Gradle "The Daemon will expire" / Low Disk Space - Fix in CI

Gradle warned that the daemon will be discarded after this build because the JVM is memory-constrained (or the machine is low on disk). It is a health warning that often precedes a slow build or an OOM in the next run.

What this error means

The log shows The Daemon will expire after the build after running out of JVM memory or available JVM memory is low. The build may still pass but is degraded, and subsequent builds can fail outright.

gradle output

The message received from the daemon indicates that the daemon has disappeared.
# or, as a warning:
Expiring Daemon because JVM heap space is exhausted
The Daemon will expire after the build after running out of JVM memory.

Common causes

Daemon heap too small for the build

When the daemon approaches its -Xmx, Gradle flags it for expiry to avoid a hard OOM. The configured heap is too small for the build graph.

Low free memory or disk on the runner

A runner low on RAM or disk triggers the expiry/health warnings; the daemon cannot reliably persist, and the next build may fail.

How to fix it

Give the daemon adequate heap

Raise the daemon JVM args to fit the build, within the runner’s RAM.

gradle.properties

# gradle.properties
org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx2g -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m

Disable the daemon in ephemeral CI

A one-shot CI build gets no benefit from a persistent daemon; disabling it keeps memory bounded to a single build.

Terminal

./gradlew --no-daemon build
# or gradle.properties: org.gradle.daemon=false

How to prevent it

Run CI with --no-daemon so daemon health is never a factor.
Size org.gradle.jvmargs to the runner RAM.
Keep runner disk clear so low-disk warnings do not appear.