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Pre v6 documentation

Introduction

What is AutoRoute?

It’s a Flutter navigation package, it allows for strongly-typed arguments passing, effortless deep-linking and it uses code generation to simplify routes setup, with that being said it requires a minimal amount of code to generate everything needed for navigation inside of your App.

Why AutoRoute?

If your App requires deep-linking or guarded routes or just a clean routing setup you'll need to use named/generated routes and you’ll end up writing a lot of boilerplate code for mediator argument classes, checking for required arguments, extracting arguments and a bunch of other stuff. AutoRoute does all that for you and much more.

Installation

dependencies:                    
 auto_route: [latest-version]                    
                   
dev_dependencies:                    
 auto_route_generator: [latest-version]                    
 build_runner:                    

Setup And Usage

1- Create a router class and annotate it with @AutoRouterConfig then extend "$YourClassName" 2- override the routes getter and start adding your routes.

@AutoRouterConfig()      
class AppRouter extends $AppRouter {      
   
 @override      
 List<AutoRoute> get routes => [      
  /// routes go here     
  ];    
}    

Using part builder

To generate a part-of file simply add a Part Directive to your AppRouter and extend the generated private router.
Note deferredLoading functionality does not work with part-file setup

part 'app_router.gr.dart';            
              
@AutoRouterConfig()      
class AppRouter extends _$AppRouter {      
    
  @override      
  List<AutoRoute> get routes => [      
   /// routes go here     
   ]    
 }               

Generating Routable pages

Routable pages are just simple everyday widgets annotated with @RoutePage() which allows them to be constructed by the router.

@RoutePage()    
class HomeScreen extends StatefulWidget {}    

Now simply run the generator

Use the [watch] flag to watch the files' system for edits and rebuild as necessary.

flutter packages pub run build_runner watch                    

if you want the generator to run one time and exit, use

flutter packages pub run build_runner build                    

Add the generated route to your routes list

@AutoRouterConfig(replaceInRouteName: 'Screen,Route')      
class AppRouter extends $AppRouter {      
   
 @override      
 List<AutoRoute> get routes => [      
   //HomeScreen is generated as HomeRoute because     
   //of the replaceInRouteName property    
   AutoRoute(HomeRoute.page),    
  ]    
}    

Finalize the setup

after you run the generator your router class will be generated, hook it up with MaterialApp.

// assuming this is the root widget of your App                 
class App extends StatelessWidget {            
  // make sure you don't initiate your router                
  // inside of the build function.                
  final _appRouter = AppRouter();            
            
  @override            
  Widget build(BuildContext context){            
    return MaterialApp.router(            
      routerConfig: _appRouter.config(),         
    );            
  }            
}            

Generated Routes

A PageRouteInfo object will be generated for every declared AutoRoute, These objects hold strongly-typed page arguments which are extracted from the page's default constructor. Think of them as string path segments on steroids.

class BookListRoute extends PageRouteInfo {                    
  const BookListRoute({List<PagerouteInfo>? children})    
   : super(name, path: '/books',initialChildren: children);                    
                    
  static const String name = 'BookListRoute';    
  static const PageInfo<void> page = PageInfo<void>(name);                    
}                    

Navigating Between Screens

AutoRouter offers the same known push, pop and friends methods to manipulate the pages stack using both the generated PageRouteInfo objects and paths.

// get the scoped router by calling                    
AutoRouter.of(context)                    
// or using the extension                    
context.router                    
                    
// adds a new entry to the pages stack                    
router.push(const BooksListRoute())                  
// or by using paths                  
router.pushNamed('/books')                   
                
// removes last entry in stack and pushes provided route                 
// if last entry == provided route page will just be updated                
router.replace(const BooksListRoute())                    
// or by using paths                  
router.replaceNamed('/books')                  
                
// pops until provided route, if it already exists in stack                    
// else adds it to the stack (good for web Apps).                    
router.navigate(const BooksListRoute())                  
// or by using paths                  
router.navigateNamed('/books')                
              
// on Web it calls window.history.back();            
// on Native it navigates you back             
// to the previous location            
router.navigateBack();            
            
// adds a list of routes to the pages stack at once                
router.pushAll([                
   BooksListRoute(),                
   BookDetailsRoute(id:1),                
]);                
                
// This's like providing a completely new stack as it rebuilds the stack                
// with the list of passed routes                
// entries might just update if already exist                
router.replaceAll([                
   LoginRoute()                
]);                
// pops the last page unless stack has 1 entry                    
context.router.pop();                   
// keeps poping routes until predicate is satisfied                
context.router.popUntil((route) => route.settings.name == 'HomeRoute');                
// a simplifed version of the above line                
context.router.popUntilRouteWithName('HomeRoute');       
// keeps popping routes until route with provided path is found              
context.router.popUntilRouteWithPath('/some-path');            
// pops all routes down to the root                
context.router.popUntilRoot();                
                     
// removes the top most page in stack even if it's the last                
// remove != pop, it doesn't respect WillPopScopes it just                 
// removes the entry.                
context.router.removeLast();                 
                
// removes any route in stack that satisfies the predicate                
// this works exactly like removing items from a regular List                
// <PageRouteInfo>[...].removeWhere((r)=>)                
context.router.removeWhere((route) => );                
                    
// you can also use the common helper methods from context extension to navigate                
context.pushRoute(const BooksListRoute());                
context.replaceRoute(const BooksListRoute());                
context.navigateTo(const BooksListRoute());                
context.navigateNamedTo('/books');                
context.back();               
context.popRoute();                

Passing Arguments

That's the fun part! AutoRoute automatically detects and handles your page arguments for you, the generated route object will deliver all the arguments your page needs including path/query params.

e.g. The following page widget will take an argument of type Book.

