elide.pkl Reference

Every Elide project manifest starts with the project schema:

pkl

amends "elide:project.pkl"

This page is the field reference for the schema in protocol/manifest/*.pkl. It lists the properties accepted by Elide today. When a property is parsed but not currently consumed by a build or runtime path, that is called out.

Top-level Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
`name`	`String?`	`null`	Project name.
`version`	`String?`	`null`	Project version.
`description`	`String?`	`null`	Human-readable project description.
`entrypoint`	`Listing?`	`null`	Source file path or paths used by `elide run` when no file is supplied.
`scripts`	`Mapping`	`{}`	Named project scripts surfaced by project tooling.
`dependencies`	`Dependencies`	`new {}`	npm, PyPI, and Maven dependency declarations.
`jvm`	`JvmSettings?`	`null`	JVM runtime and compiler settings.
`kotlin`	`KotlinSettings?`	`null`	Kotlin compiler, toolchain, and feature settings.
`javascript`	`JavaScriptSettings?`	`null`	JavaScript language settings.
`nativeImage`	`NativeImageSettings?`	`null`	Project-wide Native Image option shape. Prefer artifact `options` today.
`engine`	`EngineSettings?`	`null`	Runtime engine settings. Parsed; `maxContexts` is not currently consumed.
`sources`	`Mapping`	`main` and `test` globs	Project source sets.
`dev`	`DevSettings`	`new {}`	MCP and development metadata.
`toolchain`	`ToolchainSettings`	`new {}`	Engine version-selection metadata.
`artifacts`	`Mapping`	`{}`	Build artifacts such as JARs, native images, static sites, and containers.
`web`	`WebSettings?`	`new {}`	Web build and CSS settings.
`testing`	`Testing`	`new {}`	Test and coverage settings.

Two read-only objects are also available during evaluation:

Property	Type	Description
`build.manifestVersion`	`Int`	Major manifest format version.
`elide.channel`	`"release"` or `"debug"`	Channel of the Elide binary evaluating the manifest.
`elide.version`	`semver.Version`	Semantic version of the Elide binary evaluating the manifest.

Sources

Import Sources.pkl when using the structured form:

pkl

import "elide:Sources.pkl" as Sources

sources {
  ["main"] = new Sources.SourceSetSpec {
    type = "source"
    paths {
      "src/main/java<<>>*.java"
      "src/main/kotlin<<>>*.kt"
    }
  }
}

sources is a mapping from source-set name to either a simple glob string or a SourceSetSpec.

Property	Type	Default	Description
`type`	`"source"`, `"test"`, `"example"`, or `"other"`	`"source"`	Source-set purpose. `test` receives test behavior.
`dependsOn`	`Listing`	`{}`	Other source sets visible to this source set.
`paths`	`Listing`	`{}`	Source file paths or globs.

The default manifest defines main = "src/." and test = "test/.". Default source sets other than main depend on main. Jvm.JvmSourceSetSpec extends SourceSetSpec with:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`resources`	`Mapping`	`{}`	Resource mount path to source path for JVM artifacts.

Dependencies

pkl

dependencies {
  npm {
    packages { "react@19.0.0" }
  }
  pypi {
    packages { "six==1.17.0" }
  }
  maven {
    packages { "com.google.guava:guava:33.4.8-jre" }
  }
}

npm

Property	Type	Default	Description
`packages`	`Listing`	`{}`	npm dependencies, such as `react@19.0.0`.
`devPackages`	`Listing`	`{}`	npm packages for development-time use.

PyPI

Property	Type	Default	Description
`packages`	`Listing`	`{}`	PyPI dependencies, such as `six==1.17.0` or `requests>=2`.
`optionalPackages`	`Mapping>`	`{}`	Named optional PyPI dependency groups.

Maven

Import Jvm.pkl for structural Maven dependencies or repositories:

pkl

import "elide:Jvm.pkl" as Jvm

dependencies {
  maven {
    packages {
      "com.google.guava:guava:33.4.8-jre"
      new Jvm.MavenPackageSpec {
        group = "com.google.guava"
        name = "guava"
        version = "33.4.8-jre"
      }
    }
  }
}

Maven dependency buckets accept coordinate strings, MavenPackageSpec, or local JAR paths. Coordinate strings may use group:artifact, group:artifact:version, Gradle-style group:artifact:version:classifier, or Aether-style group:artifact:extension:classifier:version.

