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Go CLI for Gradle

Cut the noise from
every Gradle build.

build-brief wraps gradle / ./gradlew, keeps the full raw log on disk, and replaces walls of task output with a concise summary -- so you and your AI agents instantly see what succeeded, what failed, and which warnings are worth your attention.

Install How it works
terminal -- build-brief :androidApp:clean :androidApp:assembleDebug
$ build-brief :androidApp:clean :androidApp:assembleDebug BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 1s Artifacts: - APK: androidApp/build/outputs/apk/debug/androidApp-debug.apk (24.5 MB) Compilation outputs omitted: - 1 generated source/codegen file updated.

414 lines of raw Gradle output → 5 lines printed.

How it works

Drop-in. Zero config.

Prefix your Gradle command. build-brief handles the rest.

01

Prefix the command

Replace ./gradlew build with build-brief build. All Gradle flags pass through via --, e.g. build-brief -- --stacktrace test.

02

Full log hits disk

Every line Gradle emits is written to a log file like build-brief-6c5b629d.latest.log. Control where with --log-dir. Nothing is lost.

03

Terminal gets the brief

Routine success stays concise: build status, warnings, build scan URLs, generated output paths, and when build-brief can reliably extract them, key outputs like artifact paths. Report-style commands such as tasks and dependencies keep their report body. Failure surfaces structured diagnostics: failed tasks, compiler errors, and the raw log path. The Gradle exit code is always preserved.

Before & After

Same build. Less noise.

A real 16-module Android/KMP project (:androidApp:assembleDebug). Left: raw Gradle output from a clean assembleDebug run (414 lines). Right: exactly what build-brief printed for that same command.

Before · Raw Gradle log 414 lines
Configuration on demand is an incubating feature. Reusing configuration cache. > Task :domain:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :core:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :designsystem:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-events:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-rankings:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :androidApp:preBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-events:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-matches:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-player:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :androidApp:preDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :data:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-about:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :core:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :domain:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :data:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :designsystem:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-events:generateAndroidMainEmptyResourceFiles UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-about:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-matches:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-news:androidPreBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-player:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE > Task :feature-rankings:preAndroidMainBuild UP-TO-DATE ... 390+ additional lines omitted for layout ... > Task :androidApp:mergeProjectDexDebug FROM-CACHE > Task :androidApp:mergeExtDexDebug FROM-CACHE > Task :androidApp:mergeDebugJavaResource > Task :androidApp:packageDebug > Task :androidApp:assembleDebug > Task :androidApp:createDebugApkListingFileRedirect BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 1s 267 actionable tasks: 30 executed, 23 from cache, 214 up-to-date Configuration cache entry reused.
After · build-brief summary 5 lines
BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 1s Artifacts: - APK: androidApp/build/outputs/apk/debug/androidApp-debug.apk (24.5 MB) Compilation outputs omitted: - 1 generated source/codegen file updated.

▸ These logs were generated from a real source code project using build-brief against staticvar/vlr-gg. The public repo is the outward-facing project; the multi-module rewrite used for these logs is newer internal development — not fake or mocked. The after panel shows the exact 5 lines printed by a freshly built local copy of the current source. The raw panel is trimmed for layout; the full log contained 414 lines across androidApp, core, data, domain, designsystem, shared, and 10 feature modules.

When builds fail

Failures get the detail they need.

Routine successes stay terse. On failure, build-brief extracts the failed tasks, compiler errors, and actionable diagnostics.

terminal -- build-brief build (failure)
$ build-brief build BUILD FAILED in 8s Command: gradlew --console=plain build Failed tasks: - :app:compileKotlin Highlights: - e: file:///.../Application.kt:15:25 Unresolved reference: serviceLocator - e: file:///.../Application.kt:22:9 Type mismatch: inferred type is String but Int was expected - > Task :app:compileKotlin FAILED - FAILURE: Build failed with an exception. - * What went wrong: - Execution failed for task ':app:compileKotlin'. - > Compilation error. See log for more details - * Try: - > Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. - > Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output. Raw log: /tmp/build-brief/build-brief-33526f6a.latest.log

Exit code preserved. 29 raw lines reduced to 16.

What build-brief keeps

Only the lines that matter.

!

Failures & errors

Compilation errors, exception stack traces, and FAILED task markers surface immediately so you know exactly what broke.

w

Warnings

Kotlin and Java compiler warnings, deprecation notices, and linter diagnostics stay visible without the surrounding noise.

T

Test results

Test summaries and individual failure details are preserved. Passing tests stay quiet unless they fail.

>

Generated artifacts

JAR, AAR, APK, and bootJar output paths are shown so you know where your build products landed.

#

Build status

The final BUILD SUCCESSFUL / FAILED line, task counts, and timing are always printed. The Gradle exit code is preserved.

&

Full raw log

Every line goes to a timestamped file in /tmp. Nothing is ever discarded; you can always inspect the complete output.

Install

Up and running in seconds.

Pick your preferred method. No runtime dependencies beyond the binary.

install via curl
# Install or update build-brief curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/static-var/build-brief/main/install.sh | bash # Or with wget wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/static-var/build-brief/main/install.sh | bash
install via Homebrew
brew tap static-var/tap brew install static-var/tap/build-brief
build from source
git clone https://github.com/static-var/build-brief.git cd build-brief go build -o build-brief ./cmd/build-brief mv build-brief /usr/local/bin/

Agent integration

Teach your AI tools to use it.

