Pub.dev

Searching for packagesPackage scoring and pub points

Flutter

Using packagesDeveloping packages and pluginsPublishing a package

Dart

Using packagesPublishing a package

Pub.dev icon to toggle folding of the section

Searching for packagesPackage scoring and pub points

Flutter icon to toggle folding of the section

Using packagesDeveloping packages and pluginsPublishing a package

Dart icon to toggle folding of the section

Using packagesPublishing a package
cover image decorating the page

Search #

Query expressions #

pub.flutter-io.cn supports the following search query expressions:

  • "exact phrase": By default, when you perform a search, the results include packages with similar phrases. When a phrase is inside quotes, you'll see only those packages that contain exactly the specified phrase.

  • package:prefix: Searches for packages that begin with prefix. Use this feature to find packages in the same framework.

  • dependency:package_name: Searches for packages that reference package_name in their pubspec.yaml.

  • dependency*:package_name: Searches for packages that depend on package_name (as direct, dev, or transitive dependencies).

Filters #

The search UI also supports filters. On a wide screen, the filter options will appear to the left of the search results. On a non-wide screen, to open the filter options, click the filter icon to the right of the search bar.

  • To filter by Dart or Flutter support, expand the SDKs section, then select the SDK you are developing with.

  • To filter by platform, under the Platforms section, select all platforms you intend to support.

  • To filter for only packages with OSI approved licenses, expand the License section, then select OSI approved.

  • For other filters, such as including unlisted packages, expand the Advanced section.

Ranking #

When you search for a package, the search algorithm first applies filters, and then considers only the packages that aren’t filtered out and that match the search query. Because packages contain a lot of text (including documentation comments and identifiers from source code), common words can match many packages.

To find the most relevant search results, the algorithm ranks packages using a combination of the following parameters, listed in order of relative importance:

  • Search query relevance of the following:

    • Package name
    • Description
    • README
    • Documentation comments and identifiers

  • Package popularity and like count

  • Pub points, which are based on factors such as these:

    • Adherence to Dart file conventions
    • Presence of documentation
    • Up-to-date dependencies
    • Language feature support

These parameters are normalized, weighted for relative importance, and combined to form an overall score for each search result; this score determines the default order of the displayed search results.

The code for normalizing and weighting parameters changes occasionally. You can find it at github.com/dart-lang/pub-dev.

Legacy packages #

pub.flutter-io.cn does not expose packages that support only Dart SDK 1.x in search results or in listing pages. However, one can access these packages through their package page (/packages/<pkg>) and pub client can download them.

To search for such packages, include is:legacy in the search query.