Flutter Checker

A VS Code extension that helps you identify outdated packages in your Flutter/Dart pubspec.yaml files with intelligent color-coded highlighting and detailed update information.

Preview

The extension highlights outdated packages with color-coded update types, version comparisons, and rich hover tooltips

Features

• 🚀 Bulk Package Updates (NEW in v1.3.0): Update multiple packages at once with smart presets and safety controls
• 🔍 Smart Detection: Automatically checks for outdated packages when you open or modify pubspec.yaml files
• 🎨 Color-Coded Updates: Visual highlighting with different colors for patch (🔧), minor (✨), and major (⚠️) updates
• 📊 Rich Hover Information: Detailed hover tooltips showing current → latest version with update type descriptions
• 🚀 One-Click Updates: Quick Fix actions and hover links to update packages with or without running flutter pub get
• 📈 Status Bar Tracking: Real-time status bar display showing package update counts and checking status
• ⚡ Fast Performance: Intelligent caching system minimizes API calls to pub.dev (5-minute cache)
• 🎛️ Highly Configurable: Customize colors for each update type, theme-aware color schemes, and status bar settings

How it Works

1. Package Detection: The extension parses your pubspec.yaml file to extract package dependencies
2. Version Checking: It queries the pub.dev API to get the latest versions of your packages (with intelligent caching)
3. Update Classification: Uses semantic versioning to categorize updates as:
   • 🔧 Patch Updates: Bug fixes and small improvements
   • ✨ Minor Updates: New features (backward compatible)
   • ⚠️ Major Updates: Breaking changes
4. Visual Highlighting: Outdated packages are highlighted with color-coded underlines, version comparisons, and rich hover tooltips

Bulk Package Updates

Update multiple packages at once with intelligent safety controls and multiple entry points.

Multiple Entry Points

• CodeLens: Inline actions appear at the top of your dependencies section
• Status Bar: Click the status bar for a quick menu with bulk update options
• Command Palette: Access via Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P

Smart Update Modes

• 🚀 Update All Safe - Updates all patch and minor versions (no breaking changes)
• ✅ Update Patches Only - Safest option, only bug fixes
• 📋 Select Packages - Interactive multi-select with custom presets:
  • Safe Updates (Patch + Minor)
  • Patches Only
  • Custom Selection
  • Update Everything
• Color-Coded Selection - 🟢 Patch, 🟡 Minor, 🔴 Major updates

Safety Features

• Confirmation dialogs with package count breakdowns
• Preview of all changes before applying
• Safe updates pre-selected in custom mode
• Atomic updates (all or nothing)
• Error handling with detailed reports
• Automatic flutter pub get execution

Usage

Automatic Mode (Default)

The extension automatically checks for outdated packages when:

• You open a pubspec.yaml file
• You modify a pubspec.yaml file
• The file is saved

Manual Mode

You can also manually trigger the check:

1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
2. Run Flutter Checker: Check for Outdated Packages

Clear Highlights

To remove all highlights:

1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
2. Run Flutter Checker: Clear Package Highlights

Updating Packages

You can update outdated packages directly from the editor:

Quick Fix Actions

1. Place your cursor on an outdated package version
2. Click the lightbulb icon or press Ctrl+. / Cmd+.
3. Choose from:
   • "Update [package] to [version]" - Updates the version and runs flutter pub get
   • "Update [package] to [version] (no pub get)" - Updates the version only

Hover Links

1. Hover over any highlighted outdated package version
2. Click the update links in the tooltip:
   • "Update to [version]" - Updates and runs flutter pub get
   • "Update (no pub get)" - Updates without running flutter pub get

Status Bar

Real-time status tracking shows package update counts and checking status with configurable visibility and priority position.

Commands

• Flutter Checker: Check for Outdated Packages - Manual check
• Flutter Checker: Clear Package Highlights - Remove all highlights
• Flutter Checker: Update All Safe Packages (Patch + Minor) - Bulk update safe packages
• Flutter Checker: Update All Patch Versions - Bulk update patches only
• Flutter Checker: Bulk Update Packages... - Interactive bulk update with presets

Configuration

You can customize the extension behavior in VS Code settings:

{
  "flutterChecker.enabled": true,
  "flutterChecker.autoCheck": true,
  "flutterChecker.showAutoCheckNotifications": false,
  "flutterChecker.highlightColor": "#ff6b6b",
  "flutterChecker.backgroundColor": "#ff6b6b20",
  "flutterChecker.borderColor": "#ff6b6b",
  "flutterChecker.textColor": "#ff6b6b",
  "flutterChecker.versionTextColor": "#ff6b6b",
  "flutterChecker.patchUpdateColor": "#4ecdc4",
  "flutterChecker.minorUpdateColor": "#ffa726",
  "flutterChecker.majorUpdateColor": "#ff6b6b",
  "flutterChecker.showStatusBar": true,
  "flutterChecker.statusBarPriority": 100
}

Key Settings

• enabled: Enable/disable the extension
• autoCheck: Automatically check for outdated packages
• showStatusBar: Show status bar item with update counts
• statusBarPriority: Status bar item position
• patchUpdateColor, minorUpdateColor, majorUpdateColor: Colors for different update types

Note: Update type colors automatically adapt to your VS Code theme.

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Flutter Checker"
4. Click Install

Compatibility

• VS Code: 1.74.0 or higher
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Support

If you encounter any issues or have feature requests, please file an issue on the GitHub repository.