How can I check the SBT version?

Question

How do I check which version of SBT I'm running?

I have the Bash file set up that uses sbt-launch.jar, and it works, but

sbt version

only shows the "project version" (0.1) and

sbt --version

does nothing.

score 494 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 27 '22 at 13:51

494

sbt --version

It now works as of version 1.3.3+ (credit to @ElectronWill).

You may also want to use sbt about that (copying Mark Harrah's comment):

The about command was added recently to try to succinctly print the most relevant information, including the sbt version.

edited Sep 27 '22 at 13:51

Peter Mortensen

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answered Dec 11 '11 at 08:52

Steffen

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Could a --version command line flag be considered? It's the thing people will try first. – Matt R Oct 09 '12 at 09:56
3

@MattR Could not agree more with you... It's curious why that wasn't the first thought of the sbt author(s). – Ajay Apr 20 '13 at 19:28
is there any way to set the different sbt versions for the different **subprojects**? – Incerteza Dec 29 '13 at 13:26
9

The question was "How do I check which version of sbt I'm **running**?" and the answer is about pringting version of **current project**. Why answer is acepted? – Cherry Jun 23 '15 at 07:22
58

Trust SBT to always choose the most non-standard way of doing things :) – samthebest Dec 12 '15 at 15:12
2

HAHA this is just hilarious – Hans Westerbeek Jul 07 '16 at 15:15
20

The whole world uses '--version', sbt uses 'sbtVersion'. I have to check it every single time when I need it (not frequently). – Nov 30 '17 at 23:07
7

Obtuse and well stashed in the documentation, following good old sbt tradition. – matanster Apr 10 '18 at 13:06
1

If they cared about being user friendly they wouldn't have made a new DSL just for compiling – CpILL Feb 14 '19 at 01:10
I spent half hour on how to get a version # for sbt.. LOL.. I use sbt -h, and did not see any '-version' or '-- V' and wondering how to get a version for my sbt... LOL.. 'sbtVersion' – 1234 Apr 25 '19 at 00:48
1

Provided your build.sbt compiles. It's like making Java --version dependent on whether your .java files compile. – Igor Urisman Jul 11 '19 at 17:24
`sbt` is ridiculous, everybody hate it. – WeiChing 林煒清 Mar 26 '20 at 04:12
`sbt sbtVersion` then `java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: GC overhead limit exceeded` – WeiChing 林煒清 Mar 26 '20 at 04:22
I just have to leave this here ... https://www.acronymfinder.com/Sucks-Big-Time-(SBT).html – Alex Fedulov Jun 15 '20 at 18:07

score 36 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 27 '22 at 13:53

36

Type "sbt about" and then Enter to get the SBT version:

edited Sep 27 '22 at 13:53

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 11 '16 at 04:52

Prasad

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score 30 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 27 '15 at 00:08

30

Running the command, "sbt sbt-version" will simply output your current directory and the version number.

$ sbt sbt-version
[info] Set current project to spark (in build file:/home/morgan/code/spark/)
[info] 0.13.8

answered Jun 27 '15 at 00:08

Morgan Kenyon

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Starting with sbt 1.0 you even *have* to use `sbt sbtVersion` (camelCase) as support for [hyphen-separated names has been dropped](http://www.scala-sbt.org/1.x/docs/sbt-1.0-Release-Notes.html). – sschuberth Sep 04 '17 at 19:09

Jacek Laskowski · Answer 4 · 2015-01-22T20:15:09.017

In SBT 0.13 and above, you can use the sbtVersion task (as pointed out by @steffen) or about command (as pointed out by @mark-harrah)

There's a difference how the sbtVersion task works in and outside a SBT project. When in a SBT project, sbtVersion displays the version of SBT used by the project and its subprojects.

