[flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle] Gradle Kotlin Script Error: Unresolved Reference compileSdkVersion

Steps to reproduce

Run flutter pub upgrade.
Try to build the Android project using flutter build apk

Where:
Build file '/Users/--/.pub-cache/hosted/pub.dev/flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle-2.0.3/android/build.gradle.kts' line: 28
What went wrong:
Script compilation error:

Line 28: compileSdk = flutter.compileSdkVersion
^ Unresolved reference: compileSdkVersion

1 error

Expected results

The Android project should compile successfully without errors.

Actual results

When attempting to build the Android project, the build process fails during the execution of the Kotlin Gradle script inside the flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle plugin. The build stops with the following error:

Where:
Build file '/Users/ec2-user/.pub-cache/hosted/pub.dev/flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle-2.0.3/android/build.gradle.kts' line: 28
What went wrong:
Script compilation error:

Line 28: compileSdk = flutter.compileSdkVersion
^ Unresolved reference: compileSdkVersion

1 error

Code sample

N/A

Screenshots or Video

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Logs

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Flutter Doctor output

Doctor output

    Flutter (Channel stable, 3.38.4, on macOS 15.0 24A335 darwin-arm64, locale en-US) [648ms]
      • Flutter version 3.38.4 on channel stable at /Users/ec2-user/fvm/versions/3.38.4
      • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
      • Framework revision 66dd93f9a2 (4 months ago), 2025-12-03 14:56:10 -0800
      • Engine revision a5cb96369e
      • Dart version 3.10.3
      • DevTools version 2.51.1
      • Feature flags: enable-web, enable-linux-desktop, enable-macos-desktop, enable-windows-desktop, enable-android, enable-ios, cli-animations, enable-native-assets, omit-legacy-version-file, enable-lldb-debugging

The same issue is also happening with other Android plugins after the update this morning:

flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle
google_maps_flutter_android
path_provider_android
video_player_android
webview_flutter_android

All of them fail to build with the same Gradle Kotlin script error related to:
Unresolved reference: compileSdkVersion

@vitormesquita-web

Hi @vitormesquita-web , thanks for the report. The latest plugin updates migrated to Kotlin DSL (build.gradle.kts) but appear to be missing the minimum Flutter SDK version constraints in their pubspec.yaml. This causes pub upgrade to incorrectly pull them on older SDKs like 3.38.4, breaking the build.

I am routing this to the Android and Ecosystem teams to update the version constraints.

Workaround: Until patched, either upgrade your Flutter SDK to the latest stable release.

Issue is assigned to multiple teams (ecosystem, android). Please ensure the issue has only one team-* label at a time. Use fyi-* labels to have another team look at the issue without reassigning it.

same problem, works for me if i overrides these: path_provider_foundation: 2.4.4
flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle: 2.0.33
path_provider_android: 2.2.22
url_launcher_android: 6.3.28
video_player_android: 2.9.4
webview_flutter_android: 4.10.13

我的解决方案：
改动在 moa-android/build.gradle (line 33)：

plugins {
id "dev.flutter.flutter-gradle-plugin" version "1.0.0" apply false
}
原因：新版 Flutter Android 插件依赖 flutter.compileSdkVersion，但当前宿主工程是旧式 Flutter module 接入，Kotlin DSL 插件脚本在编译时拿不到 FlutterExtension 类型。把 Flutter Gradle plugin 放到宿主工程 classpath 上但不应用，可以让插件脚本正确解析这个 extension。

Still reproducing on Flutter 3.41.9 (stable) in an add-to-app setup (Flutter module embedded via include_flutter.groovy into a Kotlin Android host).

Removing all our pinned Groovy plugin versions and running flutter pub upgrade pulls in camera_android_camerax 0.7.2 (the first KTS version). ./gradlew assembleDebug then fails with:

e: …/camera_android_camerax-0.7.2/android/build.gradle.kts:40:26: Unresolved reference: compileSdkVersion

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

What went wrong: Script compilation error: Line 40: compileSdk = flutter.compileSdkVersion ^ Unresolved reference: compileSdkVersion

The flutter extension that build.gradle.kts references isn't exposed when the plugin is consumed through include_flutter.groovy (add-to-app), only when consumed through the standalone Flutter Android Gradle plugin.

