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Introduction

What is AutoRoute?

It’s a Flutter navigation package, it allows for strongly-typed arguments passing, effortless deep-linking and it uses code generation to simplify routes setup, with that being said it requires a minimal amount of code to generate everything needed for navigation inside of your App.

Why AutoRoute?

If your App requires deep-linking or guarded routes or just a clean routing setup you'll need to use named/generated routes and you’ll end up writing a lot of boilerplate code for mediator argument classes, checking for required arguments, extracting arguments and a bunch of other stuff. AutoRoute does all that for you and much more.

Installation

dependencies:              
 auto_route: [latest-version]              
             
dev_dependencies:              
 auto_route_generator: [latest-version]              
 build_runner:              

Setup And Usage

Create a placeholder class and annotate it with @MaterialAutoRouter which takes a list of routes as a required argument.

Note: Unless you want to generate a part of file (.gr.dart) The name of the router must be prefixed with $ so we have a generated class with the same name minus the $.

              
// @CupertinoAutoRouter              
// @AdaptiveAutoRouter              
// @CustomAutoRouter              
@MaterialAutoRouter(              
  replaceInRouteName: 'Page,Route',              
  routes: <AutoRoute>[              
    AutoRoute(page: BookListPage, initial: true),              
    AutoRoute(page: BookDetailsPage),              
  ],              
)              
class $AppRouter {}              

Using part builder ( New in version 3.0.0+)

To generate a part-of file instead of a stand alone AppRouter class, simply add a Part Directive to your AppRouter and extend the generated private router.

part 'app_router.gr.dart';      
        
@MaterialAutoRouter(              
  replaceInRouteName: 'Page,Route',              
  routes: <AutoRoute>[              
    AutoRoute(page: BookListPage, initial: true),              
    AutoRoute(page: BookDetailsPage),              
  ],              
)              
// extend the generated private router        
class AppRouter extends _$AppRouter{}              

Tip: You can Shorten auto-generated route names from e.g. BookListPageRoute to BookListRoute using the replaceInRouteName argument.

Now simply run the generator

Use the watch flag to watch the files' system for edits and rebuild as necessary.

flutter packages pub run build_runner watch              

if you want the generator to run one time and exits use

flutter packages pub run build_runner build              

Finalize the setup

after you run the generator your router class will be generated, hook it up with MaterialApp.

// assuing this is the root widget of your App           
class App extends StatelessWidget {      
  // make sure you don't initiate your router          
  // inside of the build function.          
  final _appRouter = AppRouter();      
      
  @override      
  Widget build(BuildContext context){      
    return MaterialApp.router(      
      routerDelegate: _appRouter.delegate(),      
      routeInformationParser: _appRouter.defaultRouteParser(),      
    );      
  }      
}      

Generated Routes

A PageRouteInfo object will be generated for every declared AutoRoute, These objects hold path information plus strongly-typed page arguments which are extracted from the page's default constructor. Think of them as string path segments on steroid.

class BookListRoute extends PageRouteInfo {              
  const BookListRoute() : super(name, path: '/books');              
              
  static const String name = 'BookListRoute';              
}              

if the declared route has children AutoRoute will add a children parameter to its constructor to be used in nested navigation. more on that here.

class UserRoute extends PageRouteInfo {              
   UserRoute({List<PagerouteInfo> children}) :              
    super(              
         name,               
         path: '/user/:id',              
         initialChildren: children);              
  static const String name = 'UserRoute';              
}              

AutoRouter offers the same known push, pop and friends methods to manipulate the pages stack using both the generated PageRouteInfo objects and paths.

// get the scoped router by calling              
AutoRouter.of(context)              
// or using the extension              
context.router              
              
// adds a new entry to the pages stack              
router.push(const BooksListRoute())            
// or by using using paths            
router.pushNamed('/books')             
          
// removes last entry in stack and pushs provided route           
// if last entry == provided route page will just be updated          
router.replace(const BooksListRoute())              
// or by using using paths            
router.replaceNamed('/books')            
          
// pops until provided route, if it already exists in stack              
// else adds it to the stack (good for web Apps).              
router.navigate(const BooksListRoute())            
// or by using using paths            
router.navigateNamed('/books')          
        
// on Web it calls window.history.back();      
// on Native it navigates you back       
// to the previous location      
router.navigateBack();      
      
// adds a list of routes to the pages stack at once          
router.pushAll([          
   BooksListRoute(),          
   BookDetailsRoute(id:1),          
]);          
          
