📦 SmartPub - Flutter Dependency Analyzer #

The smart way to manage Flutter dependencies.

SmartPub is a CLI tool for Flutter & Dart projects that helps you identify unused dependencies and organize your pubspec.yaml in a clean, predictable way.

Over time, Flutter projects often accumulate unused or poorly organized packages. SmartPub makes it easy to preview, clean, and categorize dependencies without risking accidental changes.

🤔 Why SmartPub? #

In real Flutter projects:

• Unused packages increase build time and maintenance cost
• pubspec.yaml becomes hard to read as dependencies grow
• Developers hesitate to clean dependencies due to fear of breaking the app

SmartPub solves this by:

• Detecting unused dependencies safely
• Providing preview-first workflows
• Offering interactive modes before making changes
• Keeping actions explicit and predictable

No magic. No hidden behavior.

✨ What SmartPub Does #

SmartPub focuses on two core features only:

1️⃣ Unused Dependency Detection #

• Scans your project source code
• Detects unused dependencies
• Allows preview before removal
• Supports interactive confirmation

2️⃣ Dependency Categorization (beta) #

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• Groups dependencies into logical categories
• Uses known ecosystem data
• Supports preview, auto-apply, and interactive overrides

🚀 Installation #

Global installation (recommended) #

dart pub global activate smartpub

Make sure Dart’s global bin is in your PATH.

🧭 Usage Overview #

smartpub [command] [options]

If no command is provided, SmartPub runs in preview mode.

🔍 Commands #

check (default) #

Preview unused dependencies (read-only).

smartpub
smartpub check

✔ No files are modified.

clean #

Remove unused dependencies.

smartpub clean

Interactive cleanup

Review each removal before applying changes.

smartpub clean --interactive

A backup of pubspec.yaml is created automatically.

group #

Preview dependency categorization.

smartpub group

Apply categorization automatically

smartpub group --apply

Interactive categorization

Override suggested categories interactively.

smartpub group --interactive

This is useful when you want full control over how packages are grouped.

restore #

Restore pubspec.yaml from the last backup.

smartpub restore

update #

Update SmartPub to the latest version.

smartpub update

⚙️ Options #

--apply                  Apply changes automatically
--interactive            Review and confirm changes interactively
--no-fail-on-violations  Exit 0 even when violations are found (warn-only mode)
--no-color               Disable colored output (CI-friendly)
-h, --help               Show help information
-v, --version            Show version information

🏗️ CI Integration & Exit Codes #

SmartPub returns standard exit codes so you can use it as a blocking gate in your pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Bitrise).

Example GitHub Action (Fail on violations) #

- name: Check for unused dependencies
  run: dart run smartpub check

Example CI Migration (Warn-only mode) #

If you want to integrate SmartPub into CI but aren't ready to fail the build yet, use:

smartpub check --no-fail-on-violations

This will print all violations but safely exit 0.

🧪 Typical Workflow #

A safe and recommended workflow:

smartpub            # preview unused dependencies
smartpub clean      # remove unused dependencies
smartpub group      # preview categorization
smartpub group --interactive

This keeps changes intentional and reviewable.

🛡️ Safety Guarantees #

• SmartPub never modifies files without intent
• Preview is the default behavior
• Backups are created before changes
• Interactive mode is available for sensitive operations

📦 Project Scope (Important) #

SmartPub intentionally does not:

• Modify versions automatically
• Upgrade or downgrade dependencies
• Guess architectural intent

Its goal is clarity and cleanliness, not automation overload.

📞 Support #

• 🐛 GitHub
• 🐛 Report Issues
• 💡 Feature Requests

Made with ❤️ by Vatsal Jaganwala