---
title: 'External dependencies overview'
---


Bazel supports *external dependencies*, source files (both text and binary) used
in your build that are not from your workspace. For example, they could be a
ruleset hosted in a GitHub repo, a Maven artifact, or a directory on your local
machine outside your current workspace.

This document gives an overview of the system before examining some of the
concepts in more detail.

## Overview of the system {#overview}

Bazel's external dependency system works on the basis of [*Bazel modules*](#module), each of which is a versioned Bazel project, and
[*repositories*](#repository) (or repos), which are directory trees containing
source files.

Bazel starts from the root module -- that is, the project you're working on.
Like all modules, it needs to have a `MODULE.bazel` file at its directory root,
declaring its basic metadata and direct dependencies. The following is a basic
example:

```python
module(name = "my-module", version = "1.0")

bazel_dep(name = "rules_cc", version = "0.1.1")
bazel_dep(name = "platforms", version = "0.0.11")
```

From there, Bazel looks up all transitive dependency modules in a
[*Bazel registry*](/external/registry) — by default, the [Bazel Central Registry](https://bcr.bazel.build/). The registry provides the
dependencies' `MODULE.bazel` files, which allows Bazel to discover the entire
transitive dependency graph before performing version resolution.

After version resolution, in which one version is selected for each module,
Bazel consults the registry again to learn how to define a repo for each module
-- that is, how the sources for each dependency module should be fetched. Most
of the time, these are just archives downloaded from the internet and extracted.

Modules can also specify customized pieces of data called *tags*, which are
consumed by [*module extensions*](/external/extension) after module resolution
to define additional repos. These extensions can perform actions like file I/O
and sending network requests. Among other things, they allow Bazel to interact
with other package management systems while also respecting the dependency graph
built out of Bazel modules.

The three kinds of repos -- the main repo (which is the source tree you're
working in), the repos representing transitive dependency modules, and the repos
created by module extensions -- form the [*workspace*](#workspace) together.
External repos (non-main repos) are fetched on demand, for example when they're
referred to by labels (like `@repo//pkg:target`) in BUILD files.

## Benefits {#benefits}

Bazel's external dependency system offers a wide range of benefits.

### Automatic Dependency Resolution {#automatic-dependency-resolution}

-   **Deterministic Version Resolution**: Bazel adopts the deterministic
    [MVS](/external/module#version-selection) version resolution algorithm,
    minimizing conflicts and addressing diamond dependency issues.
-   **Simplified Dependency Management**: `MODULE.bazel` declares only direct
    dependencies, while transitive dependencies are automatically resolved,
    providing a clearer overview of the project's dependencies.
-   **[Strict Dependency visibility](/external/module#repository_names_and_strict_deps)**:
    Only direct dependencies are visible, ensuring correctness and
    predictability.

### Ecosystem Integration {#ecosystem-integration}

-   **[Bazel Central Registry](https://registry.bazel.build/)**: A centralized
    repository for discovering and managing common dependencies as Bazel
    modules.
-   **Adoption of Non-Bazel Projects**: When a non-Bazel project (usually a C++
    library) is adapted for Bazel and made available in BCR, it streamlines its
    integration for the whole community and eliminates duplicated effort and
    conflicts of custom BUILD files.
-   **Unified Integration with Language-Specific Package Managers**: Rulesets
    streamline integration with external package managers for non-Bazel
    dependencies, including:
    *   [rules_jvm_external](https://github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_jvm_external/blob/master/docs/bzlmod.md)
        for Maven,
    *   [rules_python](https://rules-python.readthedocs.io/en/latest/pypi-dependencies.html#using-bzlmod)
        for PyPi,
    *   [bazel-gazelle](https://github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_go/blob/master/docs/go/core/bzlmod.md#external-dependencies)
        for Go Modules,
    *   [rules_rust](https://bazelbuild.github.io/rules_rust/crate_universe_bzlmod.html)
        for Cargo.

