todo-app/docs/flutter-rules-state-and-data.md

Flutter AI rules — state, routing and data

State management, data flow, routing, JSON serialization and logging.

Verbatim from flutter/flutter docs/rules/rules.md, split across four files only to keep each under the repo's 250-line cap. Re-fetch periodically to stay current; do not hand-edit.

State Management

• Built-in Solutions: Prefer Flutter's built-in state management solutions. Do not use a third-party package unless explicitly requested.

• Streams: Use Streams and StreamBuilder for handling a sequence of asynchronous events.

• Futures: Use Futures and FutureBuilder for handling a single asynchronous operation that will complete in the future.

• ValueNotifier: Use ValueNotifier with ValueListenableBuilder for simple, local state that involves a single value.

  // Define a ValueNotifier to hold the state.
  final ValueNotifier<int> _counter = ValueNotifier<int>(0);
  
  // Use ValueListenableBuilder to listen and rebuild.
  ValueListenableBuilder<int>(
    valueListenable: _counter,
    builder: (context, value, child) {
      return Text('Count: $value');
    },
  );
  

• ChangeNotifier: For state that is more complex or shared across multiple widgets, use ChangeNotifier.

• ListenableBuilder: Use ListenableBuilder to listen to changes from a ChangeNotifier or other Listenable.

• MVVM: When a more robust solution is needed, structure the app using the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) pattern.

• Dependency Injection: Use simple manual constructor dependency injection to make a class's dependencies explicit in its API, and to manage dependencies between different layers of the application.

• Provider: If a dependency injection solution beyond manual constructor injection is explicitly requested, provider can be used to make services, repositories, or complex state objects available to the UI layer without tight coupling (note: this document generally defaults against third-party packages for state management unless explicitly requested).

Data Flow

• Data Structures: Define data structures (classes) to represent the data used in the application.
• Data Abstraction: Abstract data sources (e.g., API calls, database operations) using Repositories/Services to promote testability.

Routing

• GoRouter: Use the go_router package for declarative navigation, deep linking, and web support.

• GoRouter Setup: To use go_router, first add it to your pubspec.yaml using the pub tool's add command.

  // 1. Add the dependency
  // flutter pub add go_router
  
  // 2. Configure the router
  final GoRouter _router = GoRouter(
    routes: <RouteBase>[
      GoRoute(
        path: '/',
        builder: (context, state) => const HomeScreen(),
        routes: <RouteBase>[
          GoRoute(
            path: 'details/:id', // Route with a path parameter
            builder: (context, state) {
              final String id = state.pathParameters['id']!;
              return DetailScreen(id: id);
            },
          ),
        ],
      ),
    ],
  );
  
  // 3. Use it in your MaterialApp
  MaterialApp.router(
    routerConfig: _router,
  );
  

• Authentication Redirects: Configure go_router's redirect property to handle authentication flows, ensuring users are redirected to the login screen when unauthorized, and back to their intended destination after successful login.

• Navigator: Use the built-in Navigator for short-lived screens that do not need to be deep-linkable, such as dialogs or temporary views.

  // Push a new screen onto the stack
  Navigator.push(
    context,
    MaterialPageRoute(builder: (context) => const DetailsScreen()),
  );
  
  // Pop the current screen to go back
  Navigator.pop(context);
  

Data Handling & Serialization

• JSON Serialization: Use json_serializable and json_annotation for parsing and encoding JSON data.

• Field Renaming: When encoding data, use fieldRename: FieldRename.snake to convert Dart's camelCase fields to snake_case JSON keys.

  // In your model file
  import 'package:json_annotation/json_annotation.dart';
  
  part 'user.g.dart';
  
  @JsonSerializable(fieldRename: FieldRename.snake)
  class User {
    final String firstName;
    final String lastName;
  
    User({required this.firstName, required this.lastName});
  
    factory User.fromJson(Map<String, dynamic> json) => _$UserFromJson(json);
    Map<String, dynamic> toJson() => _$UserToJson(this);
  }
  

Logging

• Structured Logging: Use the log function from dart:developer for structured logging that integrates with Dart DevTools.

  import 'dart:developer' as developer;
  
  // For simple messages
  developer.log('User logged in successfully.');
  
  // For structured error logging
  try {
    // ... code that might fail
  } catch (e, s) {
    developer.log(
      'Failed to fetch data',
      name: 'myapp.network',
      level: 1000, // SEVERE
      error: e,
      stackTrace: s,
    );
  }
  

Code Generation