Easy Dash Logger

pub package license: MIT

Colored, named logging for Dart and Flutter — with a safe default: your logs do not appear in release builds unless you say so.

'Server responded in 42ms'.printLog(name: 'API', color: ANSICOLOR.green);

Features

  • One-line logging on any object via the printLog extension.
  • Silent in release and profile builds by default — opt in per build mode with showLogsInRelease / showLogsInProfile.
  • Zero cost when off: disabled call sites build no string at all.
  • ANSI colors for foreground and background, customizable per message or globally.
  • The right sink per platform, chosen automatically: developer.log on Flutter, print on plain Dart and on the web.
  • Pluggable output sink to route logs to a file, a crash reporter, or a test spy.
  • A compile-time kill switch that strips log code and message strings from the binary.
  • No Flutter dependency — works in Flutter apps, Dart CLIs, servers, and the web.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Dart SDK: >=2.17.0 <4.0.0
  • Flutter SDK (optional): only if you are using the package in a Flutter project. The package itself does not depend on Flutter.

Installation

Add the dependency to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  easy_dash_logger: ^2.0.0

Then fetch it:

flutter pub get
# or, in a Dart project:
dart pub get

Quick Start

import 'package:easy_dash_logger/easy_dash_logger.dart';

void main() {
  // Optional — the defaults are already release-safe.
  EasyDashLoggerConfig.configure(defaultName: 'MY_APP');

  runApp(const MyApp());
}

// Anywhere in your code:
'User signed in'.printLog();
'Cache miss'.printLog(name: 'CACHE', color: ANSICOLOR.orange);

Logs appear while you develop and disappear when you ship. Nothing else to remember.

Usage

Logging messages with color customization

printLog is an extension on Object?, so it works on anything — strings, maps, models, exceptions:

void main() {
  'This is a debug message'.printLog(); // Default yellow foreground

  'This is a warning message'.printLog(
    name: 'WARNING',
    color: ANSICOLOR.red,
    bgColor: ANSICOLOR.yellow, // Background color
  );

  {'user': 1, 'plan': 'pro'}.printLog(name: 'STATE');
}
Parameter Type Default
name String? EasyDashLoggerConfig.defaultName ('DEBUG_LOG')
color ANSICOLOR? EasyDashLoggerConfig.defaultColor (ANSICOLOR.yellow)
bgColor ANSICOLOR? EasyDashLoggerConfig.defaultBgColor (none)

Release safety and configuration

Logs are shown in debug builds only by default. Profile and release builds stay silent, so nothing leaks from a shipped app unless you ask for it.

Each build mode has its own flag, so the intent is readable at the call site. Configure before the app starts — the first line of main():

void main() {
  EasyDashLoggerConfig.configure(
    showLogsInRelease: true, // logs in a shipped app too
  );
  runApp(const MyApp());
}
Setting Default Purpose
showLogsInDebug true Logs during development.
showLogsInProfile false Profile builds still run a VM service, so logs there are readable in DevTools by whoever holds the build.
showLogsInRelease false Logs in a shipped app — turn on deliberately, e.g. behind a QA or support switch.
defaultName 'DEBUG_LOG' Name used when a call site omits name.
defaultColor ANSICOLOR.yellow Foreground used when a call site omits color.
defaultBgColor null Background used when a call site omits bgColor.
useColors false on web, true elsewhere Whether ANSI escape codes are added.
output null Custom sink (String message, String name) — route logs to a file, Crashlytics, or a test spy.

Every configure argument is optional; omitted settings keep their current value.

// Read-only: whether logging is on for the build that is running now
EasyDashLoggerConfig.isLoggingEnabled;

// Mute everything at runtime, in every build mode
EasyDashLoggerConfig.silenceAll();

// Restore every default, including clearing `output` and `defaultBgColor`
EasyDashLoggerConfig.reset();

Note: only the flag matching the build mode you are running has any effect. Setting showLogsInRelease: true during a debug session changes nothing there — it takes effect when that same code runs in a release build.

