IntelliJ / Android Studio

The Flutter Compile plugin (v0.3.1) for IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio provides SDK management, diagnostics, and engine build controls within the IDE.

Installation

Open IntelliJ IDEA or Android Studio
Go to Settings → Plugins → Marketplace
Search for "Flutter Compile"
Click Install and restart the IDE

Requires IntelliJ IDEA / Android Studio 2025.1 or later, JDK 17+, and the flutter_compile CLI installed globally.

Plugin dependencies

Dart plugin
Flutter plugin
Terminal plugin

Features

Tool Window Panels

The plugin adds a "Flutter Compile" tool window with three tabs:

SDKs Tab

Tree view of all installed SDKs with status icons:
- Green check = active/global SDK
- Package icon = installed SDK
- Plugin icon = contributor build
Double-click to set as global default
Right-click context menu: Set as Global, Remove, Pin to Project, Open Folder

Doctor Tab

Grouped diagnostics: Required Tools, Engine Tools, Config, Environments
Right-click to install/configure failing checks (wrench icon)
Right-click to uninstall passing environments (trash icon)

Engine Builds Tab

Engine path and source directory status
Host CPU architecture
Build targets with disk sizes
Right-click to delete builds

Combo box: Flutter SDK version switcher in the main toolbar
Mode dropdown: Toggle between Native and FVM backends
Buttons: Install (+), Refresh, Build Engine, Delete Build

Context Menus

SDK items (right-click)

Action	Description
Set as Global	Set the SDK as the global default
Remove SDK	Delete the installed SDK
Pin to Project	Create .flutter-version for the current project
Open SDK Folder	Open the SDK directory in the system file manager

Doctor items (right-click)

Action	Description
Install/Configure	Install or configure a missing/failing tool
Uninstall Environment	Uninstall a passing contributor environment

The plugin adds entries to the Tools menu:

Install Flutter SDK...
Flutter Compile Doctor
Remove Flutter SDK...
Pin Flutter SDK to Project...
Open Flutter SDK Folder...
Refresh Flutter Compile

Settings

Go to Settings → Tools → Flutter Compile:

Setting	Default	Description
CLI Path	`flutter_compile`	Path to the flutter_compile CLI binary
SDK Manager Mode	Native	Backend: Native or FVM

Backend Toggle (Native vs FVM)

Switch between SDK backends using the mode dropdown in the tool window toolbar:

Native (default) — flutter_compile's built-in SDK management
FVM — delegates to FVM

Terminal Integration

The plugin sets the FLUTTER_COMPILE_SDK environment variable via LocalTerminalCustomizer. This ensures IDE terminal sessions use the project-pinned SDK instead of the global default.

File Watcher

The plugin watches .flutter-version for changes. When the file is modified externally (e.g. from the CLI), the plugin automatically:

Refreshes the SDK tree view
Updates the Flutter SDK path in project settings
Updates the toolbar combo box

Startup Behavior

On IDE startup, the plugin runs a post-startup activity that:

Checks if the flutter_compile CLI is available
Shows install instructions if the CLI is missing
Runs auto-migration for the shell env file format