Property	Type	Default	Description
`packages`	`Listing`	`{}`	Main compile/runtime dependencies.
`devPackages`	`Listing`	`{}`	Installed for development workflows, not normal classpaths.
`modules`	`Listing`	`{}`	Dependencies placed on the JPMS module path.
`compileOnly`	`Listing`	`{}`	Compile-time only dependencies.
`runtimeOnly`	`Listing`	`{}`	Runtime-only dependencies.
`processors`	`Listing`	`{}`	Java annotation processors.
`testPackages`	`Listing`	`{}`	Dependencies for test source sets.
`kotlinPlugins`	`Listing`	`{}`	Kotlin compiler plugins.
`exclusions`	`Listing`	`{}`	Coordinates excluded from resolution and classpath calculations.
`repositories`	`Mapping`	`{}`	Extra Maven repositories.
`enableDefaultRepositories`	`Boolean`	`true`	Enable default repositories such as Maven Central.
`localRepository`	`String?`	`null`	Path to a local Maven repository.

MavenPackageSpec:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`group`	`String?`	`null`	Maven group.
`name`	`String?`	`null`	Maven artifact/module name.
`version`	`String?`	`null`	Version or symbolic version.
`classifier`	`String?`	`null`	Classifier for this coordinate.
`coordinate`	`String?`	`null`	Full coordinate string. Preferred when present.

MavenRepositorySpec:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`name`	`String?`	`null`	Descriptive repository name.
`description`	`String?`	`null`	Repository description.
`url`	`Uri`	Required	Repository URL.
`credentials.username`	`String?`	`null`	Repository username.
`credentials.password`	`String?`	`null`	Repository password.

JVM

pkl

jvm {
  main = "example.Main"
  target = 25
  java {
    compiler {
      flags { "-Xlint:all" }
    }
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`main`	`String?`	`null`	Main class for JVM applications.
`target`	`"latest"`, `"stable"`, `"auto"`, `1.8`, `1.9`, or `8..29`	`"auto"`	JVM bytecode target level.
`javaHome`	`String?`	`null`	Custom Java home override.
`features`	`JvmFeatures`	`new {}`	JVM feature flags.
`java`	`JavaLanguage`	`new {}`	Java language and compiler settings.
`flags`	`Listing`	`{}`	Runtime JVM flags.
`defs`	`Mapping`	`{}`	Runtime system properties.
`debug`	`Boolean`	`true`	Emit debug info during compilation.

features:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`testing`	`Boolean`	`true`	Automatically provide JVM test support where supported.
`automodules`	`Boolean`	`true`	Enable JDK 9+ automatic module-path handling.

java:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`source`	`JvmTarget`	`"auto"`	Java source version.
`release`	`JvmTarget`	`"auto"`	Java release target.
`compiler.mode`	`"embedded"`, `"external"`, or `String`	`"embedded"`	Java compiler implementation.
`compiler.flags`	`Listing`	`{}`	Extra flags passed to `javac`.

Kotlin

pkl

kotlin {
  compilerOptions {
    allWarningsAsErrors = true
    jvmTarget = 25
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`apiLevel`	`"latest"`, `"stable"`, `"auto"`, `"1.9"`, `"2.0"`, `"2.1"`, or `"2.2"`	`"auto"`	Kotlin API level.
`languageLevel`	Same as `apiLevel`	`"auto"`	Kotlin language level.
`compilerOptions`	`KotlinCompilerJvmOptions`	`new {}`	Kotlin compiler options.
`features`	`KotlinFeatureOptions`	`new {}`	Kotlin feature flags.
`toolchain`	`"embedded"`, `ManagedKotlinToolchain`, or `CustomKotlinToolchain`	`"embedded"`	Kotlin toolchain selection.
`plugins`	`Mapping>`	`{}`	Options for Kotlin compiler plugins.