Every line of Gradle output an AI agent reads costs context-window tokens. A single assembleDebug can burn thousands of tokens on task lifecycle noise that tells the agent nothing useful. build-brief can install custom instructions so agents automatically route Gradle commands through it — reclaiming that context budget for reasoning about your code.

⚡ 414 lines → 5 lines. That's thousands of tokens back in your agent's context window.

AI coding agents (Copilot, Claude Code, Codex, Pi, Gemini) have finite context windows. Every token spent reading > Task :core:mergeDebugShaders NO-SOURCE is a token not spent understanding your code. build-brief keeps Gradle signal, discards lifecycle noise, and gives your agent more room to think.

GitHub Copilot CLI

Copilot plugin + instruction integration

Claude Code

Claude plugin + instruction integration

Codex App & CLI

Shared ~/.codex plugin + instruction integration

Pi Coding Agent

Pi extension + instruction integration

Gemini CLI

GEMINI.md instruction file

OpenCode

OpenCode plugin + instruction integration

terminal -- build-brief rewrite
# Rewrite transforms Gradle commands for agent hooks $ build-brief rewrite 'gradle build' build-brief gradle build $ build-brief rewrite './gradlew test' build-brief ./gradlew test $ build-brief rewrite './gradlew --stacktrace assembleDebug' build-brief ./gradlew --stacktrace assembleDebug $ build-brief rewrite 'gradle test && gradle check' build-brief gradle test && build-brief gradle check
terminal -- instruction install
# Install instructions locally (updates AGENTS.md) $ build-brief --install # Install globally for detected AI tools $ build-brief --global

Measurement

Know what you're saving.

build-brief gains tracks cumulative token savings across every build. For AI agents, these savings translate directly to context-window budget reclaimed — capacity the agent can spend reasoning about your code instead of parsing Gradle task lifecycle output.

Token output comparison (real data from 38 tracked commands)

raw
80.9K
emitted
3.8K

95.4% reduction — 77.2K tokens saved across 38 commands

terminal -- build-brief gains
$ build-brief gains build-brief Token Savings (Global Scope) ============================================================ Total commands: 38 Raw tokens: 80.9K Emitted tokens: 3.8K Tokens saved: 77.2K (95.4%) Efficiency: |||||||||||||||||||||||| 95.4% By Command -------------------------------------------------------------- # Command Count Saved Avg% -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 gradlew :androidApp:assembl… 6 38.6K 98.2% 2 gradlew :androidApp:clean :… 6 32.7K 92.5% 3 gradlew build 9 2.6K 60.8% 4 gradlew assembleDebug 2 1.4K 99.1% 5 gradle clean jvmTest 6 848 47.5%

Ecosystem

Works wherever Gradle runs.

build-brief is build-script agnostic. If it runs through gradle or ./gradlew, it works.

Spring Boot Ktor Android Kotlin Multiplatform Plain JVM Multi-project builds Gradle Kotlin DSL Gradle Groovy DSL

Limitations

What it doesn't do.

~

build-brief is Gradle-only. It does not wrap Maven, Bazel, sbt, or other build tools.

~

Daemon mode defaults to auto. Use --daemon-mode on or --daemon-mode off to control it explicitly.

~

Inspired by RTK, but built separately because RTK is not compatible enough with Gradle workflows.

~

Output modes are human (default, filtered) and raw (pass-through). There is no intermediate verbosity level.

FAQ

Common questions.

Does build-brief change the Gradle exit code?

No. The Gradle exit code is preserved exactly. If Gradle exits with 1, build-brief exits with 1. CI pipelines, scripts, and && chains work as expected.

Where does the full log go?

To a log file whose path is printed on failure, such as /tmp/build-brief/build-brief-6c5b629d.latest.log. You can override the directory with --log-dir or the BUILD_BRIEF_LOG_DIR environment variable. Nothing is ever discarded.

Can I surface my own log links?

Yes. Add a project-level .build-brief.json with named regex entries under matches, or pass a file with --config PATH / BUILD_BRIEF_CONFIG. Matching text is shown under Custom matches in the brief.

Can I use it with ./gradlew and plain gradle?

Yes. build-brief build auto-detects the wrapper. You can also pass an explicit path: build-brief --gradle ./gradlew build or build-brief --gradle gradle build.

What about the Gradle daemon?

By default, build-brief uses --daemon-mode auto. You can control this with --daemon-mode on or --daemon-mode off. When using daemon mode on, consider --gradle-user-home for shared caches.

What does "token savings" mean?

AI coding agents have finite context windows — typically 100K–200K tokens. Every line of Gradle output they read consumes tokens from that budget. A single assembleDebug on a real 16-module project produces 414 lines of raw output; build-brief reduces that to 5. Across a working session, this reclaims tens of thousands of tokens the agent can use for reasoning about your code. build-brief gains tracks this cumulatively so you can see the concrete difference.

How is this different from RTK?

build-brief is inspired by RTK but built separately because RTK is not compatible enough with Gradle workflows. build-brief is purpose-built for Gradle's output patterns, task lifecycle, and error reporting.