Flutter combined with Codemagic Best Practices (YAML approach)
Goal
Implements Codemagic YAML configurations for Flutter deployment. Codemagic natively understands Flutter, requires no extra tooling for code signing, and provides Apple M-series machines for fast iOS compilation.
Instructions
The recommended approach is using codemagic.yaml for "Infrastructure as Code," maintaining it within the project repository alongside the source code.
1. Infrastructure and Cache Strategy
Place codemagic.yaml in the project root. A single file can contain multiple Workflows (e.g., executing iOS deployments and Android deployments separately).
Best Caching Practice: Caching is fundamental to saving CI costs. Be sure to cache Dart dependencies and native build tools.
# 🌟 codemagic.yaml
workflows:
android-release:
name: Android Release Workflow
instance_type: mac_mini_m1 # Specify M1 machine for acceleration
environment:
# 🌟 Specify the Flutter version
flutter: stable
cache:
cache_paths:
- $HOME/.pub-cache # Dart packages
- $HOME/.gradle/caches # Gradle dependencies
2. Environment Variables & Encrypted Keys
NEVER hardcode Keystore passwords or API Keys in the YAML file. Codemagic provides highly secure UI dashboards to create variable groups, encrypt them, and consume them via scripts.
environment:
flutter: stable
groups:
# Pre-configured group names on the Codemagic UI
- keystore_credentials # Contains $KEY_PASSWORD, $ALIAS_PASSWORD
- google_play_credentials # Contains the JSON key path for the Google Service Account
3. Analyze, Generate & Test
Before building, utilize the scripts block to execute commands sequentially.
scripts:
- name: ⬇️ Fetch Dependencies
script: flutter packages pub get
- name: ⚙️ Code Generation (build_runner)
script: dart run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs
- name: 🚨 Static Analysis
script: flutter analyze
- name: 🧪 Unit & Widget Tests
script: flutter test
# 🌟 Codemagic automatically parses the test results and displays them on a sleek Web Dashboard
test_report: build/test-results/flutter.json
4. Build Bundle / IPA
Codemagic's greatest strength lies in condensing complex Code Signing flows into extremely minimalist declarative syntax.
4.1 Android Building (with Keystore)
- name: 🔨 Build Android App Bundle
script: |
# Generate a key.properties for android/app/build.gradle to read
echo "storePassword=$KEYSTORE_PASSWORD" >> android/key.properties
echo "keyPassword=$KEY_PASSWORD" >> android/key.properties
echo "keyAlias=$KEY_ALIAS" >> android/key.properties
echo "storeFile=$KEYSTORE_PATH" >> android/key.properties
# 🌟 The build action
flutter build appbundle --release
4.2 iOS Code Signing
You typically do not need to manually configure Fastlane Match. Upload your App Store Connect API Key via Codemagic's Web Dashboard, and it automatically handles certificate fetching:
environment: # Declare before Workflow logic: Enable Auto Signing
ios_signing:
distribution_type: app_store
bundle_identifier: com.yourcompany.app
scripts:
- name: 🍏 Build iOS IPA
script: flutter build ipa --release
5. Push to Store (Publishing)
Once the build concludes, declare the target artifacts, and automatically push directly to the stores utilizing built-in modules—no upload scripting required!
artifacts:
- build/app/outputs/bundle/release/**/*.aab
- build/ios/ipa/*.ipa
publishing:
# Auto-email the team
email:
recipients:
- devteam@company.com
# 🌟 Publish to Google Play (Internal Track)
google_play:
credentials: $GCP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_CREDENTIALS # The JSON key variable
track: internal
# 🌟 Publish to App Store Connect / TestFlight
app_store_connect:
auth: integration # Corresponds to the integrated Apple account from the Dashboard
submit_to_testflight: true
Constraints
- Prefer
codemagic.yaml over the Codemagic UI workflow editor — keeping pipeline configuration in the repository alongside source code is the recommended "Infrastructure as Code" approach.
- For teams already using Fastlane, Codemagic can still call
bundle exec fastlane <lane> from its scripts block; the two tools are not mutually exclusive.