# Flutter The **RudderStack Flutter SDK** lets you track event data from your Flutter applications and send it to your specified destinations via RudderStack. Refer to the [Flutter SDK GitHub Repository](https://github.com/rudderlabs/rudder-sdk-flutter) to get a more hands-on understanding of the SDK and the related codebase. [![Github Badge](https://img.shields.io/badge/pub-v1.2.0-blue)](https://pub.dev/packages/rudder_sdk_flutter/versions/1.2.0) We've released a new, beta version of the [Flutter SDK (v2)](https://www.rudderstack.com/docs/stream-sources/rudderstack-sdk-integration-guides/rudderstack-flutter-sdk/flutter-v2/) with an enhanced architecture that also supports the **web**. If you are using an older version of the Flutter SDK (<1.2.0), then refer to the [SDK v1](https://rudderstack.com/docs/stream-sources/rudderstack-sdk-integration-guides/rudderstack-flutter-sdk/flutter-v1/) guide. **Note that this SDK version will soon be deprecated.** ## SDK setup requirements To set up the RudderStack Flutter SDK, you need the following prerequisites: * You will need to set up a [RudderStack Account](https://app.rudderstack.com). * Once signed up, you need to [set up a Flutter source](https://www.rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-cloud/sources/#adding-a-source) in the dashboard. You should then see a **Write Key** for this source, as shown: ![Flutter source write key](https://876606571-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-Lq5Ea6fHVg3dSxMCgyQ%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-53b8aea3079dfc64991828c53d5cd2db5304f54e%2Fflutter-sdk-1.png?alt=media) * You will also need a data plane URL. For more information on the data plane URL and where to get it, refer to this [RudderStack Dashboard Overview](https://www.rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-cloud/dashboard-overview/#data-plane-url) section. * It is also recommended to set up the [Flutter development environment](https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/install) in your system. **The RudderStack Flutter SDK is migrated to Null Safety starting from version 1.0.2.** ## Installing the RudderStack Flutter SDK The recommended way to install the Flutter SDK is through [`pub`](https://pub.dev/packages/rudder_sdk_flutter). Follow the steps below to add the SDK as a dependency: 1. Open `pubspec.yaml` and add `rudder_sdk_flutter` under `dependencies` section, as shown: ```yaml dependencies: rudder_sdk_flutter: ^1.2.0 ``` 1. Navigate to your application's root folder and install all the required dependencies with the following command: ```bash flutter pub get ``` ## Initializing the RudderStack client After adding the SDK as a dependency, you need to set up the SDK. 1. To import the SDK, use the following snippet: ```dart import 'package:rudder_sdk_flutter/RudderClient.dart'; import 'package:rudder_sdk_flutter/RudderConfig.dart'; import 'package:rudder_sdk_flutter/RudderLogger.dart'; ``` 1. Then, add the following code snippet in your application: ```dart final RudderController rudderClient = RudderController.instance; RudderLogger.init(RudderLogger.VERBOSE); RudderConfigBuilder builder = RudderConfigBuilder(); builder.withDataPlaneUrl(); builder.withTrackLifecycleEvents(true); rudderClient.initialize(,config: builder.build()); ``` The `initialize` method has the following signature: | Name | Type | Presence | Description | | ---------- | -------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------- | | `writeKey` | String | Required | Your Flutter source write key. | | `config` | `RudderConfig` | Optional | Contains the RudderStack client configuration | Check the [Configuring your RudderStack client](#configuring-your-rudderstack-client) section below for a complete list of the configurable parameters. ## Configuring your RudderStack Client You can configure your client based on the following parameters by passing them in the `RudderConfigBuilder` object of your `rudderClient.initialize()` call. | Parameter | Type | Description | Default value | | ----------------------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | `logLevel` | Integer | Controls how much of the log you want to see from the Flutter SDK. | `RudderLogger.RudderLogLevel.NONE` | | `dataPlaneUrl` | String | Your data plane URL. | `https://hosted.rudderlabs.com` | | `flushQueueSize` | Integer | Number of events in a batch request to the server. | `30` | | `dbThresholdCount` | Integer | Number of events to be saved in the SQLite database. Once this limit is reached, the older events are deleted from the database. | `10000` | | `sleepTimeout` | Integer | Minimum waiting time to flush the events to the server. | `10 seconds` | | `configRefreshInterval` | Integer | Fetches the config from the dashboard after this specified time. | `2` | | `trackLifecycleEvents` | Boolean | Determines if the SDK will capture application life cycle events automatically. | `true` | | `autoCollectAdvertId` | Boolean | Determines if the SDK will collect the advertisement ID. | `false` | | `controlPlaneUrl` | String | This parameter should be