compilerOptions:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`optIn`	`Listing`	`{}`	Kotlin opt-ins.
`progressiveMode`	`Boolean`	`false`	Enable progressive mode.
`extraWarnings`	`Boolean`	`false`	Enable extra K2 warnings and checks.
`allWarningsAsErrors`	`Boolean`	`false`	Treat warnings as errors.
`suppressWarnings`	`Boolean`	`false`	Suppress warnings.
`verbose`	`Boolean`	`false`	Enable verbose compiler output.
`freeCompilerArgs`	`Listing`	`{}`	Raw Kotlin compiler arguments.
`apiVersion`	Kotlin API level	`"auto"`	Explicit compiler API version.
`languageVersion`	Kotlin language level	`"auto"`	Explicit compiler language version.
`includeRuntime`	`Boolean`	`false`	Include Kotlin runtime classes in output.
`noStdlib`	`Boolean`	`false`	Do not automatically include Kotlin stdlib.
`javaParameters`	`Boolean`	`false`	Generate Java 1.8 method parameter metadata.
`jvmTarget`	`JvmTarget`	`"auto"`	Explicit JVM target for Kotlin.
`noJdk`	`Boolean`	`false`	Do not automatically include the Java runtime.
`jvmTargetValidationMode`	`"WARNING"`, `"ERROR"`, or `"IGNORE"`	`"ERROR"`	Java/Kotlin target compatibility validation.
`incremental`	`Boolean`	`true`	Enable incremental compilation.

features:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`kapt`	`Boolean`	`true`	Deprecated compatibility field; ignored.
`testing`	`Boolean`	`true`	Kotlin test support.
`kotlinx`	`Boolean`	`true`	Automatically include KotlinX dependencies.
`defaultPlugins`	`Boolean`	`true`	Enable the default built-in compiler plugin suite.
`serialization`	`Boolean`	`kotlinx && defaultPlugins`	KotlinX serialization support.
`coroutines`	`Boolean`	`kotlinx`	KotlinX coroutines support.
`atomicfu`	`Boolean`	`kotlinx && defaultPlugins`	KotlinX AtomicFU compiler plugin.
`powerAssert`	`Boolean`	`defaultPlugins`	Kotlin Power Assert compiler plugin.
`metro`	`Boolean`	`defaultPlugins`	Metro dependency-injection compiler plugin.
`reflection`	`Boolean`	`true`	Kotlin reflection support.

toolchain may be "embedded",

new Kotlin.ManagedKotlinToolchain { version =
"..." }

, or new Kotlin.CustomKotlinToolchain { path = "..." }.

JavaScript

pkl

javascript {
  ecma = "latest"
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`ecma`	`2015..2025`, `"stable"`, or `"latest"`	`"stable"`	ECMAScript level to target.

Native Image

Project-wide nativeImage {} uses the same option shape as native-image artifacts. For build outputs, set options {} on NativeImage.NativeImage artifacts so the options are tied to the target being built.

Property	Type	Default	Description
`verbose`	`Boolean`	`false`	Enable verbose Native Image output.
`driverMode`	`"embedded"` or `"external"`	`"embedded"`	Invoke Native Image in-process or as a subprocess.
`linkAtBuildTime`	`NativeImageLinkAtBuildTime`	`new {}`	Link-at-build-time settings.
`classInit`	`NativeImageClassInit`	`new {}`	Class initialization policy.
`exclusions`	`NativeImageExclusions`	`new {}`	Classpath/modulepath exclusions.
`optimization`	`"auto"`, `"b"`, `"s"`, `"0"`, `"1"`, `"2"`, `"3"`, or `"4"`	`"auto"`	Native Image optimization level.
`pgo`	`ProfileGuidedOptimization`	`new {}`	Profile Guided Optimization settings.
`features`	`Listing`	`{}`	Native Image feature classes.
`flags`	`Listing`	`{}`	Extra Native Image flags.
`cflags`	`Listing`	`{}`	Extra C compiler flags.
`ldflags`	`Listing`	`{}`	Extra native linker flags.
`defs`	`Mapping`	`{}`	System properties passed during image build.

linkAtBuildTime:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`enabled`	`Boolean`	`true`	Enable link-at-build-time by default.
`packages`	`Listing`	`{}`	Classes or packages to link at build time.

