Spring Kotlin Gradle Template

A Cookiecutter template for creating multi-module Spring Boot starters in Kotlin with Gradle, ready for publication to Maven Central.

Using this template on GitHub

There are two ways to use this template:

Option A — Cookiecutter (recommended)

Cookiecutter fills in all variables for you interactively.

1. Install Cookiecutter (once)

pipx install cookiecutter   # Debian/Ubuntu
# or: brew install cookiecutter
# or: pip install cookiecutter

2. Generate a new project

# From GitHub (replace with your username/org):
cookiecutter gh:openprojectx/spring-kotlin-gradle-template

# Pin to a specific release:
cookiecutter gh:openprojectx/spring-kotlin-gradle-template --checkout v1.0.0

# From a local clone:
cookiecutter path/to/spring-kotlin-gradle-template

Cookiecutter prompts for each variable, then generates a ready-to-use project in a new directory.

Option B — GitHub "Use this template" button

Click Use this template → Create a new repository on the GitHub page. This copies the repo as-is (including the {{cookiecutter.*}} placeholders). You must then manually find-and-replace the placeholder values:

Placeholder	Replace with
{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}	your project directory name
{{cookiecutter.group_id}}	your Maven group ID
{{cookiecutter.library_name}}	your library short name
{{cookiecutter.main_class_name}}	your main class prefix
{{cookiecutter.github_username}}	your GitHub username/org
(all others in cookiecutter.json)	your values

Also rename the {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/ directory itself, and the files inside autoconfigure/ and starter/ that contain {{cookiecutter.library_name}} in their names.

Option A is strongly recommended — manual substitution is error-prone.

Making this repo a GitHub Template Repository

To enable the "Use this template" button:

1. Go to Settings of this repository on GitHub
2. Under General, check Template repository
3. Save

Once enabled, visitors see a green Use this template button at the top of the repo page.

Versioning and releases

Tag releases so users can pin to a stable version:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

Users can then use:

cookiecutter gh:openprojectx/spring-kotlin-gradle-template --checkout v1.0.0

Generated project structure

<project_slug>/
├── app/                          # Example Spring Boot application
├── core/                         # Core library module
├── autoconfigure/                # Spring Boot autoconfiguration module
│   └── <library_name>-spring-boot-autoconfigure.gradle.kts
├── starter/                      # Spring Boot starter (user-facing dependency)
│   └── <library_name>-spring-boot-starter.gradle.kts
├── buildSrc/                     # Gradle convention plugins
│   └── src/main/kotlin/
│       ├── kotlin-jvm.gradle.kts
│       └── spring-kotlin.gradle.kts
├── gradle/
│   └── libs.versions.toml        # Centralized dependency versions
├── build.gradle.kts              # Maven Central publishing + GPG signing
├── settings.gradle.kts           # Auto-discovers subprojects
└── gradle.properties

Template variables

Variable	Default	Description
project_name	My Spring Boot Starter	Human-readable project name
project_slug	(derived)	Directory name (lowercase, hyphenated)
group_id	org.example	Maven group ID
library_name	mylib	Short name used in module names and packages
main_class_name	MyLib	Prefix for the Spring Boot main class
description	A Spring Boot starter	Project description (used in POM)
github_username	username	GitHub username/org (used in SCM URLs)
github_repo	(derived)	GitHub repository name
developer_id	username	Developer ID in POM
developer_name	Your Name	Developer name in POM
developer_email	your@email.com	Developer email in POM
kotlin_version	2.2.21	Kotlin version
spring_boot_version	4.0.5	Spring Boot version
java_version	17	Java toolchain version

Publishing to Maven Central

Set environment variables and run:

export OSSRH_USERNAME=...
export OSSRH_PASSWORD=...
export SIGNING_KEY_FILE=path/to/key.gpg
export SIGNING_KEY_PASSWORD=...

./gradlew release

Tech stack

• Kotlin 2.2.21
• Spring Boot 4.0.5
• Gradle 9.4.1 with configuration cache
• Java 17 toolchain