changed **only if** you are self-hosting the control plane. Check the section [Self-hosted control plane](#self-hosted-control-plane) section below for more information. The SDK will add `/sourceConfig` along with this URL to fetch the configuration. | `https://api.rudderlabs.com` | ## Identify RudderStack captures `deviceId` and uses that as the `anonymousId` for identifying the user. This helps to track the users across the application installation. To attach more information to the user, you can use the `identify` method. For a detailed explanation of the `identify` call, refer to the [RudderStack API Specification](https://rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-api/api-specification/rudderstack-spec/identify/) guide. Once a user is identified, the SDK persists all the user information and passes it to the successive `track` or `screen` calls. To reset the user identification, you can use the `reset` method. On the Android devices, the `deviceId` is assigned during the first boot. It remains consistent across the applications and installs. This can be changed only after a factory reset of the device. According to the [Apple documentation](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uidevice/1620059-identifierforvendor), if the iOS device has multiple apps from the same vendor, all the apps will be assigned the same `deviceId`. If all the applications from a vendor are uninstalled and then reinstalled, then they will be assigned a new `deviceId`. A sample `identify` event is as shown: ```dart RudderTraits traits = RudderTraits(); traits.putBirthdayDate(new DateTime.now()); traits.putEmail("abc@123.com"); traits.putFirstName("Alex"); traits.putLastName("Keener"); traits.putGender("M"); traits.putPhone("1234567890"); Address address = Address(); address.putCity("New Orleans"); address.putCountry("USA"); traits.putAddress(address); traits.put("boolean", true); traits.put("integer", 50); traits.put("float", 120.4); traits.put("long", 1234); traits.put("string", "hello"); traits.put("date", new DateTime.now().millisecondsSinceEpoch); rudderClient.identify("test_user_id", traits: traits, options: null); ``` The `identify` method has the following signature: | Name | Data Type | Presence | Description | | --------- | -------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | `userId` | String | Required | Includes the developer identity for the user. | | `traits` | `RudderTraits` | Optional | Contains information related to the user traits. | | `options` | `RudderOption` | Optional | Extra options for the `identify` event. | ### Obtaining user traits after making an `identify` call You can obtain the user traits after making an `identify` call as shown: ```dart Map context = await rudderClient.getRudderContext(); print(context["traits"]); ``` ## Track You can record the users' activity through the `track` method. Each user action is called an event. For a detailed explanation of the `track` call, refer to the [RudderStack API Specification](https://rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-api/api-specification/rudderstack-spec/track/) guide. A sample `track` event is shown below: ```dart RudderProperty property = RudderProperty(); property.put("test_key_1", "test_key_1"); RudderProperty childProperty = RudderProperty(); childProperty.put("test_child_key_1", "test_child_value_1"); property.put("test_key_2",childProperty); rudderClient.track("test_track_event", properties: property); ``` The `track` method has the following signature: | Name | Type | Presence | Description | | ------------ | ---------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `name` | String | Required | Contains the name of the event you want to track. | | `properties` | `RudderProperty` | Optional | Contains the extra properties you want to send along with the event. | | `options` | `RudderOption` | Optional | Contains the extra event options. | RudderStack automatically tracks the following optional events: 1. `Application Installed` 2. `Application Updated` 3. `Application Opened` 4. `Application Backgrounded` You can disable these events by calling `withTrackLifeCycleEvents(false)` in the `RudderConfigBuilder` object while initializing the RudderStack client. However, it is highly recommended to keep them enabled. ## Screen You can use the `screen` call to record whenever the user views a screen on their mobile device along with the properties associated with that event. For a detailed explanation of the `screen` call, refer to the [RudderStack API Specification](https://rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-api/api-specification/rudderstack-spec/screen/) guide. A sample `screen` event is as shown: ```dart RudderProperty screenProperty = new RudderProperty(); screenProperty.put("foo", "bar"); rudderClient.screen("Main Activity", properties: screenProperty, options: null); ``` The `screen` method has the following signature: | Name | Type | Presence | Description | | ------------ | ---------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `screenName` | String | Required | Name of the screen