Overview

The Build Constants feature generates a Kotlin object at compile time that exposes key-value pairs as const val string properties. This allows you to embed information like the project version, name, or any custom value directly into your compiled code — without runtime lookups or manual maintenance.

Build constants generation is disabled by default. Enable it inside the buildConstant { } block within kreate { project { } }:

kreate {
    project {
        buildConstant {
            enabled.set(true)
        }
    }
}

How It Works

When enabled, Kreate registers a kreate-build-constants Gradle task that runs automatically before compilation. The task uses KotlinPoet to write a .kt source file into the build directory and wires it into the project's source sets so it is compiled alongside your regular code.

The generated file is placed at:

build/generated/compile/<packagePath>/<ClassName>.kt

It is added automatically to commonMain for Kotlin Multiplatform projects, or to main for Kotlin JVM projects.

Generated Output

Given the following configuration:

kreate {
    project {
        name = "MyLibrary"
        projectGroup = "com.example"

        buildConstant {
            enabled.set(true)
            constant("version", project.version)
            constant("name", "MyLibrary")
        }
    }
}

Kreate generates a file at build/generated/compile/com/example/mylibrary/build/BuildConstants.kt:

// This file is generated automatically.
// Do not edit or modify! Changes will be overwritten on the next build.
// Generated on 2026-04-25 10:00:00.

package com.example.mylibrary.build

/**
 * Auto-generated build constants.
 */
object BuildConstants {
    const val VERSION: String = "1.0.0"
    const val NAME: String = "MyLibrary"
}

You can then import and use it anywhere in your code:

import com.example.mylibrary.build.BuildConstants

println(BuildConstants.VERSION)
println(BuildConstants.NAME)

Next Steps

Configuration Reference: Customize package names, class names, and target source sets
Examples: Advanced usage, including environment variables and dynamic values

26 April 2026