// This's like providing a completely new stack as it rebuilds the stack          
// with the list of passed routes          
// entires might just update if already exist          
router.replaceAll([          
   LoginRoute()          
]);          
// pops the last page unless stack has 1 entry              
context.router.pop();             
// keeps poping routes until predicate is satisfied          
context.router.popUntil((route) => route.name == 'HomeRoute');          
// a simplifed version of the above line          
context.router.popUntilRouteWithName('HomeRoute');          
// pops all routes down to the root          
context.router.popUntilRoot();          
               
// removes the top most page in stack even if it's the last          
// remove != pop, it doesn't respect WillPopScopes it just           
// removes the entry.          
context.router.removeLast();           
          
// removes any route in stack that satisfis the predicate          
// this works exactly like removing items from a regualar List          
// <PageRouteInfo>[...].removeWhere((r)=>)          
context.router.removeWhere((route) => );          
              
// you can also use the common helper methods from context extension to navigate          
context.pushRoute(const BooksListRoute());          
context.replaceRoute(const BooksListRoute());          
context.navigateTo(const BooksListRoute());          
context.navigateNamedTo('/books');          
context.navigateBack();         
context.popRoute();          

Passing Arguments

That's the fun part! AutoRoute automatically detects and handles your page arguments for you, the generated route object will deliver all the arguments your page needs including path/query params.

e.g. The following page widget will take an argument of type Book.

class BookDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {              
 const BookDetailsPage({required this.book});              
              
  final Book book;           
  ...              

Note: Default values are respected. Required fields are also respected and handled properly.

The generated BookDetailsRoute will deliver the same arguments to it's corresponding page.

router.push(BookDetailsRoute(book: book));              

Note: all args are generated as named parameters regardless of their original type.

Returning Results

You can return results by either using the pop completer or by passing a callback function as an argument the same way you'd pass an object.

1 - Using the pop completer

var result = await router.push(LoginRoute());              

then inside of your LoginPage pop with results

router.pop(true);             

as you'd notice we did not specify the result type, we're playing with dynamic values here, which can be risky and I personally don't recommend it.

To avoid working with dynamic values we specify what type of results we expect our page to return, which is a bool value.

AutoRoute<bool>(page: LoginPage),           

we push and specify the type of results we're expecting

var result = await router.push<bool>(LoginRoute());              

and of course we pop with the same type

router.pop<bool>(true);             

2- Passing a callback function as an argument.
We only have to add a callback function as a parameter to our page constructor like follows:

class BookDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {              
 const BookDetailsRoute({this.book, required this.onRateBook});              
              
  final Book book;              
  final void Function(int) onRateBook;              
  ...              

The generated BookDetailsRoute will deliver the same arguments to it's corresponding page.

context.router.push(              
      BookDetailsRoute(              
          book: book,              
          onRateBook: (rating) {              
           // handle result              
          }),              
    );              

if you're finishing with results make sure you call the callback function as you pop the page

onRateBook(RESULT);              
context.router.pop();              

Note: Default values are respected. Required fields are also respected and handled properly.

Nested Navigation

Nested navigation means building an inner router inside of a page of another router, for example in the below diagram users page is built inside of dashboard page.

defining nested routes is as easy as populating the children field of the parent route. In the following example UsersPage , PostsPage and SettingsPage are nested children of DashboardPage.

@MaterialAutoRouter(              
  replaceInRouteName: 'Page,Route',              
  routes: <AutoRoute>[              
    AutoRoute(              
      path: '/dashboard',              
      page: DashboardPage,              
      children: [              
        AutoRoute(path: 'users', page: UsersPage),              
        AutoRoute(path: 'posts', page: PostsPage),          
        AutoRoute(path: 'settings', page: SettingsPage),                
      ],              
    ),          
    AutoRoute(path: '/login', page: LoginPage)          
  ],              
)              
class $AppRouter {}              

To render/build nested routes we need an AutoRouter widget that works as an outlet or a nested router-view inside of our dashboard page.

class DashboardPage extends StatelessWidget {          
  @override          
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {          
    return Row(          
      children: [          
        Column(          
          children: [          
            NavLink(label: 'Users', destination: const UsersRoute()),          
            NavLink(label: 'Posts', destination: const PostsRoute()),          
            NavLink(label: 'Settings', destination: const SettingsRoute()),          
          ],          
        ),          
        Expanded(          
          // nested routes will be rendered here          
          child: AutoRouter(),          
        )          
      ],          
    );          
  }          
}          

Now if we navigate to /dashboard/users we will be taken to the DashboardPage and the UsersPage will be shown inside of it.