@RoutePage()      
class BookDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {                    
 const BookDetailsPage({required this.book});                    
                    
  final Book book;                 
  ...                    

Note: Default values are respected. Required fields are also respected and handled properly.

The generated BookDetailsRoute will deliver the same arguments to its corresponding page.

router.push(BookDetailsRoute(book: book));                    

Note: all args are generated as named parameters regardless of their original type.

Returning Results

You can return results by either using the pop completer or by passing a callback function as an argument the same way you'd pass an object.

1 - Using the pop completer

var result = await router.push(LoginRoute());                    

then inside of your LoginPage pop with results

router.pop(true);                   

as you'd notice we did not specify the result type, we're playing with dynamic values here, which can be risky and I personally don't recommend it.

To avoid working with dynamic values we specify what type of results we expect our page to return, which is a bool value.

@RoutePage<bool>()          
class LoginPage extends StatelessWidget{..}           

we push and specify the type of results we're expecting

var result = await router.push<bool>(LoginRoute());                    

and of course we pop with the same type

router.pop<bool>(true);                   

2- Passing a callback function as an argument.
We only have to add a callback function as a parameter to our page constructor like follows:

@RoutePage()                    
class BookDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {                    
 const BookDetailsRoute({this.book, required this.onRateBook});                    
                    
  final Book book;                    
  final void Function(int) onRateBook;                    
  ...                    

The generated BookDetailsRoute will deliver the same arguments to its corresponding page.

context.pushRoute(                    
      BookDetailsRoute(                    
          book: book,                    
          onRateBook: (rating) {                    
           // handle result                    
          }),                    
    );                    

if you're finishing with results make sure you call the callback function as you pop the page

onRateBook(RESULT);                    
context.popRoute();                    

Note: Default values are respected. Required fields are also respected and handled properly.

Nested Navigation

Nested navigation means building an inner router inside of a page of another router, for example in the below diagram users page is built inside of dashboard page.

defining nested routes is as easy as populating the children field of the parent route. In the following example UsersPage , PostsPage and SettingsPage are nested children of DashboardPage.

@AutoRouterConfig(replaceInRouteName: 'Page,Route')                    
class AppRouter extends $AppRouter{    
    
  @override      
  List<AutoRoute> get routes => [                  
    AutoRoute(                    
      path: '/dashboard',                    
      page: DashboardRoute.page,                    
      children: [                    
        AutoRoute(path: 'users', page: UsersRoute.page),                    
        AutoRoute(path: 'posts', page: PostsRoute.page),                
        AutoRoute(path: 'settings', page: SettingsRoute.page),                      
      ],                    
    ),                
    AutoRoute(path: '/login', page: LoginRoute.page)                
  ],    
        
 }                    

To render/build nested routes we need an AutoRouter widget that works as an outlet or a nested router-view inside of our dashboard page.

class DashboardPage extends StatelessWidget {                
  @override                
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {                
    return Row(                
      children: [                
        Column(                
          children: [                
            NavLink(label: 'Users', destination: const UsersRoute()),                
            NavLink(label: 'Posts', destination: const PostsRoute()),                
            NavLink(label: 'Settings', destination: const SettingsRoute()),                
          ],                
        ),                
        Expanded(                
          // nested routes will be rendered here                
          child: AutoRouter(),                
        )                
      ],                
    );                
  }                
}                

Note NavLink is just a button that calls router.push(destination)
Now if we navigate to /dashboard/users we will be taken to the DashboardPage and the UsersPage will be shown inside of it.

What if want to show one of the child pages at /dashboard? we can simply do that by giving the child routes an empty path '' to make initial or by setting initial to true.

   AutoRoute(                    
      path: '/dashboard',                    
      page: DashboardRoute.page,                    
      children: [                    
        AutoRoute(path: '', page: UsersRoute.page),                             
        AutoRoute(path: 'posts', page: PostsRoute.page),                    
      ],                    
    ),                    

or by using a RedirectRoute

   AutoRoute(                    
      path: '/dashboard',                    
      page: DashboardRoute.page,                    
      children: [                    
        RedirectRoute(path: '', redirectTo: 'users'),                    
        AutoRoute(path: 'users', page: UsersRoute.page),                    
        AutoRoute(path: 'posts', page: PostsRoute.page),                     
      ],                    
    ),                    

Things to keep in mind when implementing nested navigation

1- Each router manages its own pages stack.
2- Navigation actions like push, pop and friends are handled by the topmost router and bubble up if it couldn't be handled.

Tab Navigation

If you're working with flutter mobile you're most likely to implement tabs navigation, that's why auto_route makes tabs navigation as easy and straightforward as possible.

in the previous example we used an AutoRouter widget to render nested child routes, AutoRouter is just a shortcut for AutoStackRouter, StackRouters manage a stack of pages inside of them where the active/visible page is always the one on top and you'd need to pop it to see the page beneath it.

