AuroraBuild

A modern Java build system written in Go — fast, deterministic, cloud-native.

AuroraBuild is a hybrid platform matching the speed of modern web tooling with the enterprise stability of Java. The CLI is written in Go, and the heavy-lifting incremental persistence engine and build planner is powered by aurorad, a custom high-performance daemon written in Rust.

Think: Cargo for Java. Bun for Java builds.

Quick Start

# Create a new project
aurora init my-project
cd my-project

# Build and run
aurora build
aurora run

# Run tests
aurora test

# Package as JAR
aurora package

# Build a native-image (requires GraalVM)
aurora native

# Check your environment
aurora doctor

Installation

go install github.com/aurorabuild/aurorabuild/cli/cmd/aurora@latest

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/aurorabuild/aurorabuild
cd aurorabuild
go build ./cli/cmd/aurora
sudo mv aurora /usr/local/bin/

Requirements:

Go 1.22+ (to build)
JDK 21+ with javac and java on PATH (or JAVA_HOME set)
GraalVM (optional, for aurora native)

Commands

Command	Description
`aurora build`	Compile sources, resolve deps, produce class files
`aurora test`	Run tests via JUnit Platform
`aurora run`	Build and execute the main class
`aurora package`	Package into a deterministic JAR
`aurora clean`	Remove build artifacts
`aurora init`	Scaffold a new project
`aurora native`	Build a GraalVM native-image
`aurora doctor`	Diagnose toolchain and environment
`aurora migrate maven`	Migrate from Maven
`aurora migrate gradle`	Migrate from Gradle
`aurora ui`	Launch the desktop UI (experimental)
`aurora version`	Print version
`aurora --version`	Print version (short flag)

Configuration

AuroraBuild uses a single YAML file (aurora.yaml):

project:
  name: my-app
  version: 1.0.0
  group: com.example
  mainClass: com.example.App

java:
  source: 21
  target: 21
  srcDir: src/main/java
  testDir: src/test/java
  outDir: target/classes

repositories:
  - name: mavenCentral

dependencies:
  - group: org.junit.jupiter
    artifact: junit-jupiter-api
    version: 5.10.0
    scope: test

tasks:
  generate:
    run: protoc --java_out=src/generated proto/*.proto

hooks:
  beforeBuild:
    - run: echo "pre-build hook"
  afterBuild:
    - run: echo "post-build hook"

Migration

From Maven

cd my-maven-project
aurora migrate maven pom.xml

Parses pom.xml, migrates dependencies, repositories, Java version, and generates aurora.yaml + aurora.lock.

From Gradle

cd my-gradle-project
aurora migrate gradle build.gradle

Parses build.gradle (or .kts), migrates dependencies, plugins, Java toolchain config.

Both support --dry-run for analysis without file generation.

Lockfiles

AuroraBuild uses aurora.lock for reproducible builds:

aurora build --frozen

The lockfile contains exact resolved versions, SHA256 hashes, and the full transitive graph. Frozen mode enforces lockfile versions and validates checksums.

Architecture

cli/                    # Go CLI (entry point)
├── cmd/aurora/
│   ├── main.go         # Binary entry
│   └── commands/       # Cobra command tree
├── internal/
│   ├── build/          # Build orchestration
│   ├── deps/           # Dependency resolution
│   ├── http/           # HTTP transport
│   ├── repository/     # Repository abstraction
│   ├── project/        # Project model + config parser
│   ├── lockfile/       # Lockfile management + validation
│   ├── incremental/    # Incremental compilation tracking
│   ├── state/          # Persistent build state
│   ├── repro/          # Reproducible build utilities
│   ├── test/           # Test execution abstraction
│   ├── migrate/        # Migration engine
│   ├── tasks/          # Declarative task executor
│   ├── templates/      # Project scaffolding templates
│   └── version/        # Version metadata
└── go.mod

daemon/                 # Rust incremental daemon (aurorad)
├── Cargo.toml
└── crates/
    ├── aurorad/        # Rust incremental daemon entry
    ├── graph/          # Dependency graph computation
    ├── planner/        # Rebuild planning
    ├── incremental/    # Incremental state tracker
    ├── cache/          # Persistent memory caches
    ├── watcher/        # File watcher debouncer
    ├── devserver/      # Development server
    ├── ipc/            # MessagePack IPC
    ├── scheduler/      # Parallel task scheduler
    ├── compiler/       # Daemon javac wrapper
    └── abi/            # ABI hashing for partial rebuilds

