Maven Project Dependency Replaced with JAR, Breaking Source Navigation

[Joe1962]

Apache NetBeans version

Apache NetBeans 25

What happened

When adding an open Maven library project as a dependency to another Maven project in NetBeans 25, the IDE sometimes silently replaces the project reference with the compiled JAR file from the local repository. This breaks:

"Go to Source" navigation (Ctrl+Click).

Real-time dependency updates (changes in the library project aren’t reflected until rebuilt).

Language / Project Type / NetBeans Component

Java Maven Swing project

How to reproduce

Open two Maven projects in NetBeans 25:

    Project A (main project)

    Project B (dependency library).

In Project A, add Project B as a dependency via:

    Right-click Dependencies / Add Project / Open Projects / Select Project B.

Verify it works (Ctrl+Click on a method call in Project A navigates to Project B’s source).

Perform one of these actions:

    It is unknown at this point what actions cause the issue to occur, it happens after a few days work and with different projects, sometimes several at a time.

Did this work correctly in an earlier version?

No / Don't know

Operating System

Linux Mint Debian Edition 6 (LMDE 6)

JDK

zulu21.34.19-ca-fx-jdk21.0.3-linux_amd64.deb

Apache NetBeans packaging

Apache NetBeans provided installer

Anything else

The issue occurs every few days. The workaround is to remove the jar dependency and manually re-add the open project dependency, but this is temporary.

Are you willing to submit a pull request?

No