Create ViewModels with dependencies   Part of Android Jetpack.

Following dependency injection's best practices, ViewModels can take dependencies as parameters in their constructor. These are mostly of types from the domain or data layers. Because the framework provides the ViewModels, a special mechanism is required to create instances of them. That mechanism is the ViewModelProvider.Factory interface. Only implementations of this interface can instantiate ViewModels in the right scope.

ViewModels with CreationExtras

If a ViewModel class receives dependencies in its constructor, provide a factory that implements the ViewModelProvider.Factory interface. Override the create(Class<T>, CreationExtras) function to provide a new instance of the ViewModel.

CreationExtras allows you to access relevant information that helps instantiate a ViewModel. Here's a list of keys that can be accessed from extras:

Key Functionality
ViewModelProvider.NewInstanceFactory.VIEW_MODEL_KEY Provides access to the custom key you passed to ViewModelProvider.get().
ViewModelProvider.AndroidViewModelFactory.APPLICATION_KEY Provides access to the instance of the Application class.
SavedStateHandleSupport.DEFAULT_ARGS_KEY Provides access to the Bundle of arguments you should use to construct SavedStateHandle.
SavedStateHandleSupport.SAVED_STATE_REGISTRY_OWNER_KEY Provides access to the SavedStateRegistryOwner that is being used to construct the ViewModel.
SavedStateHandleSupport.VIEW_MODEL_STORE_OWNER_KEY Provides access to the ViewModelStoreOwner that is being used to construct the ViewModel.

To create a new instance of SavedStateHandle, use the CreationExtras.createSavedStateHandle() function and pass it to the ViewModel.

CreationExtras with APPLICATION_KEY

The following is an example of how to provide an instance of a ViewModel that takes a repository scoped to the Application class and SavedStateHandle as dependencies:

Kotlin

    import androidx.lifecycle.SavedStateHandle
    import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
    import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider
    import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider.AndroidViewModelFactory.Companion.APPLICATION_KEY
    import androidx.lifecycle.createSavedStateHandle
    import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.CreationExtras

    class MyViewModel(
        private val myRepository: MyRepository,
        private val savedStateHandle: SavedStateHandle
    ) : ViewModel() {

        // ViewModel logic
        // ...

        // Define ViewModel factory in a companion object
        companion object {

            val Factory: ViewModelProvider.Factory = object : ViewModelProvider.Factory {
                @Suppress("UNCHECKED_CAST")
                override fun <T : ViewModel> create(
                    modelClass: Class<T>,
                    extras: CreationExtras
                ): T {
                    // Get the Application object from extras
                    val application = checkNotNull(extras[APPLICATION_KEY])
                    // Create a SavedStateHandle for this ViewModel from extras
                    val savedStateHandle = extras.createSavedStateHandle()

                    return MyViewModel(
                        (application as MyApplication).myRepository,
                        savedStateHandle
                    ) as T
                }
            }
        }
    }

Java

import static androidx.lifecycle.SavedStateHandleSupport.createSavedStateHandle;
import static androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider.AndroidViewModelFactory.APPLICATION_KEY;

import androidx.lifecycle.SavedStateHandle;
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel;
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.ViewModelInitializer;

public class MyViewModel extends ViewModel {

    public MyViewModel(
        MyRepository myRepository,
        SavedStateHandle savedStateHandle
    ) { /* Init ViewModel here */ }

    static final ViewModelInitializer<MyViewModel> initializer = new ViewModelInitializer<>(
        MyViewModel.class,
        creationExtras -> {
            MyApplication app = (MyApplication) creationExtras.get(APPLICATION_KEY);
            assert app != null;
            SavedStateHandle savedStateHandle = createSavedStateHandle(creationExtras);

            return new MyViewModel(app.getMyRepository(), savedStateHandle);
        }
    );
}

Then, you can use this factory when retrieving an instance of the ViewModel:

Kotlin

import androidx.activity.viewModels

class MyActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    private val viewModel: MyViewModel by viewModels { MyViewModel.Factory }

    // Rest of Activity code
}

Java

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider;

public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

MyViewModel myViewModel = new ViewModelProvider(
    this,
    ViewModelProvider.Factory.from(MyViewModel.initializer)
).get(MyViewModel.class);

// Rest of Activity code
}

Jetpack Compose

import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.compose.viewModel

@Composable
fun MyScreen(
    modifier: Modifier = Modifier,
    viewModel: MyViewModel = viewModel(factory = MyViewModel.Factory)
) {
    // ...
}

Alternatively, use the ViewModel factory DSL to create factories using a more idiomatic Kotlin API:

import androidx.lifecycle.SavedStateHandle
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider.AndroidViewModelFactory.Companion.APPLICATION_KEY
import androidx.lifecycle.createSavedStateHandle
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.initializer
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.viewModelFactory

class MyViewModel(
    private val myRepository: MyRepository,
    private val savedStateHandle: SavedStateHandle
) : ViewModel() {
    // ViewModel logic

    // Define ViewModel factory in a companion object
    companion object {
        val Factory: ViewModelProvider.Factory = viewModelFactory {
            initializer {
                val savedStateHandle = createSavedStateHandle()
                val myRepository = (this[APPLICATION_KEY] as MyApplication).myRepository
                MyViewModel(
                    myRepository = myRepository,
                    savedStateHandle = savedStateHandle
                )
            }
        }
    }
}

Pass custom parameters as CreationExtras

You can pass dependencies to your ViewModel through CreationExtras by creating a custom key. This can be useful if your ViewModel depends on objects which are not accessible through the Application class and APPLICATION_KEY. An example of this is when your ViewModel is created inside a Kotlin Multiplatform module and therefore does not have access to Android dependencies.

