diff --git a/cli/internal/utils/project/config.go b/cli/internal/utils/project/config.go
index ce79b5219..5c64aeac6 100644
--- a/cli/internal/utils/project/config.go
+++ b/cli/internal/utils/project/config.go
@@ -15,10 +15,32 @@ type Config struct {
 }
 
 type JavaProject struct {
-	SourceRoot    string   `yaml:"sourceRoot"`
-	JavaToolchain string   `yaml:"javaToolchain,omitempty"`
-	Modules       []Module `yaml:"modules"`
-	Dependencies  []string `yaml:"dependencies,omitempty"`
+	SourceRoot    string               `yaml:"sourceRoot"`
+	JavaToolchain string               `yaml:"javaToolchain,omitempty"`
+	Modules       []Module             `yaml:"modules"`
+	Dependencies  []ResolvedDependency `yaml:"dependencies,omitempty"`
+}
+
+type ResolvedDependency struct {
+	Path string `yaml:"path"`
+	Purl string `yaml:"purl,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// UnmarshalYAML accepts a legacy bare path string (as a path-only dependency) or the tagged mapping.
+func (d *ResolvedDependency) UnmarshalYAML(unmarshal func(any) error) error {
+	var bareString string
+	if err := unmarshal(&bareString); err == nil {
+		d.Path = bareString
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	type plain ResolvedDependency
+	var p plain
+	if err := unmarshal(&p); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	*d = ResolvedDependency(p)
+	return nil
 }
 
 type GoProject struct {
@@ -32,10 +54,10 @@ type Module struct {
 }
 
 type legacyConfig struct {
-	SourceRoot    string   `yaml:"sourceRoot"`
-	JavaToolchain string   `yaml:"javaToolchain,omitempty"`
-	Modules       []Module `yaml:"modules"`
-	Dependencies  []string `yaml:"dependencies,omitempty"`
+	SourceRoot    string               `yaml:"sourceRoot"`
+	JavaToolchain string               `yaml:"javaToolchain,omitempty"`
+	Modules       []Module             `yaml:"modules"`
+	Dependencies  []ResolvedDependency `yaml:"dependencies,omitempty"`
 }
 
 func LoadConfig(projectModelPath string) (*Config, error) {
@@ -79,7 +101,9 @@ func (c *Config) AllModules() []Module {
 func (c *Config) AllDependencies() []string {
 	var deps []string
 	for _, jp := range c.JavaProjects {
-		deps = append(deps, jp.Dependencies...)
+		for _, d := range jp.Dependencies {
+			deps = append(deps, d.Path)
+		}
 	}
 	return deps
 }
diff --git a/cli/internal/utils/project/config_test.go b/cli/internal/utils/project/config_test.go
index 1c5c84247..c64a9d737 100644
--- a/cli/internal/utils/project/config_test.go
+++ b/cli/internal/utils/project/config_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
+
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 )
 
 func writeProjectYaml(t *testing.T, content string) string {
@@ -23,7 +25,9 @@ javaProjects:
       - moduleSourceRoot: java_0/sources
         packages: [com.example]
         moduleClasses: [java_0/classes/main]
-    dependencies: [libs/a.jar]
+    dependencies:
+      - path: libs/a.jar
+        purl: pkg:maven/org.opensearch.client/opensearch-rest-client@2.18.0
 goProjects:
   - projectDir: go_0
 `)
@@ -44,11 +48,35 @@ goProjects:
 	if got := config.AllDependencies(); len(got) != 1 || got[0] != "libs/a.jar" {
 		t.Errorf("AllDependencies = %+v", got)
 	}
+	dep := config.JavaProjects[0].Dependencies[0]
+	if dep.Purl != "pkg:maven/org.opensearch.client/opensearch-rest-client@2.18.0" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected purl-tagged dependency, got %+v", dep)
+	}
 	if config.GoProjects[0].ProjectDir != "go_0" {
 		t.Errorf("go projectDir = %q", config.GoProjects[0].ProjectDir)
 	}
 }
 