Now we can try to implement our tabs using an AutoRouter (StackRouter) by pushing or replacing a nested route every-time the tab changes and that might work but our tabs state will be lost, not to mention the transition between tabs issue, luckily auto_route comes equipped with an AutoTabsRouter which is especially made to handle tab navigation.

AutoTabsRouter lets you switch between different routes while preserving offstage-routes state, tab routes are lazily loaded by default ( can be disabled ) and finally it allows to create whatever transition animation you want.

Let's change the previous example to use tab navigation.

Notice that we're not going to change anything in our routes declaration map, we still have a dashboard page that has three nested children, users, posts and settings.

class DashboardPage extends StatelessWidget {                
  @override                
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {                
    return AutoTabsRouter(                
    // list of your tab routes                
    // routes used here must be declared as children                
    // routes of /dashboard                 
      routes: const [                
        UsersRoute(),                
        PostsRoute(),                
        SettingsRoute(),                
      ],          
      transitionBuilder: (context,child,animation)=> FadeTransition(                
              opacity: animation,                
              // the passed child is technically our animated selected-tab page                
              child: child,                
            ),       
      builder: (context, child) {                
        // obtain the scoped TabsRouter controller using context                
        final tabsRouter = AutoTabsRouter.of(context);                
        // Here we're building our Scaffold inside of AutoTabsRouter                
        // to access the tabsRouter controller provided in this context                
        //                 
        //alterntivly you could use a global key                
        return Scaffold(                
            body: child,               
            bottomNavigationBar: BottomNavigationBar(                
              currentIndex: tabsRouter.activeIndex,                
              onTap: (index) {                
                // here we switch between tabs                
                tabsRouter.setActiveIndex(index);                
              },                
              items: [                
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Users',...),                
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Posts',...),                
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Settings',...),                
              ],                
            ));                
      },                
    );                
  }                
}                

if you think the above setup is a bit messy you could use the shipped-in AutoTabsScaffold that makes things much cleaner.

class DashboardPage extends StatelessWidget {      
  @override      
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {      
    return AutoTabsScaffold(      
      routes: const [      
        UsersRoute(),      
        PostsRoute(),      
        SettingsRoute(),      
      ],      
      bottomNavigationBuilder: (_, tabsRouter) {      
        return BottomNavigationBar(      
          currentIndex: tabsRouter.activeIndex,      
          onTap: tabsRouter.setActiveIndex,      
          items: const [      
            BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Users',...),      
            BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Posts',...),      
            BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Settings',...),      
          ],      
        );      
      },      
    );      
  }      
}             

Using PageView

Use the AutoTabsRouter.pageView constructor to implement tabs using PageView

AutoTabsRouter.pageView(            
     routes: [            
        BooksTab(),            
        ProfileTab(),            
        SettingsTab(),            
        ],           
     builder: (context, child, _) {            
        final tabsRouter = AutoTabsRouter.of(context);      
        return Scaffold(            
              appBar: AppBar(            
              title: Text(context.topRoute.name),            
              leading: AutoLeadingButton()),            
              body: child,            
              bottomNavigationBar: BottomNavigationBar(                
                    currentIndex: tabsRouter.activeIndex,                
                    onTap: tabsRouter.setActiveIndex                
                    items: [                
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Books',...),                
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Profile',...),                
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Settings',...),                
                    ],                
                  ),          
            ),            
      ); },          
  );          

Using TabBar

Use the AutoTabsRouter.tabBar constructor to implement tabs using TabBar

AutoTabsRouter.tabBar(            
     routes: [            
        BooksTab(),            
        ProfileTab(),            
        SettingsTab(),            
        ],           
     builder: (context, child, controller) {          
        final tabsRouter = AutoTabsRouter.of(context);      
        return Scaffold(            
              appBar: AppBar(            
                 title: Text(context.topRoute.name),            
                 leading: AutoLeadingButton(),          
                 bottom: TabBar(            
                    controller: controller,            
                    tabs: const [            
                    Tab(text: '1', icon: Icon(Icons.abc)),            
                    Tab(text: '2', icon: Icon(Icons.abc)),            
                    Tab(text: '3', icon: Icon(Icons.abc)),            
                   ],),          
               ),            
              body: child,            
              bottomNavigationBar: BottomNavigationBar(                
                    currentIndex: tabsRouter.activeIndex,                
                    onTap: tabsRouter.setActiveIndex                
                    items: [                
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Books',...),                
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Profile',...),                
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Settings',...),                
                    ],                
                  ),          
            ),            
      ); },          
  );          

Finding The Right Router

Every nested AutoRouter has its own routing controller to manage the stack inside of it and the easiest way to obtain a scoped controller is by using context.

In the previous example DashboardPage is a root level stack entry so calling AutoRouter.of(context) anywhere inside of it will get us the root routing controller.

