# Building Processing with VSCode Error and Fix

**URL:** <https://discourse.processing.org/t/building-processing-with-vscode-error-and-fix/47921>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [February 20, 2026, 9:05pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/building-processing-with-vscode-error-and-fix/47921 "2026-02-20T21:05:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![glv](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/glv/32/18785_2.png) [@glv](https://discourse.processing.org/u/glv)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 9:05pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/building-processing-with-vscode-error-and-fix/47921/1 "2026-02-20T21:05:23Z")

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Hello folks!

I was building Processing with VSCode as per:  
_[processing4/BUILD.md at main · processing/processing4 · GitHub](https://github.com/processing/processing4/blob/main/BUILD.md#vscode)_

I had this issue:

`> Dependency resolution is looking for a library compatible with JVM runtime version 17, but 'project :core' is only compatible with JVM runtime version 21 or newer.`

 ![VSCode JDK 21 Error](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/processingfoundation1/original/3X/3/8/38edab296e3df0f1b8d3e255bec3958a2d115622.png)

I created a `gradle.properties` file with the directory of the Java JDK 17 I was using and that corrected the issue:

 ![VSCode JDK 21 Capture](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/processingfoundation1/original/3X/5/d/5d276cea80258cfcca1b8808f088b07e173f1a2e.png)

Sharing is caring.

Still exploring why this changed…

\*\*\* UPDATE\*\*\*

This was not changed:

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/processingfoundation1/original/3X/1/a/1a6d0488a2e0dec5e21467a43895dec54dbb77af.png)

After some investigation it may be related to this:

_[Language Support for Java(TM) by Red Hat - Visual Studio Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=redhat.java)_

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/processingfoundation1/original/3X/1/5/15a200ce6123e46902951206154e4e5ff2f5b7c4.png)

**Source: Microsoft Copilot (AI assistant):**

> VS Code’s Red Hat Java extension includes its own bundled JDK (currently JDK 21) for the Java Language Server. Gradle auto‑detects this JDK and prefers the newest version it finds, which causes Processing’s `:core` module to be compiled with Java 21 instead of Java 17. Adding the following line to `gradle.properties` forces Gradle to use the correct JDK and resolves the issue:
> 
> ```auto
> org.gradle.java.home=e:\\jdk-17.0.16+8
> 
> ```

@kit Does this need to be submitted as an issue?

`:)`

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**Author:** ![kit](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/kit/32/20478_2.png) [@kit](https://discourse.processing.org/u/kit)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 7:43am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/building-processing-with-vscode-error-and-fix/47921/2 "2026-02-26T07:43:05Z")

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Thanks for the thorough documentation! Tagging @moon (processing project lead) who may know more