foojay-resolver-convention 0.5.0 in gradle-plugin is incompatible with Gradle 9.0.0

[brunovmartin]

Description

The @react-native/gradle-plugin bundles settings.gradle.kts with:

plugins { id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention").version("0.5.0") }

React Native 0.83.x uses Gradle 9.0.0 (set in gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties), but foojay-resolver-convention 0.5.0 depends on FoojayToolchainsPlugin, a class that was removed in Gradle 9.0.0.

This causes a build failure on any fresh project or after clearing Gradle caches.

Steps to reproduce

npx create-expo-app@latest --template default@sdk-55
cd <project>
rm -rf ~/.gradle/caches
npx expo run:android

Error

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* Where:
Settings file 'android/settings.gradle' line: 21

* What went wrong:
Error resolving plugin [id: 'com.facebook.react.settings']
> org/gradle/toolchains/foojay/FoojayToolchainsPlugin

Full stacktrace:

Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/gradle/toolchains/foojay/FoojayToolchainsPlugin
    at org.gradle.toolchains.foojay.FoojayToolchainsConventionPlugin.apply(FoojayToolchainsConventionPlugin.kt:11)

Root cause

Component	Version
react-native	0.83.4
@react-native/gradle-plugin	0.83.4
Gradle	9.0.0
foojay-resolver-convention	0.5.0

Gradle 9.0.0 removed the FoojayToolchainsPlugin class that foojay 0.5.0 depends on. Versions 0.8.0+ of foojay-resolver-convention are compatible with Gradle 9.0.0.

Verified fix

Updating settings.gradle.kts in @react-native/gradle-plugin from:

plugins { id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention").version("0.5.0") }

to:

plugins { id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention").version("0.9.0") }

resolves the issue. The build also requires --no-configure-on-demand to avoid a related metadata.bin generation failure.

Affected versions

• react-native 0.83.0 through 0.84.1 (all ship foojay 0.5.0 with Gradle 9.0.0)
• Expo SDK 55 (uses react-native 0.83.x)
• Reproducible on macOS (ARM64) with Java 17 and Node 24

Environment

System: macOS 26.3.1 (arm64)
Node: v24.14.0
Java: OpenJDK 17.0.18 (Zulu)
Gradle: 9.0.0
react-native: 0.83.4
Expo SDK: 55.0.9

[react-native-bot]

Warning

Missing reproducer: We could not detect a reproducible example in your issue report. Reproducers are mandatory and we can accept only one of those as a valid reproducer:

• For majority of bugs: send us a Pull Request with the RNTesterPlayground.js edited to reproduce your bug.
• If your bug is UI related: a Snack
• If your bug is build/upgrade related: a project using our Reproducer Template

You can read more about about it on our website: How to report a bug.

[brunovmartin]

Reproducer

https://github.com/brunovmartin/react-native-foojay-reproducer

This is a fresh project created with:

npx create-expo-app@latest --template default@sdk-55

No modifications. To reproduce:

git clone https://github.com/brunovmartin/react-native-foojay-reproducer.git
cd react-native-foojay-reproducer
npm install
rm -rf ~/.gradle/caches  # ensure no stale cache masks the bug
npx expo run:android

The build fails at settings.gradle line 21 with NoClassDefFoundError: org/gradle/toolchains/foojay/FoojayToolchainsPlugin.

Root cause: @react-native/gradle-plugin@0.83.4 ships settings.gradle.kts with foojay-resolver-convention version 0.5.0, which references a class removed in Gradle 9.0.0. The same @react-native/gradle-plugin ships gradle-wrapper.properties pointing to Gradle 9.0.0, creating an internal incompatibility.

Fix: Update foojay-resolver-convention from 0.5.0 to 0.9.0 in @react-native/gradle-plugin/settings.gradle.kts.

This affects react-native 0.83.0 through 0.84.1.

[brunovmartin]

This is a build/upgrade related bug. The reproducer is a project using the official Expo SDK 55 template (npx create-expo-app@latest --template default@sdk-55) with zero modifications:

https://github.com/brunovmartin/react-native-foojay-reproducer

This is not reproducible via Snack or RNTesterPlayground since it's a Gradle build-time failure, not a runtime UI bug.

The issue is purely in @react-native/gradle-plugin's settings.gradle.kts — it ships foojay-resolver-convention version 0.5.0 alongside a gradle-wrapper.properties pointing to Gradle 9.0.0. These two are incompatible: Gradle 9.0.0 removed the FoojayToolchainsPlugin class that foojay 0.5.0 depends on.

To reproduce:

git clone https://github.com/brunovmartin/react-native-foojay-reproducer.git
cd react-native-foojay-reproducer
npm install
rm -rf ~/.gradle/caches
npx expo run:android

One-line fix in @react-native/gradle-plugin/settings.gradle.kts:

- plugins { id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention").version("0.5.0") }
+ plugins { id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention").version("0.9.0") }

[elijahsanders152-stack]

Yes, this is caused by an incompatibility in @react-native/gradle-plugin. Temporary fix is to update foojay-resolver-convention in settings.gradle.kts from 0.5.0 to 0.9.0. That resolves the Gradle 9 issue. Confirmed affecting RN 0.83–0.84.1.

…

On Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 3:49 AM brunovmartin ***@***.***> wrote: *brunovmartin* left a comment (facebook/react-native#56287) <#56287 (comment)> This is a *build/upgrade related* bug. The reproducer is a project using the official Expo SDK 55 template (npx ***@***.*** --template ***@***.***) with zero modifications: https://github.com/brunovmartin/react-native-foojay-reproducer This is not reproducible via Snack or RNTesterPlayground since it's a Gradle build-time failure, not a runtime UI bug. The issue is purely in @react-native/gradle-plugin's settings.gradle.kts — it ships foojay-resolver-convention version 0.5.0 alongside a gradle-wrapper.properties pointing to Gradle 9.0.0. These two are incompatible: Gradle 9.0.0 removed the FoojayToolchainsPlugin class that foojay 0.5.0 depends on. *To reproduce:* git clone https://github.com/brunovmartin/react-native-foojay-reproducer.gitcd react-native-foojay-reproducer npm install rm -rf ~/.gradle/caches npx expo run:android *One-line fix* in @react-native/gradle-plugin/settings.gradle.kts: - plugins { id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention").version("0.5.0") }+ plugins { id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention").version("0.9.0") } — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#56287?email_source=notifications&email_token=B7GEOJMCEHBFJQNOBD3EVGD4TN2BTA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIMJWGA3DCOJWGA4KM4TFMFZW63VKON2WE43DOJUWEZLEUVSXMZLOOSWGM33PORSXEX3DNRUWG2Y#issuecomment-4160619608>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B7GEOJISEUTZFJRT2VE4TVL4TN2BTAVCNFSM6AAAAACXHJFOKSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DCNRQGYYTSNRQHA> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[DHRUV-1000101]

see #56210, it's been resolved. @TheNerdGuyLulu can you also backport it from version 0.82.x to 0.84.x.