Does it work with Compose 1.1.1? As far as I remember, some platforms don't allow to name versions this way.

With id("org.jetbrains.compose") version "1.1.1" (and kotlin 1.6.20) I get the same problem. I no longer think it is in the gradle plugin, but instead when gradle executes nativeDistributions I get this message:

A problem occurred configuring root project 'Theater'.
> * Illegal version for 'Dmg': '0.1.0' is not a valid version.
    * Correct format: 'MAJOR[.MINOR][.PATCH]', where:
      * MAJOR is an integer > 0;
      * MINOR is an optional non-negative integer;
      * PATCH is an optional non-negative integer;
    * You can specify the correct version using DSL properties: nativeDistributions.macOS.dmgPackageVersion, nativeDistributions.macOS.packageVersion, nativeDistributions.packageVersion

It's probably because Apple (used to) require this about CFBundleVersion:

The build version number should be a string comprised of three non-negative, period-separated integers with the first integer being greater than zero

https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/General/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Articles/CoreFoundationKeys.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20001431-102364

I think the gradle task enforces this, so that you don't end up with apps that don't run or can't be uploaded to the App Store.

Interestingly, in the most recent docs they've seemed to omit the requirement for the major version to be greater than zero: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/cfbundleversion

Any workaround? This makes it impossible to create pre-release installers on mac.

Please check the following ticket on YouTrack for follow-ups to this issue. GitHub issues will be closed in the coming weeks.