Gradle buildConfigField BuildConfig cannot resolve symbol

Question

I am using Gradle to build my Android application. I am trying to use some flags based on the build type (release or debug).

My Gradle file looks like this:

android {
    buildTypes {
        debug {
            buildConfigField 'boolean', 'PREPROD', 'true'
            buildConfigField 'boolean', 'STAGING', 'false'
        }

        release {
            buildConfigField 'boolean', 'PREPROD', 'false'
            buildConfigField 'boolean', 'STAGING', 'false'
        }
    }
}

And if I try to call BuildConfig.PREPROD or BuildConfig.STAGING I get a "Cannot resolve symbol" error. The Gradle sync was successful, so I don't know if I forgot some steps in order to be able to use this feature?

The generated BuildConfig.java file is the following (in build/source/buildConfig/debug/com.example.myapp):

package com.example.myapp;

public final class BuildConfig {
  public static final boolean DEBUG = Boolean.parseBoolean("true");
  public static final String PACKAGE_NAME = "com.example.myapp";
  public static final String BUILD_TYPE = "debug";
  public static final String FLAVOR = "";
  public static final int VERSION_CODE = 400;
  public static final String VERSION_NAME = "";
}

Mi

Can you check that the proper BuildConfig class was created. It'd be located in build/source/buildconfig/debug/... – Belittle

I added the generated BuildConfig.java to my question. – Minette

What version of the plugin are you using? With 0.9.1 I don't see this (both booleans show up in the class). – Belittle

Yes, I am using the version 0.9.1 of the plugin. But I just noticed that if I run my application, the fields are available in BuildConfig.java. Is this the normal behaviour? First sync Gradle, and then run the project to have access to the new fields? – Minette

You shouldn't have to sync (though Studio will ask you to do it because it doesn't know if you changed the model), but you will need to build, since the BuildConfig class is generated during the build based on what's in the build.gradle file. – Belittle

Yes you are right, building the project is enough. It yorks perfectly now. Thank you! – Minette

This happens to me as well using the latest plugin and building the project. Have you encountered this issue again ? – Gumption

No, never had this issue again. – Minette

Hi, I managing two flavour in application via config settings and like you I'm trying to create some config variable but for different flavour. I tried your way but not seeing any update in flavour/BuildConfig.java and because of that could not able to access variable even in Compile time. Any suggestion ! – Cu

Thanks @XavierDucrohet. I had this error after importing from GitHub, which came down with no build folder. A Build * Rebuild resolved this. – Cabbageworm

You can get proper solution via #76388303 – Af

In the Menu, Try Build => Make Project. For me, it was as easy as that :-) – Aerosol

Answer 1

Make sure your file is importing the right BuildConfig class. Sometimes if you have other project libraries or modules, it may import the wrong buildConfig. Make sure your import it's like this com.project.app.BuildConfig. I was Having the same issue and the problem was this, Hope it can help somebody.

Imperil

how do I do this with build vairents as the full com.x.x changes? – Lucic

@Lucic build variants should have no impact on this. As long as you have your variables defined on each variant, on build.gradle file. – Imperil

5 years later and I owe you a big thanks. In my case it was using algoliasearch.BuildConfig without me even importing it – Lezlielg

Wow, also saved me some headache. In my case, it was using: com.google.firebase.BuildConfig – Astrionics

Worked for me like a charm, had changed my package name and that is what caused the problem. Updating the import to match package name then adding .BuildConfig fixed it for me. Thanks – Downspout

error: cannot find symbol jsonObject.put(PayuConstants.VERSION_KEY, BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME); I am getting this error. What I have to do exactly ? – Rochellrochella

Let Luck Be With You!! – Guardi

Answer 2

Add below in build.gradle(Module:App) and Rebuild Project

android {
    buildFeatures {
        buildConfig = true
    }
}

Unlive

who at Google keeps changing fundamentals and not telling anyone?! The worst part is the modern era build tools will still generate BuildConfig files, it just isn't visible to your source code for no reason without this flag smdh. – Styracaceous

Answer 3

I was getting the same bug. Try to click on synchronize, on the right side of save. Do that after gradle sync.

Sanguinaria

Where is the synchronize? – Solorio

File > "Sync Project with Gradle Files". – Hephzibah

Thank you sir! Although it wasn't the synchronize button that solve my issue, i clicked Invalidate Caches / Restart and everything goes back to normal. – Rood

Invalidate caches and restart didn't do it for me. I had to clean and then rebuild, and it works – Mersey

Answer 4

In my case, in Android Studio:

1. Build -> Clean Project;

2. File -> Invalidate Caches / Restart...

3. Build -> Rebuild Project

Grillroom

This is the only solution which worked for me! – Rollerskate

idk what happens.. but it works – Handal

this bug is annoying – Memorandum

Answer 5

Happened to me because I did not declared a String field properly.

