Gradle Library Source Reader

To read source code from Gradle dependencies, download the corresponding sources.jar from Maven Central and extract it locally. This skill automates that retrieval, placing files under ~/.extractlibs/src/ for quick code exploration during debugging.

Downloading a sources.jar from Maven Central helps code reviews by providing the actual library implementation code locally. You can inspect how a dependency implements critical features without manual digging through repositories.

You need to provide coordinates in the group:artifact:version format to download library sources. For example, use io.ktor:ktor-client-core:3.3.2 to fetch and extract the correct sources.jar artifact.

You can extract sources from any Maven Central dependency for local code inspection, provided the sources.jar artifact is available. The skill relies on sources.jar availability to successfully download and extract the library internals.

Extracted Gradle dependency sources are stored under the deterministic path ~/.extractlibs/src/<artifact>-<version>/. This predictable organization ensures quick and reliable local exploration of library source code.

The main limitation of automating source code extraction is its reliance on sources.jar availability. If a dependency does not publish a sources artifact to Maven Central or configured repositories, the extraction process cannot retrieve the library internals.