flutter run --no-build still builds the app

flutter run --no-build is actually building my iOS app, even though build/ios/iphoneos/Runner.app exists and (if I'm understanding the feature) it should be using that.

Note the "Compiling, linking and signing" below (ran with verbose, it really is recompiling):

$ flutter run --no-build  
Launching lib/main.dart on iPhone 6s in debug mode...
Found saved certificate choice "Apple Development: Jenn Magder (2867XHZLGW)". To clear, use "flutter config".
Signing iOS app for device deployment using developer identity: "Apple Development: Jenn Magder (2867XHZLGW)"
Running Xcode build...                                                  
 └─Compiling, linking and signing...                         8.1s
Xcode build done.                                           12.0s
Installing and launching...                                        12.7s
Waiting for iPhone 6s to report its views...                         5ms
Syncing files to device iPhone 6s...                                56ms

Feature introduced in #5301.

$ flutter doctor -v
[✓] Flutter (Channel master, 1.23.0-19.0.pre.108, on Mac OS X 10.15.7 19H2 darwin-x64, locale en-US)
    • Flutter version 1.23.0-19.0.pre.108 at /Users/m/Projects/flutter
    • Framework revision 03db9bf918 (3 hours ago), 2020-10-19 12:28:43 -0700
    • Engine revision d03b759d04
    • Dart version 2.11.0 (build 2.11.0-229.0.dev)

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 29.0.2)
    • Android SDK at /Users/m/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-30, build-tools 29.0.2
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_242-release-1644-b3-6222593)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 12.0)
    • Xcode at /Users/m/Applications/Xcode-12.app/Contents/Developer
    • Xcode 12.0, Build version 12A7209
    • CocoaPods version 1.9.3

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web
    • Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

[✓] Android Studio (version 4.0)
    • Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
    • Flutter plugin version 50.0.1
    • Dart plugin version 193.7547
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_242-release-1644-b3-6222593)

[✓] VS Code (version 1.49.2)
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.13.2

[✓] Connected device (5 available)
    • iPhone 6s (mobile)     • d83d5bc53967baa0ee18626ba87b6254b2ab5418 • ios            • iOS 13.7
    • iPhone 8 Plus (mobile) • A75CFA74-4CE0-469D-AADE-DE01EC6E31CA     • ios            • com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-14-0 (simulator)
    • macOS (desktop)        • macos                                    • darwin-x64     • Mac OS X 10.15.7 19H2 darwin-x64
    • Web Server (web)       • web-server                               • web-javascript • Flutter Tools
    • Chrome (web)           • chrome                                   • web-javascript • Google Chrome 86.0.4240.80

Possibly broken in #8743?

We tried to use this for multiple CI runs, and since it didn't work we used --use-application-binary which required knowing the app bundle name.

#68528

Also, it doesn't work for drive #10774

@jonahwilliams

@jonahwilliams is --build obsolete?

I don't see anything in flutter_tools that still reads that flag.

I don't think intentionally obsolete.

We should still use use-application-binary and not --no-build. If this flag hasn't worked for more than a year its effectively deprecated anyway

If this flag hasn't worked for more than a year its effectively deprecated anyway
Fair enough.

We should still use use-application-binary and not --no-build.

It would have been the perfect thing to use in #68516 since the tool already knows where the built binary is, and you don't need to pass in the path or know the bundle name (which changes depending on how you set up the app's display name).

That's true, but that will only be temporarily useful

flutter drive --no-build works, but flutter run --no-build doesn't. I thought drive is just fancy wrapper over run and connect, so that's weird.

Adding labels based on reproduction of #72342.

I can still reproduce this with iOS. xcrun xcodebuild is being run as observed in the verbose logs. Updating labels

@jmagman

@jmagman: I'm confused at the goal of this issue and the back and forth.

We want to deprecate --no-build and push folks towards --use-application-binary?

@matanlurey

@matanlurey and --use-application-binary will be working for Flutter Web?
See #72276 (comment)

[flutter_tools] Deprecate --build and --no-build flags on flutter run (…

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.

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flutter run --no-build still builds the app #68529

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flutter run --no-build still builds the app #68529

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jmagman commented on Oct 19, 2020

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