I forgot the escaping characters. Changing from :

buildConfigField "String", "FOO", "foo"

to

buildConfigField "String", "FOO", "\"foo\""

solved the problem.

Made

This was it for me! Thanks! Sometimes it really is those damn little things :) – Underbred

Why is it necessary to escape string? – Carrol

"If type is String, then value should include quotes.", see : developer.android.com/reference/tools/gradle-api/4.2/com/… – Made

That wasn't my problem, but knowing that this came from a configuration file somewhere was enough of a hint to figure it out. I searched all files for the property and found it. Thanks! – Seidler

Answer 6

Changes in gradle build files don't refresh the generation of the BuildConfig class, even if you click the yellow "sync now" bar at the top. A full clean will force generating this file.

In Android Studio: Build -> Clean Project

Ethmoid

Nothing else works (invalidate caches & restart; sync project files with gradle files) except Clean Project, thanks – Bulrush

Answer 7

Same happened to me, fixed when running this in the project root:

./gradlew assembleDebug

Floorer

Answer 8

Make sure you add your parameter also to the defaultConfig. You are probably running the default buildVarient while your parameter is defined in a speciffic buildVariant.

in the build gradle file use this:

 defaultConfig {
        buildConfigField('String' , 'myParameter', 'someValue')
    }

Then, in the code use this:

String myParam= BuildConfig.myParameter;

Hope this helps, M.A :)

Braxy

error: cannot find symbol jsonObject.put(PayuConstants.VERSION_KEY, BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME); I am getting this error – Rochellrochella

Some of the strangest behaviors really; after this, mine worked. – Trimetrogon

Answer 9

You have to choose the desired build variant first to be able to access its buildConfigField

Money

This helped me. I already had a build variant selected, but changing it caused a rebuild that made the error go away. – Ibeam

Use this it wil work android{ buildFeatures{ buildConfig = true } } – Brabazon

Instead of selecting build type from here I changed the name of build type to what is selected here. – Micrococcus

@NithinRaja got it right, that's the one – Selie

Answer 10

if this type of problem happens just clean and rebuild you project.

thanks.

Expound

Answer 11

I tried everything here and nothing worked for me. I initially had an issue that one of the methods of BuildConfig that I was referring to wasn't being detected, so I tried some of the solutions here. That only broke my project even more (or so I thought). I tried changing my build type and ended up having the problem the OP mentioned (which was a problem I did not have. I came here looking for solution to another problem and ended up creating the OPs problem for myself facepalm).

So the solution that fixed things for me was, just go to

Build > Make Module 'app'.

And regardless of how many red mark indications I had, it just fixed everything for me. I wasn't even able to import the BuildConfig of my project after I broke it by trying the solutions here, to a problem I did not have (I'm dumb yea, idk what I'm doing). I think doing a clean build broke things further. But this solved everything for me.

Source: https://tinaciousdesign.com/blog/buildconfig-debug-always-returns-false-android/

TLDR: BuildConfig is a generated class in your project. If Android Studio can’t find it, it’ll prompt you to import it. Don’t import it or you’ll get the lint warning. Run the project as usual, ignoring the red. Your problem should be solved

Halibut

Thanks bro. None of other answers worked for me. Im using Using flutter and i need to set a flavor for that import is not working for me. – Lazarolazaruk

Answer 12

In Android Studio, - click Build then Clean Project - After cleaning click Rebuild Project. - When done, close your project. - Open your project again and run it, the error should not appear again, it has cleared.

Guttersnipe

Answer 13

1. Build -> Clean Project;
2. File -> Invalidate Caches / Restart
3. Build -> Rebuild Project
4. Sync Gradle Project with Project Files

This one worked for me.

Federalese

Over 9 years and a multitude versions of android and android studio this terrible error still persists. And this seems to be the only fix. (maybe just rebuild may work sometimes) – Rombert

Doing just: Build -> Rebuild Project, worked for me. Thanks Daxxtropezz – Marquita

Answer 14

This same problem has been driving me nuts for over a week. In my case, it was a simple import missing. I looked for it but somehow nowhere in the docs I could find does it mention that you need to import the BuildConfig class anywhere! And yet, it's logical. I went on believing it might be automatic. Well, it ISN'T.

So try either:

• click once on the BuildConfig. part of code that causes the error. A help message should appear in a blue bubble saying something like: "? uk.co.package.app.BuildConfig? Alt + ENTER" Click on it and Android studio automatically adds the missing import. or
• add import uk.co.package.app.BuildConfig; somewhere in the list of your imports.

re-build... it works! well, it did for me anyway.

Hope that helps another gradle android newbie like me!

Billy

Answer 15

If Build config is not getting resolved in build Gradle file use the below code and sync it will work as expected

android{
buildFeatures{
    buildConfig = true
}}

Brabazon

Incorrect indentation here. This answer is better: https://mcmap.net/q/157873/-gradle-buildconfigfield-buildconfig-cannot-resolve-symbol – Rollerskate

Answer 16

Use this for Android X

import androidx.multidex.BuildConfig;

it's work for me.

