Include the version of your package in your source code.

build_version runs either as a standalone CLI or as a build_runner builder.

Standalone CLI

Run build_version directly with Dart 3.12+ without adding build_runner to your dev_dependencies.

1. Make sure pubspec.yaml has a version field:

   name: my_pkg
   version: 1.2.3
   

2. Generate lib/src/version.dart:

   $ dart run build_version@
   

   lib/src/version.dart will be generated with content:

   // GENERATED CODE - DO NOT MODIFY BY HAND
   // Generated by package:build_version 2.2.0.
   // To reproduce this exact version: dart run build_version@2.2.0
   // To update with the latest release: dart run build_version@
   const packageVersion = '1.2.3';
   

3. Verify in CI that lib/src/version.dart matches pubspec.yaml without modifying files on disk:

   $ dart run build_version@ --check
   

To write or check a custom output path relative to the package root, pass --output (-o):

$ dart run build_version@ --output lib/src/custom/path/to/version.dart
$ dart run build_version@ --check --output lib/src/custom/path/to/version.dart

You can also add build_version to dev_dependencies and run dart run build_version.

With build_runner

1. Add build_version and build_runner to pubspec.yaml. Also make sure there is a version field.

   name: my_pkg
   version: 1.2.3
   dev_dependencies:
     build_runner: ^2.10.0
     build_version: ^2.2.0
   

2. Run a build.

   $ dart run build_runner build
   

To change the path of the generated file when using build_runner, create a build.yaml in the root of your package and set the output option of this builder:

targets:
  $default:
    builders:
      build_version:
        options:
          output: lib/src/custom/path/to/version.dart