Gradle.properties
Internal
Overview
'gradle.properties' files are used to define configuration properties. gradle.properties files can be present in two layers: the user home directory .gradle directory and the project root. Property keys must comply with the rules described here: Property Keys.
Hierarchy
Gradle User Home gradle.properties
This file is stored in Gradle user home directory ~/.gradle/gradle.properties, conventionally referred to as GRADLE_USER_HOME. Any property declared in this file will be available to all user's Gradle projects.
Project Root gradle.properties
Conventionally, this is where the version of the project is stored:
version=1.0-SNAPSHOT
This file is important because it can be stored in source control, so the entire team working on the project can share the same configuration.
Precedence Rules
If files from both layers are present, their content is merged and the configuration that comes from the user home directory takes precedence over the configuration that comes from the project root directory. This makes sense from a security perspective, as the user home directory is not checked in into a repository while the project is, and we need to store security sensitive configuration.
Projection
The properties configured in gradle.properties files are flattened according the precedence rules described above and projected into the Project instance where they can be accessed as project properties, similarly to extra properties. For more details see: