Build Tools (Gradle, SBT)

Configuring Deeplearning4j with Gradle, SBT, and other build tools

Overview

While Maven is the primary build tool used and tested by the DL4J team, the library works with other JVM build systems. This page documents setup for Gradle (Groovy and Kotlin DSL), SBT, Leiningen (Clojure), and Ivy.

The core dependency pattern is the same across all tools: you need deeplearning4j-core and exactly one ND4J backend (nd4j-native-platform for CPU or nd4j-cuda-11.6-platform for GPU).

Gradle

Groovy DSL (build.gradle)

plugins {
    id 'java'
}

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

ext {
    dl4jVersion = '1.0.0-M2.1'
}

dependencies {
    // Core DL4J
    implementation "org.deeplearning4j:deeplearning4j-core:${dl4jVersion}"

    // CPU backend (replace with nd4j-cuda-11.6-platform for GPU)
    implementation "org.nd4j:nd4j-native-platform:${dl4jVersion}"

    // Logging
    implementation 'ch.qos.logback:logback-classic:1.2.11'
}

Kotlin DSL (build.gradle.kts)

plugins {
    java
}

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

val dl4jVersion = "1.0.0-M2.1"

dependencies {
    implementation("org.deeplearning4j:deeplearning4j-core:$dl4jVersion")
    implementation("org.nd4j:nd4j-native-platform:$dl4jVersion")
    implementation("ch.qos.logback:logback-classic:1.2.11")
}

GPU with Gradle

Replace the CPU backend:

// Groovy
implementation "org.nd4j:nd4j-cuda-11.6-platform:${dl4jVersion}"

// Add cuDNN helper if needed
implementation "org.deeplearning4j:deeplearning4j-cuda-11.6:${dl4jVersion}"

// Kotlin DSL
implementation("org.nd4j:nd4j-cuda-11.6-platform:$dl4jVersion")
implementation("org.deeplearning4j:deeplearning4j-cuda-11.6:$dl4jVersion")

Additional Modules with Gradle

dependencies {
    implementation "org.deeplearning4j:deeplearning4j-core:${dl4jVersion}"
    implementation "org.nd4j:nd4j-native-platform:${dl4jVersion}"

    // Optional: UI for training visualization
    implementation "org.deeplearning4j:deeplearning4j-ui:${dl4jVersion}"

    // Optional: Keras model import
    implementation "org.deeplearning4j:deeplearning4j-modelimport:${dl4jVersion}"

    // Optional: DataVec for data loading
    implementation "org.datavec:datavec-api:${dl4jVersion}"

    // Optional: Arbiter hyperparameter optimization
    implementation "org.deeplearning4j:arbiter-deeplearning4j:${dl4jVersion}"
}

Dependency Resolution in Gradle

Gradle's dependency resolution differs from Maven's. If you encounter version conflicts:

configurations.all {
    resolutionStrategy {
        // Force a specific JavaCPP version to match DL4J's expectation
        force 'org.bytedeco:javacpp:1.5.8'
    }
}

To exclude a transitive dependency:

implementation("com.example:some-library:1.0") {
    exclude group: 'org.bytedeco', module: 'javacpp'
}

Gradle and Snapshot Builds

Gradle has a known issue with snapshot artifacts that use Maven classifiers (the -platform artifacts). If you need snapshots, add the Sonatype snapshots repository and prefer non-platform classifiers with an explicit OS classifier:

repositories {
    maven { url 'https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots' }
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    implementation "org.deeplearning4j:deeplearning4j-core:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT"
    implementation "org.nd4j:nd4j-native:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT"
    // Add the OS-specific classifier explicitly
    implementation "org.nd4j:nd4j-native:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT:linux-x86_64"
}

See the Snapshots page for the full workaround. For production use, Maven is recommended for snapshot dependencies due to a Gradle bug with classifier-based snapshot resolution.

SBT

build.sbt

ThisBuild / scalaVersion := "2.13.10"
ThisBuild / version      := "0.1.0-SNAPSHOT"

lazy val dl4jVersion = "1.0.0-M2.1"

lazy val root = (project in file("."))
  .settings(
    name := "my-dl4j-project",
    libraryDependencies ++= Seq(
      "org.deeplearning4j" % "deeplearning4j-core"     % dl4jVersion,
      "org.nd4j"           % "nd4j-native-platform"    % dl4jVersion,
      "ch.qos.logback"     % "logback-classic"         % "1.2.11"
    )
  )