AutoRouter widgets that are used to render nested routes, insert a new router scope into the widgets tree, so when a nested route calls for the scoped controller they will get the closest parent controller in the widgets tree not the root controller.

class Dashboard extends StatelessWidget {                    
                   
  @override                    
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {                    
  // this will get us the root routing controller                    
    AutoRouter.of(context);                    
    return Scaffold(                    
      appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Dashboard page')),                     
      // this inserts a new router scope into the widgets tree                    
      body: AutoRouter()                     
    );                    
  }                    
}                    

Here's a simple diagram to help visualize this

As you can tell from the above diagram it's possible to access parent routing controllers by calling router.parent<T>(), we're using a generic function because we have two different routing controllers StackRouter and TabsRouter, one of them could be the parent controller of the current router and that's why we need to specify a type.

router.parent<StackRouter>() // this returns  the parent router as a Stack Routing controller                    
router.parent<TabsRouter>() // this returns athe parent router as a Tabs Routing controller                    

on the other hand obtaining the root controller does not require type casting because it's always a StackRouter.

router.root // this returns the root router as a Stack Routing controller                    

You can obtain access to inner-routers from outside their scope using a global key

class DashboardPage extends StatefulWidget {                
  @override                
  _DashboardPageState createState() => _DashboardPageState();                
}                
                
class _DashboardPageState extends State<DashboardPage> {                
  final _innerRouterKey = GlobalKey<AutoRouterState>();                
  @override                
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {                
    return Row(                
      children: [                
        Column(                
          children: [                
            NavLink(label: 'Users',                
            onTap:(){                
               final router = _innerRouterKey.currentState?.controller;                
               router?.push(const UsersRoute());                
             }                
            ),                
            ...                
          ],                
        ),                
        Expanded(                
          child: AutoRouter(key: _innerRouterKey),                
        )                
      ],                
    );                
  }                
}                

You could also obtain access to inner-routers from outside their scope without a global key as long as they're initiated.

// assuming this's the root router                    
context.innerRouterOf<StackRouter>(UserRoute.name)                     
// or if we're usign an AutoTabsRouter inside of DashboardPage                
context.innerRouterOf<TabsRouter>(UserRoute.name)                  

Accessing the DashboardPage inner router from the previous example.

class Dashboard extends StatelessWidget {                    
                  
  @override                    
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {                    
    return Scaffold(                    
      appBar: AppBar(                    
        title: Text('Dashboard'),                    
        actions: [                    
          IconButton(                    
            icon: Icon(Icons.person),                    
            onPressed: () {                    
              // accessing the inner router from                    
              // outside the scope                    
              final router = context.innerRouterOf<StackRouter>(DashboardRoute.name)                
              router?.push(const UsersRoute());                    
            },                    
          ),                    
        ],                    
      ),                    
      body: AutoRouter(), // we're trying to get access to this                    
    );                    
  }                    
}                    

Navigating Without Context

To navigate without context you can simply assign your generated router to a global variable

// declare your route as a global vairable                
final appRouter = AppRouter();                  
                
class MyApp extends StatefulWidget {                
                
  @override                
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {                
    return MaterialApp.router(                
       routerConfig: appRouter.config(),              
      );                
    }                

Note: using global variable is not recommended and is considered a bad practice and most of the times you should use dependency injection instead.

Here's an example using get_it which is just a personal favorite, you can use any dependency injection package you like.

void main(){                
// make sure you register it as a Singleton or a lazySingleton                
  getIt.registerSingleton<AppRouter>(AppRouter());                
  runApp(MyApp());                
 }                
                
class MyApp extends StatefulWidget {                
  @override                
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {                
    final appRouter = getIt<AppRouter>();                
    return MaterialApp.router(                
       routerConfig: appRouter.config(),               
      );                
    }                

now you can access to your router anywhere inside of your App without using context.

getIt<AppRouter>().push(...);                

Note: navigating without context is not recommended in nested navigation unless you use navigate instead of push and you provide a full hierarchy. e.g router.navigate(SecondRoute(children: [SubChild2Route()]))

Deep Linking

AutoRoute will automatically handle deep-links coming from the platform, but native platforms require some setup, see Deep linking topic in flutter documentation.

Using Deep-link Builder

Deep link builder is an interceptor for deep-links where you can validate or override deep-links coming from the platform.

In the following example we will only allow deep-links starting with /products

    MaterialApp.router(
      routerConfig: _appRouter.config(
        deepLinkBuilder: (deepLink) {
          if (deepLink.path.startsWith('/products')) {
            // continute with the platfrom link
            return deepLink;
          } else {
            return DeepLink.defaultPath;
            // or DeepLink.path('/')
            // or DeepLink([HomeRoute()])
          }
        }
      ),
    )

Deep Linking to None-nested Routes

AutoRoute can build a stack from a linear route list as long as they're ordered properly and can be matched as prefix. e.g / is a prefix match of /products, and /products is prefix match of /products/:id so we have a setup that looks something like this: -- / -- /products -- /products/:id

Now receiving this deep-link /products/123 will add all above routes to the stack, this of-course requires includePrefixMatches to be true in the root config (default is true) or when using pushNamed, navigateNamed and replaceNamed.

Things to keep in mind:

  • if a full match can not finally be found no prefix matches will be included.
  • Paths that require a full path match => AutoRoute(path:'path', fullMatch: true) will not be included as prefix matches.
  • in the above example if /products/:id comes before /products, /products will not be included.

Declarative Navigation

To use declarative navigation with auto_route you simply use the AutoRouter.declarative constructor and return a list of routes based on state.