What if want to show one of the child pages at /dashboard? we can simply do that by giving the child routes an empty path '' or set it as initial.

   AutoRoute(              
      path: '/dashboard',              
      page: DashboardPage,              
      children: [              
        AutoRoute(path: '', page: UsersPage),          
        //The same thing can be done using the initial flag          
        //AutoRoute(page: UsersPage,initial: true),              
        AutoRoute(path: 'posts', page: PostsPage),              
      ],              
    ),              

or by using a RedirectRoute

   AutoRoute(              
   path: '/dashboard',              
   page: DashboardPage,              
      children: [              
         RedirectRoute(path: '', redirectTo: 'users'),              
         AutoRoute(path: 'users', page: UsersPage),              
         AutoRoute(path: 'posts', page: PostsPage),               
      ],              
   ),        

which can be simplified to the following where auto_route generates the redirect code for you.

   AutoRoute(              
      path: '/dashboard',              
      page: DashboardPage,              
      children: [              
        // RedirectRoute(path: '', redirectTo: 'users'),              
        AutoRoute(path: 'users', page: UsersPage, initial: true),              
        AutoRoute(path: 'posts', page: PostsPage),               
      ],              
    ),              

Things to keep in mind when implementing nested navigation

1- Each router manages it's own pages stack.
2- Navigation actions like push, pop and friends are handled by the topmost router and bubble up if it couldn't be handled.

Tab Navigation

If you're working with flutter mobile you're most likely to implement tabs navigation, that's why auto_route makes tabs navigation as easy and straightforward as possible.

in the previous example we used an AutoRouter widget to render nested child routes, AutoRouter is just a shortcut for AutoStackRouter, StackRouters manage a stack of pages inside of them where the active/visible page is always the one on top and you'd need to pop it to see the page beneath it.

Now we can try to implement our tabs using an AutoRouter (StackRouter) by pushing or replacing a nested route every-time the tab changes and that might work but our tabs state will be lost, not to mention the transition between tabs issue, luckily auto_route comes equipped with an AutoTabsRouter which is especially made to handle tab navigation.

AutoTabsRouter lets you switch between different routes while preserving offstage-routes state, tab routes are lazily loaded by default ( can be disabled ) and finally it allows to create whatever transition animation you want.

Let's change the previous example to use tab navigation.

Notice that we're not going to change anything in our routes declaration map, we still have a dashboard page that has tree nested children, users, posts and settings.

class DashboardPage extends StatelessWidget {          
  @override          
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {          
    return AutoTabsRouter(          
    // list of your tab routes          
    // routes used here must be declaraed as children          
    // routes of /dashboard           
      routes: const [          
        UsersRoute(),          
        PostsRoute(),          
        SettingsRoute(),          
      ],          
      builder: (context, child, animation) {          
        // obtain the scoped TabsRouter controller using context          
        final tabsRouter = AutoTabsRouter.of(context);          
        // Here we're building our Scaffold inside of AutoTabsRouter          
        // to access the tabsRouter controller provided in this context          
        //           
        //alterntivly you could use a global key          
        return Scaffold(          
            body: FadeTransition(          
              opacity: animation,          
              // the passed child is techinaclly our animated selected-tab page          
              child: child,          
            ),          
            bottomNavigationBar: BottomNavigationBar(          
              currentIndex: tabsRouter.activeIndex,          
              onTap: (index) {          
                // here we switch between tabs          
                tabsRouter.setActiveIndex(index);          
              },          
              items: [          
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Users',...),          
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Posts',...),          
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Settings',...),          
              ],          
            ));          
      },          
    );          
  }          
}          

if you think the above setup is a bit messy you could use the shipped-in AutoTabsScaffold that makes things much cleaner.

class DashboardPage extends StatelessWidget {          
 @override            
Widget build(context) {            
 @override          
  Widget build(context) {          
    return AutoTabsScaffold(          
       routes: const [          
        UsersRoute(),          
        PostsRoute(),          
        SettingsRoute(),          
      ],          
      bottomNavigationBuilder: (_,tabsRouter) {          
          return BottomNavigationBar(          
              currentIndex: tabsRouter.activeIndex,          
              onTap: tabsRouter.setActiveIndex          
              items: [          
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Users',...),          
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Posts',...),          
                BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Settings',...),          
              ],          
            )),                 
       }          
    );          
}          

