gradle check: Run All Verification Tasks
gradle check is the aggregate verification task: by default it depends on test, and quality plugins (checkstyle, spotbugs, jacoco) wire themselves into it.
check is the gate most teams want CI to enforce. It is the single task that runs tests and every static-analysis check that has been configured.
What it does
The check lifecycle task depends on test out of the box. Plugins extend it: the checkstyle, pmd, spotbugs, and jacoco plugins each add checkX tasks as dependencies of check, so a single ./gradlew check runs tests and all static analysis.
Common usage
./gradlew check
./gradlew check -x test # quality checks without tests
./gradlew check --continue # run all checks, report every failureFlags
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
| --continue | Do not stop at the first failing check |
| -x <task> | Exclude a verification task |
| --info | Show which checks ran |
| --rerun-tasks | Ignore up-to-date and re-run everything |
In CI
Use ./gradlew check --continue so one failing module does not hide failures elsewhere; you get a full report in a single run. Cache ~/.gradle so the analysis tools are not re-downloaded each job.
Common errors in CI
"Execution failed for task ':checkstyleMain'" with "Checkstyle rule violations were found" means a lint gate failed; the report path is in the message. "Execution failed for task ':test'" is a test failure. If check does nothing, no verification plugin is applied, so only test runs (and there may be no tests).