AndreasIgel · Nov 1, 2026 · Oct 25, 2026 · Oct 25, 2026 · Oct 25, 2026 · Oct 25, 2026
diff --git a/docs/CONFIGURATION.md b/docs/CONFIGURATION.md
@@ -1215,7 +1215,7 @@ processing. A summary report is logged to the compiler output at the end of proc
 
 **When enabled**: A hierarchical performance report is printed to the compiler log, including:
 - Total processing time and average time per class
-- Phase breakdown (Element Collection, Configuration Resolution, Builder Definition Extraction, DTO Mapping, Code Generation)
+- Phase breakdown (Element Collection, Configuration Resolution, Analysis, Target Mapping, Code Generation)
 - Top 20 slowest classes with field and collection counts
 - Top 5 slowest MethodGenerators and BuilderEnhancers
 

diff --git a/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md b/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -242,19 +242,39 @@ For complete documentation, see [DEBUG_LOGGING.md](DEBUG_LOGGING.md).
 [DEBUG] simple-builders: Processing round started.
 [DEBUG] simple-builders: Found 1 annotated elements.
 [DEBUG] simple-builders: Found 0 type(s) for generation with @SimpleBuilderFor.
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: Processing element: Project
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Resolving configuration for element: Project
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  └─ Resulting configuration resolved: BuilderConfiguration[builderSuffix=Builder,...]
 [DEBUG] simple-builders: 1 of 1 annotated element(s) are inside the builderGenerationPackages scope.
-[DEBUG] Processing element: Project
-[DEBUG] ├─ Extracting builder definition from: test.Project
-[DEBUG] │  ├─ Builder will be generated as: test.ProjectBuilder
-[DEBUG] │  ├─ Analysing setters for finding fields
-[DEBUG] │  │  ├─ Analyzing method: setName(java.lang.String)
-[DEBUG] │  │  │  └─ Adding field: name (type: java.lang.String)
-[DEBUG] │  └─ Processed 1 possible setters: added 1 fields, skipped 0
-[DEBUG] ├─ Code generation for builder: ProjectBuilder
-[DEBUG] │  ├─ Adding Methods for 4 candidates
-[DEBUG] │  │  └─ 4 Methods added
-[DEBUG] │  └─ Successfully generated builder: ProjectBuilder
-simple-builders: Successfully generated 1 builder(s) in this processing round
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: Processing element: Project
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Extracting builder definition from: test.Project
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Builder will be generated as: test.ProjectBuilder
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Analysing setters for finding fields
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Analyzing method: setName(java.lang.String)
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Processing method generators
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  ├─ Applied: BasicSetterGenerator (priority: 100): +1 methods
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  └─ Generated 6 methods
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Adding field: name (type: java.lang.String)
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  └─ Processed 1 possible setters: added 1 fields, skipped 0
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Processing class based enhancer
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Applied: CoreMethodsEnhancer (priority: 100): +3 methods
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Applied: ConstructorEnhancer (priority: 95): +2 constructors
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  └─ Applied 8 builder enhancers
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Finalizing builder definition
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  └─ Finalized: 1 class fields, 4 builder-level methods, 2 constructors
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  └─ Builder definition extracted: ProjectBuilder
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: Generating targets for: Project
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Code generation for class: ProjectBuilder
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Generating 1 fields
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  └─ Fields added: 1 fields
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Generating 4 method candidates
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Resolved to 4 methods after conflict resolution
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  └─ Methods added: 4
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Creating JavaFileObject: test.ProjectBuilder
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Writing class to file: /SOURCE_OUTPUT/test/ProjectBuilder.java
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Successfully generated class: ProjectBuilder
+[DEBUG] simple-builders: │  └─ Generated builder with 1 fields and 4 methods for ProjectBuilder
+        simple-builders: Successfully generated 1 target(s) in this processing round
 =============================================
 