Key Features

Transitive Dependency Resolution

Full Maven-compatible dependency graph resolution:

POM XML parsing with parent resolution
Recursive transitive dependency walk
Cycle detection (DFS with white/gray/black marking)
Pluggable conflict strategies (nearest-wins, highest-version)
Exclusion support, optional dependency filtering
Scope propagation (test/provided scopes don't leak)

Reproducible Builds

Deterministic JARs: sorted entries, normalized timestamps (zip epoch), stable manifest
SHA256 verification: every dependency checksummed end-to-end
Lockfile: aurora.lock pins exact versions, hashes, and repository sources
Frozen mode: aurora build --frozen enforces lockfile fidelity

Incremental Compilation (aurorad Rust Daemon)

Aurora uses aurorad, a persistent background daemon written in Rust, maintaining full in-memory states of your application's Source Graph and Dependency Graph.

Instantly reacts to FileSystem events using notify.
ABI Awareness: Changes that do not alter the public ABI (abi hashing) prevent down-stream consumers from executing useless recompilation.
Extremely parallel task scheduler via tokio.
High-speed IPC overhead via MessagePack over Named Pipes / Domain Sockets.

Concurrent Build Pipeline

Parallel dependency downloads
Worker pool with bounded concurrency
Pipeline stages with structured concurrency
Context propagation for cancellation
Task graph with dependency-aware scheduling

Cloud-Native + GraalVM

aurora native for native-image builds
Container-aware defaults
Minimal CI mode
Fast cold starts (no JVM bootstrap)
aurora doctor validates Java, GraalVM, and toolchain

Declarative Tasks

No scripting DSL. Tasks are declarative YAML:

tasks:
  generate:
    run: protoc --java_out=src/generated proto/*.proto
    inputs: ["proto/*.proto"]
    outputs: ["src/generated"]

hooks:
  beforeBuild:
    - run: make generate

Desktop UI

A lightweight web-based UI (opt-in via aurora ui) for project inspection, build visualization, and environment diagnostics. Starts instantly — no Electron, no heavyweight runtime.

aurora ui
# -> http://localhost:8700

Project Layout

project/
├── aurora.yaml          # Build configuration
├── aurora.lock          # Dependency lockfile
├── src/main/java/       # Sources
├── src/test/java/       # Tests
└── target/              # Build outputs

Comparison

Feature	AuroraBuild	Maven	Gradle
Binary size	~15MB static	~10MB + JVM	~100MB + JVM
Cold start	<10ms	~2-5s (JVM)	~3-8s (daemon)
Config format	YAML	XML	Groovy/Kotlin DSL
Scripting	None	None	Full DSL
Plugin system	None (extensible via tasks)	XML plugins	Plugin ecosystem
Dependency resolution	Maven-compatible	Native	Native
Lockfile	aurora.lock	None	gradle.lockfile
GraalVM support	Native	Manual	Manual
UI	Built-in web UI	None	Build scans
Migration from	Built-in	—	—

Release Tooling

Aurora includes a full Python-based release pipeline in tools/ for automated builds, packaging, and installer generation.

Prerequisites

Python 3.12+
Go 1.22+ (auto-installed by bootstrap)
WiX Toolset (Windows MSI builds only)

Tools Overview

tools/
├── bootstrap.py       # Environment setup, Go auto-install
├── build.py           # Compile Aurora (release, debug, cross-compile)
├── package.py         # Create distributable archives (zip, tar.gz)
├── installer.py       # Generate Windows MSI via WiX
├── release.py         # Full release pipeline orchestration
├── version.py         # Semantic versioning from git tags
├── env.py             # OS/arch/Go detection
├── utils/
│   ├── logging.py     # Structured color-coded logging
│   ├── process.py     # Safe subprocess execution
│   ├── filesystem.py  # File operations
│   ├── download.py    # HTTP downloads with checksums
│   └── hashing.py     # SHA256/checksum utilities
└── templates/wix/     # WiX MSI installer templates

Bootstrap

python tools/bootstrap.py

Detects OS, architecture, and Go installation. If Go is missing or outdated, downloads and installs it automatically to .cache/go-VERSION/. Verifies all required tooling and creates build directories.

