Managing dependencies

Dependency syntax

Dependencies are declared in Scala CLI according to the following format:

groupID:artifactID:revision

This is similar to how you declare dependencies in SBT with the % character. For example:

org.scala-lang.modules:scala-parallel-collections_2.13:1.0.4

You can also skip explicitly stating the Scala version in the artifact name by repeating the : character after the groupID (similarly to how you can do the same with %% in SBT). This is just a shortcut, Scala CLI will still add the Scala version for you when fetching the dependency. Also, this only applies to Scala dependencies.

org.scala-lang.modules::scala-parallel-collections:1.0.4

Java and other non-scala dependencies follow the same syntax (without the :: for implicit Scala version, of course). For example:

org.postgresql:postgresql:42.2.8

Specifying dependencies from the command line

You can add dependencies on the command line, with the --dependency option:

scala-cli compile Hello.scala \
  --dependency org.scala-lang.modules::scala-parallel-collections:1.0.4

You can also add a URL fallback for a JAR dependency, if it can't be fetched otherwise:

scala-cli compile Hello.scala \
  -- dependency "org::name::version,url=https://url-to-the-jar"

Note that --dependency is only meant as a convenience. You should favor adding dependencies in the sources themselves via using directives. However, the --dependency CLI option takes precedence over using directives, so it can be used to override a using directive, such as when you want to work with a different dependency version.

You can also add repositories on the command-line, via --repository:

scala-cli compile Hello.scala \
  --dependency com.pany::util:33.1.0 --repo https://artifacts.pany.com/maven

Lastly, you can also add simple JAR files as dependencies with --jar:

scala-cli compile Hello.scala --jar /path/to/library.jar

Updating dependencies

To check if dependencies in using directives are up-to-date, use dependency-update command:

Hello.scala

//> using lib "com.lihaoyi::os-lib:0.7.8"
//> using lib "com.lihaoyi::utest:0.7.10"
import $ivy.`com.lihaoyi::geny:0.6.5`
import $dep.`com.lihaoyi::pprint:0.6.6`

object Hello extends App {
  println("Hello World")
}

scala-cli dependency-update Hello.scala
# Updates
#    * com.lihaoyi::os-lib:0.7.8 -> 0.8.1
#    * com.lihaoyi::utest:0.7.10 -> 0.8.0
#    * com.lihaoyi::geny:0.6.5 -> 0.7.1
#    * com.lihaoyi::pprint:0.6.6 -> 0.7.3
# To update all dependencies run: 
#     scala-cli dependency-update --all

Passing --all to the dependency-update sub-command updates all dependencies in your sources.

scala-cli dependency-update Hello.scala --all
# Updated dependency to: com.lihaoyi::os-lib:0.8.1
# Updated dependency to: com.lihaoyi::utest:0.8.0
# Updated dependency to: com.lihaoyi::geny:0.7.1
# Updated dependency to: com.lihaoyi::pprint:0.7.3