viewed by the user. | | `properties` | `RudderProperty` | Optional | Extra property object that you want to pass along with the `screen` call. | | `options` | `RudderOption` | Optional | Extra options to be passed along with `screen` event. | ## Group The `group` call associates a user to a specific organization. For a detailed explanation of the `group` call, refer to the [RudderStack API Specification](https://rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-api/api-specification/rudderstack-spec/group/) guide. A sample `group` event is shown below: ```dart RudderTraits groupTraits = RudderTraits(); groupTraits.put("foo", "bar"); groupTraits.put("foo1", "bar1"); rudderClient.group("sample_group_id", groupTraits: groupTraits, options: null); ``` The `group` method has the following signature: | Name | Type | Presence | Description | | ------------- | -------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `groupId` | `String` | Required | The ID of the organization with which you want to associate your user. | | `groupTraits` | `RudderTraits` | Optional | Any other organization traits you want to pass along with the `group` call. | | `options` | `RudderOption` | Optional | Extra options to be passed along with `group` event. | RudderStack doesn't persist the group traits across the sessions. ## Alias The `alias` call lets you merge different identities of a known user. `alias` is an advanced method that lets you change the tracked user's ID explicitly. This method is useful when managing identities for some of the downstream destinations. For a detailed explanation of the `alias` call, refer to the [RudderStack API Specification](https://rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-api/api-specification/rudderstack-spec/alias/) guide. A sample `alias` call is as shown: ```dart rudderClient.alias("new_user_id", options: null); ``` The `alias` method has the following signature: | Name | Data Type | Presence | Description | | --------- | -------------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | `newId` | String | Required | The new `userId` you want to assign to the user. | | `options` | `RudderOption` | Optional | Extra options to be passed along with `alias` event. | RudderStack replaces the old `userId` with the `newUserId` and persists this identification across the sessions. ## Reset You can use the `reset` method to clear the persisted `traits` for the `identify` call. This is required for scenarios where the user logs out of a session. ```dart rudderClient.reset(); ``` ## Enabling/disabling user tracking via the `optOut` API(GDPR support) RudderStack gives the users (for example, an EU user) the ability to opt out of tracking any user activity until the user gives their consent. You can do this by leveraging RudderStack's `optOut` API. The `optOut` API takes `true` or `false` as a Boolean value to enable or disable tracking user activities. This flag persists across device reboots. The following snippet highlights the use of the `optOut` API to disable user tracking: ```dart rudderClient.optOut(true); ``` Once the user grants their consent, you can enable user tracking once again by using the `optOut` API with `false` as a parameter sent to it, as shown: ```dart rudderClient.optOut(false); ``` The `optOut` API is available in the Flutter SDK starting from version `1.0.6`. ## Filtering events When sending events to a destination via the [device mode](https://rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-cloud/rudderstack-connection-modes/#device-mode), you can explicitly specify the events to be discarded or allowed to flow through by whitelisting or blacklisting them. Refer to the [Client-side Event Filtering](https://rudderstack.com/docs/stream-sources/rudderstack-sdk-integration-guides/event-filtering/) guide for more information on this feature. ## Enabling/disabling events for specific destinations The Flutter SDK lets you enable or disable sending events to a specific destination or all the destinations connected to a source. You can specify these destinations by creating an object as shown in the following snippet: ```dart RudderOption options = new RudderOption(); // default value for `All` is true options.putIntegration("All", false); // specifying destination by its display name options.putIntegration("Mixpanel", false); // specifying destination by its Factory object options.putIntegrationWithFactory(Appcenter(), true); ``` The keyword `All` in the above snippet represents all the destinations connected to a source. Its value is set to `true` by default. Make sure the destination names that you pass while specifying the destinations exactly match the names as listed in the [RudderStack dashboard](https://app.rudderstack.com/directory). You can pass the destinations to the SDK in the following two ways: ### Method 1. Passing destinations while initializing the SDK This is helpful when you want to enable/disable sending the events across all the event calls made using the SDK to the specified destination(s). ```dart rudderClient.initialize(, config: builder.build(),options: