AndroidManifest compilation

Jugg supports incremental compilation of AndroidManifest.xml. Instead of rerunning the complete Gradle Manifest merge, it applies the current changes to the merged manifest produced by the latest build. This page covers the supported scope and user-visible results. For the merged manifest patch mechanism, see Android Manifest compilation.

Supported scope

Scenario	Current support	User-visible result
Add nodes or update attributes	Incremental patch supported	Takes effect after updating and re-signing the APK
Delete nodes or attributes, or use tools:remove / tools:replace	Does not generate the corresponding removal or complete merge result	The installed APK continues using the existing merged manifest content
Manifest and resources change in the same run	Supported	The updated Manifest and related resource artifacts are written to the APK together
AndroidManifest has no actual change	Filtered automatically	Does not trigger an unnecessary APK update

TIP

If a change depends on Gradle placeholder sources, variant merge rules, or build-script generation logic, complete Sync when the project model changes, then run the corresponding Gradle build to produce a new merged manifest baseline.

Trigger and result

AndroidManifest.xml changes
  -> Apply deterministic additions and updates to the latest merged manifest
  -> Update and re-sign the APK when needed
  -> Install the updated APK

When no actual patch is produced, Jugg does not update the APK. For the complete merged manifest patch and resource link mechanism, see Android Manifest compilation.

Boundaries

• When changing Gradle placeholder sources, variant merge rules, or build-script generation logic, run the corresponding Gradle build first. Complete Sync first as well when the project model changes.
• Node deletion, attribute deletion, and tools:* instructions that require complete merge context are ignored and do not fail the current incremental compilation. The installed APK retains the previous merged manifest content. Run a full Gradle build only when the deletion must actually take effect.
• Incremental patches do not update uses-sdk, the manifest package, versionCode, versionName, or application android:name.
• Manifest changes enter the APK update path rather than the regular resource overlay path.
• If signing configuration is missing or invalid, the incremental APK update fails. Use a Gradle build to restore an installable APK baseline.

Related pages

• Resource compilation
• Compilation stages
• Android Manifest compilation