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maven-plugin-configuration skill

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This skill helps you configure Maven plugins, optimize builds, and ensure consistent plugin behavior across compiler, test, and packaging stages.

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---
name: maven-plugin-configuration
description: Use when configuring Maven plugins, setting up common plugins like compiler, surefire, jar, or creating custom plugin executions.
---

# Maven Plugin Configuration

Master Maven plugin configuration including core plugins, build plugins, reporting plugins, and custom plugin development.

## Overview

Maven plugins provide the actual functionality for building projects. Understanding how to configure plugins effectively is essential for customizing builds, optimizing performance, and ensuring code quality.

## Plugin Basics

### Plugin Structure

```xml
<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>3.12.1</version>
            <configuration>
                <!-- Plugin-specific configuration -->
            </configuration>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <id>compile-java</id>
                    <phase>compile</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>compile</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>
```

### Plugin Management

```xml
<build>
    <pluginManagement>
        <plugins>
            <!-- Define versions and shared config -->
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.12.1</version>
                <configuration>
                    <release>17</release>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </pluginManagement>
    <plugins>
        <!-- Actually use plugin (inherits config) -->
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>
```

## Core Build Plugins

### Compiler Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.12.1</version>
    <configuration>
        <release>17</release>
        <encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
        <showWarnings>true</showWarnings>
        <showDeprecation>true</showDeprecation>
        <compilerArgs>
            <arg>-Xlint:all</arg>
            <arg>-parameters</arg>
        </compilerArgs>
        <annotationProcessorPaths>
            <path>
                <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
                <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
                <version>1.18.30</version>
            </path>
        </annotationProcessorPaths>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
```

### Resources Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.3.1</version>
    <configuration>
        <encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
        <propertiesEncoding>UTF-8</propertiesEncoding>
        <nonFilteredFileExtensions>
            <nonFilteredFileExtension>pdf</nonFilteredFileExtension>
            <nonFilteredFileExtension>ico</nonFilteredFileExtension>
            <nonFilteredFileExtension>png</nonFilteredFileExtension>
            <nonFilteredFileExtension>jpg</nonFilteredFileExtension>
        </nonFilteredFileExtensions>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
```

### JAR Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.3.0</version>
    <configuration>
        <archive>
            <manifest>
                <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                <mainClass>com.example.Main</mainClass>
                <addDefaultImplementationEntries>true</addDefaultImplementationEntries>
                <addDefaultSpecificationEntries>true</addDefaultSpecificationEntries>
            </manifest>
            <manifestEntries>
                <Build-Time>${maven.build.timestamp}</Build-Time>
                <Built-By>${user.name}</Built-By>
            </manifestEntries>
        </archive>
        <excludes>
            <exclude>**/logback-test.xml</exclude>
        </excludes>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>test-jar</id>
            <goals>
                <goal>test-jar</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

### Source Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.3.0</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>attach-sources</id>
            <goals>
                <goal>jar-no-fork</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

### Javadoc Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.6.3</version>
    <configuration>
        <doclint>none</doclint>
        <source>17</source>
        <quiet>true</quiet>
        <links>
            <link>https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/17/docs/api/</link>
        </links>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>attach-javadocs</id>
            <goals>
                <goal>jar</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

