Introduction

This guide explains how to publish an Android library to Maven Central using the Gradle Maven Publish Plugin.

Setting Up Build Configuration

First, update your module’s build.gradle file with the following configuration:

import com.vanniktech.maven.publish.AndroidSingleVariantLibrary
import com.vanniktech.maven.publish.SonatypeHost

plugins {
    alias(libs.plugins.android.library)
    alias(libs.plugins.kotlin.android)
    id("com.vanniktech.maven.publish") version "0.30.0"
}

mavenPublishing {
    configure(
        AndroidSingleVariantLibrary(
            variant = "release",
            sourcesJar = true,
            publishJavadocJar = true,
        )
    )

    publishToMavenCentral(SonatypeHost.CENTRAL_PORTAL)
    signAllPublications()

    coordinates("com.example.mylibrary", "mylibrary-runtime", "1.0.3-SNAPSHOT")

    pom {
        name.set("My Library")
        description.set("A description of what my library does.")
        inceptionYear.set("2020")
        url.set("https://github.com/username/mylibrary/")
        licenses {
        license {
            name.set("The Apache License, Version 2.0")
            url.set("http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt")
            distribution.set("http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt")
        }
        }
        developers {
        developer {
            id.set("username")
            name.set("User Name")
            url.set("https://github.com/username/")
        }
        }
        scm {
        url.set("https://github.com/username/mylibrary/")
        connection.set("scm:git:git://github.com/username/mylibrary.git")
        developerConnection.set("scm:git:ssh://git@github.com/username/mylibrary.git")
        }
    }
}

Testing with Local Maven

To test your configuration locally:

  1. Run the following command:
./gradlew publishToMavenLocal
  1. Verify the publication in your local Maven repository:
ls ~/.m2/repository/com.example.mylibrary/mylibrary-runtime

Publishing to Maven Central

Domain Verification

If you’re using your own domain, you’ll need to verify it by adding a TXT record to your domain’s DNS and check for namespace status at https://central.sonatype.com/publishing/namespaces

Maven Central Domain Verification

GPG Key Setup

  1. Export your secret keys at ~/.gnupg/
gpg --export-secret-keys -o secring.gpg
  1. List your GPG keys:
gpg --list-keys --keyid-format short

GPG Keys List

Fill this as the signing.keyId in next step.

Configure Gradle Properties

Add the following to ~/.gradle/gradle.properties:

mavenCentralUsername=username
mavenCentralPassword=the_password

signing.keyId=12345678
signing.password=some_password
signing.secretKeyRingFile=~/.gnupg/secring.gpg

Publishing

  1. Run the publish command:
./gradlew publishAllPublicationsToMavenCentral
  1. Monitor your deployment status at https://central.sonatype.com/publishing/deployments

Additional Configuration

If your library includes Jetpack Compose code, add this to your module’s build.gradle:

plugins {
    alias(libs.plugins.kotlin.compose) apply false
}

References