Flutter Basic Commands
This is a free guide to help developers get started with flutter which is an open-source project, with contributions from Google and the community. Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google.

Table of Contents
- how to check flutter version ?
- how to select a specific flutter version ?
- how to upgrade flutter sdk and packages ?
- what are flutter channels ?
- how to view your current channel ?
- how to switch between flutter channels ?
- what is flutter doctor ?
- how to disable flutter analytics ? optional
- how to create a new flutter app ?
- how to test your flutter app on a physical device ?
- how to build an android app bundle (aab) using flutter ?
- how to build apk file using flutter ?
- Useful Resources
This guide contains a list of basic commands that are frequently used while developing flutter apps.
how to check flutter version ?
$ flutter --version
//Output
Flutter 1.7.8+hotfix.4 • channel stable • https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
Framework • revision 20e59316b8 (5 weeks ago) • 2019-07-18 20:04:33 -0700
Engine • revision fee001c93f
Tools • Dart 2.4.0
how to select a specific flutter version ?
$ flutter version v1.9.1+hotfix.3
how to upgrade flutter sdk and packages ?
$ flutter upgrade
//Output
Upgrading Flutter from /home/dev/Desktop/workspace/flutter...
Updating d51fd86cd..20e59316b
19 files changed, 61 insertions(+), 33 deletions(-)
Upgrading engine...
Downloading android-arm-profile/linux-x64 tools... 1.0s
Downloading android-arm-release/linux-x64 tools... 0.6s
Downloading android-arm64-profile/linux-x64 tools... 0.9s
Downloading android-arm64-release/linux-x64 tools... 1.4s
Downloading android-x86 tools... 2.4s
Downloading android-x64 tools... 2.1s
Downloading android-arm tools... 0.9s
Downloading android-arm-profile tools... 0.8s
Downloading android-arm-release tools... 0.5s
Downloading android-arm64 tools... 1.0s
Downloading android-arm64-profile tools... 0.6s
Downloading android-arm64-release tools... 0.5s
Downloading package sky_engine... 0.2s
Downloading common tools... 1.1s
Downloading common tools... 1.1s
Downloading linux-x64 tools... 3.3s
Flutter 1.7.8+hotfix.4 • channel stable • https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
Framework • revision 20e59316b8 (5 weeks ago) • 2019-07-18 20:04:33 -0700
Engine • revision fee001c93f
Tools • Dart 2.4.0
what are flutter channels ?
Flutter has following channels :
- stable channel
- Most Stable Build
- Recommended channel for all production app releases
- beta channel
- “best” dev build of the previous month
- dev channel
- latest fully-tested build
- master channel
- Least Stable Build
- latest cutting edge build
how to view your current channel ?
$ flutter channel
//Output
Flutter channels:
* stable
beta
dev
master
symbol * next to the channel name indicates your current channel
how to switch between flutter channels ?
Run command - use “flutter channel [channel-name]”
$ flutter channel dev
Using this command we can switch to dev channel
what is flutter doctor ?
This command that checks your environment and displays report of the status of flutter installation.
$ flutter doctor
Doctor summary (to see all details, run flutter doctor -v):
[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, v1.9.1+hotfix.4, on Linux, locale en_US.UTF-8)
[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 29.0.2)
[✓] Android Studio (version 3.5)
[!] Connected device
! No devices available
! Doctor found issues in 1 category.
how to disable flutter analytics ? optional
$ flutter config --no-analytics
how to create a new flutter app ?
use “flutter create [app-name]”
$ flutter create yourappname
how to test your flutter app on a physical device ?
- Connect your Android device to your computer with a USB cable.
- Ensure that your have enabled USB DEBUGGING option
- Navigate to and run command
$ flutter install
OR
$ flutter run
how to build an android app bundle (aab) using flutter ?
Running flutter build defaults to a release build
$ flutter build appbundle
Note : release bundle for your app is created at /build/app/outputs/bundle/release/app.aab
how to build apk file using flutter ?
Running flutter build command defaults to a release build
$ flutter build apk
Note : this command builds a fat apk
OR
$ flutter build apk --split-per-abi
Note : the above command generated two apk files
- armeabi-v7a (32-bit) apk
- arm64-v8a (64-bit) apk
Useful Resources
To learn more about flutter - Flutter Developer Guide