The error message “failed to create shaded artifact, project main artifact does not exist” usually occurs when you are trying to create a shaded (or shadowed) JAR file but your project’s main artifact cannot be found.
To understand this error better, let’s first explain what a shaded artifact is. In Java projects, shading refers to the process of creating a single JAR file that includes all the required dependencies (libraries) of the project. This is often done to avoid conflicts between different versions of the same library used by different dependencies. The shaded JAR file contains both your project code and the code of its dependencies, packaged together.
However, in order to create a shaded JAR, the main artifact of your project (usually a JAR file) needs to exist. This artifact is typically generated during the build process and represents your project’s compiled code. If the main artifact is missing, the shading process cannot be completed successfully.
To resolve this error, you should check the build settings and ensure that the main artifact of your project is being generated correctly. Depending on your build tool or IDE, the process may vary. Here’s an example using Maven, a popular build tool for Java projects:
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.8.1</version>
<configuration>
<!-- Compiler configuration goes here -->
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.2.0</version>
<configuration>
<!-- JAR packaging configuration goes here -->
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<version>3.4.0</version>
<artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<phase>package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>shade</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<!-- Shading configuration goes here -->
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
In this example, the Maven build configuration includes the necessary plugins for compiling the code, packaging it into a JAR file, and shading the JAR file. Make sure your build configuration is correctly set up and includes these essential steps.
By resolving any issues with the creation of the main artifact, you should be able to fix the error “failed to create shaded artifact, project main artifact does not exist” and successfully create a shaded JAR file for your project.