• Android Studio and IntelliJ
• Visual Studio Code

Android Studio and IntelliJ IDEA offer a complete, IDE experience once you install the Flutter plugin.

To install the latest version of the following IDEs, follow their instructions:

• Android Studio
• IntelliJ IDEA Community
• IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate

Updates to the plugins are shipped on a regular basis. You should be prompted in the IDE when an update is available.

To check for updates manually:

1. Open preferences (Android Studio > Check for Updates on macOS,Help > Check for Updates on Linux).
2. Ifdart orflutter are listed, update them.

You can create a new project in one of several ways.

Creating a new Flutter project from the Flutter starter app template differs between Android Studio and IntelliJ.

In Android Studio:

1. In the IDE, clickNew Flutter Project from theWelcome window orFile > New > New Flutter Project from the main IDE window.
2. Specify theFlutter SDK path and clickNext.
3. Enter your desiredProject name,Description, andProject location.
4. If you might publish this app,set the company domain.
5. ClickFinish.

In IntelliJ:

1. In the IDE, clickNew Project from theWelcome window orFile > New > Project from the main IDE window.
2. SelectFlutter from theGenerators list in the left panel
3. Specify theFlutter SDK path and clickNext.
4. Enter your desiredProject name,Description, andProject location.
5. If you might publish this app,set the company domain.
6. ClickFinish.

When creating a new app, some Flutter IDE plugins ask for an organization name in reverse domain order, something likecom.example. Along with the name of the app, this is used as the package name for Android, and the Bundle ID for iOS when the app is released. If you think you might ever release this app, it is better to specify these now. They cannot be changed once the app is released. Your organization name should be unique.

To open an existing Flutter project:

1. In the IDE, clickOpen from theWelcome window, orFile > Open from the main IDE window.

2. Browse to the directory holding your existing Flutter source code files.

3. ClickOpen.

   feedbackImportant

   Donot use theNew > Project from existing sources option for Flutter projects.

The Flutter plugin performs code analysis that enables the following:

• Syntax highlighting.
• Code completions based on rich type analysis.
• Navigating to type declarations (Navigate > Declaration), and finding type usages (Edit > Find > Find Usages).
• Viewing all current source code problems (View > Tool Windows > Dart Analysis). Any analysis issues are shown in the Dart Analysis pane:
  

Running and debugging are controlled from the main toolbar:

When a Flutter project is open in the IDE, you should see a set of Flutter-specific buttons on the right-hand side of the toolbar.

1. Click thePlay icon in the toolbar, or invokeRun > Run. The bottomRun pane shows logs output.

1. If desired, set breakpoints in your source code.
2. Click theDebug icon in the toolbar, or invokeRun > Debug.
   • The bottomDebugger pane shows Stack Frames and Variables.
   • The bottomConsole pane shows detailed logs output.
   • Debugging is based on a default launch configuration. To customize this, click the drop-down button to the right of the device selector, and selectEdit configuration.

Flutter offers a best-in-class developer cycle enabling you to see the effect of your changes almost instantly with theStateful Hot Reload feature. To learn more, check outHot reload.

To view the performance data, including the widget rebuild information, start the app inDebug mode, and then open the Performance tool window usingView > Tool Windows > Flutter Performance.

To see the stats about which widgets are being rebuilt, and how often, clickShow widget rebuild information in thePerformance pane. The exact count of the rebuilds for this frame displays in the second column from the right. For a high number of rebuilds, a yellow spinning circle displays. The column to the far right shows how many times a widget was rebuilt since entering the current screen. For widgets that aren't rebuilt, a solid grey circle displays. Otherwise, a grey spinning circle displays.

If you have additional tips we should share,let us know!

Assists are code changes related to a certain code identifier. A number of these are available when the cursor is placed on a Flutter widget identifier, as indicated by the yellow lightbulb icon. The assist can be invoked by clicking the lightbulb, or by using the keyboard shortcut (Alt+Enter on Linux and Windows,Option+Return on macOS), as illustrated here:

Quick Fixes are similar, only they are shown with a piece of code has an error and they can assist in correcting it. They are indicated with a red lightbulb.

This can be used when you have a widget that you want to wrap in a surrounding widget, for example if you want to wrap a widget in aRow orColumn.

Similar to the assist above, but for wrapping an existing list of widgets rather than an individual widget.

