Create a Release

In order to start pushing updates, you will need to create a release.

Creating a release builds and submits your app to Shorebird. Shorebird saves the compiled Dart code from your application in order to make updates smaller in size.

Android

Create an Android release by running the following command:

shorebird release android

Example output:

$ shorebird release android
✓ Building release (9.6s)
✓ Fetching apps (0.2s)
✓ Detecting release version (0.2s)
✓ Fetching releases (68ms)

🚀 Ready to create a new release!

📱 App: new_flutter_app (7a29188a-9363-426a-9a36-74a5e166373d)
📦 Release Version: 1.0.0+1
🕹️  Platform: android (arm64, arm32, x86_64)

Would you like to continue? (y/N) Yes
✓ Fetching Flutter revision (30ms)
✓ Updating release status (67ms)
✓ Creating artifacts (2.8s)
✓ Updating release status (62ms)

✅ Published Release!

Your next step is to upload the app bundle to the Play Store.
build/app/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab

See the following link for more information:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859152?hl=en

If your application supports flavors or multiple release targets, you can specify the flavor and target using the --flavor and --target options:

shorebird release android --target ./lib/main_development.dart --flavor development

Note

shorebird release wraps flutter build and can take any argument flutter build can. To pass arguments to the underlying flutter build, you need to put flutter build arguments after a -- separator. For example: shorebird release android -- --dart-define="foo=bar" will define the "foo" environment variable inside Dart as you might have done with flutter build directly. In PowerShell, the -- separator must be quoted: '--'.

By default, shorebird release android builds an AppBundle (.aab). If you would like to also generate an Android Package Kit (.apk), use the following command:

shorebird release android --artifact apk

Note

By default, shorebird release uses the Flutter version bundled within the Shorebird installation.

That version can be checked by running shorebird doctor.

To release with a different Flutter version, you can specify the version using the --flutter-version flag.

shorebird release android --flutter-version 3.44.4

iOS

Create an iOS release by running the following command:

shorebird release ios

Example output:

$ shorebird release ios
✓ Fetching apps (0.2s)
✓ Building release (59.0s)
✓ Getting release version (40ms)
✓ Fetching releases (0.1s)
🚀 Ready to create a new release!
📱 App: My App (7a29188a-9363-426a-9a36-74a5e166373d)
📦 Release Version: 1.0.0+1
🕹️  Platform: ios

Would you like to continue? (y/N) Yes
✓ Fetching Flutter revision (40ms)
✓ Creating release (0.1s)
✓ Creating artifacts (5.1s)
✓ Updating release status (57ms)

✅ Published Release!

Your next step is to upload the IPA to App Store Connect.
`build/ios/ipa/new_flutter_app.ipa`

To upload to the App Store either:
    1. Drag and drop the "build/ios/ipa/new_flutter_app.ipa" bundle into the Apple Transporter macOS app (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/transporter/id1450874784)
    2. Run xcrun altool --upload-app --type ios -f build/ios/ipa/new_flutter_app.ipa --apiKey your_api_key --apiIssuer your_issuer_id.
       See "man altool" for details about how to authenticate with the App Store Connect API key.

If your application supports flavors or multiple release targets, you can specify the flavor and target using the --flavor and --target options:

shorebird release ios --target ./lib/main_development.dart --flavor development

Note

shorebird release wraps flutter build and can take any argument flutter build can. To pass arguments to the underlying flutter build, you need to put flutter build arguments after a -- separator. For example: shorebird release android -- --dart-define="foo=bar" will define the "foo" environment variable inside Dart as you might have done with flutter build directly.

Note

By default, shorebird release uses the Flutter version bundled within the Shorebird installation.

That version can be checked by running shorebird doctor.

To release with a different Flutter version, you can specify the version using the --flutter-version flag.

shorebird release ios --flutter-version 3.44.4

Signing issues

Depending on how you normally sign your iOS app, you may see an error at the end of the build saying something like: Runner.app requires a provisioning profile with ___ feature or that no signing certificate was found. This can be addressed in a few ways:

Setting up automatic signing in Xcode

If you are releasing on your local machine (i.e., not in a CI environment), this option is easier than the following options, but does not always work well in CI environments.

In Xcode, open your project and navigate to the “Signing & Capabilities” tab. Ensure that “Automatically manage signing” is checked.

Create an ExportOptions.plist file.