Using PageView

Use the AutoTabsRouter.pageView constructor to implement tabs using PageView

AutoTabsRouter.pageView(      
     routes: [      
        BooksTab(),      
        ProfileTab(),      
        SettingsTab(),      
        ],     
     builder: (context, child, _) {      
        return Scaffold(      
              appBar: AppBar(      
              title: Text(context.topRoute.name),      
              leading: AutoLeadingButton()),      
              body: child,      
              bottomNavigationBar: BottomNavigationBar(          
                    currentIndex: tabsRouter.activeIndex,          
                    onTap: tabsRouter.setActiveIndex          
                    items: [          
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Books',...),          
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Profile',...),          
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Settings',...),          
                    ],          
                  ),    
            ),      
      ); },    
  );    

Using TabBar

Use the AutoTabsRouter.tabBar constructor to implement tabs using TabBar

AutoTabsRouter.tabBar(      
     routes: [      
        BooksTab(),      
        ProfileTab(),      
        SettingsTab(),      
        ],     
     builder: (context, child, controller) {      
        return Scaffold(      
              appBar: AppBar(      
                 title: Text(context.topRoute.name),      
                 leading: AutoLeadingButton(),    
                 bottom: TabBar(      
                    controller: controller,      
                    tabs: const [      
                    Tab(text: '1', icon: Icon(Icons.abc)),      
                    Tab(text: '2', icon: Icon(Icons.abc)),      
                    Tab(text: '3', icon: Icon(Icons.abc)),      
                   ],),    
               ),      
              body: child,      
              bottomNavigationBar: BottomNavigationBar(          
                    currentIndex: tabsRouter.activeIndex,          
                    onTap: tabsRouter.setActiveIndex          
                    items: [          
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Books',...),          
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Profile',...),          
                      BottomNavigationBarItem(label: 'Settings',...),          
                    ],          
                  ),    
            ),      
      ); },    
  );    

Finding The Right Router

Every nested AutoRouter has its own routing controller to manage the stack inside of it and the easiest way to obtain a scoped controller is by using context.

In the previous example DashboardPage is a root level stack entry so calling AutoRouter.of(context) anywhere inside of it will get us the root routing controller.

AutoRouter widgets that are used to render nested routes, insert a new router scope into the widgets tree, so when a nested route calls for the scoped controller they will get the closest parent controller in the widgets tree not the root controller.

class Dashboard extends StatelessWidget {              
             
  @override              
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {              
  // this will get us the root routing controller              
    AutoRouter.of(context);              
    return Scaffold(              
      appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Dashboard page')),               
      // this inserts a new router scope into the widgets tree              
      body: AutoRouter()               
    );              
  }              
}              

Here's a simple diagram to help visualize this

As you can tell from the above diagram it's possible to access parent routing controllers by calling router.parent<T>(), we're using a generic function because we have too different routing controllers StackRouter and TabsRouter, one of them could be the parent controller of the current router and that's why we need to specify a type.

router.parent<StackRouter>() // this returns  the parent router as a Stack Routing controller              
router.parent<TabsRouter>() // this returns athe parent router as a Tabs Routing controller              

on the other hand obtaining the root controller does not require type casting because it's always a StackRouter.

router.root // this returns the root router as a Stack Routing controller              

You can obtain access to inner-routers from outside their scope using a global key

class DashboardPage extends StatefulWidget {          
  @override          
  _DashboardPageState createState() => _DashboardPageState();          
}          
          
class _DashboardPageState extends State<DashboardPage> {          
  final _innerRouterKey = GlobalKey<AutoRouterState>();          
  @override          
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {          
    return Row(          
      children: [          
        Column(          
          children: [          
            NavLink(label: 'Users',          
            onTap:(){          
               final router = _innerRouterKey.currentState?.controller;          
               router?.push(const UsersRoute());          
             }          
            ),          
            ...          
          ],          
        ),          
        Expanded(          
          child: AutoRouter(key: _innerRouterKey),          
        )          
      ],          
    );          
  }          
}          

You could also obtain access to inner-routers from outside their scope without a global key as long as they're initiated.

