Can't believe I'm back on this subject mid-2026, b...

# compose-desktop

[darkmoon_uk]

Can't believe I'm back on this subject mid-2026, but IntelliJ IDEA 2026.1 still can't use commonMain @Previews on the latest CMP.
Is this because CMP 1.10 requires AGP 9 and IntelliJ 2026.1 still doesn't support AGP9?
Honestly the worst pain-point of this entire ecosystem - Compose Previews 😵 - it inspires strong feelings.

@zsmb Do appreciate the work you've been doing over months to demystify the configuration; but documentation isn't enough when AGP support lags so far behind in IntelliJ - is there any light on the horizon with tightening that Google/[JB] cycle, or should I start planning to hold back Compose / Kotlin versions. Previews are very important.

[zsmb]

Hey Chris - I definitely hear ya, AGP 9 support is a pain point for many people, including myself. It's been progressing for all this time, but it's a hard to estimate process, so we still can't promise an ETA other than it shouldn't be too far out now 😕

[zsmb]

As for previews specifically, we have supported configurations listed here in the docs, and there are multiple that are CMP 1.10 but don't require AGP9, namely these:

• Compose Multiplatform 1.10, with the old @Preview annotation and Android configured with androidTarget {}.

• Compose Multiplatform 1.10, with the new @Preview annotation and Android configured with androidTarget {}.

As far as I know (though I haven't re-tested it now), these should work in IntelliJ IDEA.

[zsmb]

As for the future of AGP merges for IntelliJ, while it's clearly not visible from the outside yet given the current lag, we've been making all sorts of improvements to the process to speed things up. Hopefully these will start showing publicly visible results later this year too.

(But I also really hope that we don't have another huge break in versions like we did around AGP 9.)

[darkmoon_uk]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply @zsmb, and of course your ongoing work to bring these features (back!) to the community 🙂

[darkmoon_uk]

I will have another stab at using a non AGP9 config and report back for anyone facing the same.

[darkmoon_uk]

I aligned my project with the 'AGP 8.x but modern' config. Manual + AI check over numerous times vs. the webpage - all compliant. The Preview pane appears now, but is either blank or hangs on 'Initialising'. I can only presume that this config is once again broken on latest IntellIJ.

[zsmb]

What do you mean by modern? I tried a fresh project from the current KMP wizard in IJ 2026.1, it uses CMP 1.10 and AGP 8, and it shows previews correctly

[zsmb]

(Do you have the KMP IDE plugin installed?)

[darkmoon_uk]

Of course - that is the right test to run...
I got the same result again, but thanks for taking the time to confirm on your end.
Must be something environmental here, I'll tear it down until it works.

[darkmoon_uk]

Checked IDE logs; it's this issue 🤔

[zsmb]

Thanks, I'm following up on that. Looks like we already have a fix, it just haven't shipped yet kodee loading

[darkmoon_uk]

Still present in 2026.1.1 Preview unfortunately, noted in issue.