Current workaround in our root pubspec.yaml — pinning every affected plugin to its last Groovy release:

dependency_overrides:
  camera_android_camerax: 0.7.1
  file_selector_android: 0.5.2+4
  flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle: 2.0.33
  image_picker_android: 0.8.13+14
  path_provider_android: 2.2.22
  shared_preferences_android: 2.4.21
  url_launcher_android: 6.3.28
  webview_flutter_android: 4.10.11

This works but blocks us from picking up newer fixes/features in any of those plugins. Would be great to see a path forward — either exposing flutter.compileSdkVersion to add-to-app Kotlin DSL, or making the plugins fall back to a sensible compile SDK when the extension isn't available.

Without additional information, we are unfortunately not sure how to resolve this issue. We are therefore reluctantly going to close this bug for now.

If you find this problem please file a new issue with the same description, what happens, logs and the output of 'flutter doctor -v'. All system setups can be slightly different so it's always better to open new issues and reference the related ones.

Thanks for your contribution.

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.

Looks like someone else was able to repro and has a workaround: #188339. Let me see if I can repro this.

Without additional information, we are unfortunately not sure how to resolve this issue. We are therefore reluctantly going to close this bug for now.

If you find this problem please file a new issue with the same description, what happens, logs and the output of 'flutter doctor -v'. All system setups can be slightly different so it's always better to open new issues and reference the related ones.

Thanks for your contribution.

I experience the same issue in my add-to-app flutter scenario.

e: file:///home/admin/.pub-cache/hosted/pub.dev/in_app_purchase_android-0.5.0/android/build.gradle.kts:44:26: Unresolved reference: compileSdkVersion
Namespace Missing: :in_app_purchase_android

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* Where:
Build file '/home/admin/.pub-cache/hosted/pub.dev/in_app_purchase_android-0.5.0/android/build.gradle.kts' line: 44

* What went wrong:
Script compilation error:

  Line 44:     compileSdk = flutter.compileSdkVersion
                                    ^ Unresolved reference: compileSdkVersion

1 error

Looks like the issue is a difference in how KTS and Groovy script work. AI summary:

Why that suffices for Groovy but not Kotlin DSL

- Groovy (0.4.0+8) — dynamically resolved. flutter is looked up on the project's dynamic object when the android { } block executes. By then the extension exists → resolves → compileSdk = 36. ✅
- Kotlin DSL (0.5.x) — statically compiled before any of it executes. Kotlin DSL only generates typed accessors for extensions contributed by plugins applied in that script's own plugins { } block. An extension created imperatively by a different project's plugin is invisible to the script compiler, so it fails at script compilation: Unresolved reference: compileSdkVersion. ✅→❌

That also explains the follow-on Namespace Missing: :in_app_purchase_android — the script never compiled, so its android { namespace = … } block never ran.

So the regression is upstream's Groovy → Kotlin DSL migration of the plugin's build file (0.4.x → 0.5.x), which turned a working dynamic lookup into a compile-time failure under add-to-app. In a normal Flutter app build it works either way, because there the app's settings.gradle applies dev.flutter.flutter-plugin-loader and the plugin ends up on the script's own classpath. Add-to-app's module_plugin_loader.gradle never does that — which is why this repo specifically is affected.

Two useful corollaries:
- Upgrading Flutter only helps if a newer module_plugin_loader/PluginHandler makes the extension statically visible (e.g. by actually applying the plugin to plugin projects rather than just create-ing the extension). Worth checking against a 3.44+ SDK before treating the upgrade as the fix.
- Any other plugin that migrates its Android build file to .kts + flutter.compileSdkVersion will break this repo the same way — so the patch-script approach may need to generalize.

Hope this will help with the issue investigation.

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.

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[flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle] Gradle Kotlin Script Error: Unresolved Reference compileSdkVersion #184133

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[flutter_plugin_android_lifecycle] Gradle Kotlin Script Error: Unresolved Reference compileSdkVersion #184133

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vitormesquita-web commented on Mar 25, 2026

mbcorona commented on Mar 26, 2026

flutter-triage-bot commented on Mar 26, 2026

BoboBirdFly commented on Mar 26, 2026

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lemonliu2023 commented on Apr 29, 2026

j-ixcayau commented on May 11, 2026

github-actions commented on May 12, 2026

github-actions commented on May 26, 2026

jesswrd commented on Jun 23, 2026

github-actions commented on Jul 21, 2026

G0retZ commented on Jul 28, 2026

github-actions commented on Aug 11, 2026

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