// assuming this's the root router              
context.innerRouterOf<StackRouter>(UserRoute.name)               
// or if we're usign an AutoTabsRouter inside of DashboardPage          
context.innerRouterOf<TabsRouter>(UserRoute.name)            

Accessing the DashboardPage inner router from the previous example.

class Dashboard extends StatelessWidget {              
            
  @override              
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {              
    return Scaffold(              
      appBar: AppBar(              
        title: Text('Dashboard'),              
        actions: [              
          IconButton(              
            icon: Icon(Icons.person),              
            onPressed: () {              
              // accessing the inner router from              
              // outside the scope              
              final router = context.innerRouterOf<StackRouter>(DashboardRoute.name)          
              router?.push(const UsersRoute());              
            },              
          ),              
        ],              
      ),              
      body: AutoRouter(), // we're trying to get access to this              
    );              
  }              
}              

To navigate without context you can simply assign your generated router to a global variable

// declarate your route as a global vairable          
final appRouter = AppRouter();            
          
class MyApp extends StatefulWidget {          
          
  @override          
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {          
    return MaterialApp.router(          
      routerDelegate: AutoRouterDelegate(appRouter),          
      routeInformationParser: appRouter.defaultRouteParser(),          
      );          
    }          

Note: using global variable is not recommended and is considered a bad practice and most of the times you should use dependency injection instead.

Here's an example using get_it which is just a personal favorite, you can use any dependency injection package you like.

void main(){          
// make sure you register it as a Singleton or a lazySingleton          
  getIt.registerSingleton<AppRouter>(AppRouter());          
  runApp(MyApp());          
 }          
          
class MyApp extends StatefulWidget {          
  @override          
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {          
    final router = getIt<AppRouter>();          
    return MaterialApp.router(          
      routerDelegate: AutoRouterDelegate(router),          
      routeInformationParser: router.defaultRouteParser(),          
      );          
    }          

now you can access to your router anywhere inside of your App without using context.

getIt<AppRouter>().push(...);          

Note: navigating without context is not recommended in nested navigation unless you use navigate instead of push and you provide a full hierarchy. e.g router.navigate(SecondRoute(children: [SubChild2Route()]))

Declarative Navigation

To use declarative navigation with auto_route you simple use the AutoRouter.declarative constructor and return a list of routes based on state.

AutoRouter.declarative(      
  routes: (handler) => [      
     BookListRoute(),      
     if(_selectedBook != null)      
     BookDetailsRoute(id: _selectedBook.id),      
 ],);    

Note: the handler contains a temp-list of pending initial routes which can be read only once.

Working with Paths

Working with paths in AutoRoute is optional because PageRouteInfo objects are matched by name unless pushed as a string using the initialDeepLink property in root delegate or pushNamed, replaceNamed navigateNamed methods.

if you don’t specify a path it’s going to be generated from the page name e.g. BookListPage will have ‘book-list-page’ as a path, if initial arg is set to true the path will be / unless it's relative then it will be an empty string ''.

When developing a web Application or a native App that requires deep-linking you'd probably need to define paths with clear memorable names, and that's done using the path argument in AutoRoute.

 AutoRoute(path: '/books', page: BookListPage),              

Path Parameters (dynamic segments)

You can define a dynamic segment by prefixing it with a colon

 AutoRoute(path: '/books/:id', page: BookDetailsPage),              

The simplest way to extract path parameters from path and gain access to them is by annotating constructor params with @PathParam('optional-alias') with the same alias/name of the segment.

class BookDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {              
  const BookDetailsPage({@PathParam('id') this.bookId});          
            
  final int bookId;              
  ...              

Now writing /books/1 in the browser will navigate you to BookDetailsPage and automatically extract the bookId argument from path and inject it to your widget.

Inherited Path Parameters

if you annotate a constructor parameter with @PathParm() and the route corresponding with the screen has no path-param with the same name but it's parent does, then that path-param is inherited and the generated route will not hold this as a parameter arg. e.g

AutoRoute(  
 path: '/product/:id',  
 page: ProductScreen,  
 children: [  
  AutoRoute(path: 'review',page: ProductReviewScreen),  
],
),

now ProductReviewScreen expects a path-param named id but, from the above snippet we know that the route corresponding with it review has no path parameters, in that case auto_route will check if any ancestor path can provide this path-param if yes it marks it as an inherited path-param otherwise it throws an error.

class ProductReviewScreen extends StatelessWidget {  
   // the path-param 'id' will be inherited and it can not be passed
   // as a route arg by user
  const ProductReviewScreen({super.key, @pathParam required String id}); 
}

Query Parameters

Query parameters are accessed the same way, simply annotate the constructor parameter to hold the value of the query param with @QueryParam('optional-alias') and let AutoRoute do the rest.

you could also access path/query parameters using the scoped RouteData object.

 RouteData.of(context).pathParams;              
 // or using the extension              
 context.routeData.queryParams              

Tip: if your parameter name is the same as the path/query parameter, you could use the const @pathParam or @queryParam and not pass a slug/alias.

class BookDetailsPage extends StatelessWidget {              
  const BookDetailsPage({@pathParam this.id});          
            
  final int id;              
  ...              