Bucovina

Great work. This solved the issue after I migrate to androidX – Rigi

Answer 17

In my case, the problem was that I had just renamed a module of my project, but that module's name references weren't automatically updated on the AndroidManifest.xml.

Manually renaming those and rebuilding the project solved the issue.

Fictitious

I had done some refactoring and didn't completely change all instances; this answer pointed me in the right direction. Thanks! – Frizz

same issue. tried cleaning the project. restarting android studion. nothing worked the error was still there. Then i cleaned it one more time (Build > Clean Project) then i run debug by force. it was successful after the build and the error disappeared. – Outpatient

Answer 18

Search for occurrences of BuildConfig. I had a rogue import of non-existant BuildConfig and the compiler instead of catching that pointed at a random line of code somewhere else!

Potheen

Answer 19

Add the below line in gradle.properties file it will be work very fine when you update your project with Android 13:

android.defaults.buildfeatures.buildconfig=true

Evangelicalism

Answer 20

My package wasn't up to date in my manifest. I checked the file AndroidManifest.xml and corrected the name of my package. This is how i solved this problem.

Neocene

Answer 21

Rebuild your module by right clicking on your module and select the Rebuild Module 'module name'

or use short key : Ctrl+Shift+F9

Reeher

Answer 22

Remove generated BuildConfig and Sync + Rebuild project

Kantian

Think my clean had already removed the file? Rebuild was the right thing to do! – Rombert

Clean only not working when add new buildConfigField, so in some cases you need make it manually. – Kantian

Answer 23

My 2 cents:

I had a correct import xxx.BuildConfig, AS would point to that line and to those lines where I had BuildConfig.SOME_VARIABLE, so I removed import line, rebuilt it, got an error saying that BuildConfig is unrecognised reference blah blah and after that I imported it and rebuilt it again.

Haematocele

Answer 24

I encountered same error during build(debugging) the old project in Android studio. When i investigated error i found that BuildConfig class was defined in 2 files. 1st was in BuildConfig.java and 2nd was in BuildConfig2.java.

I removed the one of file and i worked correctly.

Igbo

I removed one of BuildConfig.java file and then project build successfully and start debugging. – Igbo

Answer 25

In my case, I did a stupid mistake by COPYING AND PASTING THE SAME VARIANT. I just renamed the other variant and it worked.

Varion

Answer 26

Possible solution: If you're using the Android X billing library, perhaps by adding the following line in your build.gradle file:

implementation 'com.android.billingclient:billing:2.2.0'

Be aware that the Android billing library ALSO includes its own BuildConfig class which can confuse Android Studio's code editor. If this happens, it may auto-add the following import statement to one of your classes:

import com.android.billingclient.BuildConfig;

That's not the one you want to use, right? The one you want to be using (if you were doing a debug build) might be here:

./build/generated/source/buildConfig/debug/com/example/myapp/BuildConfig.java

So to fix, remove that import statement line, and rebuild to see if it can resolve to the right BuildConfig.java. If it can't, you may need to explicitly name it via an import com.example.myapp.BuildConfig.java to make it super clear you want the version of this file from your package and not any other.

Hope this helps!

Knowledge

Answer 27

In my case, the problem comes from

import com.android.volley.BuildConfig;

Make sure you have import the right BuildConfig from your package not from volley.

Necessary

Answer 28

Check once your file is importing the correct BuildConfig class. If it is correct, then clean or File->InvalidateCaches and Restart.

Dopey

Answer 29

In my case it happens after I added one extra level/folder to my package, Changed my com.xxx.BuildConfig to com.xxx.mynewfoldername.BuildConfig then works fine

Offend

Answer 30

Make sure that your package name matches your app id in Build.Gradle file

Just Change it & Sync, it is going to do the necessary import for you.

Good luck

Dehisce

Answer 31

For anyone landing here after updating your package name in Android Studio, the auto-refactor misses some places that need updating. Especially if you're using React Native.

You'll want to search your entire project for the old package name (In VS Code, the default hotkey is CMD + SHIFT + F or CTRL + SHIFT + F for Mac and Windows, respectively) and update it to the new one. Keep in mind, at least some of these are case-sensitive and many instances of your project name actually need to be lowercase, so don't just auto-replace everything.

Harwilll

Answer 32

I tried all the solutions but nothing worked for me. So, I did some trial and error and found a solution for myself.

Build -> Recompile 'FileName.kt'

Voila, that solved my problem! It created and imported the BuildConfig class inside the FileName.kt

Vlaminck

Answer 33

I would like to add another solution for this issue. I've tried every answer on this post but nobody mentioned to reboot their machine right after you updated your system variables. Works like a charm!

Carmacarmack