Flutter Drift

Flutter Drift

Use this skill to add or repair Drift-based local persistence in Flutter apps. The skill is an operating workflow: inspect the target app first, choose only the relevant reference files, implement with current Drift APIs, and validate generated code.

Core Workflow

1. Inspect the app before editing:
   • Check pubspec.yaml, existing database files, build.yaml, state management package, target platforms, and tests.
   • Prefer the app's current architecture and naming over the examples in this skill.
2. Add or verify dependencies with package commands instead of hardcoding versions:
   • dart pub add drift drift_flutter path_provider dev:drift_dev dev:build_runner
   • Add provider or flutter_riverpod only when the app already uses it or the user asks for that integration.
3. Create or update the database entry point:
   • Define tables in Dart or .drift files.
   • Add the tables to @DriftDatabase.
   • Open Flutter databases with driftDatabase from package:drift_flutter/drift_flutter.dart unless the project needs a custom executor.
4. Keep Drift calls scoped to the database object:
   • Use database.select(database.todoItems), database.into(database.todoItems), database.update(database.todoItems), and database.delete(database.todoItems) from widgets, services, and repositories.
   • Use bare select(todoItems) only inside GeneratedDatabase subclasses or DatabaseAccessor classes where the methods and table getters are in scope.
5. Generate code after changing Drift declarations:
   • Run dart run build_runner build.
   • Treat generator errors as blockers, not optional cleanup.
6. For schema changes in an existing app, use Drift's guided migration workflow:
   • Configure drift_dev databases in build.yaml.
   • Run dart run drift_dev make-migrations before and after schema changes as needed.
   • Bump schemaVersion, write generated step-by-step migrations, and run generated migration tests.
7. Validate before finishing:
   • Run dart format on edited Dart files.
   • Run flutter analyze or dart analyze for the package.
   • Run targeted tests, including generated migration tests when migrations changed.

Resource Routing

• Read references/setup.md when adding Drift, opening a database, configuring web support, or sharing a database across isolates.
• Read references/tables.md when defining tables, columns, defaults, keys, indexes, constraints, generated columns, or strict tables.
• Read references/queries.md when implementing selects, filters, sorting, pagination, joins, aggregations, subqueries, custom columns, or unions.
• Read references/writes.md when implementing inserts, updates, deletes, upserts, companions, transactions, or batch operations.
• Read references/streams.md when implementing reactive Drift streams, StreamBuilder, StreamProvider, custom select streams, table update listeners, or manual stream invalidation.
• Read references/migrations.md when schemaVersion, existing user data, build.yaml, make-migrations, generated schema files, or migration tests are involved.
• Read references/flutter-ui.md when wiring Drift data into Flutter widgets with Provider, Riverpod, StreamBuilder, search, filtering, pagination, or user-facing loading and error states.

Required API Rules

• Do not call select(database.table) as a top-level function from a widget. Use database.select(database.table) outside database classes.
• Do not use watch(...), todoUpdates(...), or notifyTableUpdates(...). Use customSelect(...).watch(), tableUpdates(...), and notifyUpdates(...).
• Do not call delete(table).go(id). Add a where clause and then call go(), or use generated table extension helpers if the project already uses them.
• Do not use batch.updateAll(...) or pass raw ids to batch.delete(...). Use batch.update(..., where: ...), batch.delete(...) with an insertable row, or batch.deleteWhere(...).
• Do not mix Provider and Riverpod APIs. Provider.of<AppDatabase>(context) belongs to provider; Provider<AppDatabase>((ref) { ... }) and AsyncValue.when(...) belong to Riverpod.
• Do not bump schemaVersion without a migration plan for existing databases.
• Do not rely on raw SQLite writes when UI streams must update. Use Drift write APIs or call notifyUpdates with explicit TableUpdate metadata.

Fallbacks

• If package downloads are blocked, update source files and leave exact dart pub add or flutter pub add commands for the user, then state that dependency resolution was not validated.
• If a project cannot run build_runner, do not hand-write generated *.g.dart files. Fix source declarations and report the generator blocker.
• If migration state is unclear, stop before changing schemaVersion; ask for the current released schema history or database files.
• If web support is required but sqlite3.wasm and drift_worker.js are missing, add the code path and explicitly report the required web assets.

Validation Checklist

• pubspec.yaml contains Drift runtime and generator dependencies.
• Database files have valid part directives, table declarations, @DriftDatabase, constructor, and schemaVersion.
• All query and write examples are scoped to the correct database/accessor context.
• Generated code was rebuilt with build_runner.
• Flutter UI examples handle loading, empty, error, and data states without treating AsyncValue as a List.
• Migrations changed only with generated schema snapshots, step-by-step migration code, and tests.
• flutter analyze or dart analyze passes for the edited package, or any remaining analyzer failure is reported with the blocker.