Maven Best Practices

Improve Maven POM configuration using industry-standard best practices.

What is covered in this Skill?

• Dependency management via <dependencyManagement> and BOMs
• Standard directory layout (src/main/java, src/test/java)
• Centralized plugin management
• Build profiles for environment-specific settings
• Readable POM structure with version properties
• Explicit repository declaration
• Version centralization
• Multi-module project structure with proper inheritance
• Cross-module version consistency
• Multi-module scope: After reading the root pom.xml, check for a <modules> section. If present, read every child module's pom.xml before making any recommendations.
• Check each child for hardcoded versions that duplicate parent <dependencyManagement>, redundant <pluginManagement> blocks, properties that should be centralized, and version drift across sibling modules.

Constraints

Before applying Maven best practices recommendations, ensure the project is in a valid state by running Maven validation. This helps identify any existing configuration issues that need to be resolved first. For multi-module projects, scope analysis must cover every child module POM — not just the root.

• MANDATORY: Run ./mvnw validate or mvn validate before applying any Maven best practices recommendations
• VERIFY: Ensure all validation errors are resolved before proceeding with POM modifications
• SAFETY: If validation fails, do not continue and ask the user to fix the issues before continuing
• MULTI-MODULE DISCOVERY: After reading the root pom.xml, check whether it contains a <modules> section. If it does, read every child module's pom.xml before making any recommendations — analysis scope is the full module tree, not only the root
• CROSS-MODULE SCOPE: When child modules exist, check each one for: hardcoded dependency versions that duplicate <dependencyManagement> in the parent, plugin configurations that duplicate <pluginManagement>, properties that should be centralized in the parent, and version drift (same artifact declared at different versions across sibling modules)
• BEFORE APPLYING: Read the reference for detailed examples, good/bad patterns, and constraints

When to use this skill

• Review pom.xml to improve it
• Apply Maven best practices to pom.xml
• Improve Maven POM configuration

Workflow

1. Validate project before recommendations

Run ./mvnw validate or mvn validate and stop if validation fails.

2. Read reference and analyze root POM

Read references/110-java-maven-best-practices.md, then inspect root pom.xml structure, dependency management, plugin management, properties, and profiles.

3. Expand to full module tree when present

If root has a <modules> section, read every child pom.xml and evaluate cross-module duplication, centralization opportunities, and version drift.

4. Provide prioritized best-practice recommendations

Propose concrete, safe improvements aligned with Maven best practices and full-module findings.

Reference

For detailed guidance, examples, and constraints, see references/110-java-maven-best-practices.md.