Re: Fwd: [GSoC 2027] Proposal idea: dependency:insig ht — tracing why an artifact is on the classpath

Hi

I think

1. Yes
2. Plugin
3. Something equivalent to defining dependencies+exclusion but basically
impacting a dependency tree. There are tons of options so expériment a bit
probably

For 12 weeks, default org.apache.maven.plugins (war,ear,jar,...) can be
handled i think. At least war as a proof it works.


Romain Manni-Bucau
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Le sam. 20 juin 2026, 06:56, hitesh sai <[email protected]> a écrit :

> Hi Romain and Tamás,
>
> Thanks for sharing that example. I think tracking dependencies
> through plugins to the final artifact is a real problem worth solving.
>
> I'm interested in exploring this for GSoC 2027 (applications start
> in January). I've already merged one PR and helped resolve another
> issue, so I'm ready to contribute more to understand the codebase.
>
> A few technical questions:
> 1. Is your tracking prototype the right foundation, or should I
> Start fresh?
> 2. Should this be a maven-core extension or a separate plugin?
> 3. For capturing plugin decisions (WAR, assembly, shade), what
> What Maven 4 APIs would plugins need?
> 4. What would be a realistic scope for 12 weeks?
>
> I'm also looking for a mentor if this direction interests any of you.
>
> Thanks,
> Hitesh
>
> On Fri, 19 Jun 2026 at 22:07, hitesh sai <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Hi Tamás and Romain,
> >
> > It looks like tracking the dependency graph is only one part of the
> > picture; the more challenging part is capturing what happens during the
> > build lifecycle, when plugins can influence the final artifact.
> >
> > The plugin tracking aspect is especially interesting, since it could help
> > explain the complete path from a dependency to the final packaged output.
> >
> > I'll take a look at the prototype and the existing APIs to better
> > understand the approach.
> >
> > Thanks for taking the time to share these ideas.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Hitesh
> >
>