$ sbt sbtVersion
[info] Loading global plugins from /Users/jacek/.sbt/0.13/plugins
[info] Updating {file:/Users/jacek/.sbt/0.13/plugins/}global-plugins...
[info] Resolving org.fusesource.jansi#jansi;1.4 ...
[info] Done updating.
[info] Loading project definition from /Users/jacek/oss/scalania/project
[info] Set current project to scalania (in build file:/Users/jacek/oss/scalania/)
[info] exercises/*:sbtVersion
[info]  0.13.1-RC5
[info] scalania/*:sbtVersion
[info]  0.13.1-RC5

It's set in project/build.properties:

jacek:~/oss/scalania
$ cat project/build.properties
sbt.version=0.13.1-RC5

The same task executed outside a SBT project shows the current version of the executable itself.

jacek:~
$ sbt sbtVersion
[info] Loading global plugins from /Users/jacek/.sbt/0.13/plugins
[info] Updating {file:/Users/jacek/.sbt/0.13/plugins/}global-plugins...
[info] Resolving org.fusesource.jansi#jansi;1.4 ...
[info] Done updating.
[info] Set current project to jacek (in build file:/Users/jacek/)
[info] 0.13.0

When you're outside, the about command seems to be a better fit as it shows the sbt version as well as Scala's and available plugins.

jacek:~
$ sbt about
[info] Loading global plugins from /Users/jacek/.sbt/0.13/plugins
[info] Set current project to jacek (in build file:/Users/jacek/)
[info] This is sbt 0.13.0
[info] The current project is {file:/Users/jacek/}jacek 0.1-SNAPSHOT
[info] The current project is built against Scala 2.10.2
[info] Available Plugins: com.typesafe.sbt.SbtGit, com.typesafe.sbt.SbtProguard, growl.GrowlingTests, org.sbtidea.SbtIdeaPlugin, com.timushev.sbt.updates.UpdatesPlugin
[info] sbt, sbt plugins, and build definitions are using Scala 2.10.2

You may want to run 'help about' to read its documentation:

jacek:~
$ sbt 'help about'
[info] Loading global plugins from /Users/jacek/.sbt/0.13/plugins
[info] Set current project to jacek (in build file:/Users/jacek/)
Displays basic information about sbt and the build.

For the sbtVersion setting, the inspect command can help.

$ sbt 'inspect sbtVersion'
[info] Loading global plugins from /Users/jacek/.sbt/0.13/plugins
[info] Set current project to jacek (in build file:/Users/jacek/)
[info] Setting: java.lang.String = 0.13.0
[info] Description:
[info]  Provides the version of sbt.  This setting should be not be modified.
[info] Provided by:
[info]  */*:sbtVersion
[info] Defined at:
[info]  (sbt.Defaults) Defaults.scala:67
[info] Delegates:
[info]  *:sbtVersion
[info]  {.}/*:sbtVersion
[info]  */*:sbtVersion
[info] Related:
[info]  */*:sbtVersion

The version setting that people seem to expect to inspect to know the SBT version is to set The version/revision of the current module.

$ sbt 'inspect version'
[info] Loading global plugins from /Users/jacek/.sbt/0.13/plugins
[info] Set current project to jacek (in build file:/Users/jacek/)
[info] Setting: java.lang.String = 0.1-SNAPSHOT
[info] Description:
[info]  The version/revision of the current module.
[info] Provided by:
[info]  */*:version
[info] Defined at:
[info]  (sbt.Defaults) Defaults.scala:102
[info] Reverse dependencies:
[info]  *:projectId
[info]  *:isSnapshot
[info] Delegates:
[info]  *:version
[info]  {.}/*:version
[info]  */*:version
[info] Related:
[info]  */*:version

When used in a SBT project the tasks/settings may show different outputs.

Perhaps you are using a custom sbt launcher, such as sbt-extras, that overrides the meaning of `sbt-version` one the command line. Otherwise, I don't know of a difference between `sbt-version` at the command line and at the prompt. It should be the same `sbtVersion` setting in both cases. — Mark Harrah, Dec 02 '13 at 21:59
is there any way to set the different sbt versions for the different subprojects? — Incerteza, Dec 29 '13 at 13:27
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20825539/specify-the-version-of-sbt-for-a-subproject — Incerteza, Dec 29 '13 at 13:41
Why does `sbt sbtVersion` run outside a project take 9 seconds to run? Python, node and ruby all take under a second, as do awk, sed, minibloom and a bunch of other command line tools. gcc takes one whole second, which is super-slow. But 9 seconds takes the cherry. What is sbt doing in that time? — Max Murphy, Mar 18 '18 at 10:20
@MaxMurphy JVM initialization is among the slowest things I think. — Jacek Laskowski, Mar 18 '18 at 12:53