Build-mode constants are exported if you need your own conditions:

kLoggerDebugMode    // true only in debug builds
kLoggerReleaseMode  // true in --release builds
kLoggerProfileMode  // true in --profile builds
kLoggerIsWeb        // true on dart2js / dart2wasm

Routing logs somewhere else

Set output to take over the sink entirely — it still respects the build-mode flags:

EasyDashLoggerConfig.configure(
  useColors: false, // ANSI codes are noise in a file or a crash report
  output: (message, name) {
    FirebaseCrashlytics.instance.log('[$name] $message');
  },
);

In tests, the same hook makes log output assertable:

final captured = <String>[];
EasyDashLoggerConfig.configure(
  useColors: false,
  output: (message, name) => captured.add('$name|$message'),
);

'hello'.printLog(name: 'SINK');
expect(captured.single, 'SINK|hello');

Call EasyDashLoggerConfig.reset() in tearDown to clear it.

Stripping logs from the binary entirely

These are runtime flags, so the log call sites and their message strings still exist in a release binary even while showLogsInRelease is false — they simply produce no output. If you want them gone from the compiled app, build with the compile-time kill switch:

flutter build apk --dart-define=EASY_DASH_LOGGER_DISABLED=true

That makes EasyDashLoggerConfig.isLoggingEnabled a compile-time false, which lets the AOT compiler drop the logging code and the message literals. It cannot be turned back on at runtime.

Where the logs go

The sink is chosen by platform, not by build mode:

Target Sink
Flutter (mobile / desktop) dart:developer's log() — shows in the IDE console and DevTools
Flutter Web print() — dart:developer's log() is a no-op on the web
Plain Dart print()
Any target with output configured Your custom sink

ANSI Color Support

Colors come from the ANSICOLOR enum, applied to the foreground (color) and the background (bgColor):

'This is a green message with a red background'.printLog(
  color: ANSICOLOR.green,
  bgColor: ANSICOLOR.red,
);

Available values:

Group Values
Basic black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, cyan, purple
Extended orange, pink, lightBlue, lightGreen, lightRed, lightYellow
Bright brightRed, brightGreen, brightCyan, brightMagenta

ANSICOLOR.reset is used internally to close each sequence, including on multi-line messages, where every line is re-colored so wrapped output stays readable.

Colors are disabled automatically on the web, where consoles render escape codes as literal text. Turn them off anywhere else with EasyDashLoggerConfig.configure(useColors: false).

Advanced Example

void main() {
  EasyDashLoggerConfig.configure(
    defaultName: 'APP',
    defaultColor: ANSICOLOR.lightBlue,
    showLogsInProfile: true, // keep logs while profiling
  );

  'Starting application...'.printLog();

  'Memory usage is high'.printLog(
    name: 'MEMORY_WARNING',
    color: ANSICOLOR.yellow,
    bgColor: ANSICOLOR.blue,
  );

  'Application crashed due to unhandled exception'.printLog(
    name: 'CRASH',
    color: ANSICOLOR.red,
    bgColor: ANSICOLOR.white,
  );
}

Upgrading from 1.x to 2.0

No code changes are required — printLog call sites compile unchanged. The major version signals one deliberate behavior change:

  • Logs no longer appear in release or profile builds. If you relied on that, add EasyDashLoggerConfig.configure(showLogsInRelease: true) at the top of main().
  • Flutter Web now logs through print(). Previously nothing reached the browser console, because dart:developer's log() is an empty stub when compiled to JavaScript or Wasm.
  • The print() sink now prefixes the log name, matching what developer.log displays: [NAME] message.
  • printLog's name, color, and bgColor parameters are now nullable and fall back to the configured defaults. Existing call sites compile unchanged.
  • The package no longer depends on the Flutter SDK, so Dart-only projects can finally install it. Flutter projects are unaffected — the Flutter log sink is still selected automatically when dart:ui is available.

If your call sites are already wrapped in if (kDebugMode), you can drop the wrapper — the package now handles it, and the guard is no longer needed for release safety. Keep it only where you also want the message literals kept out of the binary, or use the --dart-define kill switch instead.

Additional Information

For the full API surface, see the API documentation.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome:

  1. Fork the repository.
  2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/new-feature).
  3. Run dart analyze and dart test.
  4. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add new feature').
  5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/new-feature).
  6. Open a pull request.

Feel free to open issues for any bugs or feature requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.

Libraries

easy_dash_logger
Colored, named logging for Dart and Flutter.