options); ``` ### Method 2. Passing destinations while making event calls This approach is helpful when you want to enable/disable sending only a particular event to the specified destination(s) or if you want to override the specified destinations passed with the SDK initialization for a particular event. ```dart RudderProperty property = RudderProperty(); property.put("test_key_1", "test_key_1"); rudderClient.track("test_track_event", properties: property, options: options); ``` If you specify the destinations both while initializing the SDK as well as while making an event call, then the destinations specified at the event level only will be considered. ## External ID You can pass your custom `userId` along with the standard `userId` in your `identify` calls. RudderStack adds those values under `context.externalId`. The following code snippet highlights how to add `externalId` to your `identify` event: ```dart RudderOption option = RudderOption(); option.putExternalId("externalId", "some_external_id_1"); rudderClient.identify("testUserId", options: option); ``` ## Setting your own `anonymousId` using `putAnonymousId` By default, RudderStack uses `deviceId` as `anonymousId`. You can use the following method to override and set your own `anonymousId` with the SDK, as shown: ```dart rudderClient.putAnonymousId(); ``` ## Setting the advertisement ID RudderStack collects the advertisement ID **only** if `autoCollectAdvertId` is set to `true` during the [SDK initialization](#initializing-the-rudderstack-client), as shown: ```dart final RudderController rudderClient = RudderController.instance; MobileConfig mobileConfig = MobileConfig(autoCollectAdvertId: true); RudderLogger.init(RudderLogger.VERBOSE); RudderConfigBuilder builder = RudderConfigBuilder(); builder.withDataPlaneUrl(); builder.withTrackLifecycleEvents(true); rudderClient.initialize(,config: builder.build()); ``` You can use the `putAdvertisingId` method to pass your Android and iOS AAID and IDFA respectively. The `putAdvertisingId` method accepts a string argument as listed below: * `id` : Your Android advertisement ID (AAID) or your iOS advertisement ID (IDFA). The following snippet highlights the use of `putAdvertisingId()`: ```dart rudderClient.putAdvertisingId(); ``` The `id` parameter that you pass in the `putAdvertisingId` method is assigned as the AAID (for Android) or as the IDFA (for iOS). ## Setting the device token You can pass your device token for push notifications to be passed to the destinations which support the Push Notification feature. RudderStack sets the token under `context.device.token`. An example of setting the device token is as shown below: ```dart rudderClient.putDeviceToken(); ``` ### Self-hosted control plane In case you are using a device mode destination like Adjust, Firebase, etc., the Flutter SDK needs to fetch the required configuration from the control plane. If you are using the [Control Plane Lite](https://www.rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-open-source/control-plane-lite/) utility to host your own control plane, then follow [this guide](https://www.rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-open-source/control-plane-lite/#control-plane-url) and specify `controlPlaneUrl` in your [`RudderConfig.Builder`](#configuring-your-rudderstack-client) that points to your hosted source configuration file. You should not pass the `controlPlaneUrl` parameter during SDK initialization if you are using [RudderStack Cloud](https://app.rudderstack.com). This parameter is supported only if you are using the open-source [Control Plane Lite](https://www.rudderstack.com/docs/rudderstack-open-source/control-plane-lite/) utility to set up your own control plane. ## Debugging If you run into any issues when using the Flutter SDK, you can turn on the `VERBOSE` or `DEBUG` logging to determine the issue. To do so, follow these steps: 1. First, make sure you import `RudderLogger` by running the following command: ```dart import 'package:rudder_sdk_flutter/RudderLogger.dart'; ``` 1. Then, turn on the logging by changing your `rudderClient` initialization as shown: ```dart RudderConfigBuilder builder = RudderConfigBuilder(); builder.withDataPlaneUrl(DATA_PLANE_URL); builder.withLogLevel(RudderLogger.VERBOSE); rudderClient.initialize(WRITE_KEY,config: builder.build()); ``` You can set the log level to one of the following values: * `NONE` * `ERROR` * `WARN` * `INFO` * `DEBUG` * `VERBOSE` ## FAQs ### How do I get the user `traits` after making an `identify` call? You can get the user traits after making an `identify` call in the following way: ```dart Map context = await rudderClient.getRudderContext(); print(context["traits"]); ``` ## Contact us For queries on any of the sections covered in this guide, you can [contact us](mailto:%20docs@rudderstack.com) or start a conversation in our [Slack](https://rudderstack.com/join-rudderstack-slack-community) community. If you come across any issues while using the Flutter SDK, you can also open an issue on our [GitHub issues page](https://github.com/rudderlabs/rudder-sdk-flutter/issues).