Team Guard

A custom lint and architecture enforcement plugin for Dart & Flutter that protects codebases against forbidden widgets, classes, and functions — keeping codebases clean, consistent, and scalable.

⚡ First Step After Installation: Scan Your Codebase

Right after adding team_guard, audit your entire codebase with one command to instantly see where forbidden widgets are used and what approved replacements should be used:

dart run team_guard:check
# or: dart run team_guard check

Output:

Scanning project for restricted widgets & elements...

┌──────────────────────────────────────┬──────┬──────────────┬──────────────────┬──────────┐
│ File                                 │ Line │ Restricted   │ Replacement      │ Severity │
├──────────────────────────────────────┼──────┼──────────────┼──────────────────┼──────────┤
│ lib/features/home/presentation.dart  │ 24   │ Text         │ CustomText       │ ERROR    │
│ lib/features/home/presentation.dart  │ 48   │ Colors       │ AppColors        │ ERROR    │
│ lib/core/network/api_client.dart     │ 15   │ print        │ debugPrint       │ WARNING  │
└──────────────────────────────────────┴──────┴──────────────┴──────────────────┴──────────┘

Found 3 violation(s).
💡 Tip: Run "dart run team_guard:migrate" to automatically fix these violations!

🚀 Key Features

  • Instant Audit Table (dart run team_guard:check): Terminal inspection table listing file, line, restricted element, approved replacement, and severity.
  • Bulk Automated Migration (dart run team_guard:migrate): One command fixes all violations across your entire project, adds required imports, and preserves all arguments (with --dry-run preview support).
  • Setup Diagnostics (dart run team_guard:doctor): Diagnoses and verifies your team_guard.yaml, dependencies, analysis_options.yaml, and replacement symbols.
  • One-Click Quick Fix in IDE: Replaces forbidden widgets, adds approved imports automatically, prevents duplicate imports, and preserves multiline arguments and child trees.
  • "Fix all in file" Batch Quick Fix: Fix every forbidden widget in the open file in a single click from your IDE.
  • Custom Policy Reasons: Define a custom reason for each restriction so team members immediately understand why a widget or function is restricted.
  • Function & Method Restrictions: Restrict functions such as print in favor of debugPrint or your logger with warning or error severity.
  • Accurate Widget Detection: Semantic analysis ensures genuine Flutter widgets are targeted — ordinary variables (e.g. final String text), properties (text.length), methods (extractText()), and comments are never falsely flagged.
  • PDF Generation Compatible: Works seamlessly alongside PDF libraries (package:pdf/widgets.dart) without confusing PDF canvas text with Flutter UI widgets.
  • Prefix & Aliased Access: Enforces policies even when classes are accessed via prefixes (e.g. Colors.red or fl.Colors.red).
  • Generated File Skipping: Automatically ignores .g.dart, .freezed.dart, .mocks.dart, .gen.dart, and .dart_tool.

📦 Installation

Add team_guard to your pubspec.yaml:

dev_dependencies:
  team_guard: ^1.0.18

Then fetch packages:

flutter pub get
# or: dart pub get

🛠️ Setup (One Command)

Initialize Team Guard in your project:

dart run team_guard:setup

This command automatically:

  1. Generates team_guard.yaml in your project root (if missing).
  2. Configures analysis_options.yaml with the custom_lint plugin.
  3. Scaffolds approved starter replacement files in lib/core (never overwrites existing files).
  4. Starts live analysis.

Verify your setup anytime with Team Guard Doctor:

dart run team_guard:doctor

Team Guard Doctor 🩺

[✓] Configuration file (team_guard.yaml)
    Valid configuration with 7 rule(s) (2 widgets, 4 classes, 1 functions).

[✓] Analysis options (analysis_options.yaml)
    custom_lint plugin is enabled in analysis_options.yaml.

[✓] Project dependencies (pubspec.yaml)
    team_guard and custom_lint dependencies found.

