Flutter Drift
Comprehensive guide for using drift database library in Flutter applications.
Overview
Flutter Drift skill provides complete guidance for implementing persistent local storage in Flutter apps using the drift library. Drift is a reactive persistence library for Flutter built on SQLite, offering type-safe queries, auto-updating streams, schema migrations, and cross-platform support.
Quick Start
Add dependencies to pubspec.yaml:
dependencies: drift: ^2.30.0 drift_flutter: ^0.2.8 path_provider: ^2.1.5
dev_dependencies: drift_dev: ^2.30.0 build_runner: ^2.10.4
Define database:
@DriftDatabase(tables: [TodoItems]) class AppDatabase extends _$AppDatabase { AppDatabase([QueryExecutor? e]) : super( e ?? driftDatabase( name: 'app_db', native: const DriftNativeOptions( databaseDirectory: getApplicationSupportDirectory, ), web: DriftWebOptions( sqlite3Wasm: Uri.parse('sqlite3.wasm'), driftWorker: Uri.parse('drift_worker.js'), ), ), );
@override int get schemaVersion => 1; }
Run code generator:
dart run build_runner build
Reference Files
See detailed documentation for each topic:
setup.md - Flutter-specific setup with drift_flutter
tables.md - Table definitions, columns, constraints
queries.md - SELECT, WHERE, JOIN, aggregations
writes.md - INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, transactions
streams.md - Reactive stream queries
migrations.md - Database schema migrations
flutter-ui.md - Flutter UI integration patterns
Common Patterns
Reactive Todo List with StreamBuilder
class TodoList extends StatelessWidget {
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
final database = Provider.of
return StreamBuilder<List<TodoItem>>(
stream: select(database.todoItems).watch(),
builder: (context, snapshot) {
final todos = snapshot.data ?? [];
return ListView.builder(
itemCount: todos.length,
itemBuilder: (context, index) {
final todo = todos[index];
return ListTile(
title: Text(todo.title),
trailing: Checkbox(
value: todo.isCompleted,
onChanged: (value) {
database.update(database.todoItems).replace(
TodoItem(
id: todo.id,
title: todo.title,
isCompleted: value ?? false,
),
);
},
),
);
},
);
},
);
} }
Add Item with Form
Future
await showDialog( context: context, builder: (context) { return AlertDialog( title: const Text('Add Todo'), content: TextField( controller: controller, decoration: const InputDecoration(labelText: 'Title'), ), actions: [ TextButton( onPressed: () => Navigator.pop(context), child: const Text('Cancel'), ), TextButton( onPressed: () async { if (controller.text.isNotEmpty) { await database.into(database.todoItems).insert( TodoItemsCompanion.insert(title: controller.text), ); if (context.mounted) { Navigator.pop(context); } } }, child: const Text('Add'), ), ], ); }, );
controller.dispose(); }
Provider Setup
final databaseProvider = Provider
Database Migration @override MigrationStrategy get migration { return MigrationStrategy( onUpgrade: stepByStep( from1To2: (m, schema) async { await m.addColumn(schema.todoItems, schema.todoItems.dueDate); }, ), ); }
Platform-Specific Setup Mobile (Android/iOS/macOS/Windows/Linux)
Uses drift_flutter with getApplicationSupportDirectory.
Web
Place sqlite3.wasm and drift_worker.js in web/ folder.
Isolate Sharing AppDatabase.defaults(): super( driftDatabase( name: 'app_db', native: DriftNativeOptions( shareAcrossIsolates: true, ), ), );
Testing
Use in-memory database for tests:
AppDatabase createTestDatabase() { return AppDatabase(NativeDatabase.memory()); }
Best Practices Use drift_flutter for easy database setup across platforms StreamBuilder for reactive UI updates Provider/Riverpod for database access management Close database on app/widget dispose Use migrations when schema changes Index columns used in WHERE clauses Limit stream query size for performance Use transactions for multi-step operations Debounce user input for search/filter Handle loading/error states in UI Troubleshooting Build Fails dart run build_runner clean dart run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs
Migration Errors dart run drift_dev schema validate dart run drift_dev make-migrations
Stream Not Updating
Ensure operations go through drift APIs, not raw SQLite.