How to use Kotlin Dev repository with Gradle Kotlin DSL

If you try to use some dev version of kotlin, for example:

// file: build.gradle.kts
plugins {
    kotlin("jvm").version("1.3.20-dev-1612")
}

You will get the following exception:

* What went wrong:
Plugin [id: 'org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm', version: '1.3.20-dev-1612'] was not found in any of the following sources:

- Gradle Core Plugins (plugin is not in 'org.gradle' namespace)
- Plugin Repositories (could not resolve plugin artifact 'org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm:org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm.gradle.plugin:1.3.20-dev-1612')
  Searched in the following repositories:
    BintrayJCenter
    Gradle Central Plugin Repository

In old-fashion buildscript block you can define repositories, but with shiny new plugins block it’s impossible. So you need to edit your settings.gradle.kts, and add pluginManagement block in it:

pluginManagement {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
        gradlePluginPortal()
        maven { url = uri("https://kotlin.bintray.com/kotlin-dev") }
    }
}

Fun fact: Kotlin has own subdomain in bintray: kotlin.bintray.com

And don’t forget edit repositories block in build.gradle.kts for artifacts resolving:

repositories {
    jcenter()
    maven { url = uri("https://kotlin.bintray.com/kotlin-dev") }
}

Actually, you can do a lot of thing with pluginManagement, like changing versions, or specify artifact for requested plugin id. Consult gradle documentation (5.0-rc-2) for more details.

Have a nice Kotlin!