GoogleContainerTools/jib · error · RuntimeException

Failed to resolve dependent project from ${projectDependency

Error message

Failed to resolve dependent project from ${projectDependency}

What it means

FilesTaskV2.getDependentProject resolves a ProjectDependency to its Project. It first tries reflection on getDependencyProject() (Gradle <9); if any ReflectiveOperationException other than NoSuchMethodException occurs there (e.g. IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException), it throws this RuntimeException. The reflection-based lookup is a compatibility shim across Gradle API changes.

Source

Thrown at jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/skaffold/FilesTaskV2.java:265

  /**
   * Resolves a {@link ProjectDependency} to its corresponding {@link Project} instance.
   *
   * <p>Uses reflection to handle both Gradle 6 (getDependencyProject()) and Gradle 9+ (getPath()).
   *
   * @param projectDependency the project dependency to resolve
   * @return the resolved project
   * @throws RuntimeException if the dependent project could not be resolved
   */
  private Project getDependentProject(ProjectDependency projectDependency) {
    // Try getDependencyProject() first (Gradle 6-8)
    try {
      java.lang.reflect.Method getDependencyProjectMethod =
          projectDependency.getClass().getMethod("getDependencyProject");
      return (Project) getDependencyProjectMethod.invoke(projectDependency);
    } catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
      // Fall through to getPath() approach (Gradle 9+)
    } catch (ReflectiveOperationException e) {
      throw new RuntimeException(
          "Failed to resolve dependent project from " + projectDependency, e);
    }

    // Try getPath() approach (Gradle 9+)
    try {
      java.lang.reflect.Method getPathMethod = projectDependency.getClass().getMethod("getPath");
      String path = (String) getPathMethod.invoke(projectDependency);
      return getProject().project(path);
    } catch (ReflectiveOperationException e) {
      throw new RuntimeException(
          "Failed to resolve dependent project from " + projectDependency, e);
    }
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to fb949e2676)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped cause 'e' printed by the RuntimeException to identify the actual reflective failure.
2. Verify the dependency is a normal ProjectDependency created by Gradle's project(...) DSL, not a custom implementation.
3. If on Gradle 9+, ensure the getPath() fallback path is reachable (the getDependencyProject() method should simply be absent, not failing).
4. Update jib-gradle-plugin to a version matching your Gradle major version.

Example fix

// before (in build.gradle, custom dependency object passed around)
configurations.runtimeClasspath.dependencies.add(myCustomProjectDependency)
// after
dependencies { implementation project(':my-lib') }

// Gradle build sanity check
def isPlainProjectDep = { dep -> dep instanceof org.gradle.api.artifacts.ProjectDependency }

def asProject(dep) { dep instanceof org.gradle.api.artifacts.ProjectDependency ? dep : null }

try {
  // run skaffold files task v2
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
  if (e.message?.startsWith('Failed to resolve dependent project from')) {
    logger.warn('Unresolvable project dependency: ' + e.cause)
  } else { throw e }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getDependentProject (via dependentProject or findProjectDependencies in the Skaffold files task v2) on a projectDependency object whose getDependencyProject() method exists but fails reflectively: method is not accessible (IllegalAccessException) or the underlying invocation throws (InvocationTargetException).

Common situations: Unusual custom ProjectDependency implementations, Gradle versions where the method exists but behaves unexpectedly, or security/classloader restrictions blocking reflective access in the build environment.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is deprecated and will be removed" — deprecation warnings for old API names, keywords, and options, and how to migrate before the removal release — this error's family across 29 libraries.

Related errors

• manifestTemplateClass + " cannot be instantiated"
• ${HELPFUL_SUGGESTIONS_PREFIX}, perhaps you should make sure
• container.appRoot is not an absolute Unix-style path: ${inva
• invalid value for containerizingMode: ${invalidContainerizin
• container.workingDirectory is not an absolute Unix-style pat

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/jib@fb949e2676 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/93748d600743a795. Report an issue: GitHub.