auto_dispose_guard

Safe automatic disposal for Flutter controllers, streams, timers, services, and custom resources.

AutoDisposeGuard removes the repetitive dispose(), close(), and cancel() boilerplate from Flutter apps while keeping cleanup idempotent and fail-safe.

What's New In 1.0.2

• AutoDisposeBag for plain Dart classes, repositories, blocs, GetX services, and Provider objects.
• AutoDisposeBagMixin for controller/service classes where you want register() without a widget State.
• isDisposed guards to skip resources that were already disposed manually.
• DisposeState marker interface for custom resources that can report disposal state.
• Built-in skip guards for already closed StreamControllers and inactive Timers.
• Shorter pubspec description so pub.dev can award the missing pubspec points.

Installation

dependencies:
  auto_dispose_guard: ^1.0.2

import 'package:auto_dispose_guard/auto_dispose_guard.dart';

Widget State Usage

Use AutoDisposeMixin in a State class and register resources inline.

class _ProfileScreenState extends State<ProfileScreen>
    with SingleTickerProviderStateMixin, AutoDisposeMixin {
  late final name = register(TextEditingController());
  late final focus = register(FocusNode());
  late final animation = register(
    AnimationController(vsync: this, duration: kThemeAnimationDuration),
  );
  late final stream = register(StreamController<String>.broadcast());

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) => const SizedBox();
}

No manual dispose() override is needed for registered resources.

GetX Controllers And Services

AutoDisposeGuard does not depend on GetX, but works cleanly with it through AutoDisposeBagMixin.

class LoginController extends GetxController with AutoDisposeBagMixin {
  late final email = register(TextEditingController());
  late final password = register(TextEditingController());
  late final timer = register(Timer.periodic(const Duration(seconds: 1), (_) {}));

  @override
  void onClose() {
    disposeAutoDispose();
    super.onClose();
  }
}

class SocketService extends GetxService with AutoDisposeBagMixin {
  late final messages = register(StreamController<String>.broadcast());

  @override
  void onClose() {
    disposeAutoDispose();
    super.onClose();
  }
}

Provider / ChangeNotifier Usage

class SearchProvider extends ChangeNotifier with AutoDisposeBagMixin {
  late final query = register(TextEditingController());
  late final scroll = register(ScrollController());

  @override
  void dispose() {
    disposeAutoDispose();
    super.dispose();
  }
}

Plain Dart Classes

Use AutoDisposeBag when a mixin is not a good fit.

class Repository {
  Repository() : _bag = AutoDisposeBag(debugLabel: 'Repository');

  final AutoDisposeBag _bag;

  late final events = _bag.register(StreamController<int>.broadcast());

  void dispose() => _bag.dispose();
}

Scope Usage

Wrap a route or subtree in AutoDisposeScope and register from descendants.

MaterialPageRoute<void>(
  builder: (_) => const AutoDisposeScope(
    debugLabel: 'ProfileRoute',
    child: ProfileScreen(),
  ),
);

final controller = TextEditingController().autoDispose(context);
AutoDispose.of(context).register(StreamController<int>());

Already Disposed Guards

If a resource may be disposed manually before the owner closes, pass an isDisposed probe.

late final socket = register(
  MySocket(),
  onDispose: () => socket.close(),
  isDisposed: () => socket.isClosed,
);

Or implement DisposeState on your own type.

class MyCache implements Disposable, DisposeState {
  bool _closed = false;

  @override
  bool get isDisposed => _closed;

  @override
  void dispose() {
    if (_closed) return;
    _closed = true;
  }
}

Auto Detection

AutoDisposeGuard uses type checks, not reflection.

Type	Method
Disposable	dispose()
Closeable	close()
Cancellable	cancel()
ChangeNotifier	dispose()
StreamController	close()
StreamSubscription	cancel()
Timer	cancel()
Custom callback	onDispose / disposeCallback

Core Guarantees

• O(1) identity-based registration and lookup.
• LIFO disposal order.
• Idempotent disposeAll() / disposeAutoDispose() calls.
• Fail-safe cleanup: one disposal error is logged and remaining resources still release.
• Debug logging only in kDebugMode.

License

MIT