flutter-package-version-checker

name	flutter-package-version-checker
description	Verifies Flutter project dependencies are up-to-date and warns about outdated, deprecated, or abandoned packages. Trigger this skill whenever the user mentions "update packages", "outdated dependencies", "should I upgrade", "pub get failed", "Dart SDK conflict", or before any release. Checks pub.dev for the latest stable version of each direct dependency, compares to current pinned version, flags major version gaps, identifies abandoned packages (no release in 2+ years, Pub Points under 100), and suggests safe upgrade paths. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"axisting"}

Flutter Package Version Checker

Stay current. Volkan's rule: latest stable, always.

When to Run This Skill

• Before any production release
• When adding a new dependency (use the latest version, not what last project used)
• When pub get fails with version constraint errors
• When user asks "is X package still maintained?"
• Quarterly maintenance check on each project

Step 1: Snapshot Current State

flutter pub outdated --show-all
dart pub deps -s compact

Output of pub outdated has columns:

• Current: what's pinned in pubspec.lock
• Upgradable: what you'd get with pub upgrade (respecting constraints)
• Resolvable: what you'd get if you bumped constraints
• Latest: absolute latest published

Focus on packages where Latest is much higher than Current.

Step 2: Categorize Each Direct Dependency

For each direct dependency in pubspec.yaml, check on pub.dev (https://pub.dev/packages/PACKAGE_NAME):

• Latest version — what the package authors recommend
• Pub Points score — out of 160. Under 100 is a yellow flag, under 80 is a red flag.
• Likes count — popularity proxy
• Last published date — over 1 year without updates is yellow, over 2 years is red (unless it's a stable utility with no need to change, like uuid or crypto)
• Verified publisher — Google-verified, Flutter-team, Dart-team have higher trust
• Flutter Favorite badge — gold standard for that category

Common categories and current recommendations (2026):

Need	Recommended Package	Notes
State management	flutter_riverpod + riverpod_annotation	Riverpod 3.x with codegen
Models	freezed + freezed_annotation	Freezed 3.x with sealed classes
Navigation	go_router	Official Flutter team package
HTTP	dio	Better than http for most apps
Local storage	shared_preferences + hive_ce	Hive Community Edition (the maintained fork after the original Hive went unmaintained)
Secure storage	flutter_secure_storage	Keychain on iOS, KeyStore on Android
Firebase	firebase_core, firebase_auth, etc.	All FlutterFire packages, latest stable
Supabase	supabase_flutter	Latest stable
IAP	purchases_flutter	RevenueCat's official
Image loading	cached_network_image	Standard
SVG	flutter_svg	Standard
Logging	logger	Better than print
Date formatting	intl	Same as for l10n
Permissions	permission_handler	Standard
Connectivity	connectivity_plus	Plus-variant maintained, original abandoned
Device info	device_info_plus	Plus-variant maintained
Package info	package_info_plus	Plus-variant maintained
Deep links	app_links	Replaces uni_links which is less actively maintained

Step 3: Watch for Deprecated / Abandoned Packages

Packages to FLAG if found:

• hive (original, not _ce) — original is unmaintained, migrate to hive_ce
• uni_links — less actively maintained, consider app_links
• flutter_webview_plugin — abandoned, use webview_flutter (official)
• fluttertoast — has issues, consider bot_toast or inline SnackBar
• provider — still works but Riverpod is preferred for new code
• get (GetX) — controversial, many devs migrating away due to anti-patterns
• scoped_model — abandoned, do NOT use in new code
• firebase_dynamic_links — Firebase deprecated this, migrate to Branch.io or custom deep links
• Anything matching flutter_*_old, *_deprecated, *_unmaintained in description

Step 4: Suggest Upgrade Path

For each package needing an update, suggest one of:

Patch/Minor (safe): flutter pub upgrade PACKAGE

• Same major version, automatic upgrade is safe
• Example: 2.1.3 → 2.1.5

Major (review breaking changes):

• Open the package's CHANGELOG.md on pub.dev
• Look for "Breaking changes" section
• Update pubspec.yaml constraint manually
• Example: ^2.1.0 → ^3.0.0
• Run flutter pub get, fix compile errors

Dart/Flutter SDK upgrade:

• Check Flutter version: flutter --version
• Check what's pinned in pubspec.yaml (environment: sdk: ">=3.5.0 <4.0.0")
• For SDK upgrades, run flutter upgrade, then flutter pub get

Step 5: Report

PACKAGE UPDATE REPORT — <project-name>

UP-TO-DATE: [count] packages
NEEDS PATCH UPDATE (safe): [list with versions]
NEEDS MAJOR UPDATE (review changelog): [list with versions]
DEPRECATED / ABANDONED (migrate): [list with recommended replacement]
LOW PUB POINTS (<100): [list with current score]

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
1. Run `flutter pub upgrade` to get all patch+minor updates
2. Review major updates one at a time
3. Schedule deprecation migrations

How to Check a Single Package Quickly

The simplest way to verify a package on pub.dev (without leaving the terminal):

# Get latest version of a package
curl -s "https://pub.dev/api/packages/PACKAGE_NAME" | grep -oP '"latest":\{[^}]*"version":"[^"]+"' | head -1

For a Flutter project, search the dependency on https://pub.dev/packages/PACKAGE_NAME, look at:

• Top banner shows latest version + last published
• Right sidebar shows Pub Points, Likes, Popularity
• Scores tab shows full breakdown
• Versions tab shows release history

Special Case: Firebase

FlutterFire packages should ALL be on the same major version. If you have:

firebase_core: ^3.0.0
firebase_auth: ^4.0.0  # MISMATCH

This will cause runtime errors. Always upgrade all FlutterFire packages together:

flutter pub upgrade --major-versions firebase_core firebase_auth firebase_messaging cloud_firestore firebase_analytics firebase_crashlytics

Or use flutterfire configure which keeps them in sync.

Strict Rules

• DO NOT pin to old versions unless there's a specific compatibility reason documented in a comment
• DO NOT use any as a version constraint, always use ^major.minor.patch
• DO NOT downgrade to silence warnings, fix the affected code
• DO NOT mix major versions of Firebase packages
• DO run flutter pub outdated at least monthly on active projects
• DO check Pub Points before adding any new dependency, even popular-sounding ones can be abandoned

---

Source: axisting/axistia-flutter-skills — distributed by TomeVault.