Quick Start Tutorial - FlightStack Flutter CI/CD

Quick Start Guide

Get your first Flutter app building and deploying in minutes. This guide walks you through the essential steps to get FlightStack running.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A Flutter app in a GitHub repository
• A Mac, Linux, or Windows machine for running builds
• The FlightStack CLI installed

Tip

For iOS builds, you’ll need a Mac with Xcode installed. Android and Web builds can run on any platform.

Setup Steps

1. Install the CLI

   macOS

   # Using Homebrew
   brew tap voostack/flightstack-cli-tap
   brew install flightstack
   
   # Or grab the archive instead (picks the right arch)
   arch=$([ "$(uname -m)" = arm64 ] && echo macos-arm64 || echo macos-x64)
   curl -fsSL "$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/voostack/flightstack-releases/releases \
     | grep -o "https[^\"]*flightstack-[0-9][^\"]*$arch\.tar\.gz" | head -1)" | tar xz
   sudo install flightstack flightstack-agent /usr/local/bin/

   Linux

   curl -fsSL "$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/voostack/flightstack-releases/releases \
     | grep -o 'https[^"]*flightstack-[0-9][^"]*linux-x64\.tar\.gz' | head -1)" | tar xz
   sudo install flightstack flightstack-agent /usr/local/bin/

   Windows

   # Download the latest release
   $dest = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\FlightStack"; $zip = "$env:TEMP\flightstack.zip"
   $asset = (irm https://api.github.com/repos/voostack/flightstack-releases/releases).assets |
     Where-Object name -like 'flightstack-[0-9]*-windows-x64.zip' | Select-Object -First 1
   irm $asset.browser_download_url -OutFile $zip
   Expand-Archive -Path $zip -DestinationPath $dest -Force
   
   # Add to PATH (run in elevated PowerShell)
   # Read the User scope, not $env:Path. $env:Path is Machine + User merged,
   # and writing it back to "User" copies every machine entry into your user PATH.
   $user = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","User")
   if ($user -notlike "*$dest*") {
     [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", ($user.TrimEnd(';') + ";$dest"), "User")
   }

   Then restart your terminal and verify:

   flightstack --version

2. Log In

   Authenticate with your FlightStack account:

   flightstack login

   This opens a browser window to complete authentication. Once done, you’ll see:

   ✓ Logged in successfully!
   
   Welcome back, your-username

3. Register a Build Agent

   Register your machine as a build agent:

   flightstack agent register

   The CLI will detect your system capabilities:

   System Information:
     Platform: macOS
     OS Version: macOS 14.0
     Xcode: 15.0
     Flutter: 3.16.0
     Dart: 3.2.0
   
   Capabilities:
     iOS: ✓
     Android: ✓
     Web: ✓
   
   ✓ Agent registered successfully!
   Agent ID: abc123-def456-...

4. Start the Agent

   Start the agent to begin accepting builds:

   flightstack agent start

   Or install it to start automatically on boot:

   flightstack agent install

   You should see:

   FlightStack Build Agent
   ────────────────────────────────────
   Agent: My-MacBook-Pro
   API: https://api.flightstack.voostack.com
   
   ✓ Agent is online
   
   Waiting for builds... (Ctrl+C to stop)

5. Create Your First Pipeline

   Open the FlightStack app and:

   1. Navigate to Repositories
   2. Click Connect Repository and select your GitHub repo
   3. Go to the Pipelines tab
   4. Click Create Pipeline

   In the visual editor:

   • Drag a Trigger (e.g., “On Push”) to the canvas
   • Drag a Build iOS job and connect it to the trigger
   • Drag a Notification job to get notified when done
   • Click Save

6. Push Some Code

   Push a commit to trigger your first build:

   git commit --allow-empty -m "Trigger first FlightStack build"
   git push

   Watch your build run in the FlightStack app! 🎉

What’s Next?

Now that you have a basic pipeline running, explore these topics:

Add Deployment

Set up automatic deployment to app stores:

• Deploy to iOS (TestFlight/App Store)
• Deploy to Android (Google Play)

Configure Code Signing

Learn how to set up automatic code signing:

• iOS Code Signing Guide

Optimize Your Pipeline

Make your builds faster and more reliable:

• Pipeline Best Practices
• Environment Variables

Run Agent on Boot

Set up your agent to start automatically:

flightstack agent install

See Auto-Start on Boot for details.

Troubleshooting

Agent not connecting?

1. Check your internet connection
2. Verify you’re logged in: flightstack login
3. Check agent status: flightstack agent status

Build failing?

1. Check the build logs in the FlightStack app
2. Ensure Flutter is installed: flutter doctor
3. Verify Xcode is set up (for iOS): xcode-select -p

Need help?

• Join our Discord community
• Check the Troubleshooting Guide
• Open an issue on GitHub