flutter-no-debugprint-release

A lightweight wrapper that adds --ndrelease (no-debug-release) support to flutter build.

What It Does

flutter build <target> --ndrelease compiles your Flutter app in release mode with all debugPrint(...) and print(...) calls automatically stripped from the source.

Your original source code is never modified. The wrapper creates a temporary shadow copy of your project, strips the debug prints in the copy, builds from there, and copies the output back.

Installation

Linux / macOS

git clone <repo-url>
cd flutter-no-debugprint-release
./install.sh

The installer will ask if you want to remove the cloned directory. Say y if you don't need it anymore — the wrapper is copied to ~/.flutter-ndrelease/.

Then restart your terminal or run:

source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

Windows

git clone <repo-url>
cd flutter-no-debugprint-release
install.bat

The installer will ask if you want to remove the cloned directory. Say y if you don't need it anymore — the wrapper is copied to %USERPROFILE%\.flutter-ndrelease\.

Then restart your terminal.

Manual Installation

Add the bin/ directory to your PATH before your Flutter SDK's bin directory:

export PATH="/path/to/flutter-no-debugprint-release/bin:$PATH"

Usage

# Build for Linux without debug prints
flutter build linux --ndrelease

# Build for Windows without debug prints
flutter build windows --ndrelease

# Build for macOS without debug prints
flutter build macos --ndrelease

# Also accepts the long form
flutter build linux --no-debug-release

Build output goes to build/ndrelease/ instead of build/<platform>/.

Normal Release Build

All other flutter commands pass through unchanged:

flutter build linux --release      # Normal release (debug prints intact)
flutter run                          # Debug mode
flutter pub get                     # Works as usual

Uninstall

flutter wrapper-uninstall -y

This removes the wrapper directory. You may also want to clean up the PATH entry in your shell config (.bashrc / .zshrc) or Windows environment variables.

How It Works

1. Detects --ndrelease / --no-debug-release in build arguments
2. Creates a shadow copy of your project at build/ndrelease_shadow/
3. Strips debugPrint(...) and print(...) lines from all .dart files in the shadow
4. Runs the real flutter build --release inside the shadow
5. Copies build outputs from the shadow to build/ndrelease/
6. Deletes the shadow directory

If the build crashes or the terminal dies, the shadow directory may remain in build/ndrelease_shadow/. It is harmless and can be removed with flutter clean.

CI / CD Usage

GitHub Actions — Multi-Platform

Copy this into your .github/workflows/build.yml:

name: Build All Platforms (No Debug Prints)

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build-android:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2
        with:
          channel: stable
      - name: Install flutter-no-debugprint-release
        run: |
          git clone https://github.com/your-repo/flutter-no-debugprint-release.git /tmp/ndrelease
          cd /tmp/ndrelease
          ./install.sh <<< "y"
          echo "$HOME/.flutter-ndrelease" >> $GITHUB_PATH
      - name: Build Android APK (stripped)
        run: flutter build apk --ndrelease
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: android-apk
          path: build/ndrelease/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-release.apk

  build-ios:
    runs-on: macos-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2
        with:
          channel: stable
      - name: Install flutter-no-debugprint-release
        run: |
          git clone https://github.com/your-repo/flutter-no-debugprint-release.git /tmp/ndrelease
          cd /tmp/ndrelease
          ./install.sh <<< "y"
          echo "$HOME/.flutter-ndrelease" >> $GITHUB_PATH
      - name: Build iOS (stripped)
        run: flutter build ios --ndrelease --no-codesign
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: ios-app
          path: build/ndrelease/ios/iphoneos/Runner.app

  build-linux:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2
        with:
          channel: stable
      - run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y ninja-build libgtk-3-dev
      - name: Install flutter-no-debugprint-release
        run: |
          git clone https://github.com/your-repo/flutter-no-debugprint-release.git /tmp/ndrelease
          cd /tmp/ndrelease
          ./install.sh <<< "y"
          echo "$HOME/.flutter-ndrelease" >> $GITHUB_PATH
      - name: Build Linux (stripped)
        run: flutter build linux --ndrelease
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: linux-bundle
          path: build/ndrelease/linux/x64/release/bundle/

  build-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2
        with:
          channel: stable
      - name: Install flutter-no-debugprint-release
        shell: bash
        run: |
          git clone https://github.com/your-repo/flutter-no-debugprint-release.git /tmp/ndrelease
          cd /tmp/ndrelease
          ./install.sh <<< "y"
          echo "$HOME/.flutter-ndrelease" >> $GITHUB_PATH
      - name: Build Windows (stripped)
        run: flutter build windows --ndrelease
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: windows-bundle
          path: build/ndrelease/windows/x64/release/bundle/

  build-macos:
    runs-on: macos-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2
        with:
          channel: stable
      - name: Install flutter-no-debugprint-release
        run: |
          git clone https://github.com/your-repo/flutter-no-debugprint-release.git /tmp/ndrelease
          cd /tmp/ndrelease
          ./install.sh <<< "y"
          echo "$HOME/.flutter-ndrelease" >> $GITHUB_PATH
      - name: Build macOS (stripped)
        run: flutter build macos --ndrelease
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: macos-bundle
          path: build/ndrelease/macos/Build/Products/Release/

Requirements

• Flutter SDK installed and in PATH
• Bash (Linux/macOS) or PowerShell (Windows)

License

Apache License 2.0