score 10 · Answer 5 · edited Oct 10 '16 at 05:27

10

You can use sbt about

Example: 
    C:\Users\smala>sbt about
    [info] Set current project to smala (in build file:/C:/Users/smala/)
    [info] This is sbt 0.13.6
    [info] The current project is {file:/C:/Users/smala/}smala 0.1-SNAPSHOT
    [info] The current project is built against Scala 2.10.4
    [info] Available Plugins: sbt.plugins.IvyPlugin, sbt.plugins.JvmPlugin,   sbt.plugins.CorePlugin, sbt.plugins.JUnitXmlReportPlugin
    [info] sbt, sbt plugins, and build definitions are using Scala 2.10.4"

edited Oct 10 '16 at 05:27

Prasad Khode

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answered Jun 02 '15 at 06:56

Sandeep M

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For others who are seeking the answer to this question, THIS is the answer. Cannot understand why the erroneous answer above was accepted... by digging through the disucssion, one can find this answer... but... – TheGeeko61 Mar 31 '18 at 04:35

score 5 · Answer 6 · edited Sep 27 '22 at 14:00

5

Recent versions of SBT finally support a standard --version flag!

$ sbt --version

sbt version in this project:    1.6.2
sbt script version: 1.6.2

(tested with 1.6+, but it seems that it has existed since at least 1.3.3)

edited Sep 27 '22 at 14:00

Peter Mortensen

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answered Mar 01 '22 at 14:48

ElectronWill

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score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 26 '19 at 16:38

3

From within the sbt shell

sbt:venkat> about
[info] This is sbt 1.3.3
...

answered Dec 26 '19 at 16:38

Venkat Kotra

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score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 17 '21 at 11:25

What happens when you run sbt from the command line might have changed a bit over the 9 years since the question was originally posted.

Today, you will always be interacting with at least two "versions":

the launcher script (e.g. /usr/local/bin/sbt) version.^[1] Check with sbt --script-version.
the default SBT version (=sbt-launcher JAR version), decided primarily by the project SBT version (in project/build.properties), secondarily by the launcher script itself. Check with sbt --script-version (or sbtVersion in the SBT shell)

Fortunately, in most day-to-day scenarios, the project SBT version is the only one that you need to be aware of.

^{1_{It used to be just java -jar sbt-launcher.jar, then there was/is sbt-extras/sbt (aka "rebel cut"), then there was the "official" sbt script but in a separate github project called sbt-launcher-packaging (now archived). Today, the default script sits in the root folder of the sbt/sbt GH project and is generally the only version you need to worry about.}}

score 1 · Answer 9 · edited Sep 27 '22 at 13:56

1

Run the SBT console and then type sbtVersion to check the SBT version, and scalaVersion for the Scala runtime version.

edited Sep 27 '22 at 13:56

Peter Mortensen

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answered Dec 05 '17 at 15:11

Abdelwahed Houbouby

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 22 '18 at 07:07

0

Doing sbt sbt-version led to some error as

[error] Not a valid command: sbt-version (similar: writeSbtVersion, session)
[error] Not a valid project ID: sbt-version
[error] Expected ':'
[error] Not a valid key: sbt-version (similar: sbtVersion, version, sbtBinaryVersion)
[error] sbt-version
[error]            ^

As you can see the hint similar: sbtVersion, version, sbtBinaryVersion, all of them work but the correct one is generated by sbt sbtVersion

answered Aug 22 '18 at 07:07

Ramesh Maharjan

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The newer versions the following works, sbt about or sbt sbtVersion – viru Oct 18 '18 at 20:04
There are already other answers for that I just wanted to include new information and not repeat other answers @viru – Ramesh Maharjan Oct 22 '18 at 00:21

How can I check the SBT version?

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