Changes a child argument to a children argument, and wraps the argument value in a list.

Live templates can be used to speed up entering typical code structures. They are invoked by typing their prefix, and then selecting it in the code completion window:

The Flutter plugin includes the following templates:

• Prefixstless: Create a new subclass ofStatelessWidget.
• Prefixstful: Create a new subclass ofStatefulWidget and its associated State subclass.
• Prefixstanim: Create a new subclass ofStatefulWidget and its associated State subclass, including a field initialized with anAnimationController.

You can also define custom templates inSettings > Editor > Live Templates.

Hot reload

On Linux (keymapDefault for XWin) and Windows the keyboard shortcuts areControl+Alt+; andControl+Backslash.

On macOS (keymapMac OS X 10.5+ copy) the keyboard shortcuts areCommand+Option andCommand+Backslash.

Keyboard mappings can be changed in the IDE Preferences/Settings: SelectKeymap, then enterflutter into the search box in the upper right corner. Right click the binding you want to change andAdd Keyboard Shortcut.

Hot reload works by injecting updated source code files into the running Dart VM (Virtual Machine). This includes not only adding new classes, but also adding methods and fields to existing classes, and changing existing functions. A few types of code changes cannot be hot reloaded though:

• Global variable initializers
• Static field initializers
• Themain() method of the app

For these changes you can fully restart your application, without having to end your debugging session. To perform a hot restart, don't click the Stop button, simply re-click the Run button (if in a run session) or Debug button (if in a debug session), or shift-click the 'hot reload' button.

Opening the root directory of a Flutter project doesn't expose all the Android files to the IDE. Flutter apps contain a subdirectory namedandroid. If you open this subdirectory as its own separate project in Android Studio, the IDE will be able to fully support editing and refactoring all Android files (like Gradle scripts).

If you already have the entire project opened as a Flutter app in Android Studio, there are two equivalent ways to open the Android files on their own for editing in the IDE. Before trying this, make sure that you're on the latest version of Android Studio and the Flutter plugins.

• In the"project view", you should see a subdirectory immediately under the root of your flutter app namedandroid. Right click on it, then selectFlutter > Open Android module in Android Studio.
• OR, you can open any of the files under theandroid subdirectory for editing. You should then see a "Flutter commands" banner at the top of the editor with a link labeledOpen for Editing in Android Studio. Click that link.

For both options, Android Studio gives you the option to use separate windows or to replace the existing window with the new project when opening a second project. Either option is fine.

If you don't already have the Flutter project opened in Android studio, you can open the Android files as their own project from the start:

1. ClickOpen an existing Android Studio Project on the Welcome splash screen, orFile > Open if Android Studio is already open.
2. Open theandroid subdirectory immediately under the flutter app root. For example if the project is calledflutter_app, openflutter_app/android.

If you haven't run your Flutter app yet, you might see Android Studio report a build error when you open theandroid project. Runflutter pub get in the app's root directory and rebuild the project by selectingBuild > Make to fix it.

To enable editing of Android code in IntelliJ IDEA, you need to configure the location of the Android SDK:

1. InPreferences > Plugins, enableAndroid Support if you haven't already.
2. Right-click theandroid folder in the Project view, and selectOpen Module Settings.
3. In theSources tab, locate theLanguage level field, and select level 8 or later.
4. In theDependencies tab, locate theModule SDK field, and select an Android SDK. If no SDK is listed, clickNew and specify the location of the Android SDK. Make sure to select an Android SDK matching the one used by Flutter (as reported byflutter doctor).
5. ClickOK.

The Flutter Property Editor is a powerful tool provided by theFlutter plugin that lets you view and modify widget properties directly from its visual interface.

1. Click on the Flutter Property Editoricon in the Android Studio or IntelliJ sidebar.
2. The Flutter Property Editor will load in the side panel.
3. Please refer to the Flutter Property Editordocumentation for a detailed usage guide.

Important known issues that might impact your experience are documented in theFlutter plugin README file.

Known bugs and feature requests are tracked in the issue trackers:

• Flutter plugin issue tracker
• Dart plugin issue tracker

We welcome feedback, both on bugs/issues and feature requests. Prior to filing new issues:

• Do a quick search in the issue trackers to see if the issue is already tracked.
• Make sure you haveupdated to the most recent version of the plugin.

When filing new issues, include the output offlutter doctor.