| name | slipstream-inspector |
| description | This skill should be used when the user asks to "run the Flutter app", "flutter run", "start the app", "launch the app", "test the UI", "take a screenshot of the app", "click a button in the app", "debug the layout", or any request involving launching, observing, or interacting with a running Flutter app. When the flutter-slipstream plugin is installed, MCP tools replace terminal commands for all Flutter app interaction. |
| user-invocable | false |
flutter-slipstream
The flutter-slipstream plugin provides MCP tools for launching, observing, and
interacting with a running Flutter app. Use these tools — not terminal commands
— for all Flutter app work.
Use the plugin tools, not the terminal
When working on a Flutter app with this plugin installed, always prefer the MCP
tools over shell commands:
| Instead of... | Use... |
|---|
flutter run | run_app |
| Hot reload (shell) | reload |
| Reading terminal log | get_output |
run_app does more than flutter run: it auto-selects the best available
device, exposes app output via get_output, and enables screenshot capture,
layout inspection, and UI interaction — none of which are possible from a plain
terminal session.
Standard workflow
run_app → get_output → take_screenshot
→ edit source → reload → get_output → take_screenshot → repeat
- Call
get_output after run_app, after reload, and after any interaction
tool. It drains the output buffer — skipping it causes output to accumulate
silently across calls.
- Call
take_screenshot after every reload to confirm the change looked right.
Never assume a visual edit was correct without seeing it.
- When
get_output returns a [flutter.error] line, the widget ID in the
summary can be passed directly to inspect_layout.
Orienting on an unfamiliar screen
take_screenshot — see what's on screen.get_route — see the navigator stack and current screen widget names with
source file locations. Use before editing to confirm which file to change.get_semantics — see the interactive elements and their node IDs.
Interacting with the app
When slipstream_agent is installed in the Flutter app, prefer finder-based
tools — they are more reliable than semantics-based interaction:
perform_tap(byKey: ...) / perform_set_text(byKey: ...) — most reliable;
add ValueKey('my_key') to the widget while writing it.perform_tap(byText: ...) — good for button labels.perform_tap(byType: ...) — useful for unique widget types.
Fall back to perform_semantic_action (works without slipstream_agent) when
the target widget has no key and no distinctive text — e.g. a built-in
IconButton.
Hot reload vs. hot restart
reload (hot reload) preserves app state and is fast, but cannot apply
structural changes: new routes, modified initState, changed widget keys, or
constructor signature changes. Use reload(full_restart: true) when state must
reset. Expect the app to return to its initial state.
Gotchas
get_output must be called explicitly
get_output is a pull operation — it drains the buffer and clears it. Call it
after every run_app, reload, and interaction tool, even when no output is
expected. Skipping it causes errors to accumulate and makes [flutter.error]
entries harder to correlate with their cause.
Tooltip text is not a semantics label
Flutter's built-in widgets sometimes set a Tooltip (e.g. the Drawer hamburger
button gets "Open navigation menu") but that string does not appear as a
semantics label in get_semantics output. If a button shows no label, use its
numeric node ID with perform_semantic_action.
Screenshot captures the Flutter view only
take_screenshot captures only the Flutter-rendered view. Native system UI
(permission dialogs, share sheets) does not appear. If a red flutter.error
chip is visible in the screenshot, call get_output to clear it before
retaking.
Debugging layout problems
inspect_layout with no widget_id starts from the root.- Widget IDs from
[flutter.error] output can be passed directly — no tree
traversal needed.
- Increase
subtree_depth when the relevant widget is several levels down.
evaluate is useful for exact runtime values (MediaQuery.of(...),
controller state) that don't appear in the layout tree.
