Why

Maven users have no way to run open-java-format from their build today.

• palantir-java-format never had a Maven plugin. Provide how-to in README to format code with maven palantir/palantir-java-format#327 has asked for Maven instructions since 2020, and in [QUESTION] Best practise of how to use palantir-java-format with Maven and VS Code palantir/palantir-java-format#832 the maintainers point Maven users to Spotless.
• Spotless is not a route for this project. Its palantirJavaFormat step hardcodes com.palantir.javaformat:palantir-java-format, and Add new action for open-java-format diffplug/spotless#3084, which adds an openJavaFormat step, was closed. The details are at https://openjavaformat.dev/get-started/spotless/.
• A search of Maven Central found no Maven plugin for palantir-java-format either.

Proposal

A plugin dev.openjavaformat:open-java-format-maven-plugin, released together with the formatter and under the same version, with two goals modelled on spotify/fmt-maven-plugin:

<plugin>
  <groupId>dev.openjavaformat</groupId>
  <artifactId>open-java-format-maven-plugin</artifactId>
  <version><!-- the formatter version --></version>
  <executions>
    <execution>
      <goals>
        <goal>check</goal>
      </goals>
    </execution>
  </executions>
</plugin>

From the command line the prefix gives mvn open-java-format:format and mvn open-java-format:check.

As few settings as possible, in line with a formatter that has none: the source roots, which default to the module's compile and test source roots, includes and excludes, and skip. The style is always OJF.

How the formatter runs

The formatter needs javac's internal packages exported. Running it inside the Maven JVM would make every project add the five --add-exports flags to .mvn/jvm.config, which is what Cosium/git-code-format-maven-plugin asks its users to do. Two ways avoid that:

• Fork one JVM per module. Start the current JDK with the flags and the formatter's classpath, and hand all files of the module to com.palantir.javaformat.java.Main in a single call through an @argfile: --replace for format, --dry-run --set-exit-if-changed for check. BootstrappingFormatterService in open-java-format-jdk-bootstrap already builds this command line, although it starts one process per file. spotify/fmt-maven-plugin forks by default for the same reason, see its forkMode.
• The native binary from open-java-format-native, as the Gradle plugin does with openjavaformat.native.formatter, on Linux with glibc and on macOS.

The formatter comes from the plugin's own dependencies, so it needs nothing from the project's repositories. That is the principle of #20 for the Gradle plugin.

Building it here

The repository builds with Gradle, and a Maven plugin needs a plugin descriptor. org.gradlex.maven-plugin-development generates it from the mojo annotations; the alternative is a small Maven build for this one module. Publishing goes through the existing JReleaser conventions together with the other jars.

Done when

• the plugin is on Maven Central under the formatter's version;
• an integration test runs real mvn on a sample multi-module project against the locally published plugin, for both goals, on Java 21 and without .mvn/jvm.config;
• the output of format is byte-identical to the command line with --ojf;
• the website gets a Maven page under Get started, and the Maven parts of the Spotless and Migrate pages point to it.

Related

• Provide how-to in README to format code with maven palantir/palantir-java-format#327 and [QUESTION] Best practise of how to use palantir-java-format with Maven and VS Code palantir/palantir-java-format#832
• Add new action for open-java-format diffplug/spotless#3084
• Cosium/git-code-format-maven-plugin has a formatter SPI, CodeFormatterFactory, so an open-java-format formatter for it would be a smaller, complementary step.