## Testing Plugins

### Surefire Plugin (Unit Tests)

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.2.3</version>
    <configuration>
        <includes>
            <include>**/*Test.java</include>
            <include>**/*Tests.java</include>
            <include>**/Test*.java</include>
        </includes>
        <excludes>
            <exclude>**/*IT.java</exclude>
            <exclude>**/*IntegrationTest.java</exclude>
        </excludes>
        <argLine>-Xmx1024m -XX:+UseG1GC</argLine>
        <parallel>methods</parallel>
        <threadCount>4</threadCount>
        <forkCount>1C</forkCount>
        <reuseForks>true</reuseForks>
        <systemPropertyVariables>
            <spring.profiles.active>test</spring.profiles.active>
        </systemPropertyVariables>
        <environmentVariables>
            <TEST_ENV>true</TEST_ENV>
        </environmentVariables>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
```

### Failsafe Plugin (Integration Tests)

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.2.3</version>
    <configuration>
        <includes>
            <include>**/*IT.java</include>
            <include>**/*IntegrationTest.java</include>
        </includes>
        <skipAfterFailureCount>3</skipAfterFailureCount>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <goals>
                <goal>integration-test</goal>
                <goal>verify</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

### JaCoCo Plugin (Code Coverage)

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.jacoco</groupId>
    <artifactId>jacoco-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>0.8.11</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>prepare-agent</id>
            <goals>
                <goal>prepare-agent</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
        <execution>
            <id>report</id>
            <phase>test</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>report</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
        <execution>
            <id>check</id>
            <goals>
                <goal>check</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <rules>
                    <rule>
                        <element>BUNDLE</element>
                        <limits>
                            <limit>
                                <counter>LINE</counter>
                                <value>COVEREDRATIO</value>
                                <minimum>0.80</minimum>
                            </limit>
                            <limit>
                                <counter>BRANCH</counter>
                                <value>COVEREDRATIO</value>
                                <minimum>0.70</minimum>
                            </limit>
                        </limits>
                    </rule>
                </rules>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

## Quality Plugins

### Enforcer Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.4.1</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>enforce</id>
            <goals>
                <goal>enforce</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <rules>
                    <requireMavenVersion>
                        <version>[3.8.0,)</version>
                    </requireMavenVersion>
                    <requireJavaVersion>
                        <version>[17,)</version>
                    </requireJavaVersion>
                    <dependencyConvergence/>
                    <requireUpperBoundDeps/>
                    <banDuplicatePomDependencyVersions/>
                    <bannedDependencies>
                        <excludes>
                            <exclude>commons-logging:commons-logging</exclude>
                            <exclude>log4j:log4j</exclude>
                        </excludes>
                    </bannedDependencies>
                </rules>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

### Checkstyle Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.3.1</version>
    <configuration>
        <configLocation>checkstyle.xml</configLocation>
        <consoleOutput>true</consoleOutput>
        <failsOnError>true</failsOnError>
        <violationSeverity>warning</violationSeverity>
        <includeTestSourceDirectory>true</includeTestSourceDirectory>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>checkstyle</id>
            <phase>validate</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>check</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.puppycrawl.tools</groupId>
            <artifactId>checkstyle</artifactId>
            <version>10.12.6</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</plugin>
```

### SpotBugs Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>com.github.spotbugs</groupId>
    <artifactId>spotbugs-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>4.8.3.0</version>
    <configuration>
        <effort>Max</effort>
        <threshold>Low</threshold>
        <xmlOutput>true</xmlOutput>
        <excludeFilterFile>spotbugs-exclude.xml</excludeFilterFile>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <goals>
                <goal>check</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

### PMD Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-pmd-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.21.2</version>
    <configuration>
        <rulesets>
            <ruleset>/category/java/bestpractices.xml</ruleset>
            <ruleset>/category/java/errorprone.xml</ruleset>
        </rulesets>
        <failOnViolation>true</failOnViolation>
        <printFailingErrors>true</printFailingErrors>
        <includeTests>true</includeTests>
        <targetJdk>17</targetJdk>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <goals>
                <goal>check</goal>
                <goal>cpd-check</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

## Packaging Plugins

### Assembly Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.6.0</version>
    <configuration>
        <descriptorRefs>
            <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
        </descriptorRefs>
        <archive>
            <manifest>
                <mainClass>com.example.Main</mainClass>
            </manifest>
        </archive>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>make-assembly</id>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>single</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

### Shade Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.5.1</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>shade</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <transformers>
                    <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.ManifestResourceTransformer">
                        <mainClass>com.example.Main</mainClass>
                    </transformer>
                    <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.ServicesResourceTransformer"/>
                </transformers>
                <filters>
                    <filter>
                        <artifact>*:*</artifact>
                        <excludes>
                            <exclude>META-INF/*.SF</exclude>
                            <exclude>META-INF/*.DSA</exclude>
                            <exclude>META-INF/*.RSA</exclude>
                        </excludes>
                    </filter>
                </filters>
                <relocations>
                    <relocation>
                        <pattern>com.google</pattern>
                        <shadedPattern>shaded.com.google</shadedPattern>
                    </relocation>
                </relocations>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

### WAR Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.4.0</version>
    <configuration>
        <failOnMissingWebXml>false</failOnMissingWebXml>
        <packagingExcludes>WEB-INF/classes/logback-test.xml</packagingExcludes>
        <webResources>
            <resource>
                <directory>src/main/webapp</directory>
                <filtering>true</filtering>
                <includes>
                    <include>**/*.html</include>
                </includes>
            </resource>
        </webResources>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
```

## Spring Boot Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.2.0</version>
    <configuration>
        <mainClass>com.example.Application</mainClass>
        <excludes>
            <exclude>
                <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
                <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
            </exclude>
        </excludes>
        <layers>
            <enabled>true</enabled>
        </layers>
        <image>
            <name>${project.artifactId}:${project.version}</name>
            <builder>paketobuildpacks/builder:base</builder>
        </image>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <goals>
                <goal>repackage</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

## Version Management Plugins

### Versions Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>versions-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.16.2</version>
    <configuration>
        <rulesUri>file:///${project.basedir}/version-rules.xml</rulesUri>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
```

```bash
# Check for updates
mvn versions:display-dependency-updates
mvn versions:display-plugin-updates
mvn versions:display-property-updates

# Update versions
mvn versions:update-properties
mvn versions:use-latest-releases
mvn versions:update-parent
```

