Dart VM Service

A CLI tool for interacting with the Dart VM Service API, allowing for debugging and introspection of Dart applications.

Features

• Connect to a running Dart/Flutter application via VM service protocol
• Enable debug painting, performance overlay, and repaint rainbow
• Interact with widgets (tap, enter text)
• Get a list of widgets on the current screen
• Supports both direct usage and gRPC server mode

Installation

From Source

Clone this repository and install the package globally:

dart pub get
dart pub global activate --source path .

Dependencies

Make sure you have protobuf installed for gRPC functionality:

brew install protobuf  # macOS
# OR
apt-get install protobuf  # Ubuntu/Debian

Usage

After installation, you can use the tool directly from the command line:

Direct Mode

Connect directly to a Dart/Flutter application:

dart_vm_service connect http://127.0.0.1:50000/abcdef/

gRPC Server Mode

Start the gRPC server to expose functionality:

dart_vm_service --grpc --port=50051

or

dart_vm_service grpc-server --port=50051

Development

Generating gRPC Code

Before using gRPC mode, you need to generate the Dart code from the protobuf definitions:

make generate

This requires the protoc compiler to be installed on your system.

Dependencies

• vm_service: For connecting to the Dart VM Service
• grpc: For gRPC server implementation
• protobuf: For protocol buffer support
• args: For command-line argument parsing

API Documentation

gRPC Service Methods

• Connect: Connect to a Dart application via VM service
• ToggleDebugPaint: Toggle debug painting on/off
• TogglePerformanceOverlay: Toggle performance overlay on/off
• ToggleRepaintRainbow: Toggle repaint rainbow on/off
• TapWidgetByKey: Tap a widget by its key
• TapWidgetByText: Tap a widget by its displayed text
• EnterText: Enter text into a widget
• TapBackButton: Tap the back button
• GetCurrentScreenItems: Get a list of widgets on the current screen

License

MIT