You may need to provide an ExportOptions.plist file to the shorebird release ios command. This file is used by Xcode to determine which certificate and provisioning profile should be used to sign the .ipa. An example of this file is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>method</key>
	<string>app-store</string>
	<key>provisioningProfiles</key>
	<dict>
		<key>com.example.your_bundle_id</key>
		<string>Your App's App Store Provisioning Profile Name</string>
	</dict>
	<key>signingCertificate</key>
	<string>Apple Distribution</string>
	<key>signingStyle</key>
	<string>manual</string>
	<key>teamID</key>
	<string>*****</string> <!-- From https://developer.apple.com/account -->
</dict>
</plist>

To use this file, pass it to the shorebird release ios command:

shorebird release ios --export-options-plist=path/to/ExportOptions.plist

Linux

Create a Linux release by running the following command:

shorebird release linux

Example output:

$ shorebird release linux
✓ Fetching apps (0.3s)
✓ Building app bundle with Flutter 3.41.4 (1e0e5760ee) (18.3s)
✓ Fetching releases (0.1s)

🚀 Ready to create a new release!

📱 App: sample (d0cf1d8f-e741-4f5d-b280-b794000df1cd)
📦 Release Version: 1.0.0+1
🕹️  Platform: linux
🐦 Flutter Version: 3.41.4 (1e0e5760ee)

Would you like to continue? (y/N) Yes
✓ Fetching releases (0.1s)
✓ Creating release (0.3s)
✓ Updating release status (0.1s)
✓ Uploading artifacts (3.5s)
✓ Updating release status (1.7s)

✅ Published Release 1.0.0+1!

macOS

Create a macOS release by running the following command:

shorebird release macos

Example output:

$ shorebird release macos
✓ Fetching apps (0.3s)
✓ Building app bundle with Flutter 3.41.4 (1e0e5760ee) (18.3s)
✓ Fetching releases (0.1s)

🚀 Ready to create a new release!

📱 App: sample (d0cf1d8f-e741-4f5d-b280-b794000df1cd)
📦 Release Version: 1.0.0+1
🕹️  Platform: macos
🐦 Flutter Version: 3.41.4 (1e0e5760ee)

Would you like to continue? (y/N) Yes
✓ Fetching releases (0.1s)
✓ Creating release (0.3s)
✓ Updating release status (0.1s)
✓ Uploading artifacts (3.5s)
✓ Updating release status (1.7s)

✅ Published Release 1.0.0+1!

macOS app created at build/macos/Build/Products/Release/new_flutter_app.app.

To create a patch for this release, run shorebird patch --platforms=macos --release-version=1.0.0+1

Note: shorebird patch --platforms=macos without the --release-version option will patch the current version of the app.

If your application supports flavors or multiple release targets, you can specify the flavor and target using the --flavor and --target options:

shorebird release macos --target ./lib/main_development.dart --flavor development

Note

shorebird release wraps flutter build and can take any argument flutter build can. To pass arguments to the underlying flutter build, you need to put flutter build arguments after a -- separator. For example: shorebird release android -- --dart-define="foo=bar" will define the "foo" environment variable inside Dart as you might have done with flutter build directly. In PowerShell, the -- separator must be quoted: '--'.

Note

By default, shorebird release uses the Flutter version bundled within the Shorebird installation.

That version can be checked by running shorebird doctor.

To release with a different Flutter version, you can specify the version using the --flutter-version flag.

shorebird release macos --flutter-version 3.44.4

Windows

Create a Windows release by running the following command:

shorebird release windows

Example output:

$ shorebird release windows
✓ Fetching apps (0.3s)
✓ Building Windows app with Flutter 3.41.4 (1e0e5760ee) (18.3s)
✓ Fetching releases (0.1s)

🚀 Ready to create a new release!

📱 App: sample (d0cf1d8f-e741-4f5d-b280-b794000df1cd)
📦 Release Version: 1.0.0+1
🕹️  Platform: windows
🐦 Flutter Version: 3.41.4 (1e0e5760ee)

Would you like to continue? (y/N) Yes
✓ Fetching releases (0.1s)
✓ Creating release (0.3s)
✓ Updating release status (0.1s)
✓ Uploading artifacts (3.5s)
✓ Updating release status (1.7s)

✅ Published Release 1.0.0+1!