Redirecting Paths

Paths can be redirected using RedirectRoute. The following setup will navigate us to /books when / is matched.

<AutoRoute> [              
     RedirectRoute(path: '/', redirectTo: '/books'),              
     AutoRoute(path: '/books', page: BookListPage),              
 ]              

When redirecting initial routes the above setup can be simplified by setting the /books path as initial and auto_route will automatically generate the required redirect code for you.

<AutoRoute> [                
     AutoRoute(path: '/books', page: BookListPage, initial: true),              
 ]              

You can also redirect paths with params like follows:

<AutoRoute> [              
     RedirectRoute(path: 'books/:id', redirectTo: '/books/:id/details'),              
     AutoRoute(path: '/books/:id/details', page: BookDetailsPage),              
 ]              

Note: RedirectRoutes are fully matched.

Wildcards

auto_route supports wildcard matching to handle invalid or undefined paths.

AutoRoute(path: '*', page: UnknownRoutePage)              
// it could be used with defined prefixes              
AutoRoute(path: '/profile/*', page: ProfilePage)              
// or it could be used with RedirectRoute              
RedirectRoute(path: '*', redirectTo: '/')              

Note: be sure to always add your wildcards at the end of your route list because routes are matched in order.

Route Guards

Think of route guards as middleware or interceptors, routes can not be added to the stack without going through their assigned guards, guards are useful for restricting access to certain routes.

We create a route guard by extending AutoRouteGuard from the auto_route package
and implementing our logic inside of the onNavigation method.

class AuthGuard extends AutoRouteGuard {          
 @override          
 void onNavigation(NavigationResolver resolver, StackRouter router) {          
 // the navigation is paused until resolver.next() is called with either           
 // true to resume/continue navigation or false to abort navigation          
     if(authenitcated){          
       // if user is authenticated we continue          
        resolver.next(true);          
      }else{          
         // we redirect the user to our login page          
         router.push(LoginRoute(onResult: (success){          
                // if success == true the navigation will be resumed          
                // else it will be aborted          
               resolver.next(success);          
          }));          
         }              
     }          
}          
          

Important: resolver.next() should only be called once.

The NavigationResolver object contains the guarded route which you can access by calling the property resolver.route and a list of pending routes (if there are any) accessed by calling resolver.pendingRoutes.

Now we assign our guard to the routes we want to protect.

 AutoRoute(page: ProfileScreen, guards: [AuthGuard]);          

After we run code generation, our router will have a required named argument called authGuard or whatever your guard name is

// we pass our AuthGuard to the generated router.          
final _appRouter = AppRouter(authGuard: AuthGuard());          

Wrapping Routes

In some cases we want to wrap our screen with a parent widget usually to provide some values through context, e.g wrapping your route with a custom Theme or a Provider, to do that simply implement AutoRouteWrapper, and have wrappedRoute(context) method return (this) as the child of your wrapper widget.

class ProductsScreen extends StatelessWidget implements AutoRouteWrapper {          
  @override          
  Widget wrappedRoute(BuildContext context) {          
  return Provider(create: (ctx) => ProductsBloc(), child: this);          
  }          
  ...          

Navigation observers are used to observe when routes are pushed ,replaced or popped ..etc.

We implement an AutoRouter observer by extending an AutoRouterObserver which is just a NavigatorObserver with tab route support.

class MyObserver extends AutoRouterObserver {          
  @override          
  void didPush(Route route, Route? previousRoute) {          
    print('New route pushed: ${route.settings.name}');          
  }          
 ...          
 // only override to observer tab routes          
 @override          
  void didInitTabRoute(TabPageRoute route, TabPageRoute? previousRoute) {          
    print('Tab route visited: ${route.name}');          
  }          
  @override          
  void didChangeTabRoute(TabPageRoute route, TabPageRoute previousRoute) {          
    print('Tab route re-visited: ${route.name}');          
  }          
  ...          
}          

Then we pass our observer to the root delegate AutoRouterDelegate.
Important notice that navigatorObservers property is a builder function that returns a list of observes and the reason for that is a navigator observer instance can only be used by a single router, so unless you're using a one single router or you don't want your nested routers to inherit observers make sure navigatorObservers builder always returns fresh observer instances.

   return MaterialApp.router(          
      routerDelegate: AutoRouterDelegate(          
        _appRouter,          
        navigatorObservers: () => [MyObserver()],          
      ),          
      routeInformationParser: _appRouter.defaultRouteParser(),          
    );          

the following approach won't work if you have nested routers unless they don't inherit the observers.

   final _observer = MyObserver();          
   return MaterialApp.router(          
      routerDelegate: AutoRouterDelegate(          
        _appRouter,          
        // this should always return new instances          
        navigatorObservers: () => [_observer],          
      ),          
      routeInformationParser: _appRouter.defaultRouteParser(),          
    );          

Every nested router can have it's own observers and inherit it's parent's.

