package assets declared under dev_dependency shouldn't be included in release bundle

Steps to Reproduce

See example project https://github.com/rh-id/example_dev_dependency_fi for the steps

Expected results: Flutter should ignore package assets declared under dev_dependency on release bundle / version

Actual results: Flutter include the package assets declared under dev_dependency on release bundle / version

Logs

[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 2.0.2, on Linux, locale en_US.UTF-8)
    • Flutter version 2.0.2 at /home/rubyh/Flutter/flutter
    • Framework revision 8962f6dc68 (3 weeks ago), 2021-03-11 13:22:20 -0800
    • Engine revision 5d8bf811b3
    • Dart version 2.12.1

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 30.0.3)
    • Android SDK at /home/rubyh/Android/Sdk
    • Platform android-30, build-tools 30.0.3
    • ANDROID_HOME = /home/rubyh/Android/Sdk
    • ANDROID_SDK_ROOT = /home/rubyh/Android/Sdk
    • Java binary at: /usr/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.10+9-Ubuntu-0ubuntu1.20.04)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

Related Issues:

Do not create plugins from dev_dependencies #56591
Don't include dev_dependencies in native build scripts #45714
integration_test embedded in shipping iOS apps when added to pubspec #74274

After reading this StackOverflow and https://dart.dev/tools/pub/dependencies#dev-dependencies I'm considering this as proposal as there is not documentation saying that assets from dev dependencies will not be included into the final app bundle.

If you have any reference about that please share the link.
Thank you

@pedromassangocode

Hi, @pedromassangocode I'm not sure why it is a proposal not a bug, if the reason to label this as proposal was documentation,
so far I didn't find any flutter documentation saying anything on how dev_dependencies behave with final app bundle as well. by that reasoning dev_dependencies shouldn't work with flutter at all.

If flutter follows dart documentation on dev_dependencies which means ignoring the package on the final app bundle, then flutter should ignore the assets declared as well.

@pedromassangocode

hi @pedromassangocode Additional findings:

When adding integration_test package to dev_dependencies, GeneratedPluginRegistrant class generate the integration test class as well.

pubspec.yaml

dev_dependencies:
  flutter_test:
    sdk: flutter
  another_package:
    path: another_package
  integration_test:
    sdk: flutter

public final class GeneratedPluginRegistrant {
  public static void registerWith(@NonNull FlutterEngine flutterEngine) {
    flutterEngine.getPlugins().add(new dev.flutter.plugins.integration_test.IntegrationTestPlugin());
  }
}

after checking classes.dex in my release bundle, the IntegrationTestPlugin is included, so basically everything under dev_dependencies is included in the release bundle? I'm not sure how to check if the dart code is included in the release bundle. since there is no documentation mentioning this does it mean it is as per existing behavior? so including integration test in the final release bundle is normal ?

Up for this issue (sorry for not just reacting), but one use-case that might be quite annoying is: say you have an assets that are only meant to be shipped during development and you don't want that to be included in the release bundle, it won't be possible until some exclusion of assets for production build is done.

Right now there's couple of solution that might work (e.g. using script that deletes some dependency or assets during flutter build, but I'd have to admit that's not pretty.

I'm here because I just discovered that in one of my projects I've been placing essential package references under 'dev_dependencies' this whole time - and yet, my release builds have been running flawlessly. I figure it might have something to do with this

Just curious is there a plugin/package on dev_dependencies that contains large enough assets? Because I have never found a plugin/package that has very large assets on dev_dependencies 🤔

Just curious is there a plugin/package on dev_dependencies that contains large enough assets? Because I have never found a plugin/package that has very large assets on dev_dependencies 🤔↳

Sometimes we want to use certain resources only under debug.

Hi all, adding related issues above. It seemed to occur on other platforms

any update?

We were affected by this issue today. The inclusion of integration_test in dev_dependencies caused a crash in our release build. Very unintuitive, as dev_dependencies was far from the first place we went looking for the cause of a crash in the release build.

As it seems this is actually the way flutter behaves - we basically have no option but to inject the integration test dependencies into the pubspec.yaml as part of the runner script launching the tests. Not optimal.

Only bundle assets and plugins from transitive closure of dependencies (

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.

Only bundle assets and plugins from transitive closure of dependencie…

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package assets declared under dev_dependency shouldn't be included in release bundle #79261

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package assets declared under dev_dependency shouldn't be included in release bundle #79261

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pedromassangocode commented on Mar 29, 2021

rh-id commented on Mar 29, 2021

rh-id commented on Apr 6, 2021

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blackmenthor commented on Apr 19, 2023

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MeandNi commented on Apr 15, 2024

rh-id commented on Apr 28, 2024

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