kareki 0.1.1

A multi-package dead code detector for Dart and Flutter monorepos. Finds unused public APIs, files, and pub dependencies across Melos / pub workspaces.

kareki

枯木 (kareki, German Totholz): dead wood — the unused branches that need pruning.

A multi-package dead-code detector for Dart and Flutter monorepos.

dart analyze only flags private unused declarations within a single package. kareki finds public unused APIs, untouched files, and stale pub dependencies across an entire workspace — Melos or pub workspaces — by resolving cross-package references and respecting the conventions of popular code generators (freezed, json_serializable, riverpod, auto_route, go_router, drift, hive).

Features

Rule	Detects
unused_element	Public classes / functions / methods / getters / setters / fields / top-level variables / extensions / typedefs with no caller anywhere in the workspace.
unused_file	.dart files that are not import-ed, part-ed, or export-ed from any other file.
unused_pub_dependency	Packages declared in pubspec.yaml whose imports never appear in source.
test_only_used	Public declarations under lib/ that are only referenced from test code (*_test.dart, files under test/ or integration_test/). The implementation has no production consumer — typically its tests are the only thing keeping it alive.

Installation

# pubspec.yaml
dev_dependencies:
  kareki: ^0.1.0

dart pub get

Usage

Run from the workspace root:

dart run kareki

CLI options

Option	Description
--root <path>	Workspace root. Defaults to the current directory.
-f, --format <name>	Output format: text | json. Overrides kareki-config.yaml.
--packages <name>	Restrict analysis to these packages. Repeatable.
--rule <id>	Enable only these rules. Repeatable.
--strict	Treat dev_dependencies the same as dependencies for unused_pub_dependency.
-h, --help	Show usage.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	No findings.
1	One or more findings reported.
64	Invalid CLI usage.

Configuration

kareki reads kareki-config.yaml from the workspace root. All keys are optional — defaults work out of the box.

Top-level schema

Key	Type	Purpose
packages	map	Override workspace package globs (defaults to melos.yaml / pub workspace auto-detection).
exclude	map	Files / declaration names to skip from analysis.
entry_points	map	Additional entry-point files / declaration names.
keep_alive_annotations	map	Enabled built-in presets + ad-hoc keep-alive annotation names.
custom_presets	map	Project-defined presets, or overrides of built-ins.
annotation_implied_packages	map	Standalone annotation → pub package mappings.
sdk_packages	list	Packages never flagged as unused_pub_dependency (SDK-provided).
ignore	map	Global / per-package suppressions.
output.format	text | json	Default report format.
baseline	path	Path to a baseline file (planned).

Defaults

Setting	Built-in value
exclude.files	.g.dart, .freezed.dart, .gr.dart, .generated.dart, .pb.dart, .pbenum.dart, .pbjson.dart, .pbserver.dart, .pbgrpc.dart, .config.dart, l10n*.dart, *mocks.dart
entry_points.files	**/*.story.dart, **/widgetbook/**/*.dart
keep_alive_annotations.presets	freezed, json_serializable, riverpod, auto_route, go_router, drift, hive, meta
sdk_packages	flutter, flutter_test, flutter_driver, flutter_localizations, flutter_web_plugins, integration_test, sky_engine
Implicit entry-point conventions	main.dart / main_*.dart, flutter_test_config.dart, *_test.dart (in test/), any file in bin/, integration_test/, lib/l10n/, or any void main() declared under test/
Generated-file detection (content)	First lines contain GENERATED CODE - DO NOT MODIFY BY HAND or AUTO-GENERATED FILE. DO NOT EDIT

Built-in presets

Preset	Keep-alive annotations	Implies pub packages
freezed	@freezed, @Freezed, @Default, @Assert	freezed_annotation, built_collection
json_serializable	@JsonSerializable, @JsonKey, @JsonEnum, @JsonValue	json_annotation
riverpod	@Riverpod, @riverpod	riverpod_annotation
auto_route	@AutoRouterConfig, @RoutePage, @AutoRoute, @CustomRoute, @MaterialRoute, @CupertinoRoute, @AdaptiveRoute	—
go_router	@TypedGoRoute, @TypedShellRoute, @TypedStatefulShellRoute, @TypedStatefulShellBranch	go_router
drift	@DriftDatabase, @DriftAccessor, @UseRowClass	drift
hive	@HiveType, @HiveField	hive
meta (always on)	@visibleForTesting, @visibleForOverriding, @protected, @internal, @immutable, @experimental, @mustCallSuper, @sealed, @factory, @useResult, @nonVirtual, @pragma	meta

Definitions live in lib/src/preset/builtin_presets.dart with a last_verified framework version on each entry.

Defining or overriding a preset

custom_presets:
  # Replace the built-in `freezed` preset to pin to a fork whose
  # annotation names have diverged.
  freezed:
    keep_alive_annotations: [freezed, Freezed]
    annotation_implied_packages:
      freezed: [freezed_annotation_v4]

  # Add a brand-new preset for an in-house DI codegen.
  my_internal_di:
    keep_alive_annotations: [Injectable, Singleton]
    annotation_implied_packages:
      Injectable: [my_di_package]
      Singleton: [my_di_package]

When custom_presets.<name> matches a built-in name, the built-in is replaced entirely — useful for pinning to a framework version whose annotation names have diverged from kareki's defaults.

Suppression

Inline (file-level)

// kareki: ignore_for_file=unused_element

// kareki: ignore_for_file=unused_element,unused_file

Per-package dependency

ignore:
  dependencies:
    my_app:
      # Flutter native plugins are auto-registered, never imported.
      - geolocator_android
      - google_sign_in_ios

Global

ignore:
  packages: [dartx, wt_cli]    # skip these workspace packages
  rules: [unused_pub_dependency]

Full example

version: 1

packages:
  include: ["packages/**", "modules/**", "."]
  exclude: ["**/build/**"]

exclude:
  files: ["**/*.fake.dart"]
  names: [debugFillProperties]

entry_points:
  files: ["**/*.story.dart"]

keep_alive_annotations:
  presets: [freezed, riverpod, auto_route, json_serializable]
  custom: [KeepAlive]

custom_presets:
  my_internal_di:
    keep_alive_annotations: [Injectable]
    annotation_implied_packages:
      Injectable: [my_di_package]

ignore:
  packages: [my_lib_package]
  dependencies:
    my_app: [geolocator_android, google_sign_in_ios]

output:
  format: text

How it works

1. Discover packages via melos.yaml or pub workspace.
2. Parse every .dart file with package:analyzer, extracting declarations + outgoing simple-name references.
3. Resolve entry points (implicit conventions + active presets + generated-file references + config).
4. BFS the simple-name graph from those root identifiers.
5. Report unreached declarations, unreferenced files, and undeclared pub deps.

Entry-point seeding combines four layers:

Layer	Source
Implicit	Dart / Flutter SDK conventions (main, _test, bin/, integration_test/, lib/l10n/, flutter_test_config.dart).
Tool conventions	entry_points.files config (defaults: playbook / widgetbook globs).
Annotations	Active preset keep-alives + custom_presets.*.keep_alive_annotations + keep_alive_annotations.custom.
Generated code	Files matching exclude.files or carrying a GENERATED CODE header — their identifier references seed BFS roots.

This layered design lets kareki coexist with codegen-heavy ecosystems without flooding you with false positives.

Supported versions

Component	Version
Dart SDK	>=3.10.0 <4.0.0
analyzer	^9.0.0

Newer analyzer versions will be added incrementally; the choice of 9.x lets projects that have not yet migrated to analyzer 10+ adopt kareki today.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.