Release wdio_flutter to pub.dev (under the official webdriverio verified publisher) #479

Track publishing the wdio_flutter Dart contract to pub.dev, gated on standing up the official webdriverio verified publisher.

Context

wdio_flutter is the app-side cooperative contract for @wdio/flutter-service. It gates browser.flutter.execute (Dart handlers) and browser.flutter.mock (the cooperative mock registry). Native automation doesn't need it: find, tap, deeplink, contexts and logs all work through appium-flutter-driver. So it doesn't block the Flutter service itself, only the execute/mock features for end users.

#466 wired ReleaseKit's pub.dev publishing but left it disabled (publish.pub.enabled: false), so it doesn't gate @wdio/flutter-service prereleases. pub.dev rights are stricter than crates.io: there's no personal-token "create on first publish", so the first publish must be manual on an already-registered package before automated publishing can be configured. We want the official publisher in place rather than publishing under a personal account.

Blocker

• Set up the official webdriverio verified publisher on pub.dev (an org/admin task, and the long pole).

Also needed before the first release

Found when standing PR #642's publish was refused on 2026-10-06:

• ReleaseKit fix for Group strategy tags Dart packages without bumping pubspec.yaml or recording the update goosewobbler/releasekit#649, released and pinned here. In group mode, ReleaseKit tags a Dart package without bumping its pubspec or recording the update, and the publish check then refuses the whole release. Bump the goosewobbler/[email protected] pins in _release.reusable.yml (two uses), _standing-pr-update.reusable.yml, release.yml and release-preview.yml. Until then, any Flutter release that includes wdio_flutter fails the way chore: release 17 package(s) #642 did.
• Remove publish_to: none from packages/flutter-bridge/pubspec.yaml. chore(release): revert the unpublished #642 release and fix standing-PR selection #707 added it to keep the package out of versioning; while it's there, ReleaseKit skips the package and dart pub publish refuses it.
• Add packages/flutter-bridge/CHANGELOG.md. chore(release): wire wdio_flutter pub.dev publishing (disabled pending wdio publisher) #466 listed it as pre-staged, but it never existed at either path, and pub.dev expects one.
• Dry-run ReleaseKit before merging the first standing PR that includes wdio_flutter: release --dry-run --skip-notes --skip-publish --skip-git --skip-github-release. Check that every tag has a matching update and that wdio_flutter's proposed version is right. Until fix(bundler): load TS configs via workspace-local tsx, not pnpx #649's version-fallback fix lands, a package with no tags is versioned from 0.1.0 (it proposed 0.2.0 for 1.0.0-next.0). Tagging the manual first publish (step 2 below) gives it a baseline either way.

Release runbook (once the above is done)

1. Flip publish.pub.enabled → true in releasekit.config.json.
2. Manual first publish: run dart pub publish from packages/flutter-bridge under the webdriverio publisher, because pub.dev OIDC only works after the package exists. The flutter version group is independent, so this publishes the pubspec's own version (currently 1.0.0-next.0), not @wdio/flutter-service's. Tag it wdio_flutter@v<version> so ReleaseKit has a baseline.
3. On pub.dev, open the package → Admin → enable "Automated publishing from GitHub Actions" (repo webdriverio/desktop-mobile, the release workflow). The Setup Dart step and id-token: write are already wired in _release.reusable.yml.
4. Later versions auto-publish through ReleaseKit, on their own version line in the independent flutter group with @wdio/flutter-service.

Pre-staged in #466 (ready to flip on)

• version.groups.flutter (independent since chore(release): switch framework version groups from linked to independent #498: @wdio/flutter-service + wdio_flutter), version.pub (pubspec bump), and scope:flutter covering wdio_flutter.
• packages/flutter-bridge/LICENSE (a pub.dev requirement).
• The Setup Dart CI step (dart-lang/setup-dart@v1, OIDC token exchange).

Naming — verified wdio_flutter is correct

• The underscore is mandatory, not just preferred. Dart/pub.dev package names must be lowercase_with_underscores, because the name is also the import identifier (import 'package:wdio_flutter/wdio_flutter.dart'). A hyphenated wdio-flutter would be rejected by dart pub publish.
• It matches our wdio-first crate family. The crates.io names wdio-dioxus-bridge, wdio-dioxus-driver and wdio-dioxus-embedded-driver are hyphenated per cargo; wdio_flutter is the same wdio-first pattern with Dart's mandatory underscore. The Tauri crates (tauri-plugin-wdio*) are framework-first only because Tauri mandates the tauri-plugin-* prefix; Dart has no equivalent rule.
• It suits the service. It's concise, available on pub.dev, and internally consistent: the pubspec name, lib/wdio_flutter.dart and the import all agree. It needs no component suffix, because it's the single Dart contract (unlike the multi-crate Dioxus set).

Refs: #466, #642, #707, goosewobbler/releasekit#649