How do I fix 'namespace not specified' error in Android Studio?

In my case, I had to open each capacitor plugins in Android Studio, then check the "AndroidManifest.xml" for each of them, and copy the package name to the related "build.gradle" using "namespace".

1. Go to each capacitor plugins, and find the package name from the AndroidManifest.xml:

2. Open the related build.gradle and add the namespace:

You can resolve the namespace issue after updating to AGP 8.+ by adding the following script in the android/build.gradle file:

subprojects {
   afterEvaluate { project ->
       if (project.hasProperty('android')) {
           project.android {
               if (namespace == null) {
                   namespace project.group
               }
           }
       }
   }
}

This is a known issue.

https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/issues/6504

If you are using capacitor 4, do not upgrade to gradle 8.

You can specify namespace in your build.gradle (Module:app) by adding this line in your defaultConfig block namespace("com.example.app")

defaultConfig {
    applicationId "com.example.app"

    //Add this line 
    namespace("com.example.app")

    minSdk 21
    targetSdk 33
    versionCode 1
    versionName "1.0"
    multiDexEnabled true
    android.buildFeatures.buildConfig true
}

In your build.gradle you can conditionally set the namespace using the following:

android {
     ...
     if (project.android.hasProperty("namespace")) {
         namespace("change.this.to.your.namespace")
     }

This detects if the project has the property namespace requirement, and if so sets it.

Add an namespace to you gradle file like this

android {
    namespace = "com.example.myapp"
    ...
}

Tested and it worked,

No need downgrade build gradle to 7.x.x version,

Since after set this suitable build gradle version,

classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:8.1.3'

Then, set both namespace and testNamespace value

android {
compileSdk 34

compileOptions {
    sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
}

kotlinOptions {
    jvmTarget = '1.8'
}

sourceSets {
    main.java.srcDirs += 'src/main/kotlin'
}
namespace = "mobile.template"
testNamespace = "mobile.template.free"
defaultConfig {
    // TODO: Specify your own unique Application ID (https://developer.android.com/studio/build/application-id.html).

    minSdkVersion 21
    targetSdkVersion 34
    versionCode flutterVersionCode.toInteger()
    versionName flutterVersionName
    // Enabling multidex support.
    multiDexEnabled true
}

If you are using gradle kotlin dsl / kts

Try this:

allprojects {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
    subprojects {
        afterEvaluate {
            if (hasProperty("android")) {
                val androidExtension = extensions.findByName("android")
                if (androidExtension != null && androidExtension is com.android.build.gradle.BaseExtension) {
                    if (androidExtension.namespace == null) {
                        androidExtension.namespace = group.toString() // Set namespace as fallback
                    }
                    
                    tasks.whenTaskAdded {
                        if (name.contains("processDebugManifest") || name.contains("processReleaseManifest")) {
                            doFirst {
                                val manifestFile = file("${projectDir}/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml")
                                if (manifestFile.exists()) {
                                    var manifestContent = manifestFile.readText()
                                    if (manifestContent.contains("package=")) {
                                        manifestContent = manifestContent.replace(Regex("package=\"[^\"]*\""), "")
                                        manifestFile.writeText(manifestContent)
                                        println("Removed 'package' attribute from ${manifestFile}")
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

With the answers above. I developed something dynamic. Because the problem is with the new version of Gradle, the >= 8.0.0. So if you want it to be compatible with older versions and compatible with the new ones do this:

android {
    if (getGradle().getGradleVersion().substring(0, 1).toInteger() >= 8) {
        namespace "com.something.plugin"
    }
    compileSdkVersion project.hasProperty('compileSdkVersion') ? rootProject.ext.compileSdkVersion : 29
    defaultConfig {

I had this problem when I accidentally close the android studio while it was loading.

I closed the android studio and ran the following:

npx cap sync android
npx jetify

Than I opened my android studio and it loaded it's things and all worked fine again!

The AGP Upgrade Assistant does'n show all the information.

You have to upgrade all the Flutter plugin to Gradle 8 before you upgrade you app project.