### Release Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.0.1</version>
    <configuration>
        <tagNameFormat>v@{project.version}</tagNameFormat>
        <autoVersionSubmodules>true</autoVersionSubmodules>
        <releaseProfiles>release</releaseProfiles>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
```

## Code Generation Plugins

### Build Helper Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>build-helper-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.5.0</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>add-source</id>
            <phase>generate-sources</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>add-source</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <sources>
                    <source>${project.build.directory}/generated-sources</source>
                </sources>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

### Exec Plugin

```xml
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.1.1</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>run-script</id>
            <phase>generate-sources</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>exec</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <executable>bash</executable>
                <arguments>
                    <argument>${project.basedir}/scripts/generate.sh</argument>
                </arguments>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>
```

## Best Practices

1. **Version Pinning** - Always specify plugin versions
2. **Plugin Management** - Centralize in parent POM
3. **Minimal Configuration** - Use defaults where possible
4. **Execution IDs** - Use meaningful execution IDs
5. **Phase Binding** - Bind to appropriate phases
6. **Skip Properties** - Provide skip properties for flexibility
7. **Documentation** - Comment complex configurations
8. **Inheritance** - Use pluginManagement for multi-module
9. **Updates** - Keep plugins current
10. **Profile Separation** - Separate CI/release plugins into profiles

## Common Pitfalls

1. **Missing Versions** - Relying on default versions
2. **Wrong Phase** - Plugin bound to wrong lifecycle phase
3. **Duplicate Executions** - Same goal running multiple times
4. **Memory Issues** - Insufficient heap for plugins
5. **Ordering** - Plugin execution order conflicts
6. **Inheritance** - Unintended plugin inheritance
7. **Fork Confusion** - Misunderstanding fork behavior
8. **Skip Flags** - Tests accidentally skipped in CI

## When to Use This Skill

- Configuring build compilation settings
- Setting up test frameworks
- Configuring code quality checks
- Creating executable JARs
- Setting up CI/CD builds
- Optimizing build performance
- Generating source code
- Managing releases and versions

Overview

This skill helps you configure Maven plugins for common build, test, quality, and packaging tasks. It provides practical configuration patterns and execution examples for compiler, surefire/failsafe, jacoco, enforcer, checkstyle, spotbugs, shade, assembly, jar, source, and javadoc plugins. Use it to standardize plugin versions, share configuration via pluginManagement, and define custom executions tied to build phases.

How this skill works

The skill describes plugin structure, how to declare versions and shared settings with pluginManagement, and how to attach executions to lifecycle phases. It includes concrete XML snippets for core build plugins, testing and coverage tools, static analysis, and packaging plugins, plus common configuration options like encoding, release level, includes/excludes, and execution goals. Follow the examples to copy settings into your POM or parent POM and adjust IDs, phases, and goals for your project.

When to use it

Defining consistent plugin versions and shared configuration in a parent POM using pluginManagement
Customizing the compiler plugin for target Java release, annotation processors, and linting flags
Configuring test runners: Surefire for unit tests and Failsafe for integration tests
Adding code coverage gates with JaCoCo and enforcing minimum coverage thresholds
Running static analysis (Checkstyle, SpotBugs, PMD) as part of validate or verify phases
Creating packaged artifacts (fat JAR, shaded JAR, assemblies) with custom manifests and relocations

Best practices

Declare plugin versions in pluginManagement to avoid version drift across modules
Attach executions to specific lifecycle phases to ensure deterministic build behavior
Keep test includes/excludes explicit to separate unit and integration tests
Fail the build on quality rule violations (checkstyle, pmd) but set thresholds to avoid noise
Use annotationProcessorPaths in the compiler plugin to manage Lombok and other processors
Relocate packages when shading to prevent runtime dependency conflicts

Example use cases

Parent POM: define maven-compiler-plugin version and release=17 in pluginManagement for all modules
Microservice: use maven-shade-plugin with relocations to produce a single runnable JAR
CI pipeline: run jacoco prepare-agent then jacoco report and check to enforce coverage thresholds
Quality gate: run maven-enforcer, checkstyle, spotbugs, and pmd during validate/verify phases
Build matrix: configure surefire parallelization and forkCount to speed unit test execution

FAQ

When should I use pluginManagement vs plugins?

Use pluginManagement to declare versions and shared configuration centrally; list plugins under plugins to activate them in a module. Management alone does not execute a plugin.

How do I separate unit and integration tests?

Use surefire for unit tests with include patterns like **/*Test.java and failsafe for integration tests with patterns like **/*IT.java, and bind failsafe goals to integration-test and verify phases.