AutoRouter.declarative(            
  routes: (handler) => [            
     BookListRoute(),            
     if(_selectedBook != null)            
     BookDetailsRoute(id: _selectedBook.id),            
 ],);          

Note: the handler contains a temp-list of pending initial routes which can be read only once.

Working with Paths

Working with paths in AutoRoute is optional because PageRouteInfo objects are matched by name unless pushed as a string using the deepLinkBuilder property in root delegate or pushNamed , replaceNamed navigateNamed methods.

if you don’t specify a path it’s going to be generated from the page name e.g. BookListPage will have ‘book-list-page’ as a path, if initial arg is set to true the path will be / unless it's relative then it will be an empty string ''.

When developing a web Application or a native App that requires deep-linking you'd probably need to define paths with clear memorable names, and that's done using the path argument in AutoRoute.

 AutoRoute(path: '/books', page: BookListPage),                    

Path Parameters (dynamic segments)

You can define a dynamic segment by prefixing it with a colon

 AutoRoute(path: '/books/:id', page: BookDetailsPage),                    

The simplest way to extract path parameters from path and gain access to them is by annotating constructor params with @PathParam('optional-alias') with the same alias/name of the segment.

class BookDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {                    
  const BookDetailsPage({@PathParam('id') this.bookId});                
                  
  final int bookId;                    
  ...                    

Now writing /books/1 in the browser will navigate you to BookDetailsPage and automatically extract the bookId argument from path and inject it to your widget.

Inherited Path Parameters

To inherit a path-parameter from a parent route's path we need to use @PathParam.inherit annotation in the child route's constructor e.g let's say we have the following setup

AutoRoute(        
   path: '/product/:id',        
   page: ProductRoute.page,        
   children: [        
      AutoRoute(path: 'review',page: ProductReviewRoute.page),        
  ],      
),      

now ProductReviewScreen expects a path-param named id but, from the above snippet we know that the path corresponding with it review has no path parameters, but we can inherit 'id' form the parent '/product/:id' like follows:

@RoutePage()    
class ProductReviewScreen extends StatelessWidget {        
   // the path-param 'id' will be inherited and it can not be passed      
   // as a route arg by user      
  const ProductReviewScreen({super.key, @PathParam.inherit('id') required String id});       
}      

Query Parameters

Query parameters are accessed the same way, simply annotate the constructor parameter to hold the value of the query param with @QueryParam('optional-alias') and let AutoRoute do the rest.

you could also access path/query parameters using the scoped RouteData object.

 RouteData.of(context).pathParams;                    
 // or using the extension                    
 context.routeData.queryParams                    

Tip: if your parameter name is the same as the path/query parameter, you could use the const @pathParam or @queryParam and not pass a slug/alias.

@RoutePage()                  
class BookDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {                    
  const BookDetailsPage({@pathParam this.id});                
                  
  final int id;                    
  ...                    

Redirecting Paths

Paths can be redirected using RedirectRoute. The following setup will navigate us to /books when / is matched.

<AutoRoute> [                    
     RedirectRoute(path: '/', redirectTo: '/books'),                    
     AutoRoute(path: '/books', page: BookListRoute.page),                    
 ]                    

When redirecting initial routes the above setup can be simplified by setting the /books path as initial and auto_route will automatically generate the required redirect code for you.

<AutoRoute> [                      
     AutoRoute(path: '/books', page: BookListRoute.page, initial: true),                    
 ]                    

You can also redirect paths with params like follows:

<AutoRoute> [                    
     RedirectRoute(path: 'books/:id', redirectTo: '/books/:id/details'),                    
     AutoRoute(path: '/books/:id/details', page: BookDetailsRoute.page),                    
 ]                    

Note: RedirectRoutes are fully matched.

Wildcards

auto_route supports wildcard matching to handle invalid or undefined paths.

AutoRoute(path: '*', page: UnknownRoute.page)                    
// it could be used with defined prefixes                    
AutoRoute(path: '/profile/*', page: ProfileRoute.page)                    
// or it could be used with RedirectRoute                    
RedirectRoute(path: '*', redirectTo: '/')                    

Note: be sure to always add your wildcards at the end of your route list because routes are matched in order.

Route Guards

Think of route guards as middleware or interceptors, routes can not be added to the stack without going through their assigned guards, guards are useful for restricting access to certain routes.

We create a route guard by extending AutoRouteGuard from the auto_route package
and implementing our logic inside of the onNavigation method.

class AuthGuard extends AutoRouteGuard {                
 @override                
 void onNavigation(NavigationResolver resolver, StackRouter router) {                
 // the navigation is paused until resolver.next() is called with either                 
 // true to resume/continue navigation or false to abort navigation                
     if(authenticated){                
       // if user is authenticated we continue                
        resolver.next(true);                
      }else{                
         // we redirect the user to our login page 
         // tip: use resolver.redirect to have the redirected route
          // automatically removed from the stack when the resolver is completed
         resolver.redirect(LoginRoute(onResult: (success){                
                // if success == true the navigation will be resumed                
                // else it will be aborted                
               resolver.next(success);                
          }));                
         }                    
     }                
}                
                

Important: resolver.next() should only be called once.

The NavigationResolver object contains the guarded route which you can access by calling the property resolver.route and a list of pending routes (if there are any) accessed by calling resolver.pendingRoutes.

Now we assign our guard to the routes we want to protect.

