JVM toolchain

Elide bundles JDK 25 and Kotlin 2.5.0-Beta2. Libraries and annotations available to programs: JVM APIs.

Compile and run

Terminal

bash

elide javac -- -d out Hello.java
elide java -- -cp out Hello

elide run Hello.kt

Options for the wrapped tool go after --. elide run compiles a Kotlin file and runs it with the Kotlin standard library; elide java does not add it (Kotlin Compiler).

Format

Terminal

bash

elide format -- src
elide format -- -n src # check only

Use elide format --install -- --jfmt for the Java jfmt dialect with project dependencies installed before its type-based import pass. Kotlin still uses ktfmt. Per-formatter options and selections: Formatting.

Build a project

With an elide.pkl:

Terminal

bash

elide install
elide build
elide test

Sources in src/main/java, src/main/kotlin and src/test/… need no configuration. JVM tests need an elide.pkl. Coverage: Testing.

In a terminal, each task line shows how many files it compiles. In CI, with redirected output, or under an agent, the build prints one plain line per task.

Micronaut projects support automatic processors, Pkl configuration, JUnit coverage, JVM distributions, and Native Image targets.

Rewrite and inspect code

OpenRewrite previews and applies recipes to main Java sources. Dependency code index finds class origins, inspects members, and queries references in Maven dependencies and compiled local Java and Kotlin code. Both are experimental in 1.6.0 and use elide.pkl.

Terminal

bash

elide rewrite org.openrewrite.java.RemoveUnusedImports --dry-run
elide index build --layers=l1,l2,l3
elide index used-by java.util.List

Compile headers and generated code

The compiler wrappers expose separate outputs for build systems that distinguish a library’s compile-time API from its implementation:

Terminal

bash

elide javac --abi-only --emit-abi java-abi.jar -- src/Api.java
elide kotlinc --abi-only -- -d kotlin-abi.jar src/Library.kt

Dependents can compile against these headers; execution needs the full implementation. Java headers skip method-body compilation. Kotlin header-only compilation strips non-inline implementation bodies by default while preserving metadata, inline code and constants needed by consumers. Full compilation can also emit a header alongside its regular output. See Java ABI jars and Kotlin ABI jars for output flags and constraints.

For code generation, select the phase that matches the processor or input:

Input	Command or configuration
Java annotation processor	`elide javac -- --processor-path …`; processor setup
Java annotation processor over Kotlin declarations	`elide kotlinc --kapt-sources …`; processing phase
KSP2 symbol processor	`elide kotlinc --ksp-output …`; KSP outputs and compilation
C headers	`jvm.java.bindings` or `elide javac -- --jextract …`; compile bindings in memory

Kotlin processing commands generate outputs for a later compile; elide build does not schedule KSP or Java annotation processing over Kotlin automatically, except KAPT for Android projects with processors declared. C header bindings selected in a Java source set are generated and compiled by the normal project build. Standalone jextract exports Java FFM sources separately.

Existing build systems

Build	Use
Maven	Maven plugin, or `elide mvn`
Gradle	Gradle plugin
Bazel	`rules_elide` and persistent workers
Any	`elide javac -- …` and the other wrappers, or `JAVA_HOME` set to the Elide distribution

Overview: Build tool integration.

elide --help-all lists every command.

Samples

Start from a template:

Terminal

bash

elide init --template java        # Java app with a JUnit test
elide init --template ktjvm       # Kotlin app with a test
elide init --template workspace   # Kotlin library and app in one workspace