strapi_populate_builder

A Dart package for converting nested Strapi populate JSON objects into fully encoded query strings compatible with Strapi's REST API.

✨ Features

✅ Converts complex nested populate structures into query strings
✅ Supports both indexed and repeated list formats
✅ Handles URI encoding
✅ Optional depth limiting for recursion safety
✅ Supports loading from .json files
✅ Null-safe and Dart 3+ ready

🚀 Getting Started

Add the package to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  strapi_populate_builder: ^1.0.0

Import it:

import 'package:strapi_populate_builder/strapi_populate_builder.dart';

📦 Usage

Build from a Dart map:

final query = StrapiPopulateBuilder.build({
  "populate": {
    "media": {
      "fields": ["url", "formats"]
    },
    "routes": {
      "populate": {
        "media": {
          "fields": ["url", "formats"]
        },
        "image": {
          "fields": ["url", "formats"]
        }
      }
    },
    "events": {
      "populate": {
        "media": {
          "fields": ["url", "formats"]
        },
        "spot": {
          "populate": true
        }
      }
    },
    "image": {
      "fields": ["url", "formats"]
    }
  }
});

print(query);
// Outputs something like:
// populate[media][fields][0]=url&populate[media][fields][1]=formats&...

Build from a JSON file:

final query = await StrapiPopulateBuilder.buildFromFile('assets/populate.json');
print(query);

⚙️ Configuration Options

Parameter	Description	Default
`prefix`	Optional key prefix for the query string root	`''`
`encode`	Whether to URI encode the output	`true`
`maxDepth`	Limit the recursive depth (set `null` for unlimited)	`10`
`listFormat`	List serialization style (`indexed` or `repeat`)	`ListFormat.indexed`

📁 Example

See the example directory for a complete runnable demo.