• Use File -> Sync Project with Gradle Files in your app project.
• In the Sync result window, check every failed item to find which plugin doesn't have the namespace.
• Upgrade the plugin to new version, or ask the author to upgrade it to Gradle 8.
• repeat until all the plugin has been upgraded.

android {
    compileSdkVersion 21
    buildToolsVersion "21.1.2"
    //Add this line
    namespace("com.google.example.maps.roadsapi")

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.google.example.maps.roadsapi"
        minSdkVersion 16
        targetSdkVersion 21
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}
    
this worked namespace("com.example.app")

in order to start updating gradle source file downloads... i'm sure there are other issues since I'm upgrading an older studio project from 9 years ago...

Had earlier upgraded

 //classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:1.0.0'
            classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:8.2.2'

Try this. The magic will happen inside afterEvaluate in the build.gradle file. Here, I am setting the namespace for those who don’t have one as a temporary fix.

allprojects {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }

    subprojects {
        afterEvaluate { project ->
            if (project.hasProperty('android')) {
                project.android {
                    if (namespace == null) {
                        namespace "com.temp.${project.name.replace('-', '_')}"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

rootProject.buildDir = '../build'
subprojects {
    project.buildDir = "${rootProject.buildDir}/${project.name}"
}
subprojects {
    project.evaluationDependsOn(':app')
}

tasks.register("clean", Delete) {
    delete rootProject.buildDir
}

Add : namespace 'your package (com.example.projectname)' into android{ } of your build.gradle and sync

To fix this issue go to build.gradle file in project

• Remove applicationId.
• Add namespace filedf with value.
• Add testNamespace with value.

Check if each local module(lib) has completed the namespace upgrade

I use flutter and this problem appeared when upgraded my app via AGP to gradle version 8.0. Then using AGP to raise or lower the gradle version did not work due to the same error namespace not specified. In the place where the error is reported, it also indicates the name of the package that is causing this problem, I had this fluttertoast. Removed this package from the project, it is not very important for me and the error went away, AGP worked again

A problem occurred configuring project ':fluttertoast'.

Also make sure that the namespace is indicated at the very beginning of the android manifest AndroidManifest.xml. I created my project through the console and the skeleton template, there was no namespace

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="you.package.name.here">

There's a new style of build.gradle file with the upgrade to 8.0.0

An example of the new style can be seen below:

plugins {
    id "com.android.application"
    id "kotlin-android"
    id "dev.flutter.flutter-gradle-plugin"
}

def localProperties = new Properties()
def localPropertiesFile = rootProject.file('local.properties')
if (localPropertiesFile.exists()) {
    localPropertiesFile.withReader('UTF-8') { reader ->
        localProperties.load(reader)
    }
}

def flutterVersionCode = localProperties.getProperty('flutter.versionCode')
if (flutterVersionCode == null) {
    flutterVersionCode = '1'
}

def flutterVersionName = localProperties.getProperty('flutter.versionName')
if (flutterVersionName == null) {
    flutterVersionName = '1.0'
}

android {
    namespace "com.example.firstname_lastname"
    compileSdkVersion flutter.compileSdkVersion
    ndkVersion flutter.ndkVersion

    compileOptions {
        sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
        targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    }

    kotlinOptions {
        jvmTarget = '1.8'
    }

    sourceSets {
        main.java.srcDirs += 'src/main/kotlin'
    }

    defaultConfig {
        // TODO: Specify your own unique Application ID (https://developer.android.com/studio/build/application-id.html).
        applicationId "com.example.firstname_lastname"
        // You can update the following values to match your application needs.
        // For more information, see: https://docs.flutter.dev/deployment/android#reviewing-the-gradle-build-configuration.
        minSdkVersion flutter.minSdkVersion
        targetSdkVersion flutter.targetSdkVersion
        versionCode flutterVersionCode.toInteger()
        versionName flutterVersionName
    }

    buildTypes {
        release {
            // TODO: Add your own signing config for the release build.
            // Signing with the debug keys for now, so `flutter run --release` works.
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
        }
    }
}

flutter {
    source '../..'
}

dependencies {}

You can request that Android Studio produces this new version of the build.gradle file by keeping the 8.0.0 tool setting and doing:

File --> New Flutter Project

Then name the project firstname_lastname

Now go to the new project's build.gradle file and it's all done for you.

