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Development setup (using dev branch)

This page describes how to set up a local development environment using the dev branch.

Note

The Releases page contains pre-built APKs and platform binaries for users. The development guide below is for contributors or for building locally.

Prerequisites

  • Flutter SDK (stable channel recommended): https://docs.flutter.dev/get-started/install
  • Dart SDK (bundled with Flutter)
  • Git

Clone the dev branch

You can clone the dev branch directly to avoid an extra checkout step:

git clone -b dev --single-branch https://github.com/KingBenny101/countapp.git
cd countapp

Keeping on dev lets you work on the latest in-progress features and tests.

Install dependencies

flutter pub get

Initial setup — generate environment (run once)

Before running the app for the first time, run the environment generator which sets up icons and other assets. This only needs to be run once after cloning or when those resources change.

dart run tool/build.dart generate

Generate code (Hive adapters)

dart run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs

Run locally

  • Run the app for your target platform with flutter run (desktop or device):
flutter run

Build release artifacts

Count App provides a helper build script and standard Flutter build commands to produce release artifacts for each platform.

Build script

The project includes tool/build.dart which wraps common tasks. Note that the all command builds for the current platform and Android (it does not build every possible platform).

# Generate environment (icons, package config) — run once after cloning
dart run tool/build.dart generate

# Clean build artifacts
dart run tool/build.dart clean

# Build for Android
dart run tool/build.dart build_android

# Build for Windows (requires Windows host)
dart run tool/build.dart build_windows

# Build for Linux
dart run tool/build.dart build_linux

# Build for macOS (requires macOS host)
dart run tool/build.dart build_macos

# Build 'all' (current platform + Android)
dart run tool/build.dart all

Output

  • release/countapp-{version}.apk (Android)
  • release/windows/countapp/ (Windows executable + deps)
  • release/linux/countapp/ (Linux executable + deps)

Version management

Set version in pubspec.yaml:

version: 1.4.0 # MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

The build script extracts the version and names output files accordingly.

Troubleshooting

  • If code generation fails, run flutter clean and re-run build_runner.
  • If you see platform-specific permission or plugin errors on desktop, search the project issues or open a new issue with logs.

Helpful tips:

  • Keep your local dev branch rebased on top of origin/dev regularly.
  • Run flutter analyze and dart format . before opening PRs.

Support & Community

Need help or want to contribute?

License

Count App is open source software licensed under the MIT License.