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2026-10-10-version-from-platform

title: Read the app version from the platform build affects: dartway_cli: "0.25.0-dev.0"​

Who is affected​

Projects whose Flutter entrypoint passes a committed appBuildVersion constant. Apply this change on the next template sync. An empty platform build number maps to build 0. In the template, an empty version or a failed platform read is reported with its stack trace via debugPrint before using 0.0.0+0 so startup continues. The read precedes the app's uncaught-error pipeline; these fallbacks are template behaviour.

What to change​

  1. Add package_info_plus: ^9.0.1 to the Flutter package's dependencies and run flutter pub get.

  2. Delete lib/core/app_version.dart and test/core/app_version_test.dart, and remove their imports. The widget harness in test/support/app_test_app.dart passes a literal such as '0.0.0+0' to AppDwCore.create.

  3. Make main asynchronous and read the platform version before running the app:

    import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
    import 'package:flutter/widgets.dart';
    import 'package:package_info_plus/package_info_plus.dart';

    Future<void> main() async {
      WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
      final appVersion = await readAppVersion();
      // Pass appVersion to the application's existing app constructor and run it.
    }

    Future<String> readAppVersion() async {
      final PackageInfo info;
      try {
        info = await PackageInfo.fromPlatform();
      } catch (error, stackTrace) {
        // The app's uncaught-error pipeline is installed after this read.
        debugPrint('Could not read app version: $error\n$stackTrace');
        return '0.0.0+0';
      }
      return appVersionOf(info);
    }

    String appVersionOf(PackageInfo info) {
      if (info.version.isEmpty) {
        debugPrint('Platform app version is empty.\n${StackTrace.current}');
        return '0.0.0+0';
      }
      return info.buildNumber.isEmpty
          ? '${info.version}+0'
          : '${info.version}+${info.buildNumber}';
    }

  4. Keep the marketing version in pubspec.yaml; its +N is only a fallback for local builds. Pass --build-number=N in release builds and use --build-name only when overriding the marketing version. N will come from Studio's per-project counter. Do not commit release build-number bumps.

On web, PackageInfo reads the version.json that flutter build web writes. The web Dockerfile and deploy flow are unchanged; until the release counter is wired, that web build uses pubspec's fallback build number. Dw-App-Version labels sessions and decides nothing about compatibility.

How to check​

Test appVersionOf with a supplied build number and an empty one (+0), and with an empty version (0.0.0+0). Test that readAppVersion returns 0.0.0+0 when reading the platform version throws, and that both fallbacks report the problem and its stack trace before continuing. Run flutter test, then build and run web and a mobile simulator build with --build-number=521. AppVersionLabel should show the marketing version followed by +521, while pubspec.yaml remains unchanged.