/jar-search/jar-search.init.gradle.kts -q jarSearch --dependency '*' --kind type --query Either
   

5. Target a specific module in a multi-module build with a task path:

   ./gradlew --init-script /absolute/path/to/.agents/skills/jar-search/jar-search.init.gradle.kts -q :app:jarSearch --dependency arrow-core
   

Options

--dependency (required)

One of:

• * or a configuration name — search every jar on that configuration
• a Gradle coordinate group:artifact[:version]
• a version-catalog alias (e.g. arrow-core)
• a direct .jar path

Other options

• --query <text> — package, type, function, or method to look for
• --kind <all|package|type|function|top_level_function|method> — default all (function, top_level_function, and method require --query)
• --configuration <name> — configuration to search/resolve against (default compileClasspath)
• --limit <n> — max results per section (default 20)
• --include-non-public — include non-public members
• --include-synthetic — include synthetic/compiler-generated members
• --raw-signatures — print raw JVM descriptors
• --transitive <auto|true|false> — transitive search mode (default auto); auto searches the matching jar(s) first and falls back to the full configuration when a member query has no results

Notes

• When --kind type (or all) and --query exactly matches a type's simple or fully-qualified name, all of that type's declared members are listed automatically — no need for a second --kind method call in that case.
• If the target project already applies the io.github.nomisrev.dev-tools Gradle plugin (see the plugin's README), the jarSearch task is already available and the --init-script flag can be skipped.
• The plugin also provides an inspectTest task (via inspect-test.init.gradle.kts) for reading failing tests from JUnit XML reports — unrelated to jar searching.