Appium Flutter Driver is a test automation tool for Flutter apps on multiple platforms/OSes. Appium Flutter Driver is part of the Appium mobile test automation tool maintained by the community. Feel free to create PRs to fix issues/improve this driver.
Even though Flutter comes with superb integration test support, Flutter Driver, it does not fit some specific use cases, such as
- Writing tests in other languages than Dart
- Running integration test for Flutter app with embedded webview or native view, or existing native app with embedded Flutter view
- Running tests on multiple devices simultaneously
- Running integration tests on device farms that offer Appium support (Please contact the availability for each vendor)
Under the hood, Appium Flutter Driver uses the Dart VM Service Protocol with extension ext.flutter.driver, similar to Flutter Driver, to control the Flutter app-under-test (AUT).
Appium community currently has two drivers for Flutter environment:
- Appium Flutter driver (this driver)
- Run Flutter commands over websocekt connection against the observaory URL (calls Flutter APIs directly)
- Base APIs are
flutter_driver
Appium Flutter Integration Driver- Run a server on DartVM as part of the application under test in order to call Flutter APIs via the server
- Base APIs are
integration_test
As a baseline, we recommend using official testing tools and strategy to test Flutter apps as possible in Dart.
If you'd like to test a release app, whcih can be released from app store as-is, Appium UIAutomator2/XCUITest driver is a good choice. Since Flutter 3.19, Flutter apps can expose identifier for SemanticsProperties as resource-id in Android and accessibilityIdentifier in iOS. They should help to achieve automation against release apps with Appium UIAutomator2/XCUITest as blackbox testing.
- Appium Flutter driver has three contexts to manage the application under test and the device under test. To achieve the
FLUTTERcontext, the test package requires testing tools to import. The application under test cannot release as-is.FLUTTERcontext sends commands to the Dart VM directly over the observatory URL. This allows you to interact with Flutter elements directly.NATIVE_APPcontext is the same as the regular Appium UIAutomator2/XCUITest driverWEBVIEWcontext manages the WebView contents over Appium UiAutomator2/XCUITest driver
- (Recommended if possible) Appium UIAutomator2/XCUITest driver directly must be sufficient to achieve automation if the application under test had
semanticLabelproperly. Then, the accessibility mechanism in each OS can expose elements for Appium through OS's accessibility features.- In addition to
semanticLabel, Flutter 3.19+ may haveidentifierforSemanticsProperties(introduced by flutter/flutter#138331). It setsresource-idandaccessibilityIdentifierfor Android and iOS, then UiAutomator2/XCUITest drivers might also be able to interact with these elements without Appium Flutter Driver."appium:settings[disableIdLocatorAutocompletion]": trueor configuringdisableIdLocatorAutocompletionvia Settings API would be necessary to makeresource-ididea work without any package name prefix like Android compose.- e.g. flutter/flutter#17988 (comment)
- In addition to
Appium Flutter Driver version 1.0 and higher require Appium 2.0.
appium driver install --source=npm appium-flutter-driver
As a local:
appium driver install --source local /path/to/appium-flutter-driver/driver
If you are unfamiliar with running Appium tests, start with Quickstart Intro first.
Your Flutter application must be compiled in debug or profile mode. The dependency must have flutter_driver package like the below pubspec.yaml example with enableFlutterDriverExtension configuration in the main.dart.
# pubspec.yaml
dev_dependencies:
flutter_driver:
sdk: flutterThis snippet, taken from example directory, is a script written as an appium client with webdriverio, and assumes you have appium server (with appium-flutter-driver installed) running on the same host and default port (4723). For more info, see example's README.md
Note
This means this driver depends on
flutter_driver. In the past, the Flutter team announced replacingflutter_driverwithintegration_test, but according to this ticket, this discussion is still ongoing. So flutter_driver would continue to be maintained for now.
Each client needs each finder module to handle Finders. Appium Flutter Driver communicates with the Dart VM directory in the FLUTTER context.
Since driver version 2.4.0 you can automate the validation for the most of the above requirements as well as various optional ones needed by driver extensions by running the appium driver doctor flutter server command.
The check runs for Android for UIAutomator2 driver and iOS for XCUITest driver.
SKIP_ANDROID or SKIP_IOS environment variable helps to skip these checks.