 ========== Generated Source Files ==========

diff --git a/docs/DEBUG_LOGGING.md b/docs/DEBUG_LOGGING.md
@@ -73,67 +73,124 @@ The Simple Builders processor provides **conditional hierarchical logging** to b
 ### **When Debug Mode is DISABLED (Default):**
 - INFO and WARNING messages appear flat without indentation
 - Suitable for production systems where log noise should be minimized
-- Example: `simple-builders: Successfully generated 3 builder(s) in this processing round`
+- Example: `simple-builders: Successfully generated 3 target(s) in this processing round`
 
 ### **When Debug Mode is ENABLED (-Averbose=true):**
-- INFO and WARNING messages have no extra prefix, DEBUG messages are posted on `[INFO]` chanel so they have the prefix `[INFO] [DEBUG]`
+- Every message carries the `simple-builders:` logger prefix; DEBUG messages are posted on the `[INFO]` channel so they show as `[INFO] [DEBUG]`
 - Provides full visibility into the processing hierarchy
-- Example: `[INFO]         │  └─ simple-builders: Successfully generated 3 builder(s) in this processing round`
-- Example: `[WARNING]      │  │  ├─ Builder field conflict: field 'name'...`
-- Example: `[INFO] [DEBUG] │  │  │  └─ Processing method: setName`
+- Example: `[INFO]         simple-builders: │  └─ Successfully generated 3 target(s) in this processing round`
+- Example: `[WARNING]      simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Builder field conflict: field 'name'...`
+- Example: `[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Processing method: setName`
 - All message types align vertically despite different prefix lengths
 
 This approach ensures clean production logs while maintaining full debugging capabilities when needed.
 
