Bootstrapping Bloc in a Flutter Project

Installs and wires the canonical Bloc stack so feature-level skills (flutter-bloc-feature-pattern, flutter-bloc-async-api, flutter-bloc-stream-tracking, flutter-bloc-testing, flutter-bloc-forms) plug into a project with no further setup. Mobile only — Android and iOS targets. Web and desktop are out of scope.

Contents

• Dependencies and generators
• App-level providers
• Project structure
• Workflow: Bootstrap a Bloc-ready project
• Applied to Talabat-clone
• Examples

Dependencies and generators

Add the runtime dependencies. Pin major versions explicitly so dart run build_runner does not break across upgrades.

flutter pub add flutter_bloc freezed_annotation json_annotation bloc_concurrency hydrated_bloc path_provider

Add the generators as dev_dependencies. build_runner drives both freezed and json_serializable.

flutter pub add --dev build_runner freezed json_serializable

Run the generator continuously while editing freezed-annotated files in a side terminal. This avoids stale *.freezed.dart and *.g.dart artifacts during development.

dart run build_runner watch -d

This skill does not duplicate HTTP setup. Android <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" /> and the iOS com.apple.security.network.client entitlement live in flutter-use-http-package. Run that skill once for the project before adding any feature that calls a backend.

App-level providers

Two app-wide objects belong at the root of the widget tree.

1. MultiRepositoryProvider — exposes data-layer repositories to every feature below. Start with const <RepositoryProvider>[] (typed, not bare const [], which trips strict-inference lints); flutter-bloc-async-api adds repositories to this list as features land. Each repository entry looks like:

   RepositoryProvider<AuthRepository>(
     create: (_) => AuthRepository(api: AuthApiClient(...)),
     lazy: true, // construct only on first read
   ),
   

2. AppBlocObserver — a global BlocObserver that logs every Bloc transition and error to the console in debug mode. It dramatically shortens the loop when a state machine misbehaves. Gate it on kDebugMode so production builds stay quiet.

HydratedBloc.storage must be initialized before runApp(); otherwise any HydratedBloc constructed during the first frame will crash with HydratedStorageNotFound. Use path_provider to resolve the storage directory on Android and iOS.

Use getApplicationDocumentsDirectory() (durable across app updates and OS reboots), not getTemporaryDirectory() — the latter can be cleared by the OS without warning, which would silently lose the user's cart on a low-storage device. Some upstream examples use the temp directory because it's faster for one-off demos; for a real app with persisted cart/auth state, the documents directory is the right choice.

Project structure

Bloc replaces the view_models/ directory from flutter-apply-architecture-best-practices. The Repository, Service, and Domain Model layers from that skill stay unchanged.

lib/
├── core/
│   ├── bloc/
│   │   └── app_bloc_observer.dart
│   └── result/
│       ├── failure.dart        # added by flutter-bloc-async-api
│       └── result.dart         # added by flutter-bloc-async-api
├── data/                        # unchanged from flutter-apply-architecture-best-practices
│   ├── models/                  # API DTOs
│   ├── repositories/            # consumed by Blocs via RepositoryProvider
│   └── services/
├── domain/                      # unchanged
│   └── models/
└── ui/
    └── features/
        └── <feature>/
            ├── bloc/
            │   ├── <feature>_bloc.dart
            │   ├── <feature>_event.dart
            │   └── <feature>_state.dart
            └── view/
                └── <feature>_view.dart

One folder per feature, three files per Bloc. Tests for each Bloc mirror the path under test/ui/features/<feature>/bloc/<feature>_bloc_test.dart.