### Advanced Features {#advanced-features}

-   **[Module Extensions](/external/extension)**: The
    [`use_repo_rule`](/rules/lib/globals/module#use_repo_rule) and module
    extension features allow flexible use of custom repository rules and
    resolution logic to introduce any non-Bazel dependencies.
-   **[`bazel mod` Command](/external/mod-command)**: The sub-command offers
    powerful ways to inspect external dependencies. You know exactly how an
    external dependency is defined and where it comes from.
-   **[Vendor Mode](/external/vendor)**: Pre-fetch the exact external dependencies you
    need to facilitate offline builds.
-   **[Lockfile](/external/lockfile)**: The lockfile improves build reproducibility and
    accelerates dependency resolution.
-   **(Upcoming) [BCR Provenance Attestations](https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel-central-registry/discussions/2721)**:
    Strengthen supply chain security by ensuring verified provenance of
    dependencies.

## Concepts {#concepts}

This section gives more detail on concepts related to external dependencies.

### Module {#module}

A Bazel project that can have multiple versions, each of which can have
dependencies on other modules.

In a local Bazel workspace, a module is represented by a repository.

For more details, see [Bazel modules](/external/module).

### Repository {#repository}

A directory tree with a boundary marker file at its root, containing source
files that can be used in a Bazel build. Often shortened to just **repo**.

A repo boundary marker file can be `MODULE.bazel` (signaling that this repo
represents a Bazel module), `REPO.bazel` (see [below](#repo.bazel)), or in
legacy contexts, `WORKSPACE` or `WORKSPACE.bazel`. Any repo boundary marker file
will signify the boundary of a repo; multiple such files can coexist in a
directory.

### Main repository {#main-repository}

The repository in which the current Bazel command is being run.

The root of the main repository is also known as the
<span id="#workspace-root">**workspace root**</span>.

### Workspace {#workspace}

The environment shared by all Bazel commands run in the same main repository. It
encompasses the main repo and the set of all defined external repos.

Note that historically the concepts of "repository" and "workspace" have been
conflated; the term "workspace" has often been used to refer to the main
repository, and sometimes even used as a synonym of "repository".

### Canonical repository name {#canonical-repo-name}

The name by which a repository is always addressable. Within the context of a
workspace, each repository has a single canonical name. A target inside a repo
whose canonical name is `canonical_name` can be addressed by the label
`@@canonical_name//package:target` (note the double `@`).

The main repository always has the empty string as the canonical name.

### Apparent repository name {#apparent-repo-name}

The name by which a repository is addressable in the context of a certain other
repo. This can be thought of as a repo's "nickname": The repo with the canonical
name `michael` might have the apparent name `mike` in the context of the repo
`alice`, but might have the apparent name `mickey` in the context of the repo
`bob`. In this case, a target inside `michael` can be addressed by the label
`@mike//package:target` in the context of `alice` (note the single `@`).

Conversely, this can be understood as a **repository mapping**: each repo
maintains a mapping from "apparent repo name" to a "canonical repo name".

### Repository rule {#repo-rule}

A schema for repository definitions that tells Bazel how to materialize a
repository. For example, it could be "download a zip archive from a certain URL
and extract it", or "fetch a certain Maven artifact and make it available as a
`java_import` target", or simply "symlink a local directory". Every repo is
**defined** by calling a repo rule with an appropriate number of arguments.

See [Repository rules](/external/repo) for more information about how to write
your own repository rules.

The most common repo rules by far are
[`http_archive`](/rules/lib/repo/http#http_archive), which downloads an archive
from a URL and extracts it, and
[`local_repository`](/rules/lib/repo/local#local_repository), which symlinks a
local directory that is already a Bazel repository.

### Fetch a repository {#fetch-repository}

The action of making a repo available on local disk by running its associated
repo rule. The repos defined in a workspace are not available on local disk
before they are fetched.

Normally, Bazel only fetches a repo when it needs something from the repo,
and the repo hasn't already been fetched. If the repo has already been fetched
before, Bazel only re-fetches it if its definition has changed.

The `fetch` command can be used to initiate a pre-fetch for a repository,
target, or all necessary repositories to perform any build. This capability
enables offline builds using the `--nofetch` option.