 ## Example Debug Output
 
-When debug logging is enabled, you'll see detailed output with visual separators:
+The following is a verbatim excerpt of a real run (`mvn -pl example clean compile -Dsimplebuilder.verbose=true` on the `example` module, slightly truncated where marked with `…`). It follows `SponsorDto`, the smallest annotated class (one field). Every annotated element produces the same step structure — extraction, enhancer pass, finalize, code generation:
 
 ```
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Starting BuilderProcessor...
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Loaded global configuration from compiler arguments: BuilderConfiguration[verbose=ENABLED]
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Initializing generator registry
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Loaded 16 method generators and 10 builder enhancers total
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: └─ Initialized GeneratorRegistry with 16 method generators and 10 builder enhancers
 [INFO] simple-builders: PROCESSING ROUND START
 [INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Processing round started.
-[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Found 3 annotated elements.
-[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Found 0 type(s) for generation with @SimpleBuilderFor.
-[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: 3 of 3 annotated element(s) are inside the builderGenerationPackages scope.
-[INFO] [DEBUG] Processing element: PersonDto
-[INFO] [DEBUG] ├─ Extracting builder definition from: org.example.PersonDto
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  ├─ Builder will be generated as: org.example.PersonDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  ├─ Analysing setters for finding fields
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  │  ├─ Analyzing method: setName(java.lang.String)
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  │  │  └─ Adding field: name (type: java.lang.String)
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  │  ├─ Analyzing method: setAge(int)
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  │  │  └─ Adding field: age (type: int)
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  └─ Processed 2 possible setters: added 2 fields, skipped 0
-[INFO] [DEBUG] ├─ Code generation for builder: PersonDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  ├─ Class builder created
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  ├─ Generating 0 constructor fields and 2 setter fields
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  │  └─ Fields added: 2 fields
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  ├─ Adding Methods for 4 candidates
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  │  └─ 4 Methods added
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  ├─ Using JDT source formatting with Eclipse formatter profile 'eclipse-java-format.xml'.
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  ├─ Writing builder class to file: org.example.PersonDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  └─ Successfully generated builder: PersonDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] Processing element: OrderDto
-[INFO] [DEBUG] ├─ Extracting builder definition from: org.example.OrderDto
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  └─ Builder will be generated as: org.example.OrderDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  └─ Processed 1 possible setters: added 1 fields, skipped 0
-[INFO] [DEBUG] ├─ Code generation for builder: OrderDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  └─ Successfully generated builder: OrderDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] Processing element: CustomerDto (with conflicts)
-[INFO] [DEBUG] ├─ Extracting builder definition from: org.example.CustomerDto
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  └─ Builder will be generated as: org.example.CustomerDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  └─ Processed 2 possible setters: added 2 fields, skipped 0
-[WARNING]      │  │  └─ Builder field conflict: field 'name' (type Optional) renamed to 'nameOptional' to avoid conflict
-[INFO] [DEBUG] ├─ Code generation for builder: CustomerDtoBuilder
-[INFO] [DEBUG] │  └─ Successfully generated builder: CustomerDtoBuilder
-[INFO]         simple-builders: Successfully generated 3 builder(s) in this processing round
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Found 12 annotated elements.
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Found 1 type(s) for generation with @SimpleBuilderFor.
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Processing element: SponsorDto
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Resolving configuration for element: SponsorDto
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Built-in template @SimpleBuilder found in DIRECT scope
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  └─ Resulting configuration resolved: BuilderConfiguration[generateFieldSupplier=ENABLED,…,builderSuffix=Builder,formattingMode=jdt,strict=DISABLED,verbose=ENABLED]
+… (the same configuration-resolution steps repeat for each of the 12 elements)
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: 12 of 12 annotated element(s) are inside the builderGenerationPackages scope.
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Processing element: SponsorDto
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Extracting builder definition from: org.javahelpers.simple.builders.example.SponsorDto
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Builder will be generated as: org.javahelpers.simple.builders.example.SponsorDtoBuilder
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Analysing setters for finding fields
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Analyzing method: setName(java.lang.String)
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  ├─ Processing method generators
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  │  ├─ Applied: BasicSetterGenerator (priority: 100): +1 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  │  ├─ Applied: StringFormatHelperGenerator (priority: 80): +1 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  │  ├─ Applied: SupplierMethodGenerator (priority: 60): +1 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  │  ├─ Applied: StringValidationGenerator (priority: 60): +1 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  │  ├─ Applied: StringBuilderConsumerGenerator (priority: 45): +1 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  │  ├─ Applied: UpdateHelperGenerator (priority: 31): +1 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  │  └─ Generated 6 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  └─ Adding field: name (type: java.lang.String)
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Processed 1 possible setters: added 1 fields, skipped 0
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Processing class based enhancer
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Applied: GeneratedAnnotationEnhancer (priority: 120): +1 annotations
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Added @BuilderImplementation annotation to builder SponsorDtoBuilder
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Applied: BuilderImplementationAnnotationEnhancer (priority: 115): +1 annotations
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Applied: CoreMethodsEnhancer (priority: 100): +3 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Applied: ConstructorEnhancer (priority: 95): +2 constructors
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Applied: WithInterfaceEnhancer (priority: 95): +1 nested types
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Applied: InterfaceEnhancer (priority: 90): +1 interfaces
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Added conditional methods to builder SponsorDtoBuilder
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Applied: ConditionalEnhancer (priority: 80): +2 methods
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Applied: ClassJavaDocEnhancer (priority: 10): javadoc added
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Applied 8 builder enhancers
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Finalizing builder definition
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Resolving method conflicts
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  │  └─ Resolved: 11 signatures, 0 conflicts, 0 methods removed
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Finalized: 1 class fields, 5 builder-level methods, 2 constructors
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  └─ Builder definition extracted: SponsorDtoBuilder
+… (the same extraction steps repeat for each remaining element)
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Generating targets for: SponsorDto
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Code generation for class: SponsorDtoBuilder
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ JavaClassSource created
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Class metadata added
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Generating 1 fields
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Fields added: 1 fields
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Generating 2 constructors
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Constructors added: 2
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Generating 11 method candidates
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Resolved to 11 methods after conflict resolution
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Methods added: 11
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Generating 1 nested type(s)
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  ├─ Generated nested type: With
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  │  └─ Nested types added
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Class-level annotations added
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Creating JavaFileObject: org.javahelpers.simple.builders.example.SponsorDtoBuilder
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Writing class to file: …/example/generated-example-builder/org/javahelpers/simple/builders/example/SponsorDtoBuilder.java
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Successfully generated class: SponsorDtoBuilder
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  └─ Generated builder with 1 fields and 11 methods for SponsorDtoBuilder
+… (the same code-generation steps repeat for each remaining element; elements whose
+    configuration enables the Jackson module additionally emit a registration line inside the
+    same generation scope:)
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  │  ├─ Registered JacksonIntegrationDtoBuilder for Jackson module in package 'org.javahelpers.simple.builders.example'
+[INFO]         simple-builders: Successfully generated 12 target(s) in this processing round
 [INFO] simple-builders: PROCESSING ROUND START
 [INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Processing round started.
-[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Found 0 annotated elements.
-[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Found 0 type(s) for generation with @SimpleBuilderFor.
-[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: 0 of 0 annotated element(s) are inside the builderGenerationPackages scope.
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: No matching elements collected — skipping planning for this round.
+… (empty rounds repeat until processing finishes)
+[INFO]         simple-builders: Processing OVER. JacksonModuleEnabled: true, Packages: 1
+[INFO]         simple-builders: Generating Jackson module in package 'org.javahelpers.simple.builders.example'
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: Code generation for class: SimpleBuildersJacksonModule
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ JavaClassSource created
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Class metadata added
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Generating 1 constructors
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  └─ Constructors added: 1
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Generating 1 nested type(s)
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  ├─ Generated nested type: JacksonIntegrationDtoMixin
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: │  └─ Nested types added
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Creating JavaFileObject: org.javahelpers.simple.builders.example.SimpleBuildersJacksonModule
+[WARNING] File for type 'org.javahelpers.simple.builders.example.SimpleBuildersJacksonModule' created in the last round will not be subject to annotation processing.
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Writing class to file: …/example/generated-example-builder/org/javahelpers/simple/builders/example/SimpleBuildersJacksonModule.java
+[INFO] [DEBUG] simple-builders: ├─ Successfully generated class: SimpleBuildersJacksonModule
 ```
 
