Make Capacitor Cordova plugins optional in Android build

[2witstudios]

Summary

This PR makes the capacitor-cordova-android-plugins module optional in the Android build configuration. The build system now gracefully handles scenarios where this module hasn't been generated yet (e.g., before running cap sync), preventing build failures in fresh checkouts or CI environments.

Key Changes

• Conditional module inclusion: Modified settings.gradle to only include capacitor-cordova-android-plugins if the directory exists
• Conditional dependency: Updated app/build.gradle to only add the cordova plugins project dependency when the module is present
• Conditional repository configuration: Changed the flatDir repository setup to check for cordova libs directory existence before including it
• Fallback build configuration: Added new capacitor.build.gradle.fallback file that provides essential Capacitor plugin dependencies when cordova plugins aren't available
• Conditional gradle application: The build now applies either the full capacitor.build.gradle (when cordova variables exist) or the fallback version

Implementation Details

• All conditional checks use File.exists() to determine if generated directories are present
• The fallback configuration includes core Capacitor plugins and custom plugins needed for the app to build successfully
• Java version compatibility (21) is maintained in both build configurations
• The postBuildExtras() hook is preserved in the fallback for extensibility
• Clear comments explain when each configuration is used and how to generate the full config via pnpm sync

This approach enables the Android build to work in fresh clones and CI pipelines while maintaining full functionality once cap sync has been executed.

https://claude.ai/code/session_016GBMtx46cJb7pGZeUDEAq9

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Infrastructure & Build System
  • Improved Android build reliability with conditional Cordova plugin handling
  • Added fallback build configuration for development scenarios
  • Added Java 21 compatibility support

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The pull request introduces conditional handling of Cordova Android plugins across the build configuration. When the Cordova plugins directory exists, it's included normally; otherwise, a fallback configuration is applied to enable builds before capacitor sync operations complete.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Cordova Plugin Conditional Build Configuration apps/android/android/app/build.gradle, apps/android/android/app/capacitor.build.gradle.fallback, apps/android/android/settings.gradle	Replaced unconditional Cordova plugin inclusion with conditional logic across repositories, dependencies, and settings. Added new fallback Gradle configuration file (capacitor.build.gradle.fallback) with Java 21 compatibility and Capacitor dependencies for use when cordova.variables.gradle is absent. Comments document conditional behavior and explain fallback activation.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Poem

🐰 A fallback path the rabbit did find,
When Cordova plugins were hard to bind,
Conditional checks, both old and new,
Let builds succeed before sync is through! ✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 3

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately captures the main objective: making Capacitor Cordova plugins optional in the Android build, which is the core change across all modified files.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

_{✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.}

✨ Finishing touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch claude/fix-android-build-script-tXB8t

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