Flutter Dead Code Finder

It finds unreferenced methods, fields, and variables in Dart/Flutter projects — even when VS Code doesn’t actively warn you in the Problems tab.

https://github.com/KatayR/Flutter-Dead-Code-Finder

Q:Why not just enable dead_code: error in analysis_options.yaml? Wouldn’t that be easier? What advantage does your tool have over that?
A: dead_code in analysis_options.yaml only marks unreachable code (like after a return/throw). It doesn’t detect unreferenced methods, fields, or variables scattered in the project. My extension scans the whole codebase and catches those, even if the analyzer doesn’t warn in `Problems.

⚠️ Important Notice

This tool identifies potentially unused code by analyzing VS Code's symbol references. False positives are uncommon but possible - methods may appear unused when they're actually called via:

• Dynamic/reflection-based calls - object[methodName](), reflection
• Code generation - build_runner, annotations creating references
• External packages - other libraries using your public APIs
• String references - method names in configs, JSON, etc.
• Framework-specific patterns - dependency injection, etc.

Use this as a starting point for manual code review, not as definitive unused code detection. Always verify before deleting any code.

Features

• Scans all .dart files in selected folders
• Excludes generated files (.g.dart, .freezed.dart) and .dart_tool/
• Uses VS Code's language services for accurate symbol analysis
• Shows progress during scanning
• Results displayed in VS Code Output Channel

Usage

1. Open Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Run "Find Dead/Unreferenced Dart Symbols"
3. Select folders containing Dart files you want to scan
4. Review results in the "Dead Code Finder" output channel

Requirements

• VS Code 1.74.0 or higher
• Dart language server extension for accurate symbol analysis

Known Limitations

• May work with other languages but not tested and thus it does not scan for other file types, for now
• Skips private methods (starting with _)
• Relies on VS Code's language server for reference detection