# skip Android check
SKIP_ANDROID=1 appium driver doctor flutter
# skip iOS check
SKIP_IOS=1 appium driver doctor flutter
- Flutter context does not support page source
- Please use
getRenderTreecommand instead
- Please use
- You can send appium-xcuitest-driver/appium-uiautomator2-driver commands in
NATIVE_APPcontext scrollUntilVisiblecommand : An expectation for checking that an element, known to be present on the widget tree, is visible. Using waitFor to wait elementscrollUntilTapablecommand : An expectation for checking an element is visible and enabled such that you can click it. Using waitTapable to wait elementdriver.activateApp(appId)starts the given app and attaches to the observatory URL in theFLUTTERcontext. The method may raise an exception if no observaotry URL was found. The typical case is theappIdis already running. Then, the driver will fail to find the observatory URL.getClipboardandsetClipboarddepend on eachNATIVE_APPcontext behavior- Launch via
flutter:launchAppor 3rd party tool (via instrument service) and attach to the Dart VM for an iOS real device (profile build)- Do not set
appnorbundleIdto start a session without launching apps - Start the app process via 3rd party tools such as go-ios to start the app process with debug mode in the middle of the new session process in 1) the above.
- Then, the appium flutter session establish the WebSocket and proceed the session
- Do not set
- keyboard interaction may not work in Android because of flutter/flutter#15415 that is caused by
flutter_driver
| Capability | Description | Example Values |
|---|---|---|
| appium:retryBackoffTime | The interval to find the observetory url from logs. (default 3000ms) | 500 |
| appium:maxRetryCount | The count to find the observatory url. (default 10) | 20 |
| appium:observatoryWsUri | The URL to attach to the Dart VM. The Appium Flutter Driver finds the WebSocket URL from the device log by default. You can skip the finding the URL process by specifying this capability. Then, this driver attempt to establish a WebSocket connection against the given WebSocket URL. Note that this capability expects the URL is ready for access by outside an appium session. This flutter driver does not do port-forwarding with this capability. You may need to coordinate the port-forwarding as well. | 'ws://127.0.0.1:60992/aaaaaaaaaaa=/ws' |
| appium:isolateId | The isolate id to attach to as the initial attempt. A session can change the isolate with flutter:setIsolateId command. The default behavior finds main isolate id and attaches it. |
isolates/2978358234363215, 2978358234363215 |
| appium:skipPortForward | Whether skip port forwarding from the flutter driver local to the device under test with observatoryWsUri capability. It helps you to manage the application under test, the observatory URL and the port forwarding configuration. The default is true. |
true, false |
| appium:remoteAdbHost | The IP/hostname of the remote host ADB is running on. This capability only makes sense for Android platform. Providing it will implicitly override the host for the Observatory URL if the latter is determined from device logs. localhost be default | 192.168.1.20 |
| appium:adbPort | The port number ADB server is running on. This capability only makes sense for Android platform. 5037 by default | 9999 |
| appium:forwardingPort | The port number that will be used to forward the traffic from the device under test to locahost. Only applicable if skipPortForward is falsy. Not applicable if the test is executed on iOS Simulator. By default, it is the same as in the provided or autodetected Observatory URL. |
9999 |
Please check each driver's documentation
- https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver
- https://appium.github.io/appium-xcuitest-driver/latest/capabilities/
Appium Flutter Driver allows you to send flutter_driver commands to the Dart VM in the FLUTTER context, but it does not support native Android/iOS since the Dart VM can handle in the Dart VM contents. NATIVE_APP context provides you to use the UIA2 driver for Android and the XCUITest driver for iOS automation. WEBVIEW_XXXX context helps WebView testing over the UIA2/XCUITest driver that is not available via the flutter_driver.
Thus, you need to switch proper contexts, FLUTTER, NATIVE_APP or WEBVIEW_XXXX, to automate a proper application target.
