koin-guide

name	koin-guide
description	Expert guide for Koin dependency injection in Kotlin/Android. Invoke when user asks about Koin setup, modules, injection (single/factory/viewModel), or replacing Dagger.

Koin Usage Guide

This skill provides a comprehensive guide to using Koin, a lightweight dependency injection framework for Kotlin developers.

🚀 Why Koin?

• Lightweight: No proxy, no code generation, no reflection.
• Kotlin-First: Written in pure Kotlin.
• Simple: Easy to learn compared to Dagger/Hilt.

📦 Setup (Gradle)

dependencies {
    // Core
    implementation "io.insert-koin:koin-android:$koin_version"
    // Scope features
    implementation "io.insert-koin:koin-androidx-scope:$koin_version"
    // ViewModel features
    implementation "io.insert-koin:koin-androidx-viewmodel:$koin_version"
}

🏁 Initialization

Initialize Koin in your Application class:

class MyApp : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        startKoin {
            androidLogger() // Optional: Logger
            androidContext(this@MyApp) // Inject Android Context
            modules(appModule, netModule) // Load Modules
        }
    }
}

🧩 Defining Modules

Use module { } to define your dependencies.

1. Factory (New Instance Every Time)

Equivalent to new Class().

val appModule = module {
    factory { Person() }
}

2. Single (Singleton)

Created once and shared.

val appModule = module {
    single { NetworkManager() }
}

3. ViewModel

Special factory for Android ViewModels.

val appModule = module {
    viewModel { MyViewModel(get()) }
}

💉 Injection

In Activity/Fragment

Use by inject() (lazy) or get() (eager).

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    // Lazy injection
    val person: Person by inject()
    val viewModel: MyViewModel by viewModel()
    
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        // Eager injection
        val manager: NetworkManager = get()
    }
}

In Non-Android Classes (KoinComponent)

Implement KoinComponent interface.

class Repository : KoinComponent {
    val api: ApiService by inject()
}

🔧 Advanced Usage

Parameters (Injection with Args)

Pass arguments at runtime.

Module Definition:

factory { (id: String, name: String) -> User(id, name) }

Injection:

val user: User by inject { parametersOf("123", "Alice") }

Qualifiers (Named Injection)

Distinguish between multiple instances of the same type.

Module Definition:

single(named("local")) { LocalDataSource() }
single(named("remote")) { RemoteDataSource() }

Injection:

val local: DataSource by inject(named("local"))

Scopes

Bind dependencies to a specific lifecycle (e.g., Activity or Fragment).

val scopeModule = module {
    scope<DetailActivity> {
        scoped { Presenter() }
    }
}

Inside DetailActivity:

// Automatically bound to this activity's scope
val presenter: Presenter by inject() 

📋 Summary of DSL Keywords

• module { }: Declare a Koin module.
• factory { }: Create a new instance each time.
• single { }: Create a singleton.
• viewModel { }: Create a ViewModel.
• get(): Resolve a component dependency.
• named("name"): Add a qualifier.
• scope<T> { }: Define a scope for a class.