+Notes on individual lines:
+
+- `Applied: <generator/enhancer> (priority: N): +M <contribution>` — logged **after** each generator/enhancer ran, with what it actually contributed (methods, constructors, nested types, annotations, interfaces, or javadoc). An enhancer that adds nothing measurable prints just `Applied: <name> (priority: N)` with no suffix.
+- `Writing class to file:` — the real path of the generated source file, resolved via the filer's `JavaFileObject.toUri()`.
+- `Registered <Builder> for Jackson module in package '<pkg>'` — emitted inside the class's generation scope by the Jackson module generator, only when the builder actually registered for module generation (i.e. `generateJacksonModule` enabled on that element's configuration and Jackson on the classpath). It is not a generation step of its own.
+- `Generated builder with N fields and M methods for <Builder>` — the domain's summary line, emitted as the closing line (`└─`) of the `Code generation for class` scope, which stays open until the post-generation step ran.
+- A round or element that generates nothing logs why, for error analysis: `No matching elements collected — skipping planning for this round.`, `Processing is already finished — skipping planning for this round.`, `Planning produced no tasks — nothing to generate this round.`, or per element `Analysis produced no targets for <Element>`.
+- Code-generation phases with nothing to emit log nothing — a class without fields, methods or nested types (like `SimpleBuildersJacksonModule`, which only has a constructor and a mixin) produces no `Generating 0 …` / `added: 0` noise.
+
 **Note**: Debug messages are prefixed with `[DEBUG]` and use `Diagnostic.Kind.OTHER` which appears as `[INFO]` in Maven output.
 
 ## Normal Output (Without Debug)
@@ -142,7 +199,7 @@ Without debug logging enabled, you only see the INFO-level messages:
 
 ```
 [INFO] simple-builders: PROCESSING ROUND START
-[INFO] simple-builders: Successfully generated 3 builder(s) in this processing round
+[INFO] simple-builders: Successfully generated 3 target(s) in this processing round
 ```
 
 ## Troubleshooting