Introduction

Range Resolver is a Java library that defines a small, line-oriented language for managing Maven dependency versions. A script, conventionally named pom.deps and kept next to pom.xml, says three things:

1. Where to look: the Maven repositories to query (repository).
2. What you will accept: a version range and a selection strategy for each artifact (resolve, override, deprecate, blacklist).
3. What was chosen: the concrete versions found by the last resolution (resolved, locked, deprecated, blacklisted).

The library parses the script into an immutable model, resolves the requests against real repositories using Maven Resolver, and writes the model back out as a script. The file is both the request and the lock file.

Why not just use version ranges in the POM?

Maven can resolve ranges such as [2.0,3.0) directly, but then every build may pick a different version, and nothing records which one was used. Pinning exact versions avoids that, but then upgrades are manual and easy to forget.

Range Resolver separates the two:

• You state the intent once: “any 2.x release of this artifact, newest first, no release candidates”.
• A resolution run turns that intent into a concrete version and records it.
• Builds use the recorded version until you choose to resolve again.

Resolution only ever moves a version forward. If a locked version is already newer than anything the range would pick, it stays where it is.

Where it fits

This repository holds the language: the ANTLR grammar, the parser, the model, the resolver and the writer. Most users reach it through the companion rangeresolver-maven-plugin. The plugin reads pom.deps, resolves it, writes the chosen versions into your POMs, and publishes them as Maven properties (jackson-databind.version and so on). See Using with Apache Maven.

You can also embed the library directly. See Using the Java API.

Coordinates

<dependency>
  <groupId>io.repaint</groupId>
  <artifactId>io.repaint.rangeresolver</artifactId>
  <version><!-- latest release --></version>
</dependency>

The library targets Java 26.