gradle build: Usage, Options & Common CI Errors

The aggregate task - assemble plus check - that most CI jobs run.

build is Gradle’s aggregate lifecycle task that both assembles and tests the project. It depends on assemble (produce the outputs) and check (run all verification, including tests), so it is the usual one-shot CI command.

What it does

gradle build runs assemble + check. It compiles main and test code, produces artifacts (jar, etc.), and runs the test task plus any other checks. Always invoke via the wrapper (./gradlew) so the build uses the version pinned in gradle-wrapper.properties.

Common usage

Terminal

./gradlew build
./gradlew build -x test          # build but skip the test task
./gradlew build --scan           # build + publish a build scan
./gradlew clean build

Common error in CI (and the fix)

Symptom: "> Task :test FAILED" and "There were failing tests. See the report at: .../build/reports/tests/test/index.html". Cause: a unit test failed during the check part of build. Fix: open the linked HTML report (or the JUnit XML under build/test-results) to find the failing test, fix it, and re-run; to triage the assembly separately, run ./gradlew assemble or build -x test.

Related guides

gradle test: Usage, Options & Common CI ErrorsWhat the gradle test task does - runs unit tests and writes HTML/JUnit reports - with filtering and the up-to… gradle assemble: Usage, Options & Common CI ErrorsWhat gradle assemble does - produces the project’s output artifacts (jar, war) without running tests or check… gradle check: Usage, Options & Common CI ErrorsWhat gradle check does - runs all verification tasks including test and code-quality plugins, without produci… Gradle "BUILD FAILED" - Read the Failing Task in CIFix Gradle "BUILD FAILED" in CI -- the banner is only a summary. Read the "What went wrong" block and the nam…