Windows executable created at build/windows/x64/runner/Release

To create a patch for this release, run shorebird patch --platforms=windows --release-version=1.0.0+1

Note: shorebird patch --platforms=windows without the --release-version option will patch the current version of the app.

If your application supports flavors or multiple release targets, you can specify the flavor and target using the --flavor and --target options:

shorebird release windows --target ./lib/main_development.dart --flavor development

Note

shorebird release wraps flutter build and can take any argument flutter build can. To pass arguments to the underlying flutter build, you need to put flutter build arguments after a -- separator. For example: shorebird release android -- --dart-define="foo=bar" will define the "foo" environment variable inside Dart as you might have done with flutter build directly. In PowerShell, the -- separator must be quoted: '--'.

Note

By default, shorebird release uses the Flutter version bundled within the Shorebird installation.

That version can be checked by running shorebird doctor.

To release with a different Flutter version, you can specify the version using the --flutter-version flag.

shorebird release windows --flutter-version 3.44.4

Options

Option	Abbreviation	Description
--platforms	-p	Comma-separated list of platforms to release simultaneously (e.g., android,ios).
--flavor		The product flavor to use when building.
--target	-t	The main entrypoint file of the application.
--flutter-version		The Flutter version to build with (e.g., 3.24.0). Defaults to the version bundled with Shorebird.
--build-name		Override the version name (e.g., 1.2.3).
--build-number		Override the version code / build number (e.g., 42).
--artifact		Android artifact type: aab (default) or apk.
--dry-run	-n	Build and validate the release but do not upload it. Ideal for CI validation.
--obfuscate		Obfuscate Dart code. Must be used together with --split-debug-info.
--split-debug-info		Output debug symbol files to the specified directory when obfuscating.

iOS-specific Options

Option	Description
--no-codesign	Skip code signing for the iOS build.
--export-options-plist	Path to a custom ExportOptions.plist for the iOS archive export step.
--export-method	Distribution method: app-store, ad-hoc, development, or enterprise.

Releasing for Multiple Platforms Simultaneously

If your app supports multiple platforms, you can build and publish releases for them in a single command using the --platforms (or -p) option:

shorebird release --platforms=android,ios

This will compile the binaries for the specified platforms and register them as a single version release in your Shorebird console. Note that to release for iOS or macOS, you must run this command on macOS hardware.

Manage Releases

In addition to using the Shorebird console, you can manage your app’s releases directly from the command line using the shorebird releases commands.

List Releases

Via the Shorebird CLI

To list all releases associated with your app:

shorebird releases list

This will output a list of all releases, showing their version number, target platform, Flutter version, and active patch number.

Via the Console

You can view all of your releases for your current app (as defined by your shorebird.yaml) on the Shorebird console.

View Release Details

To view detailed information for a specific release version:

shorebird releases info --release-version 1.0.0+1

This command displays metadata for the release, including which platforms are active and details of any patches created for it.

Get APKs from a Release (Android only)

If you created an Android release using an App Bundle (.aab) and want to generate local APKs from it for testing or side-loading, you can download them using:

shorebird releases get-apks --release-version 1.0.0+1

This will download the release artifacts and extract the compatible APK files to your machine.

Delete Releases

Danger

Deleting a release will remove all associated patches and artifacts and is not reversible.

You can delete a release for your app (as defined by your shorebird.yaml) on the Shorebird console.

1. Navigate to the application.
2. Click on the release you wish to delete.
3. Go to the “Settings” tab at the top of the page.
4. In the “Danger Zone” there will be a “Delete” button.

In order to complete the delete request, you do need to confirm which binaries you would like to be deleted. You can easily delete all releases or pick by platform. The list of platforms shown is based on the binaries that are uploaded for that release.

Side-loading and MDM

A common question we get asked is: Does Shorebird require publishing to the App Store or Play Store?

No. Shorebird works fine with side-loading and mobile device management (MDM) on Android. We haven’t had anyone try Shorebird with the iOS Developer Enterprise program, but we expect it to work just as well.

To build Shorebird for distribution via APK (e.g., side-loading), use the --artifact flag with the shorebird release command. For example:

shorebird release android --artifact=apk

That will produce both .apk and .aab files. You can distribute either or both as needed.

What’s Next

Create a PatchPush over-the-air updates to your published release.

Play Store GuideLearn how to submit your release to the Google Play Store.

App Store GuideLearn how to submit your release to the Apple App Store.