SBT with GPU

libraryDependencies ++= Seq(
  "org.deeplearning4j" % "deeplearning4j-core"          % dl4jVersion,
  "org.nd4j"           % "nd4j-cuda-11.6-platform"      % dl4jVersion,
  "org.deeplearning4j" % "deeplearning4j-cuda-11.6"     % dl4jVersion
)

SBT Resolvers for Snapshots

resolvers += "Sonatype Snapshots" at "https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots"

lazy val dl4jVersion = "1.0.0-SNAPSHOT"

SBT Assembly (fat JAR)

Add the sbt-assembly plugin to project/plugins.sbt:

addSbtPlugin("com.eed3si9n" % "sbt-assembly" % "2.1.1")

Then in build.sbt:

assembly / assemblyMergeStrategy := {
  case PathList("META-INF", _*) => MergeStrategy.discard
  case _                        => MergeStrategy.first
}

Run with sbt assembly to produce a fat JAR.

Note: SBT, like Gradle, requires explicit openblas dependencies when using nd4j-native without the -platform wrapper. The -platform artifact handles this automatically. See the nd4j-native-platform pom to check the required openblas version if you manage dependencies manually.

Leiningen (Clojure)

Leiningen uses a Clojure-based build file. Add DL4J via the :dependencies vector in project.clj:

(defproject my-dl4j-project "0.1.0-SNAPSHOT"
  :description "DL4J Clojure project"
  :dependencies [[org.clojure/clojure "1.11.1"]
                 [org.deeplearning4j/deeplearning4j-core "1.0.0-M2.1"]
                 [org.nd4j/nd4j-native-platform "1.0.0-M2.1"]
                 [ch.qos.logback/logback-classic "1.2.11"]]
  :jvm-opts ["-Xmx4g"
             "-Dorg.bytedeco.javacpp.maxbytes=6g"]
  :main ^:skip-aot my-dl4j-project.core
  :target-path "target/%s"
  :profiles {:uberjar {:aot :all}})

Leiningen with GPU

:dependencies [[org.deeplearning4j/deeplearning4j-core "1.0.0-M2.1"]
               [org.nd4j/nd4j-cuda-11.6-platform "1.0.0-M2.1"]
               [org.deeplearning4j/deeplearning4j-cuda-11.6 "1.0.0-M2.1"]]

Leiningen Snapshots

:repositories [["sonatype-snapshots" "https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots"]]
:dependencies [[org.deeplearning4j/deeplearning4j-core "1.0.0-SNAPSHOT"]
               [org.nd4j/nd4j-native-platform "1.0.0-SNAPSHOT"]]

Note: After downloading via Leiningen, you may need to double-click the downloaded JAR files to register them in your local Maven repository if you are working with Eclipse or another IDE.

Ivy

For Ant-based builds using Ivy, add the following to your ivy.xml:

<ivy-module version="2.0">
    <info organisation="com.example" module="my-dl4j-project"/>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency org="org.deeplearning4j"
                    name="deeplearning4j-core"
                    rev="1.0.0-M2.1"
                    conf="compile->default"/>
        <dependency org="org.nd4j"
                    name="nd4j-native-platform"
                    rev="1.0.0-M2.1"
                    conf="compile->default"/>
    </dependencies>
</ivy-module>

Add the Maven Central resolver to ivysettings.xml:

<ivysettings>
    <settings defaultResolver="chain"/>
    <resolvers>
        <chain name="chain">
            <ibiblio name="central" m2compatible="true"/>
        </chain>
    </resolvers>
</ivysettings>

Dependency Resolution Tips

Verify which backend is loaded

Regardless of build tool, add this to your main method to confirm the correct ND4J backend is active:

System.out.println(Nd4j.getBackend().getClass().getName());
// CPU: org.nd4j.linalg.cpu.nativecpu.CpuBackend
// GPU: org.nd4j.linalg.jcublas.JCublasBackend

Common build issues

Issue: UnsatisfiedLinkError or missing native library at runtime. Cause: The platform classifier was not resolved, or openblas is missing. Fix: Use the -platform artifact, or manually add the openblas dependency matching the version in the nd4j-native-platform pom.

Issue: Multiple backends on classpath (both nd4j-native and nd4j-cuda present). Cause: Transitive dependency pulled in an unwanted backend. Fix: Exclude the unwanted backend explicitly in your build file.

Issue: Wrong Java version. Cause: DL4J 1.0.0-M2.1 requires Java 11+. Fix: Set sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11 in Gradle or <maven.compiler.source>11</maven.compiler.source> in Maven.

Related Pages

• Maven Setup — full Maven pom.xml reference

• GPU and CPU Setup — backend selection

• Snapshots — using nightly builds