is it possible to do this more elegant? Let these perhaps be generated, instead of having to write them all out

Alas, not that I know. But you could do something like this:

class MyException @JvmOverloads constructor(
    cause: Throwable? = null,
    message: String? = cause?.toString(),
    enableSuppression: Boolean = true,
    writableStrackTrace: Boolean = true
)Exception(message, cause, enableSuppression, writableStrackTrace)

Where the

@JvmOverloads

guarantees Java compatibility.

thanks! but this still isn't ideal It causes a problem when I don't put the message = there. It would ask for a Throwable instance

because JvmOverloads generates constructor per default parameters prefix. In case above it generates four constructors () (throwable) (throwable, message) (throwable, message, enableSupression)

passing null as the cause in the constructor breaks the initCause function as well. not sure if you care