 AutoRouter(          
    inheritNavigatorObservers: true, // true by default          
    navgiatorObservers:()=> [list of observers]);          
              
 AutoTabsRouter(          
    inheritNavigatorObservers: true, // true by default          
    navgiatorObservers:()=> [list of observers]);          

We can also make a certain screen route aware by subscribing to an AutoRouteObserver ( Route not Router).

First we provide our AutoRouteObserver instance

   return MaterialApp.router(          
      routerDelegate: AutoRouterDelegate(          
        _appRouter,          
       // Provide an AutoRouteObserver instance          
        navigatorObservers: () => [AutoRouteObserver()],          
      ),          
      routeInformationParser: _appRouter.defaultRouteParser(),          
    );          

Next we use an AutoRouteAware mixin which is a RouteAware mixin with tab support to provided the needed listeners then subscribe to our AutoRouteObserver.

class BooksListPage extends State<BookListPage> with AutoRouteAware {          
   AutoRouteObserver? _observer;          
             
  @override          
  void didChangeDependencies() {          
    super.didChangeDependencies();          
    // RouterScope exposes the list of provided observers          
    // including inherited observers          
   _observer = RouterScope.of(context).firstObserverOfType<AutoRouteObserver>();          
    if (_observer != null) {          
      // we subscribe to the observer by passing our          
      // AutoRouteAware state and the scoped routeData          
      _observer.subscribe(this, context.routeData);          
    }          
  }          
            
 @override          
  void dispose() {          
    super.dispose();          
    // don't forget to unsubscribe from the          
    // observer on dispose          
    _observer.unsubscribe(this);          
  }          
          
 // only override if this is a tab page          
   @override          
   void didInitTabRoute(TabPageRoute? previousRoute) {}          
          
 // only override if this is a tab page          
   @override          
   void didChangeTabRoute(TabPageRoute previousRoute) {}          
          
   @override          
   void didPopNext() {}          
          
   @override          
   void didPushNext() {}          
          
   @override          
   void didPush() {}          
          
   @override          
   void didPop() {}          
}          

AutoRouteAwareStateMixin

The above code can be simplified using AutoRouteAwareStateMixin

class BooksListPage extends State<BookListPage> with AutoRouteAwareStateMixin<BookListPage> {          
// only override if this is a tab page          
 @override          
 void didInitTabRoute(TabPageRoute? previousRoute) {}          
// only override if this is a tab page          
 @override          
 void didChangeTabRoute(TabPageRoute previousRoute) {}          
     
// only override if this is a stack page         
 @override          
 void didPopNext() {}          
// only override if this is a stack page         
 @override          
 void didPushNext() {}          
}          

Customizations

MaterialAutoRouter | CupertinoAutoRouter | AdaptiveAutoRouter
Property Default value Definition
preferRelativeImports bool true if true relative imports will be used when possible
replaceInRouteName String '' used to replace conventional words in generated route name (whatToReplacePattern,replacement)

CustomAutoRouter

Property Default value Definition
customRouteBuilder null used to provide a custom route, it takes in BuildContext and a CustomPage and returns a PageRoute
transitionsBuilder null extension for the transitionsBuilder property in PageRouteBuilder
opaque true extension for the opaque property in PageRouteBuilder
barrierDismissible false extension for the barrierDismissible property in PageRouteBuilder
durationInMilliseconds null extension for the transitionDuration(millieSeconds) property in PageRouteBuilder
reverseDurationInMilliseconds null extension for the reverseDurationInMilliseconds(millieSeconds) property in PageRouteBuilder

MaterialRoute | CupertinoRoute | AdaptiveRoute | CustomRoute

Property Default value Definition
initial false sets path to '/' or '' unless path is provided then it generates auto redirect to it.
path null an auto generated path will be used if not provided
name null this will be the name of the generated route, if not provided a generated name will be used
usePathAsKey false if true path is used as page key instead of name
fullscreenDialog false extension for the fullscreenDialog property in PageRoute
maintainState true extension for the maintainState property in PageRoute
meta {} primitive meta data to be passed to the consumed route

