Can Gradle Tooling API update dependencies and then write an updated build.gradle file?

I've seen some example code for using the Gradle Tooling API to parse a build.gradle and then update the dependencies in memory. Can the Tooling API output this to an updated build.gradle file?

I'm trying to update gradle dependencies using a java library, rather than trying to build a complicated regex to update dependencies (which could be either string or map notation) in a groovy script. If the Tooling API does not support writing the update build.gradle file, I'll soldier on with groovy script.

This is for a release process, where I'm releasing an internal module and would then like to update the version in the build.gradle file for other internal modules that have the released module as a dependency.

If you want to be able to better update your dependencies, I'd recommend to use toml-version catalogues. Since toml is a well defined text based format, you should be able to parse it with standard libraries and write it back.

Alternatively, if you are on Github you could try using either dependabot or renovate, as they have support for automating dependency updates in Gradle.

I have done the same thing with the Tooling API for the same reason, except, there’s no need to update the build.gradle file. You can put the dependency versions in gradle.properties, and update it by running a separate program that uses the Tooling API. You can even go as far as creating Git tags or branches.