Testing TeamCity settings in Kotlin DSL format before pushing

Question

How to test TeamCity Kotlin DSL? Is it possible to verify that the Kotlin DSL code produces a valid TeamCity configuration before merging it or pushing changes to the repository that stores Kotlin DSL settings?

Answer

The two most common ways are:

• Generate XML locally (offline check)
  • Run mvn teamcity-configs:generate in the .teamcity directory (requires Maven).
  • The task compiles the Kotlin DSL, and writes the resulting XML files under .teamcity/target.
  • Review the build output: compilation errors or stack-traces indicate problems in the DSL; the absence of errors means the settings are syntactically correct.

More details: Kotlin DSL - Generate XML Configuration Files Locally

• Use a local TeamCity server (real-life check)
  • Install a free Professional Edition server on your workstationm, VM, or in a container.
  • Use the local server to load project settings from a local repo or from a branch.
  • For maximum fidelity, mirror the project hierarchy and installed plugins of your production server.

Both methods are complementary: local XML generation is fastest for compile-time feedback, while a local server provides the same validation logic used in production.

Additional information

teamcity-configs:generate should perform config validation against the actual server state