CupertinoRoute Specific => CupertinoPageRoute

Property Default value Definition
title null extension for the title property in CupertinoPageRoute

CustomRoute Specific => PageRouteBuilder

Property Default value Definition
transitionsBuilder null extension for the transitionsBuilder property in PageRouteBuilder
customRouteBuilder null used to provide a custom route, it takes in BuildContext and a CustomPage and returns a PageRoute
opaque true extension for the opaque property in PageRouteBuilder
barrierDismissible false extension for the barrierDismissible property in PageRouteBuilder
durationInMilliseconds null extension for the transitionDuration(millieSeconds) property in PageRouteBuilder
reverseDurationInMilliseconds null extension for the reverseDurationInMilliseconds(millieSeconds) property in PageRouteBuilder

Custom Route Transitions

To use custom route transitions use a CustomRoute and pass in your preferences.
The TransitionsBuilder function needs to be passed as a static/const reference that has the same signature as the TransitionsBuilder function of the PageRouteBuilder class.

CustomRoute(          
page: LoginScreen,          
//TransitionsBuilders class contains a preset of common transitions builders.           
transitionsBuilder: TransitionsBuilders.slideBottom,          
durationInMilliseconds: 400)          

Tip Use @CustomAutoRouter() to define global custom route transitions.

You can of course use your own transitionsBuilder function as long as it has the same function signature.
The function has to take in exactly a BuildContext, Animation<Double>, Animation<Double> and a child Widget and it needs to return a Widget, typically you would wrap your child with one of flutter's transition widgets as follows.

Widget zoomInTransition(BuildContext context, Animation<double> animation, Animation<double> secondaryAnimation, Widget child) {          
 // you get an animation object and a widget          
 // make your own transition          
    return ScaleTransition(scale: animation, child: child);          
  }          

Now pass the reference of your function to CustomRoute .

CustomRoute(page: ZoomInScreen, transitionsBuilder: zoomInTransition)          

Custom Route Builder

You can use your own custom route by passing a CustomRouteBuilder function to CustomRoute, there isn't a simple way to strongly-type a static function in code generation, so make sure your custom builder signature matches the following.

typedef CustomRouteBuilder = Route<T> Function<T>(            
  BuildContext context, Widget child, CustomPage page);          

Now we implement our builder function the same way we did with the TransitionsBuilder function,
the most important part here is passing the page argument to our custom route.

Route<T> myCustomRouteBuilder<T>(BuildContext context, Widget child, CustomPage<T> page){            
  return PageRouteBuilder(            
  fullscreenDialog: page.fullscreenDialog,            
  // this is important            
  settings: page,            
  pageBuilder: (,__,___) => child);            
}          

We finish by passing a reference of our custom function to our CustomRoute.

CustomRoute(page: CustomPage, customRouteBuilder: myCustomRouteBuilder)          

Others

AutoLeadingButton-BackButton

AutoLeadingButton is AutoRoute's replacement to the default BackButton to handle nested or parent stack popping.
to use it simply assign it to the leading property inside of AppBar

appBar: AppBar(      
  title: Text(context.topRoute.name),      
  leading: AutoLeadingButton(),      
)    

ActiveGuardObserver

ActiveGuardObserver can notify you when a guard is being checked and what guard it is, it can be used to implement loading indicator for example.

var isLoading = false;  
 void initiState(){  
   final guradObserver = context.router.activeGuardObserver;  
    guradObserver.addListener(){  
      setState((){  
        isLoading = guardObserver.guardInProgress;  
       });  
     }   
  }  

Remove shadow from nested routers

This fixes the issue referenced here
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53457772/why-there-is-a-shadow-between-nested-navigator
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68986632/rid-of-elevation-of-nested-flutter-navigator-2-0

MaterialApp.router(      
  theme: ThemeData.dark().copyWith(      
  pageTransitionsTheme: PageTransitionsTheme(      
     builders: {      
         // replace default CupertinoPageTransitionsBuilder with this    
        TargetPlatform.iOS: NoShadowCupertinoPageTransitionsBuilder(),      
        TargetPlatform.android: FadeUpwardsPageTransitionsBuilder(),      
    } )    
  ),    

Note: CupertinoRoute already uses this fix, so no need to override PageTransitionsTheme

Examples

coming soon

Support auto_route

You can support auto_route by liking it on Pub and staring it on Github, sharing ideas on how we can enhance a certain functionality or by reporting any problems you encounter and of course buying a couple coffees will help speed up the development process.