Kotlin Serialization

Kotlin Serialization is the official multiplatform and multi-format serialization library for Kotlin.

If you need to (de)serialize Kotlin classes to/from JSON, you can enable Kotlin Serialization it in its simplest form:

settings:
  kotlin:
    serialization: json  # JSON or other format

This snippet configures the compiler to process @Serializable classes, and adds dependencies on the serialization runtime and JSON format libraries.

You can also customize the version of the Kotlin Serialization libraries using the full form of the configuration:

settings:
  kotlin:
    serialization:
      format: json
      version: 1.7.3

More control over serialization formats

If you don't need serialization format dependencies or if you need more control over them, you can use the following:

settings:
  kotlin:
    serialization: enabled # configures the compiler and serialization runtime library

This snippet on its own only configures the compiler and the serialization runtime library, but doesn't add any format dependency. However, it adds a built-in catalog with official serialization formats libraries, which you can use in your dependencies section. This is useful in multiple cases:

• if you need a format dependency only in tests:

  settings:
    kotlin:
      serialization: enabled
  
  test-dependencies:
    - $kotlin.serialization.json
  

• if you need to customize the scope of the format dependencies:

  settings:
    kotlin:
      serialization: enabled
  
  dependencies:
    - $kotlin.serialization.json: compile-only
  

• if you need to expose format dependencies transitively:

  settings:
    kotlin:
      serialization: enabled
  
  dependencies:
    - $kotlin.serialization.json: exported
  

• if you need multiple formats:

  settings:
    kotlin:
      serialization: enabled
  
  dependencies:
    - $kotlin.serialization.json
    - $kotlin.serialization.protobuf