classInit:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`default`	`"buildtime"` or `"runtime"`	`"buildtime"`	Default class initialization policy.
`buildtime`	`Listing`	`{}`	Classes or packages initialized at build time.
`runtime`	`Listing`	`{}`	Classes or packages initialized at runtime.

exclusions:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`all`	`Listing`	compiler/SVM internals	Excluded from all paths.
`classpath`	`Listing`	`{}`	Classpath exclusions.
`modulepath`	`Listing`	`{}`	Modulepath exclusions.

pgo:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`enabled`	`Boolean`	`true`	Enable PGO when profiles are present.
`autoprofile`	`Boolean`	`false`	Auto-build PGO support.
`instrument`	`Boolean`	`false`	Build an instrumented image.
`sampling`	`Boolean`	`false`	Use sampling for PGO.
`profiles`	`Listing`	`{}`	PGO profile filenames.

Engine

Property	Type	Default	Description
`maxContexts`	`Int?`	`null`	Intended guest-context limit. Parsed; not currently consumed by runtime dispatch.

Dev

pkl

import "elide:Dev.pkl" as Dev

dev {
  mcp {
    registerElide = true
    advice = true
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`source`	`ProjectSourceSpec?`	`null`	Source hosting metadata.
`mcp`	`McpSettings?`	`null`	Model Context Protocol settings.
`server`	`DevServerSettings?`	`null`	Development server defaults.

source:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`platform`	`"github"`, `"gitlab"`, `"bitbucket"`, `"git"`, or `String`	`null`	Source hosting platform.
`project`	`String?`	`null`	Project name or path.
`subpath`	`String?`	`null`	Subpath inside the source project.

mcp:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`resources`	`Listing`	`{}`	Additional MCP resources.
`registerElide`	`Boolean`	`true`	Register Elide as an MCP tool.
`advice`	`Boolean`	`true`	Register project advice with MCP.

McpResource:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`path`	`String`	Required	Resource file path.
`name`	`String`	`""`	Resource name.
`description`	`String`	`""`	Resource description.
`mimeType`	`String?`	`null`	Explicit MIME type; detected when omitted.

server:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`host`	`String`	`"0.0.0.0"`	Development server host.
`port`	`UInt16`	`8080`	Development server port.

Toolchain

pkl

toolchain {
  engines {
    ["elide"] = "1.4.0"
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`engines`	`Mapping`	`{}`	Accepted engine versions by name.

EngineSettings:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`version`	`String`	Required	Semantic version or version range.

Artifacts

Every artifact has:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`dependsOn`	`Listing`	`{}`	Other artifacts this artifact depends on.

JAR

pkl

import "elide:Jvm.pkl" as Jvm

artifacts {
  ["app"] = new Jvm.Jar {
    name = "app.jar"
    main = "example.Main"
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`name`	`String?`	`null`	Output JAR filename.
`main`	`String?`	`null`	Main class added to the manifest.
`sources`	`Listing`	`{ "main" }`	Source sets packaged into the JAR.
`resources`	`Mapping`	`{}`	Resource mount path to source path.
`manifest`	`Mapping`	`{}`	Manifest entries.
`manifestFile`	`String?`	`null`	Existing manifest file path.
`excludes`	`Listing`	`{}`	Exclusion patterns.
`options.compress`	`Boolean`	`true`	Compress JAR entries.
`options.defaultManifestProperties`	`Boolean`	`true`	Add default manifest properties.
`options.entrypoint`	`String?`	`null`	Main entrypoint for the JAR.

Sources JAR

Property	Type	Default	Description
`sources`	`Listing`	`{ "main" }`	Source sets packaged into the sources JAR.
`classifier`	`String?`	`null`	JAR classifier, such as `sources`.
`excludes`	`Listing`	`{}`	Exclusion patterns.
`includes`	`Listing`	`{}`	Inclusion patterns.

Javadoc JAR

Property	Type	Default	Description
`sources`	`Listing`	`{ "main" }`	Source sets used for Javadoc.
`groups`	`Mapping>`	`{}`	Package groupings.
`links`	`Listing`	`{}`	External documentation links.
`excludes`	`Listing`	`{}`	Packages or paths excluded from docs.
`windowTitle`	`String?`	`null`	Browser window title.
`docTitle`	`String?`	`null`	Documentation title.

