This page is a reference for integrating Gradle with Travis CI.

Default Gradle behavior

When Travis CI detects a build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file in the repository root, it automatically applies Gradle-specific defaults for the build lifecycle:

Phase Without Wrapper With Wrapper (gradlew present)

install

gradle assemble

./gradlew assemble

script

gradle check

./gradlew check

Most projects override one or both phases in .travis.yml to run custom tasks.

Minimal configuration

A .travis.yml that builds a Gradle project with the Wrapper:

language: java

dist: focal
jdk: openjdk17

install: skip

script:
  - ./gradlew build

  • language: java activates the Java environment and JDK selection.

  • dist: focal selects Ubuntu 20.04 (the current default). Other options include jammy (22.04) and noble (24.04).

  • jdk selects the JDK. Common values: openjdk17, openjdk21. IBM Semeru builds are available as semeru11, semeru17, etc.

  • install: skip skips the default gradle assemble phase — the build task already includes assembly.

  • The Gradle Wrapper is detected automatically when gradlew exists in the repository root.

Testing against multiple JDKs

Use a jdk matrix to test across several Java versions in parallel:

language: java
dist: focal

jdk:
  - openjdk17
  - openjdk21

install: skip

script:
  - ./gradlew build

Travis CI creates one job per JDK entry. Combine with os to add cross-platform coverage:

os:
  - linux
  - osx

jdk:
  - openjdk17
  - openjdk21

Caching

Travis CI can persist directories between builds. For Gradle projects, cache the Wrapper distribution and the dependency cache:

before_cache:
  - rm -f  $HOME/.gradle/caches/modules-2/modules-2.lock
  - rm -fr $HOME/.gradle/caches/*/plugin-resolution/

cache:
  directories:
    - $HOME/.gradle/caches/
    - $HOME/.gradle/wrapper/

The before_cache step removes lock files that should not be persisted.

If you run Gradle with sudo, dependencies are stored under /root/.gradle and the cache configuration above has no effect. Avoid sudo when invoking Gradle.

For large dependency trees, the cache archive upload/download time on shared infrastructure may offset the savings. In that case, consider a Gradle Remote Build Cache or a repository manager to proxy external dependencies.

Publishing Build Scans

Pass --scan in the script phase to publish a Build Scan® for every build:

script:
  - ./gradlew build --scan

To auto-accept the terms of use without the --scan flag, configure the Develocity plugin in settings.gradle[.kts]. Travis CI sets CI=true automatically, which can be used to gate publication:

plugins {
    id("com.gradle.develocity") version "3.18.1"
}

develocity {
    buildScan {
        if (System.getenv("CI") != null) {
            termsOfUseUrl = "https://gradle.com/help/legal-terms-of-use"
            termsOfUseAgree = "yes"
            publishing.onlyIf { true }
        }
    }
}

Useful environment variables

Variable Purpose

CI / TRAVIS

Always true. Use to branch Gradle build logic for CI.

TRAVIS_BRANCH

Branch name for push builds; base branch for pull-request builds.

TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST

Pull-request number, or "false" for push builds.

TRAVIS_EVENT_TYPE

Trigger type: push, pull_request, api, or cron.

TRAVIS_TAG

Git tag name if the build was triggered by a tag push; empty otherwise.

TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR

Absolute path to the checked-out repository on the worker.

TRAVIS_COMMIT

The SHA of the commit being built.

See Default environment variables for the full list.

Build stages and conditional jobs

Travis CI build stages run groups of jobs sequentially, while jobs within a stage run in parallel. Use stages to model pipelines — for example, build first, then deploy only on tagged commits:

jobs:
  include:
    - stage: build
      script: ./gradlew build

    - stage: publish
      if: tag IS present
      script: ./gradlew publish

Managing secrets

Store credentials (publishing tokens, signing keys) as encrypted environment variables in the repository settings or in .travis.yml via the Travis CLI:

travis encrypt PUBLISH_TOKEN=secret --add env.global

Access them in build.gradle[.kts] with System.getenv("PUBLISH_TOKEN") or providers.environmentVariable("PUBLISH_TOKEN").