# webdriverio
const wdio = require('webdriverio');
const assert = require('assert');
const { byValueKey } = require('appium-flutter-finder');
const osSpecificOps = process.env.APPIUM_OS === 'android' ? {
'platformName': 'Android',
'appium:deviceName': 'Pixel 2',
'appium:app': __dirname + '/../apps/app-free-debug.apk',
}: process.env.APPIUM_OS === 'ios' ? {
'platformName': 'iOS',
'appium:platformVersion': '12.2',
'appium:deviceName': 'iPhone X',
'appium:noReset': true,
'appium:app': __dirname + '/../apps/Runner.zip',
} : {};
const opts = {
port: 4723,
capabilities: {
...osSpecificOps,
'appium:automationName': 'Flutter',
'appium:retryBackoffTime': 500
}
};
(async () => {
const counterTextFinder = byValueKey('counter');
const buttonFinder = byValueKey('increment');
const driver = await wdio.remote(opts);
if (process.env.APPIUM_OS === 'android') {
await driver.switchContext('NATIVE_APP');
await (await driver.$('~fab')).click();
await driver.switchContext('FLUTTER');
} else {
console.log('Switching context to `NATIVE_APP` is currently only applicable to Android demo app.')
}
assert.strictEqual(await driver.getElementText(counterTextFinder), '0');
await driver.elementClick(buttonFinder);
await driver.touchAction({
action: 'tap',
element: { elementId: buttonFinder }
});
assert.strictEqual(await driver.getElementText(counterTextFinder), '2');
driver.deleteSession();
})();Please check example in this repository for more languages.
You have a couple of methods to start the application under test by establishing the Dart VM connection as below:
- Start with
appin the capabilities- The most standard method. You may need to start a new session with
appcapability. Then, appium-flutter-driver will start the app, and establish a connection with the Dart VM immediately.
- The most standard method. You may need to start a new session with
- Start with
activate_app: for users who want to start the application under test in the middle of a session- Start a session without
appcapability - Install the application under test via
driver.install_appormobile:installAppcommand - Activate the app via
driver.activate_appormobile:activateAppcommand- Then, appium-flutter-driver establish a connection with the Dart VM
- Start a session without
- Launch the app outside the driver: for users who want to manage the application under test by yourselves
- Start a session without
appcapability - Install the application under test via
driver.install_appormobile:installAppcommand etc - Calls
flutter:connectObservatoryWsUrlcommand to keep finding an observatory URL to the Dart VM - (at the same time) Launch the application under test via outside the appium-flutter-driver
- Once
flutter:connectObservatoryWsUrlidentify the observatory URL, the command will establish a connection to the Dart VM
- Start a session without
- Launch the app with
flutter:launchAppfor iOS and attach to the Dart VM: for users whom application under test do not print the observatory url via regular launch/activate app method- Start a session without
appcapability - Install the application under test via
driver.install_appormobile:installAppcommand etc - Calls
flutter:launchAppcommand to start an iOS app via instrument servicedriver.execute_script 'flutter:launchApp', 'com.example.bundleId', {arguments: ['arg1'], environment: {ENV1: 'env'}}is example usage- This launching method is the same as the above 3rd party method, but does the same thing only via the appium flutter driver.
- Start a session without
Please make sure the target app process stops before starting the target app with the above.
Please check each driver's documentation
- https://github.com/appium/appium-uiautomator2-driver
- https://appium.github.io/appium-xcuitest-driver/latest
Legend:
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
| ✅ | integrated to CI |
| 🆗 | manual tested without CI |
| available without manual tested | |
| ❌ | unavailable |
| Flutter Driver API | Status | WebDriver example |
|---|---|---|
| ancestor | 🆗 | |
| bySemanticsLabel | 🆗 | |
| byTooltip | 🆗 | byTooltip('Increment') |
| byType | 🆗 | byType('TextField') |
| byValueKey | 🆗 | byValueKey('counter') |
| descendant | 🆗 | |
| pageBack | 🆗 | pageBack() |
| text | 🆗 | byText('foo') |
The below WebDriver example is by webdriverio.
flutter: prefix commands are mobile: command in appium for Android and iOS.
Please replace them properly with your client.