Workflow: Bootstrap a Bloc-ready project

Task Progress

• Step 1 — Install runtime deps. flutter pub add flutter_bloc freezed_annotation json_annotation bloc_concurrency hydrated_bloc path_provider.
• Step 2 — Install generators. flutter pub add --dev build_runner freezed json_serializable.
• Step 3 — Create the observer. Write lib/core/bloc/app_bloc_observer.dart extending BlocObserver. Override onChange and onError.
• Step 4 — Initialize storage. In main(), call WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized() then HydratedBloc.storage = await HydratedStorage.build(storageDirectory: HydratedStorageDirectory((await getApplicationDocumentsDirectory()).path)) before runApp().
• Step 5 — Wire the observer. if (kDebugMode) Bloc.observer = const AppBlocObserver(); — only in debug builds, so production stays quiet.
• Step 6 — Wrap the app root. Replace your top-level widget with MultiRepositoryProvider(providers: const <RepositoryProvider>[], child: MaterialApp(...)). The providers list grows as features land.
• Step 7 — Create the feature directory. mkdir -p lib/ui/features lib/core/bloc.
• Step 8 — Run the generator. Open a side terminal: dart run build_runner watch -d. Leave it running while you work.

Troubleshooting. Run flutter analyze → if dart run build_runner errors, check that every freezed file imports package:freezed_annotation/freezed_annotation.dart and declares part '<file>.freezed.dart'; → re-run. If HydratedStorageNotFound is thrown on first launch, your HydratedBloc.storage initialization happens after runApp() — move it before in main().

Applied to Talabat-clone

For a multi-store delivery app, the Blocs the family will eventually scaffold are (cross-referenced against PRD_states.md):

The root MultiRepositoryProvider will hold AuthRepository, StoreRepository, OrderRepository, CartRepository (cart is local-only; the repository wraps hydrated_bloc storage), and PromotionRepository.

Examples

Minimal main.dart

import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter_bloc/flutter_bloc.dart';
import 'package:hydrated_bloc/hydrated_bloc.dart';
import 'package:path_provider/path_provider.dart';

import 'core/bloc/app_bloc_observer.dart';

Future<void> main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();

  HydratedBloc.storage = await HydratedStorage.build(
    storageDirectory: HydratedStorageDirectory(
      (await getApplicationDocumentsDirectory()).path,
    ),
  );

  if (kDebugMode) {
    Bloc.observer = const AppBlocObserver();
  }

  runApp(const MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  const MyApp({super.key});

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MultiRepositoryProvider(
      // Typed empty list — `const []` bare would fail `strict-inference`.
      providers: const <RepositoryProvider>[
        // Repositories are added here by flutter-bloc-async-api as features land.
        // Example:
        //   RepositoryProvider<AuthRepository>(
        //     create: (_) => AuthRepository(...),
        //     lazy: true,
        //   ),
      ],
      child: MaterialApp(
        title: 'Multi-Store Delivery',
        home: Scaffold(
          appBar: AppBar(title: const Text('Smoke test')),
          body: const Center(child: Text('Bloc setup OK')),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

lib/core/bloc/app_bloc_observer.dart

import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
import 'package:flutter_bloc/flutter_bloc.dart';

/// Logs every Bloc transition and error during development.
/// Wired in `main()` only when `kDebugMode` is true.
class AppBlocObserver extends BlocObserver {
  const AppBlocObserver();

  // Override `onTransition` (not `onChange`) so Bloc logs show the
  // `event + currentState → nextState` triple. `onChange` only sees the
  // state diff, which loses the event-causation half. Cubits (no events)
  // fall through to `onChange` automatically.
  @override
  void onTransition(
    Bloc<dynamic, dynamic> bloc,
    Transition<dynamic, dynamic> transition,
  ) {
    super.onTransition(bloc, transition);
    debugPrint('[${bloc.runtimeType}] $transition');
  }

  @override
  void onError(BlocBase<dynamic> bloc, Object error, StackTrace stackTrace) {
    debugPrint('[${bloc.runtimeType}] ERROR: $error');
    super.onError(bloc, error, stackTrace);
  }
}

pubspec.yaml excerpt

dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  flutter_bloc: ^9.0.0
  freezed_annotation: ^3.0.0
  json_annotation: ^4.9.0
  bloc_concurrency: ^0.3.0
  hydrated_bloc: ^10.0.0
  path_provider: ^2.1.0
  http: ^1.2.0

dev_dependencies:
  flutter_test:
    sdk: flutter
  build_runner: ^2.4.0
  freezed: ^3.0.0
  json_serializable: ^6.8.0

Source: abdallhMoukdad/flutter-bloc-skills — distributed by TomeVault.