Dart Class Forge

A smart VS Code toolkit for generating production-ready Dart data classes. Go from properties or raw JSON to fully equipped classes — with constructors, serialization, equality, and more — in seconds.

Why Dart Class Forge?

Dart Class Forge goes beyond basic code generation. It understands your project context — detecting Flutter vs pure Dart, handling part of files, preserving your coding style, and offering 12+ targeted quick fixes so you generate exactly what you need.

Key differentiators:

Clipboard-based JSON-to-class conversion (no temp files needed)
Automatic ISO 8601 date detection in JSON — DateTime fields are inferred for you
Smart numeric array inference ([1, 2, 3.5] correctly becomes List<double>)
factory ClassName.empty() generator for form initialization patterns
Static example list generator with type-aware sample data
Both Equatable and EquatableMixin support (for classes with existing superclasses)
final class keyword support for Dart 3.0+ sealed hierarchies
Intelligent import organization: groups dart, package, local, and relative imports separately
Flutter project auto-detection via pubspec.yaml
Widget/State class awareness — never generates data class methods on UI classes

Quick Start

From Class Properties

Single class (Quick Fix):

Write a class with properties in a .dart file
Place your cursor on the class name, constructor, or any field
Press Ctrl + . (or Cmd + . on macOS) to open quick fixes
Pick the generation option you need

Multiple classes (Command Palette):

Press Ctrl + Shift + P (or Cmd + Shift + P on macOS)
Run "Dart Class Forge: Generate from class properties"
Select which classes to process

You can re-run the generator on existing data classes after changing properties to update all methods.

From JSON (File)

Create an empty .dart file and paste raw JSON into it
Open the Command Palette and run "Dart Class Forge: Generate from JSON"
Enter a name for the root class
Choose whether to split nested classes into separate files

From JSON (Clipboard)

Copy JSON to your clipboard
Open any .dart file
Run "Dart Class Forge: Generate from Clipboard" from the Command Palette
Enter a name for the root class

Smart JSON features:

Date strings like "2024-01-18T12:00:00Z" become DateTime fields automatically
Mixed numeric arrays like [1, 2, 3.5] correctly infer double
Nested objects generate separate classes with proper references

Enum Handling

Annotate enum fields so serialization works correctly:

// enum
final Enum myEnum;

Available Quick Fixes

Place your cursor on a class and press Ctrl + . to access these actions:

Quick Fix	Description
Generate Data Class	Full generation (constructor + all methods)
Generate Constructor	Smart constructor with const inference
Generate copyWith	Immutable update method
Generate JSON Serialization	Both toJson and fromJson together
Generate toJson	Serialization to Map
Generate fromJson	Deserialization from Map
Generate toString	Debug-friendly string representation
Generate Equality	`==` operator and `hashCode`
Generate Equatable	Equatable-based equality
Generate Empty Factory	`factory ClassName.empty()` for forms
Generate Example List	Static list of 10 sample items
Organize Imports	Sort and group imports properly

Import Organization

The import organizer groups and sorts your imports into a clean structure:

dart: core libraries
package: third-party dependencies
Local package imports (same project)
Relative imports
part / export statements

Each group is separated by a blank line and sorted alphabetically.

Settings

All settings use the prefix dart_class_forge. in your VS Code settings.

General

Setting	Description	Default
`quick_fixes`	Enable inline quick fix actions	`true`
`json.key_format`	JSON key format: `variable`, `camelCase`, `snake_case`	`variable`
`json.separate`	Nested JSON handling: `ask`, `separate`, `current_file`	`ask`
`json.detect_dates`	Auto-detect ISO 8601 strings as DateTime	`true`
`override.manual`	Confirm before overriding each method individually	`false`
`useEquatable`	Use Equatable for value equality	`false`
`useEquatableMixin`	Use EquatableMixin instead of extending Equatable	`false`
`final_class.enabled`	Generate with `final class` keyword (Dart 3.0+)	`false`

Constructor

Setting	Description	Default
`constructor.enabled`	Generate constructor	`true`
`constructor.default_values`	Add default values to constructor parameters	`false`
`constructor.required`	Add `required` keyword to all named parameters	`false`

Methods

Setting	Description	Default
`copyWith.enabled`	Generate copyWith method	`true`
`toString.enabled`	Generate toString method	`true`
`equality.enabled`	Generate == operator	`true`
`hashCode.enabled`	Generate hashCode	`true`
`hashCode.use_jenkins`	Use Jenkins SMI hash function	`false`

JSON Serialization

Setting	Description	Default
`toJson.enabled`	Generate toJson method	`true`
`fromJson.enabled`	Generate fromJson method	`true`
`fromJson.default_values`	Add default values for optional params in fromJson	`false`

Additional Generators

Setting	Description	Default
`emptyFactory.enabled`	Generate `factory ClassName.empty()`	`false`
`exampleList.enabled`	Generate static example list with 10 items	`false`

License

MIT License.

Built by Taha Darwish