| Flutter API | Status | WebDriver example (JavaScript, webdriverio) | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| FlutterDriver.connectedTo | 🆗 | wdio.remote(opts) |
Session |
| checkHealth | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:checkHealth') |
Session |
| clearTextbox | 🆗 | driver.elementClear(find.byType('TextField')) |
Session |
| clearTimeline | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:clearTimeline') |
Session |
| enterText | 🆗 | driver.elementSendKeys(find.byType('TextField'), 'I can enter text') (no focus required) driver.elementClick(find.byType('TextField')); driver.execute('flutter:enterText', 'I can enter text') (focus required by tap/click first) |
Session |
| forceGC | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:forceGC') |
Session |
| getBottomLeft | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getBottomLeft', buttonFinder) |
Widget |
| getBottomRight | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getBottomRight', buttonFinder) |
Widget |
| getCenter | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getCenter', buttonFinder) |
Widget |
| getRenderObjectDiagnostics | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getRenderObjectDiagnostics', counterTextFinder, { includeProperties: true, subtreeDepth: 2 }) |
Widget |
| getWidgetDiagnostics | 🆗 (v2.8.0+) | driver.execute('flutter:getWidgetDiagnostics', counterTextFinder, { includeProperties: true, subtreeDepth: 2 }) |
Widget |
| getRenderTree | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter: getRenderTree') |
Session |
| getSemanticsId | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getSemanticsId', counterTextFinder) |
Widget |
| getText | 🆗 | driver.getElementText(counterTextFinder) |
Widget |
| getTopLeft | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getTopLeft', buttonFinder) |
Widget |
| getTopRight | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getTopRight', buttonFinder) |
Widget |
| getVmFlags | ❌ | Session | |
| requestData | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:requestData', json.dumps({"deepLink": "myapp://item/id1"})) |
Session |
| runUnsynchronized | ❌ | Session | |
| setFrameSync | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:setFrameSync', bool , durationMilliseconds) |
Session |
| screenshot | 🆗 | driver.takeScreenshot() |
Session |
| screenshot | 🆗 | driver.saveScreenshot('a.png') |
Session |
| scroll | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:scroll', find.byType('ListView'), {dx: 50, dy: -100, durationMilliseconds: 200, frequency: 30}) |
Widget |
| scrollIntoView | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:scrollIntoView', find.byType('TextField'), {alignment: 0.1}) driver.execute('flutter:scrollIntoView', find.byType('TextField'), {alignment: 0.1, timeout: 30000}) |
Widget |
| scrollUntilVisible | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:scrollUntilVisible', find.byType('ListView'), {item:find.byType('TextField'), dxScroll: 90, dyScroll: -400});, driver.execute('flutter:scrollUntilVisible', find.byType('ListView'), {item:find.byType('TextField'), dxScroll: 90, dyScroll: -400, waitTimeoutMilliseconds: 20000}); |
Widget |
| scrollUntilTapable | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:scrollUntilTapable', find.byType('ListView'), {item:find.byType('TextField'), dxScroll: 90, dyScroll: -400});, driver.execute('flutter:scrollUntilTapable', find.byType('ListView'), {item:find.byType('TextField'), dxScroll: 90, dyScroll: -400, waitTimeoutMilliseconds: 20000}); |
Widget |
| setSemantics | ❌ | Session | |
| setTextEntryEmulation | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:setTextEntryEmulation', false) |
Session |
| startTracing | ❌ | Session | |
| stopTracingAndDownloadTimeline | ❌ | Session | |
| tap | 🆗 | driver.elementClick(buttonFinder) |
Widget |
| tap | 🆗 | driver.touchAction({action: 'tap', element: {elementId: buttonFinder}}) |
Widget |
| tap | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:clickElement', buttonFinder, {timeout:5000}) |
Widget |
| traceAction | ❌ | Session | |
| waitFor | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:waitFor', buttonFinder, 100) |
Widget |
| waitForAbsent | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:waitForAbsent', buttonFinder) |
Widget |
| waitForTappable | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:waitForTappable', buttonFinder) |
Widget |
| waitUntilNoTransientCallbacks | ❌ | Widget | |
| - | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getVMInfo') |
System |
| - | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:setIsolateId', 'isolates/2978358234363215') |
System |
| - | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:getIsolate', 'isolates/2978358234363215') or driver.execute('flutter:getIsolate') |
System |
| ❓ | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:longTap', find.byValueKey('increment'), {durationMilliseconds: 10000, frequency: 30}) |
Widget |
| ❓ | 🆗 | driver.execute('flutter:waitForFirstFrame') |
Widget |
| - | 🆗 | (Ruby) driver.execute_script 'flutter:connectObservatoryWsUrl' |
Flutter Driver |
| - | 🆗 | (Ruby) driver.execute_script 'flutter:launchApp', 'bundleId', {arguments: ['arg1'], environment: {ENV1: 'env'}} |
Flutter Driver |
| dragAndDropWithCommandExtension | 🆗 | (Python) driver.execute_script('flutter:dragAndDropWithCommandExtension', payload) |
Command Extension |
NOTE
flutter:launchApplaunches an app via instrument service.mobile:activateAppanddriver.activate_appare via XCTest API. They are a bit different.