[✓] Approved replacements verification
    All configured replacement classes exist in lib/ or specify explicit imports.

✓ Everything looks great! Team Guard is ready to protect your project.

⚙️ Configuration (team_guard.yaml)

Define your team's forbidden widgets, classes, and functions:

widgets:
  Text:
    replacement: CustomText
    # Optional explicit import path. If omitted, auto-detected from lib/
    # import: package:my_app/core/ui/custom_text.dart
    severity: error
    reason: Always use CustomText to enforce typography scale and localization.

  ElevatedButton:
    replacement: AppElevatedButton
    severity: error
    reason: Use AppElevatedButton for consistent design system states.

classes:
  Colors:
    replacement: AppColors
    severity: error
    reason: Use AppColors to support dark mode and dynamic theme tokens.

  Dio:
    replacement: AppDio
    severity: error
    reason: Use AppDio to ensure authentication interceptors and retry policies.

  GetIt:
    replacement: AppLocator
    severity: error

  Cubit:
    replacement: AppCubit
    severity: error

functions:
  print:
    replacement: debugPrint
    # import: package:flutter/foundation.dart
    severity: warning
    reason: Avoid leaking sensitive logs to production stdout.

Configuration Options

Key Type Description
replacement String (Required) Approved replacement symbol.
import String (Optional) Package import path (e.g. package:my_app/core/custom_text.dart). Auto-detected from lib/ if omitted.
severity String error (default) or warning.
reason String (Optional) Explanation displayed in the diagnostic message.

🔄 Automated Bulk Migration (dart run team_guard:migrate)

Got an existing codebase with hundreds of Text or print violations? Migrate them all automatically:

# Preview what would be updated without writing to disk:
dart run team_guard:migrate --dry-run

# Apply all replacements across your project:
dart run team_guard:migrate

Output:

Running Team Guard automated migration...

  [Migrated] Updated: lib/features/home/presentation.dart
  [Migrated] Updated: lib/features/profile/view.dart
  [Migrated] Updated: lib/core/network/api_client.dart

✓ Migration complete! 3 file(s) updated with 12 edits.
Tip: Run "dart format ." to format updated files.

💡 IDE Experience & Quick Fixes

When writing code in VS Code or Android Studio / IntelliJ:

  1. Live Highlights: Violations appear with clear problem messages including the policy reason:

    The widget "Text" is restricted by team policy: Always use CustomText to enforce typography scale and localization. Use "CustomText" instead. (Quick Fix available)

  2. Single Quick Fix: Press Cmd + . (macOS) or Alt + Enter (Windows/Linux) and select Use CustomText.
  3. Batch Quick Fix: Select Fix all forbidden widgets in this file to update every forbidden widget in the current file in one click.

🧰 CLI Commands Reference

Command Description
dart run team_guard:check Scan files and print formatted ASCII violation table (first post-install step).
dart run team_guard:migrate Bulk migrate all violations to approved replacements across the codebase.
dart run team_guard:migrate --dry-run Preview files that would be modified without touching disk.
dart run team_guard:doctor Validate setup, configuration syntax, dependencies, and replacement files.
dart run team_guard:init Create team_guard.yaml and configure analysis_options.yaml.
dart run team_guard:setup Run init and launch custom_lint.

(Note: You can also use the shorthand router dart run team_guard check, dart run team_guard migrate, etc.)

🔍 Troubleshooting

Lints do not appear in IDE

  1. Verify analysis_options.yaml contains: 
    analyzer:
  plugins:
    - custom_lint
  2. Verify you have the Custom Lint extension installed in VS Code or IntelliJ / Android Studio.
  3. Restart analysis server:
    • VS Code: Command Palette -> Dart: Restart Analysis Server.
    • Android Studio / IntelliJ: File -> Repair IDE or restart.
  4. Run dart run team_guard:doctor to pinpoint the exact issue.

📄 License & Links

Libraries

team_guard
Team Guard custom_lint plugin entrypoint.