The `--fetch` option serves to manage network access. Its default value is true.
However, when set to false (`--nofetch`), the command will utilize any cached
version of the dependency, and if none exists, the command will result in
failure.

See [fetch options](/reference/command-line-reference#fetch-options) for more
information about controlling fetch.

### Directory layout {#directory-layout}

After being fetched, the repo can be found in the subdirectory `external` in the
[output base](/remote/output-directories), under its canonical name.

You can run the following command to see the contents of the repo with the
canonical name `canonical_name`:

```posix-terminal
ls $(bazel info output_base)/external/<var> canonical_name </var>
```

### REPO.bazel file {#repo.bazel}

The [`REPO.bazel`](/rules/lib/globals/repo) file is used to mark the topmost
boundary of the directory tree that constitutes a repo. It doesn't need to
contain anything to serve as a repo boundary file; however, it can also be used
to specify some common attributes for all build targets inside the repo.

The syntax of a `REPO.bazel` file is similar to `BUILD` files, except that no
`load` statements are supported. The `repo()` function takes the same arguments as the [`package()` function](/reference/be/functions#package) in `BUILD` files; whereas `package()`
specifies common attributes for all build targets inside the package, `repo()`
analogously does so for all build targets inside the repo.

For example, you can specify a common license for all targets in your repo by
having the following `REPO.bazel` file:

```python
repo(
    default_package_metadata = ["//:my_license"],
)
```

## The legacy WORKSPACE system {#workspace-system}

In older Bazel versions (before 9.0), external dependencies were introduced by
defining repos in the `WORKSPACE` (or `WORKSPACE.bazel`) file. This file has a
similar syntax to `BUILD` files, employing repo rules instead of build rules.

The following snippet is an example to use the `http_archive` repo rule in the
`WORKSPACE` file:

```python
load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl", "http_archive")
http_archive(
    name = "foo",
    urls = ["https://example.com/foo.zip"],
    sha256 = "c9526390a7cd420fdcec2988b4f3626fe9c5b51e2959f685e8f4d170d1a9bd96",
)
```

The snippet defines a repo whose canonical name is `foo`. In the `WORKSPACE`
system, by default, the canonical name of a repo is also its apparent name to
all other repos.

See the [full list](/rules/lib/globals/workspace) of functions available in
`WORKSPACE` files.

### Shortcomings of the `WORKSPACE` system {#workspace-shortcomings}

In the years after the `WORKSPACE` system was introduced, users reported many
pain points, including:

*   Bazel does not evaluate the `WORKSPACE` files of any dependencies, so all
    transitive dependencies must be defined in the `WORKSPACE` file of the main
    repo, in addition to direct dependencies.
*   To work around this, projects have adopted the "deps.bzl" pattern, in which
    they define a macro which in turn defines multiple repos, and ask users to
    call this macro in their `WORKSPACE` files.
    *   This has its own problems: macros cannot `load` other `.bzl` files, so
        these projects have to define their transitive dependencies in this
        "deps" macro, or work around this issue by having the user call multiple
        layered "deps" macros.
    *   Bazel evaluates the `WORKSPACE` file sequentially. Additionally,
        dependencies are specified using `http_archive` with URLs, without any
        version information. This means that there is no reliable way to perform
        version resolution in the case of diamond dependencies (`A` depends on
        `B` and `C`; `B` and `C` both depend on different versions of `D`).

Due to the shortcomings of WORKSPACE, the new module-based system (codenamed
"Bzlmod") gradually replaced the legacy WORKSPACE system between Bazel 6 and 9.
Read the [Bzlmod migration guide](/external/migration) on how to migrate
to Bzlmod.

### External links on Bzlmod {#external-links}

*   [Bzlmod usage examples in bazelbuild/examples](https://github.com/bazelbuild/examples/tree/main/bzlmod)
*   [Bazel External Dependencies Overhaul](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1moQfNcEIttsk6vYanNKIy3ZuK53hQUFq1b1r0rmsYVg/edit)
    (original Bzlmod design doc)
*   [BazelCon 2021 talk on Bzlmod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxOCKtU39Fs)
*   [Bazel Community Day talk on Bzlmod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB6xxis9gWI)