With the new style of build.gradle file, you can overcome this error easily.

All you need to do is, make a copy of your main project's current build.gradle file and then copy/paste the new build.gradle file to replace it.

After pasting the newer version of the build.gradle file, add the vital differences relying on the copy you made of what was.

This should resolve the problem by giving you an updated build.gradle file which conforms with the requirements of upgrade 8.0.0

Happy Coding : )

And don't forget to salute this answer.

I also got this error after I attempted to upgrade to capacitor 5 from capacitor 4. It turns out that I was getting this error because some of my capacitor plugins did not migrate successfully to version 5.

The fix I implemented:

1. Check on your package.json that every capacitor plugin is up to date
2. npm i or yarn install
3. npx cap sync android

I've already met this problem. To solve this, I made a nodejs script to modify all old npm projects. I'm sure somebody can write a better code, but here it is:

const fs = require("fs");
const path = require("path");
const xml2js = require("xml2js");

// Function to extract and remove package attribute from AndroidManifest.xml
function getAndRemovePackageFromManifest(manifestPath) {
  const manifestContent = fs.readFileSync(manifestPath, "utf8");
  let packageName = null;
  xml2js.parseString(manifestContent, (err, result) => {
    if (err) {
      throw new Error(`Error parsing ${manifestPath}: ${err}`);
    }
    if (result.manifest && result.manifest.$ && result.manifest.$.package) {
      packageName = result.manifest.$.package;
      delete result.manifest.$.package;
      const builder = new xml2js.Builder();
      const updatedManifestContent = builder.buildObject(result);
      fs.writeFileSync(manifestPath, updatedManifestContent, "utf8");
      console.log(`Package attribute removed from ${manifestPath}`);
    } else {
      console.log(`Package attribute not found in ${manifestPath}`);
    }
  });
  return packageName;
}

function updateCompileToImplementation(filePath) {
  const buildGradleContent = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
  const updatedContent = buildGradleContent.replace(/\bcompile\b/g, 'implementation');
  fs.writeFileSync(filePath, updatedContent, 'utf8');
  console.log(`Updated 'compile' to 'implementation' in ${filePath}`);
}


// Function to add namespace to build.gradle file
function addNamespaceToBuildGradle(filePath, namespace) {
  const buildGradleContent = fs.readFileSync(filePath, "utf8");
  if (!buildGradleContent.includes("namespace")) {
    const updatedContent = buildGradleContent.replace(
      /android\s*{/,
      `android {\n    namespace "${namespace}"`,
    );
    fs.writeFileSync(filePath, updatedContent, "utf8");
    console.log(`Namespace added to ${filePath}`);
  } else {
    console.log(`Namespace already exists in ${filePath}`);
  }
}

// Function to recursively process directories
function processDirectories(dirPath) {
  const items = fs.readdirSync(dirPath);
  items.forEach(item => {
    const modulePath = path.join(dirPath, item);
    if (fs.lstatSync(modulePath).isDirectory()) {
      const androidPath = path.join(modulePath, "android");
      if (fs.existsSync(androidPath)) {
        let namespace = null;
        const manifestPath = path.join(androidPath, "src", "main", "AndroidManifest.xml");
        const buildGradlePath = path.join(androidPath, "build.gradle");
        if (fs.existsSync(manifestPath) && fs.existsSync(buildGradlePath)) {
          namespace = getAndRemovePackageFromManifest(manifestPath);
          addNamespaceToBuildGradle(buildGradlePath, namespace);
          updateCompileToImplementation(buildGradlePath);
        }
      } else {
        processDirectories(modulePath);
      }
    }
  });
}

// Main function
function main() {
  const nodeModulesPath = path.resolve(__dirname, "node_modules");
  processDirectories(nodeModulesPath);
}

main();