In this example, the ViewModel defines a custom key and uses it in the ViewModelProvider.Factory.

import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider
import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.CreationExtras
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.initializer
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.viewModelFactory

class MyViewModel(
    private val myRepository: MyRepository,
) : ViewModel() {
    // ViewModel logic

    // Define ViewModel factory in a companion object
    companion object {

        // Define a custom key for your dependency
        val MY_REPOSITORY_KEY = object : CreationExtras.Key<MyRepository> {}

        val Factory: ViewModelProvider.Factory = viewModelFactory {
            initializer {
                // Get the dependency in your factory
                val myRepository = this[MY_REPOSITORY_KEY] as MyRepository
                MyViewModel(
                    myRepository = myRepository,
                )
            }
        }
    }
}

You can instantiate a ViewModel with a CreationExtras.Key from a ViewModelStoreOwner such as ComponentActivity, Fragment, or NavBackStackEntry, or with Jetpack Compose.

Kotlin

import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelStoreOwner
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.CreationExtras
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.MutableCreationExtras
// ...
    // Use from ComponentActivity, Fragment, NavBackStackEntry,
    // or another ViewModelStoreOwner.
    val viewModelStoreOwner: ViewModelStoreOwner = this
    val myViewModel: MyViewModel = ViewModelProvider.create(
        viewModelStoreOwner,
        factory = MyViewModel.Factory,
        extras = MutableCreationExtras().apply {
            set(MyViewModel.MY_REPOSITORY_KEY, myRepository)
        },
    )[MyViewModel::class]

Jetpack Compose

import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.MutableCreationExtras
import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.compose.viewModel
// ...
@Composable
fun MyApp(myRepository: MyRepository) {
    val extras = MutableCreationExtras().apply {
        set(MyViewModel.MY_REPOSITORY_KEY, myRepository)
    }
    val viewModel: MyViewModel = viewModel(
        factory = MyViewModel.Factory,
        extras = extras,
    )
}

Factories for ViewModel version older than 2.5.0

If you're using a version of ViewModel older than 2.5.0, you need to provide factories from a subset of classes that extend ViewModelProvider.Factory and implement the create(Class<T>) function. Depending on what dependencies the ViewModel needs, a different class needs to be extended from:

If Application or SavedStateHandle aren't needed, simply extend from ViewModelProvider.Factory.

The following example uses an AbstractSavedStateViewModelFactory for a ViewModel that takes a repository and a SavedStateHandle type as a dependency:

Kotlin

class MyViewModel(
private val myRepository: MyRepository,
private val savedStateHandle: SavedStateHandle
) : ViewModel() {

// ViewModel logic ...

// Define ViewModel factory in a companion object
companion object {
    fun provideFactory(
        myRepository: MyRepository,
        owner: SavedStateRegistryOwner,
        defaultArgs: Bundle? = null,
    ): AbstractSavedStateViewModelFactory =
        object : AbstractSavedStateViewModelFactory(owner, defaultArgs) {
            @Suppress("UNCHECKED_CAST")
            override fun <T : ViewModel> create(
                key: String,
                modelClass: Class<T>,
                handle: SavedStateHandle
            ): T {
                return MyViewModel(myRepository, handle) as T
            }
        }
    }
}

Java

import androidx.annotation.NonNull;
import androidx.lifecycle.AbstractSavedStateViewModelFactory;
import androidx.lifecycle.SavedStateHandle;
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel;

public class MyViewModel extends ViewModel {
    public MyViewModel(
        MyRepository myRepository,
        SavedStateHandle savedStateHandle
    ) { /* Init ViewModel here */ }
}

public class MyViewModelFactory extends AbstractSavedStateViewModelFactory {

    private final MyRepository myRepository;

    public MyViewModelFactory(
        MyRepository myRepository
    ) {
        this.myRepository = myRepository;
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    @NonNull
    @Override
    protected <T extends ViewModel> T create(
        @NonNull String key, @NonNull Class<T> modelClass, @NonNull SavedStateHandle handle
    ) {
        return (T) new MyViewModel(myRepository, handle);
    }
}

Then, you can use factory to retrieve your ViewModel:

Kotlin

import androidx.activity.viewModels

class MyActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    private val viewModel: MyViewModel by viewModels {
        MyViewModel.provideFactory((application as MyApplication).myRepository, this)
    }

    // Rest of Activity code
}

Java

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModelProvider;

public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    MyViewModel myViewModel = new ViewModelProvider(
        this,
        ViewModelProvider.Factory.from(MyViewModel.initializer)
    ).get(MyViewModel.class);

    // Rest of Activity code
}

Jetpack Compose

import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.compose.viewModel

@Composable
fun MyScreen(
    modifier: Modifier = Modifier,
    viewModel: MyViewModel = viewModel(
        factory = MyViewModel.provideFactory(
            (LocalContext.current.applicationContext as MyApplication).myRepository,
            owner = LocalSavedStateRegistryOwner.current
        )
    )
) {
    // ...
}