- Get available isolate ids
idkey in the value ofisolatesbyflutter:getVMInfo
- Set the id via
setIsolateId
# ruby
info = driver.execute_script 'flutter:getVMInfo'
# Change the target engine to "info['isolates'][0]['id']"
driver.execute_script 'flutter:setIsolateId', info['isolates'][0]['id']- Get available isolates
driver.execute('flutter:getVMInfo').isolates(JS)
- Get a particular isolate or current isolate
- Current isolate:
driver.execute('flutter:getIsolate')(JS) - Particular isolate:
driver.execute('flutter:getIsolate', 'isolates/2978358234363215')(JS)
- Current isolate:
These Appium commands can work across context
deleteSessionsetContextgetCurrentContextgetContextsactivateApp('appId')/mobile:activateAppmobile:activateApphasskipAttachObservatoryUrlkey to not try to attach to an observatory url. e.g.driver.execute_script 'mobile:activateApp', {skipAttachObservatoryUrl: true, appId: 'com.android.chrome'}
terminateApp('appId')/mobile:terminateAppinstallApp(appPath, options)getClipboardsetClipboard
This is a command extension for Flutter Driver, utilizing the CommandExtension-class within ext.flutter.driver
Available commands:
dragAndDropWithCommandExtension– performs a drag-and-drop action on the screen by specifying the start and end coordinates and the action duration.getTextWithCommandExtension- get text data from Text widget that contains TextSpan widgets.
Copy the sample dart files to the lib folder of your project. Please note that you don't need to copy all files, just copy the file matched with the command you need.
- dragAndDropWithCommandExtension: drag_commands.dart
- getTextWithCommandExtension: get_text_command.dart
The entry point must include the List<CommandExtension>? commands argument in either main.dart or test_main.dart to properly handle the command extension.
import 'drag_commands.dart';
import 'get_text_command.dart';
void main() {
enableFlutterDriverExtension(
commands: [DragCommandExtension(), GetTextCommandExtension()]);
runApp(const MyApp());
}# Extended commands: flutter:dragAndDropWithCommandExtension
coord_item_1 = driver.execute_script("flutter:getCenter", item_1)
coord_item_2 = driver.execute_script("flutter:getCenter", item_2)
start_x = coord_item_1["dx"]
start_y = coord_item_1["dy"]
end_y = coord_item_2["dy"]
payload = {
"startX": start_x,
"startY": start_y,
"endX": "0",
"endY": end_y,
"duration": "15000" # minimum 15000ms needed to drag n drop
}
driver.execute_script("flutter:dragAndDropWithCommandExtension", payload)
# Extended commands: flutter:getTextWithCommandExtension
text_finder = finder.by_value_key('amount')
get_text_payload = {
'findBy': text_finder,
}
result = driver.execute_script('flutter:getTextWithCommandExtension', payload)
print(result)// Extended commands: flutter:dragAndDropWithCommandExtension
const payload = {
"startX": "100",
"startY": "100",
"endX": "100",
"endY": "600",
"duration": "15000"
}
const result = await driver.execute("flutter:dragAndDropWithCommandExtension", payload);
console.log(JSON.stringify(result));
// Extended commands: flutter:getTextWithCommandExtension
import {byValueKey} from "appium-flutter-finder";
const payload = {
'findBy': byValueKey('amount'),
};
const getTextResult = await driver.execute('flutter:getTextWithCommandExtension', payload);
console.log(JSON.stringify(getTextResult));For debugging or testing in other programming languages, you can use the APK available in this repository or build an IPA.
- Input texts #417
- Looks hanging in
click#181 (comment)flutter:setFrameSyncmay help
flutter:waitForwould help to handle "an element does not exist/is not enabled" behavior. exmaple issue- Appium Inspector does not work with FLUTTER context
- switching context between Flutter and AndroidView
- switching context between Flutter and UiKitView
- Web:
FLUTTER_WEBcontext? - macOS: with https://github.com/appium/appium-mac2-driver
- Windws?
- Linux?
$ cd driver
$ sh release.sh
$ npm version <major|minor|patch>
# update changelog
$ git commit -am 'chore: bump version'
$ git tag <version number> # e.g. git tag v0.0.32
$ git push origin v0.0.32
$ git push origin main
$ npm publish
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