 AutoRoute(page: ProfileRoute.page, guards: [AuthGuard()]);                

Guarding all stack-routes

You can have all your stack-routes (none-tab-routes) go through a global guard by having your Router implement an AutoRouteGuard. let's say you have an App with no publish screens, we'd have a global guard that only allows navigation if the user is authenticated or if we're navigating to the LoginRoute.

@AutoRouterConfig()
class AppRouter extends $AppRouter implements AutoRouteGuard {
  @override
  void onNavigation(NavigationResolver resolver, StackRouter router) {
      if(isAuthenticated || resolver.route.name == LoginRoute.name){
         // we continue navigation
          resolver.next();
      }else{
          // else we navigate to the Login page so we get authenticateed
          
          // tip: use resolver.redirect to have the redirected route
          // automatically removed from the stack when the resolver is completed
          resolver.redirect(LoginRoute(onResult:(didLogin)=> resolver.next(didLogin)))
      }
   }
  // ..routes[]
  }

Using a Reevaluate Listenable

Route guards can prevent users from accessing private pages until they're logged in for example, but auth state may change when the user is already navigated to the private page, to make sure private pages are only accessed by logged-in users all the time we need a listenable that tells the router that auth-state has changed and you need to re-evaluate your stack.

The following auth provider mock will act as our re-valuate listenable

class AuthProvider extends ChangeNotifier {
 bool _isLoggedIn = false;

 bool get isLoggedIn => _isLoggedIn;

 void login() {
   _isLoggedIn = true;
   notifyListeners();
 }
 
 void logout() {
   _isLoggedIn = false;
   notifyListeners();
 }
}

We simply pass an instance of our AuthProvider to reevaluateListenable inside of router.config

  MaterialApp.router
(
routerConfig: _appRouter.config(
reevaluateListenable: authProvider,
),
);

Now every time AutoProvider notifies listeners, the stack will be re-evaluated and AutoRouteGuard.onNavigation() methods will be re-called on all guards

In the above example we assigned our AuthProvider to reevaluateListenable directly, that's because reevaluateListenable takes a type [Listenable] and AuthProvider extends ChangeNotifer which is a Listenable, if your auth provider is a stream you can use reevaluateListenable: ReevaluateListenable.stream(YOUR-STREAM)

Note: When the Stack is re-evaluated, the whole existing hierarchy will be re-pushed, so if you want to stop re-evaluating routes at some point, use resolver.resolveNext(<options>) which is like resolver.next() but with more options.

 @override
  void onNavigation(NavigationResolver resolver, StackRouter router) async {
    if (authProvider.isAuthenticated) {
      resolver.next();
    } else {
      resolver.redirect(
        WebLoginRoute(onResult: (didLogin) {
           /// stop re-pushing any pending routes after current
          resolver.resolveNext(didLogin, reevaluateNext: false);
        }),
      );
    }
  }

Wrapping Routes

In some cases we want to wrap our screen with a parent widget usually to provide some values through context, e.g wrapping your route with a custom Theme or a Provider, to do that simply implement AutoRouteWrapper, and have wrappedRoute(context) method return (this) as the child of your wrapper widget.

@RoutePage()    
class ProductsScreen extends StatelessWidget implements AutoRouteWrapper {                
  @override                
  Widget wrappedRoute(BuildContext context) {                
  return Provider(create: (ctx) => ProductsBloc(), child: this);                
  }                
  ...                

Navigation Observers

Navigation observers are used to observe when routes are pushed ,replaced or popped ..etc.

We implement an AutoRouter observer by extending an AutoRouterObserver which is just a NavigatorObserver with tab route support.

class MyObserver extends AutoRouterObserver {                
  @override                
  void didPush(Route route, Route? previousRoute) {                
    print('New route pushed: ${route.settings.name}');                
  }                
 ...                
 // only override to observer tab routes                
 @override                
  void didInitTabRoute(TabPageRoute route, TabPageRoute? previousRoute) {                
    print('Tab route visited: ${route.name}');                
  }                
  @override                
  void didChangeTabRoute(TabPageRoute route, TabPageRoute previousRoute) {                
    print('Tab route re-visited: ${route.name}');                
  }                
  ...                
}                

Then we pass our observer to the <routerName>.config(). Important notice that navigatorObservers property is a builder function that returns a list of observes and the reason for that is a navigator observer instance can only be used by a single router, so unless you're using a one single router or you don't want your nested routers to inherit observers make sure navigatorObservers builder always returns fresh observer instances.

   return MaterialApp.router(                
      routerConfig: _appRouter.config(                         
        navigatorObservers: () => [MyObserver()],                
      ),                  
    );                

the following approach won't work if you have nested routers unless they don't inherit the observers.

   final _observer = MyObserver();                
   return MaterialApp.router(                
      routerConfig: _appRouter.config(                        
        // this should always return new instances                
        navigatorObservers: () => [_observer],                
      ),                     
    );                

Every nested router can have it's own observers and inherit it's parent's.

 AutoRouter(                
    inheritNavigatorObservers: true, // true by default                
    navigatorObservers:()=> [list of observers]);                
                    
 AutoTabsRouter(                
    inheritNavigatorObservers: true, // true by default                
    navigatorObservers:()=> [list of observers]);                

We can also make a certain screen route aware by subscribing to an AutoRouteObserver ( Route not Router).

