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Code Push Quickstart

This guide shows you the fastest way to install Shorebird and try code push.

This document is a (slightly) condensed version of our code push docs, all on one page.

Sign up​

Before you can create a Shorebird app, you will need to sign up for Shorebird.

Create an account​

To create an account, head over to the Shorebird Console and authenticate with one of the available authentication methods.

Once you have logged into the console, follow the instructions to install the Shorebird CLI on your machine.

Create the app​

Once you have registered and installed the CLI, you're ready to use code push!

Start by creating a new Flutter app:

flutter create my_shorebird_app

As with any Flutter app, you can verify this created the standard Counter app by following the instructions printed by flutter create:

cd my_shorebird_app
flutter run

Initialize Shorebird​

To make this a Shorebird app, run:

shorebird init

This will create a shorebird.yaml file in the root of your project. This file contains your Shorebird app_id.

This will also run shorebird doctor to ensure everything is set up correctly.

info

Shorebird expects to find the latest stable flutter installed on your machine. Shorebird can be configured to work with older versions of Flutter (back to 3.10.0). See Flutter Version Management for more info.

Create a release​

We will create a release using the unmodified Counter app. Run:

shorebird release android

When prompted, use the suggested version number (1.0.0+1), and enter y when asked if you would like to continue.

Preview the release​

To preview the release with Shorebird (that is, with Shorebird's fork of the Flutter engine), run:

shorebird preview

Now kill the app on your device or emulator.

Create a patch​

We will now make a small change to the Counter app. In lib/main.dart, change the app theme's primarySwatch from blue to green:

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  const MyApp({super.key});

  // This widget is the root of your application.
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'Flutter Demo',
      theme: ThemeData(
        // This is the theme of your application.
        //
        // Try running your application with "flutter run". You'll see the
        // application has a blue toolbar. Then, without quitting the app, try
        // changing the primarySwatch below to Colors.green and then invoke
        // "hot reload" (press "r" in the console where you ran "flutter run",
        // or simply save your changes to "hot reload" in a Flutter IDE).
        // Notice that the counter didn't reset back to zero; the application
        // is not restarted.
-       primarySwatch: Colors.blue,
+       primarySwatch: Colors.green,
      ),
      home: const MyHomePage(title: 'Flutter Demo Home Page'),
    );
  }
}

After making this change, save the file and run:

shorebird patch android

See the patch in action​

Launch the app from your device or emulator. The app will still have the original blue theme, but it will be downloading the patch we just created in the background. Kill and launch the app again, and the app will be green! 🎉