Supports CI=true for machine-readable output in CI pipelines.

Build

# Release build (optimized, stripped)
python tools/build.py

# Debug build (with symbols)
python tools/build.py --debug

# Cross-compile for all platforms
python tools/build.py --cross

# Cross-compile for specific targets
python tools/build.py --target linux arm64 --target windows amd64

Output: build/aurora (or build/aurora.exe on Windows)

Version metadata is injected at compile time via -ldflags -X from tools/version.py.

Package

# Package all binaries in build/
python tools/package.py

# Package a specific binary
python tools/package.py build/aurora

# Generate SHA256SUMS
python tools/package.py --checksums

Produces reproducible archives (sorted entries, zero timestamps) in dist/VERSION/.

Windows Installer

# Requires WiX Toolset on Windows
python tools/installer.py build/aurora.exe

Generates build/aurora-VERSION.msi that:

Installs to C:\Program Files\Aurora\
Adds aurora to system PATH (optional)
Creates Windows uninstall entries
Generates a desktop shortcut (optional)
Generates a Start Menu Shortcut (optional)
Multi-step wizard with feature selection (desktop shortcut, start menu, PATH)
Includes the Apache 2.0 Graphic Installer License Agreement
Supports upgrades via stable UpgradeCode

Release Pipeline

# Full release (bootstraps, builds, packages, generates installer)
python tools/release.py

# Dry run
python tools/release.py --dry-run

# Skip specific steps
python tools/release.py --skip bootstrap installer

# Generate just the release manifest
python tools/release.py --manifest-only

Outputs to dist/VERSION/:

aurora-VERSION-linux-amd64.tar.gz
aurora-VERSION-linux-amd64.zip
aurora-VERSION-windows-amd64.zip
aurora-VERSION-windows-amd64.msi
aurora-VERSION-darwin-amd64.tar.gz
aurora-VERSION-darwin-arm64.tar.gz
SHA256SUMS
release.json

Version Management

python tools/version.py version        # Current version (from git tag)
python tools/version.py release        # Release version (no dev suffix)
python tools/version.py commit         # Current git commit
python tools/version.py metadata       # Full build metadata (JSON)
python tools/version.py bump-patch     # Bump patch version

Version follows semver from git tags (v1.0.0, v1.1.0-beta.1).

CI/CD

The .github/workflows/ directory contains:

ci.yml — Runs on every push/PR: Go build, tests, lint, Python tools validation
release.yml — Triggered by v* tags: cross-platform builds, packaging, MSI generation, GitHub Release

Development

git clone https://github.com/aurorabuild/aurorabuild
cd aurorabuild

# Build (Go)
go build ./cli/cmd/aurora

# Build (Python toolchain)
python tools/build.py

# Test
go test ./cli/...

# Run
./aurora build -f example/aurora.yaml

License

Apache 2.0

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 11 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
cli		cli
daemon		daemon
example		example
infrastructure		infrastructure
registry		registry
tools		tools
.gitignore		.gitignore
.pre-commit-config.yaml		.pre-commit-config.yaml
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md

Uh oh!

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

AuroraBuild

Quick Start

Installation

Commands

Configuration

Migration

From Maven

From Gradle

Lockfiles

Architecture

Key Features

Transitive Dependency Resolution

Reproducible Builds

Incremental Compilation (aurorad Rust Daemon)

Concurrent Build Pipeline

Cloud-Native + GraalVM

Declarative Tasks

Desktop UI

Project Layout

Comparison

Release Tooling

Prerequisites

Tools Overview

Bootstrap

Build

Package

Windows Installer

Release Pipeline

Version Management

CI/CD

Development

License

About

Resources

License

Uh oh!

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

Packages 0

Uh oh!

Contributors

Uh oh!

Languages

Packages