First we provide our AutoRouteObserver instance

   return MaterialApp.router(                            
      routerConfig: _appRouter.config(                         
        navigatorObservers: () => [AutoRouteObserver()],                
      ),          
    );                

Next we use an AutoRouteAware mixin which is a RouteAware mixin with tab support to provided the needed listeners then subscribe to our AutoRouteObserver.

class BooksListPage extends State<BookListPage> with AutoRouteAware {                
   AutoRouteObserver? _observer;                
                   
  @override                
  void didChangeDependencies() {                
    super.didChangeDependencies();                
    // RouterScope exposes the list of provided observers                
    // including inherited observers                
   _observer = RouterScope.of(context).firstObserverOfType<AutoRouteObserver>();                
    if (_observer != null) {                
      // we subscribe to the observer by passing our                
      // AutoRouteAware state and the scoped routeData                
      _observer.subscribe(this, context.routeData);                
    }                
  }                
                  
 @override                
  void dispose() {                
    super.dispose();                
    // don't forget to unsubscribe from the                
    // observer on dispose                
    _observer.unsubscribe(this);                
  }                
                
 // only override if this is a tab page                
   @override                
   void didInitTabRoute(TabPageRoute? previousRoute) {}                
                
 // only override if this is a tab page                
   @override                
   void didChangeTabRoute(TabPageRoute previousRoute) {}                
                
   @override                
   void didPopNext() {}                
                
   @override                
   void didPushNext() {}                
                
   @override                
   void didPush() {}                
                
   @override                
   void didPop() {}                
}                

AutoRouteAwareStateMixin

The above code can be simplified using AutoRouteAwareStateMixin

class BooksListPage extends State<BookListPage> with AutoRouteAwareStateMixin<BookListPage> {                
// only override if this is a tab page                
 @override                
 void didInitTabRoute(TabPageRoute? previousRoute) {}                
// only override if this is a tab page                
 @override                
 void didChangeTabRoute(TabPageRoute previousRoute) {}                
           
// only override if this is a stack page               
 @override                
 void didPopNext() {}                
// only override if this is a stack page               
 @override                
 void didPushNext() {}                
}                

Customizations

MaterialAutoRouter | CupertinoAutoRouter | AdaptiveAutoRouter
Property Default value Definition
replaceInRouteName [String] Page&#124Screen,Route used to replace conventional words in generated route name (whatToReplacePattern,replacement)

Custom Route Transitions

To use custom route transitions use a CustomRoute and pass in your preferences.
The TransitionsBuilder function needs to be passed as a static/const reference that has the same signature as the TransitionsBuilder function of the PageRouteBuilder class.

CustomRoute(                
page: LoginRoute.page,                
//TransitionsBuilders class contains a preset of common transitions builders.                 
transitionsBuilder: TransitionsBuilders.slideBottom,                
durationInMilliseconds: 400)                

Tip override defaultRouteType in generated router to define global custom route transitions.

You can of course use your own transitionsBuilder function as long as it has the same function signature.
The function has to take in exactly a BuildContext, Animation<Double>, Animation<Double> and a child Widget and it needs to return a Widget, typically you would wrap your child with one of flutter's transition widgets as follows.

CustomRoute(page: ZoomInScreen, transitionsBuilder:     
(BuildContext context, Animation<double> animation, Animation<double> secondaryAnimation, Widget child) {                
 // you get an animation object and a widget                
 // make your own transition                
    return ScaleTransition(scale: animation, child: child);                
  })                

Custom Route Builder

You can use your own custom route by passing a CustomRouteBuilder function to `CustomRoute' and implement the builder function the same way we did with the TransitionsBuilder function,
the most important part here is passing the page argument to our custom route.

CustomRoute(page: CustomPage, customRouteBuilder:    
 (BuildContext context, Widget child, CustomPage<T> page){                  
     return PageRouteBuilder(                  
     fullscreenDialog: page.fullscreenDialog,                  
     // this is important                  
     settings: page,                  
     pageBuilder: (,__,___) => child);                  
} )                

Others

Including Micro/External Packages

To include routes inside of a depended-on package, that package needs to generate an AutoRouterModule that will be later consumed by the root router.

To have a package output an AutoRouterModule instead of a RootStackRouter we need to use the AutoRouterConfig.moudle() annotation like follows

@AutoRouterConfig.module()      
class MyPackageModule extends $MyPackageModule {}    

Then when setting up our root router we need to tell it to include the generated module.

@AutoRouterConfig(modules: [MyPackageModule])      
class AppRouter extends $AppRouter{}    

Now you can use PageRouteInfos generated inside MyPackageModule.

Tip You can app_router.dart export MyPackageModule so you only import app_router.dart inside of your code.

/// ...imports
export 'package:my_package/my_package_module.dart'
@AutoRouterConfig(modules: [MyPackageModule])      
class AppRouter extends $AppRouter{}    

Configuring builders

To pass builder configuration to auto_route_generator we need to add build.yaml file next to pubspec.yaml if not already added.

targets:
  $default:
    builders:
      auto_route_generator:auto_route_generator:
      # configs for @RoutePage() generator ...
      auto_route_generator:auto_router_generator:
      # configs for @AutoRouterConfig() generator ...

