explaingit

google/flutter-desktop-embedding

★ 7,063C++Audience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · moderate

TLDR

An archived Google project that originally brought Flutter to Windows, macOS, and Linux desktops, now superseded by Flutter built-in desktop support, retaining a small set of experimental desktop plugins.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Desktop Flutter plugins
      Historical embedding code
      Experimental add-ons
    Status
      Archived project
      Built into Flutter now
      Not officially supported
    Platforms
      Windows macOS Linux
      C++ plugin layer
      Dart Flutter SDK
    Use today
      Browse plugins directory
      File plugin issues here
      Flutter docs for desktop
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Browse the experimental plugins directory to find system feature integrations not yet available in the main Flutter ecosystem.

USE CASE 2

Reference the historical embedding code to understand how Flutter desktop support was originally architected before it was built into Flutter.

USE CASE 3

File issues about the specific experimental plugins in this repo, separate from general Flutter desktop questions.

Tech stack

C++FlutterDart

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Flutter SDK must be installed and configured for desktop development, these plugins are experimental with no official support guarantee.

In plain English

This repository was originally created to bring Flutter to Windows, macOS, and Linux desktop computers. Flutter is a toolkit from Google for building apps that run on multiple platforms from a single codebase. The desktop embedding work that started here has since been folded into Flutter itself, so if you want to build a desktop app with Flutter, the Flutter documentation is now the right starting point rather than this project. What remains here are a small number of experimental plugins for desktop Flutter apps. A plugin in Flutter is an add-on package that exposes device or system features to your app. The specific plugins in this repository are described in a separate README inside the plugins directory. The README is brief and does not go into detail about what each plugin does. It does note that this is not an officially supported Google product, meaning there are no guarantees of long-term maintenance. Issues about Flutter desktop in general should go to the Flutter project's own issue tracker, while issues specific to the plugins here can be filed in this repository.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I am building a Flutter desktop app and want to use one of the experimental plugins from google/flutter-desktop-embedding. Show me how to add a plugin from this repo as a local dependency in my pubspec.yaml.
Prompt 2
Explain the difference between using the flutter-desktop-embedding experimental plugins and the official Flutter desktop support, and when I might still need this repo.
Prompt 3
I found a bug in one of the experimental plugins in google/flutter-desktop-embedding. Walk me through how to fork the repo and submit a fix.
Prompt 4
What desktop-specific functionality do the plugins in google/flutter-desktop-embedding expose that is not yet available in the main Flutter SDK?
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