parmesan 0.2.1

A CLI tool that scaffolds Flutter + C++ FFI projects with automatic Dart binding generation, module management, and cross-platform CMake configuration for Windows and Linux.

Parmesan

CLI tool to scaffold Flutter + C++ FFI projects.

Features

• Module management — Add C++ modules with auto-generated headers, bridge code, and Dart FFI bindings
• Cross-platform builds — Add Windows and Linux platform support with CMake configuration (macOS not supported)
• Automatic binding generation — Parse C++ headers and generate dart:ffi bindings

Prerequisites

• Dart SDK >=3.11.5
• Flutter SDK
• C++ compiler (MSVC for Windows, GCC/Clang for Linux)
• CMake

Platform Support

Platform	Supported	Notes
Windows	Yes	MSVC compiler, CMake
Linux	Yes	GCC/Clang compiler, CMake
macOS	No	macOS does not use CMake for compilation. Xcode requires source files to be added through its IDE and does not handle external edits gracefully, making Parmesan's CLI-based workflow incompatible.
Android	Theoretical	Possible in theory, but not tested or officially supported.
Web	Theoretical	Possible in theory, but not tested or officially supported.

Note: Parmesan is designed and tested specifically for desktop applications. While Android and Web support is theoretically possible, this package is meant and tested for desktop apps.

Usage

Parmesan is designed to be used as a dev dependency in your Flutter project. This keeps the tool versioned alongside your project code and avoids global installation issues.

Step 1: Install as a dev dependency

flutter pub add --dev parmesan

This adds Parmesan to your pubspec.yaml under dev_dependencies. It is only needed during development to generate code — it is not shipped with your app.

Step 2: Add platform support

dart run parmesan add:platform windows
dart run parmesan add:platform linux

This scaffolds the C++ bridge files (src/bridge/bridge.h, src/bridge/bridge.cpp) and injects the necessary CMake configuration into your Flutter project's platform runner. Run this once per platform you want to target.

Note: Run add:platform before adding modules so the bridge infrastructure is in place.

Step 3: Add C++ modules

dart run parmesan add:module my_module --functions "int32_t compute(int32_t x),void process()"

This creates a new C++ module under src/my_module/ with a header and implementation file. You can then open these files and write your C++ logic.

Omit --functions to enter function signatures interactively:

dart run parmesan add:module my_module

Options:

• -f, --functions — Comma-separated function signatures
• -p, --path — Path to the project (default: current directory)

Convention: All functions exposed to Dart must be declared with MODULE_EXPORT in the module's header file (.h). The generate:bindings command only scans header files.

Step 4: Generate Dart FFI bindings

dart run parmesan generate:bindings

This scans all modules in src/, regenerates the bridge files, and creates a single Dart bindings file at lib/bindings/parmesan_bindings.dart. Run this every time you change your C++ module headers so the Dart side stays in sync.

Options:

• -l, --library — Native library name (auto-detected from pubspec.yaml)
• -p, --path — Path to the project (default: current directory)

Import the generated bindings

import 'package:your_project/bindings/parmesan_bindings.dart';

The generated file exposes Dart functions that directly call your C++ code through FFI.

Running Tests

dart test

License

MIT