Passing custom ignore_for_file rules

You can pass custom ignore_for_file rules to the generated router by adding the following:

targets:
  $default:
    builders:
      auto_route_generator:auto_router_generator:
       options:
         ignore_fore_file:
           - custom_rule_1
           - custom_rule_2

Optimizing generation time

The first thing you want to do to reduce generation time is specifying the files build_runner should process and we do that by using globs, Globs are kind of regex patterns with little differences that's used to match file names. Note for this to work on file level you need to follow a naming convention

let's say we have the following files tree ├── lib │ ├── none_widget_file.dart │ ├── none_widget_file2.dart │ └── ui │ ├── products_screen.dart │ ├── products_details_screen.dart

By default the builder will process all of these files to check for a page with @RoutePage() annotation, we can help by letting it know what files we need processed, e.g only process the files inside the ui folder: Note (**) matches everything including '/';

targets:
  $default:
    builders:
      auto_route_generator:auto_route_generator:
        generate_for:
          - lib/ui/**.dart

let's say you have widget files inside of the ui folder but we only need to process files ending with _screen.dart

targets:
  $default:
    builders:
      auto_route_generator:auto_route_generator:
        generate_for:
          - lib/ui/**_screen.dart

now only products_screen.dart, products_details_screen.dart will be processed

The same goes for @AutoRouterConfig builder

targets:
  $default:
    builders:
      auto_route_generator:auto_route_generator: # this for @RoutePage
        generate_for:
          - lib/ui/**_screen.dart
      auto_route_generator:auto_router_generator: # this for @AutoRouterConfig
        generate_for:
          - lib/ui/router.dart 

Enabling cached builds

This is still experimental When cached builds are enabled auto_route will try to prevent redundant re-builds by analyzing whether the file changes has any effect on the extracted route info, e.g any changes inside of the build method should be ignored.

Note Enable cached builds on both generators

targets:
  $default:
    builders:
      auto_route_generator:auto_route_generator: # this for @RoutePage
        options:
          enable_cached_builds: true
        generate_for:
          - lib/ui/**_screen.dart
      auto_route_generator:auto_router_generator: # this for @AutoRouterConfig
        options:
          enable_cached_builds: true
        generate_for:
          - lib/ui/router.dart 

AutoLeadingButton-BackButton

AutoLeadingButton is AutoRoute's replacement to the default BackButton to handle nested or parent stack popping.
to use it simply assign it to the leading property inside of AppBar

appBar: AppBar(            
  title: Text(context.topRoute.name),            
  leading: AutoLeadingButton(),            
)          

ActiveGuardObserver

ActiveGuardObserver can notify you when a guard is being checked and what guard it is, it can be used to implement loading indicator for example.

var isLoading = false;        
 void initState(){      
    final guardObserver = context.router.activeGuardObserver;      
      
    guardObserver.addListener(() {       
      setState((){        
        isLoading = guardObserver.guardInProgress;        
       });        
    });      
  }      

Migrating to v6

In version 6.0 auto_route aims for less generated code for more flexibility and less generation time.

Note: You can use AutoRoute-helper plugin for Android studio to help you migrate to v6.0

add route from intent action
1- Instead of using MaterialAutoRouter,CupertinoAutoRouter ...etc we now only have one annotation for our router which is @AutoRouterConfig() and instead of passing our routes list to the annotation we now pass it to the overridable getter routes inside of the generated router class and for the default route type you can override defaultRouteType

Before

// @CupertinoAutoRouter                    
// @AdaptiveAutoRouter                    
// @CustomAutoRouter                    
@MaterialAutoRouter(                              
routes: <AutoRoute>[                    
  /// routes go here     
   ],                    
)                    
class $AppRouter {}                    

After

@AutoRouterConfig()      
class AppRouter extends $AppRouter {      
   
@override      
RouteType get defaultRouteType => RouteType.material(); //.cupertino, .adaptive ..etc    
   
 @override      
  List<AutoRoute> get routes => [      
  /// routes go here     
  ]    
}    

2- Passing page components as types is changed, now you'd annotate the target page with @RoutePage() annotation and pass the generated result.page to AutoRoute();

Before

class ProductDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {...}                
AutoRoute(page: ProductDetailsPage) // as Type    

After

@RoutePage() // Add this annotation to your routable pages    
class ProductDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {...}                
AutoRoute(page: ProductDetailsRoute.page) // ProductDetailsRoute is generated    

3- EmptyRoutePage no longer exists, instead you will now make your own empty pages by extending the AutoRouter widget

Before

AutoRoute(page: EmptyRoutePage,name: 'ProductsRouter') // as Type    

After

@RoutePage(name: 'ProductsRouter')      
class ProductsRouterPage extends AutoRouter {}    
AutoRoute(page: ProductsRouter.page)    

4- Passing route guards is also changed now, instead of passing guards as types you now pass instances.

Before

AutoRoute(page: ProfilePage, guards:[AuthGuard]) // as Type    

After

AutoRoute(page: ProfilePage, guards:[AuthGuard(<params>)]) // as Instance    

Examples

coming soon

Support auto_route

You can support auto_route by liking it on Pub and staring it on Github, sharing ideas on how we can enhance a certain functionality or by reporting any problems you encounter and of course buying a couple coffees will help speed up the development process

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