Native Image Artifact

pkl

import "elide:NativeImage.pkl" as NativeImage

artifacts {
  ["native"] = new NativeImage.NativeImage {
    from { "app" }
    entrypoint = "example.Main"
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`from`	`Listing`	`{}`	Artifacts used as Native Image inputs.
`name`	`String?`	`null`	Output binary or library name.
`entrypoint`	`String?`	`null`	Main class.
`type`	`"binary"` or `"library"`	`"binary"`	Image type.
`moduleName`	`String?`	`null`	JPMS module containing the entrypoint.
`options`	`NativeImageOptions`	`new {}`	Target-specific Native Image options.

options accepts the same fields listed in Native Image.

Static Site

pkl

import "elide:Web.pkl" as Web

artifacts {
  ["site"] = new Web.StaticSite {
    srcs = "site"
    prefix = "/"
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`srcs`	`String?`	`null`	Static site source root.
`domain`	`String?`	`null`	Production domain metadata.
`preview`	`String?`	`null`	Preview domain metadata.
`prefix`	`String`	`"/"`	URL prefix; must end with `/`.
`assets`	`String`	`"\(prefix)_/assets"`	Public asset path.
`stylesheets`	`Listing`	`{}`	Stylesheets injected into pages.
`scripts`	`Listing`	`{}`	Scripts injected into pages.
`rewriteLinks`	`Boolean`	`true`	Rewrite Markdown links during rendering.
`hosting`	`"workers"`, `"github-pages"`, or `null`	`null`	Static site host metadata.

Container Image

pkl

import "elide:Container.pkl" as Container

artifacts {
  ["image"] = new Container.ContainerImage {
    image = "example/app"
    from { "native" }
    tags { "latest" }
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`image`	`String?`	`null`	Target image coordinate.
`base`	`String?`	`null`	Base image coordinate.
`tags`	`Listing`	`{}`	Image tags.
`output`	`"daemon"` or `"tarball"`	`"daemon"`	Write to Docker daemon or tarball.
`format`	`"oci"` or `"docker"`	`"docker"`	Image manifest format.
`from`	`Listing`	`{}`	Artifacts included in the image.

Web

pkl

import "elide:Web.pkl" as Web

web {
  css {
    targets {
      new Web.CssTarget {
        browser = "chrome"
        version = "126"
      }
    }
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`css`	`CssSettings`	`new {}`	CSS build settings.
`minifyHtml`	`Boolean`	`true`	Minify rendered HTML.
`browsers`	`Listing`	`{}`	Browser support metadata. `css.targets` wins for CSS.

css:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`minify`	`Boolean`	`true`	Minify CSS.
`targets`	`Listing`	`{}`	Browser targets for CSS processing.

CssTarget:

Property	Type	Default	Description
`browser`	`"chrome"`, `"firefox"`, `"safari"`, `"edge"`, `"opera"`, or `String`	Required	Browser name.
`version`	`String?`	`null`	Browser version.

Testing

pkl

import "elide:Jvm.pkl" as Jvm

testing {
  coverage {
    jvm {
      enabled = true
      reports {
        new Jvm.HtmlCoverageReport {}
        new Jvm.XmlCoverageReport {}
      }
    }
  }
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
`coverage`	`CoverageSettings`	`new {}`	Coverage settings.
`coverage.jvm`	`JvmCoverageSettings`	`new {}`	JVM coverage settings.
`coverage.jvm.enabled`	`Boolean`	`true`	Enable JVM coverage.
`coverage.jvm.reports`	`Listing`	`{}`	JVM coverage reports.

JVM report classes:

Class	`name`	Description
`Jvm.HtmlCoverageReport`	`"html"`	HTML coverage report.
`Jvm.XmlCoverageReport`	`"xml"`	XML coverage report.
`Jvm.CsvCoverageReport`	`"csv"`	CSV coverage report.

Helper functions are also exported from Jvm.pkl: sourceSet(), htmlReport(), xmlReport(), and csvReport().