+func TestUnmarshalDependencyMappingWithoutPurl(t *testing.T) {
+	yamlData := []byte(`javaProjects:
+- dependencies:
+  - path: /d/lib.jar
+`)
+
+	var config Config
+	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(yamlData, &config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("yaml.Unmarshal: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if got := config.AllDependencies(); len(got) != 1 || got[0] != "/d/lib.jar" {
+		t.Fatalf("AllDependencies = %+v", got)
+	}
+	dep := config.JavaProjects[0].Dependencies[0]
+	if dep.Purl != "" {
+		t.Errorf("Purl = %q, want empty", dep.Purl)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestLoadConfigLegacyFallback(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := writeProjectYaml(t, `sourceRoot: src
 javaToolchain: /jdk
@@ -56,7 +84,9 @@ modules:
   - moduleSourceRoot: src
     packages: [com.legacy]
     moduleClasses: [dist/app.jar]
-dependencies: [lib/commons-io.jar]
+dependencies:
+  - path: lib/commons-io.jar
+    purl: pkg:maven/commons-io/commons-io@2.16.1
 `)
 
 	config, err := LoadConfig(dir)
@@ -81,6 +111,42 @@ dependencies: [lib/commons-io.jar]
 	}
 }
 
+func TestLoadConfigLegacyBareStringDependencyLoadsAsPathOnly(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := writeProjectYaml(t, `javaProjects:
+  - sourceRoot: src
+    dependencies:
+      - /path/to/a.jar
+      - /path/to/b.jar
+`)
+
+	config, err := LoadConfig(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("LoadConfig: %v", err)
+	}
+	got := config.AllDependencies()
+	if len(got) != 2 || got[0] != "/path/to/a.jar" || got[1] != "/path/to/b.jar" {
+		t.Fatalf("AllDependencies = %+v", got)
+	}
+	for _, dep := range config.JavaProjects[0].Dependencies {
+		if dep.Purl != "" {
+			t.Errorf("Purl = %q, want empty", dep.Purl)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAllDependenciesReturnsPaths(t *testing.T) {
+	c := &Config{JavaProjects: []JavaProject{{
+		Dependencies: []ResolvedDependency{
+			{Path: "/d/os-2.18.0.jar", Purl: "pkg:maven/org.opensearch.client/opensearch-rest-client@2.18.0"},
+			{Path: "/d/os-3.5.0.jar", Purl: "pkg:maven/org.opensearch.client/opensearch-rest-client@3.5.0"},
+		},
+	}}}
+	got := c.AllDependencies()
+	if len(got) != 2 || got[0] != "/d/os-2.18.0.jar" || got[1] != "/d/os-3.5.0.jar" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected: %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestGetSourceRootRelativeResolved(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := writeProjectYaml(t, `javaProjects:
   - sourceRoot: java_0/sources
diff --git a/docs/classes-and-jars-analysis.md b/docs/classes-and-jars-analysis.md
index cba202fe0..8e0507475 100644
--- a/docs/classes-and-jars-analysis.md
+++ b/docs/classes-and-jars-analysis.md
@@ -26,8 +26,10 @@ javaProjects:
         moduleClasses:
           - /path/to/module2.jar
     dependencies:  # optional
-      - /path/to/dependency1.jar
-      - /path/to/dependency2.jar
+      - path: /path/to/opensearch-rest-client-2.18.0.jar
+        purl: pkg:maven/org.opensearch.client/opensearch-rest-client@2.18.0
+      - path: /path/to/dependency-without-coordinates.jar   # no purl
+      - /path/to/legacy-bare-string.jar                     # legacy: loaded path-only
 goProjects:  # optional
   - projectDir: /path/to/go/module
 ```
@@ -50,7 +52,11 @@ List of Java projects. Each entry describes one Java project (a multi-module bui
   - **moduleSourceRoot** (required): Path to the module's source code directory
   - **packages** (required): List of Java packages contained in this module
   - **moduleClasses** (required): List of paths to compiled classes or JAR files for this module
-- **dependencies** (optional): Array of paths to JAR files the project depends on (typically third-party libraries).
+- **dependencies** (optional): The project's dependency JARs (typically third-party libraries). Each entry is an object:
+  - **path** (required): Path to the JAR file.
+  - **purl** (optional): The dependency's package-URL (`pkg:<type>/<namespace>/<name>@<version>`, e.g. `pkg:maven/org.opensearch.client/opensearch-rest-client@2.18.0` for JVM, `pkg:golang/...` for Go). Omitted for coordinate-less dependencies (e.g. a JAR supplied via `--dependency`).
+
+  For backward compatibility a dependency may also be written as a bare path string (`- /path/to/lib.jar`); it is loaded as a path-only dependency (no purl). New models are generated in the object form above.
 
 ### goProjects (optional)
 List of Go projects. Each entry has a single field, **projectDir**, pointing at the Go module directory.