[dart_custom_lints] Help Request: How to Propagate Custom Lints Using a Centralized Lint Package?

[MobiliteDev]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to set up a centralized system for managing lints across multiple projects, including some custom lints using the custom_lint package. Here is my setup, but I'm struggling to get it working correctly.

Overview of My Setup:
I have a three-step setup to manage lints:

1. Custom Lint Package (my_custom_lints): This package contains all my custom lints, defined with custom_lint_builder.

2. Central Lint Package (central_lint_package): This package selects some default Flutter lints and also includes my custom lints from my_custom_lints. I want this to act as the main lint configuration for all projects, without each project needing to manually include my_custom_lints or configure the custom_lint plugin.

3. Final Project (final_project): This is a Flutter project that depends on central_lint_package for its lint rules. It includes the centralized lint configuration through analysis_options.yaml.

Structure and Configuration:

• my_custom_lints
  • Defines custom lints using custom_lint_builder.
• central_lint_package
  • Depends on my_custom_lints and custom_lint.
  • Contains analysis_options.yaml that includes custom_lint.
  • Exports my_custom_lints.
• final_project
  • Depends on central_lint_package.
  • Includes central_lint_package in its analysis_options.yaml.

What I'm Trying to Achieve:
I want all projects that depend on central_lint_package to automatically have access to the custom lints defined in my_custom_lints. Ideally, this would mean:

• No need to manually add custom_lint or my_custom_lints in every project.
• All projects just include central_lint_package in analysis_options.yaml and get both the standard lints and the custom lints.

The Issue I'm Facing:
I don't seem to be able to get the custom_lint plugin to recognize the custom lints when included this way. I keep running into issues where the custom_lint_client doesn't seem to find the exported lints from central_lint_package.

Here is a minimal reproducible example of my setup:

• my_custom_lints/

  • pubspec.yaml:

    name: my_custom_lints
    description: A custom lint package with custom rules.
    version: 0.0.1
    
    environment:
      sdk: ">=2.17.0 <3.0.0"
    
    dependencies:
      custom_lint_builder: ^0.6.0

  • lib/my_custom_lints.dart:

    import 'package:custom_lint_builder/custom_lint_builder.dart';
    
    Plugin createPlugin() => ExampleCustomLintPlugin();
    
    class ExampleCustomLintPlugin extends Plugin {
      @override
      List<LintRule> getLintRules(CustomLintConfigs configs) {
        return [
          ExampleLintRule(),
        ];
      }
    }
    
    class ExampleLintRule extends LintRule {
      ExampleLintRule()
          : super(
            code: LintCode(
              name: 'example_rule',
              problemMessage: 'This is an example lint rule',
            ),
          );
    
      @override
      void run(CustomLintResolver resolver, ErrorReporter reporter, CustomLintConfigs configs) {
        // Implementation of the lint rule logic here
      }
    }

• central_lint_package/

  • pubspec.yaml:

    name: central_lint_package
    description: A lint package combining custom lints and standard lints.
    version: 0.0.1
    
    environment:
      sdk: ">=2.17.0 <3.0.0"
    
    dependencies:
      custom_lint: ^0.6.0
      my_custom_lints:
        path: ../my_custom_lints

  • analysis_options.yaml:

    analyzer:
      plugins:
        - custom_lint
    
    linter:
      rules:
        - always_declare_return_types
        - prefer_const_constructors

  • lib/central_lint_package.dart:

    library central_lint_package;
    
    export 'package:my_custom_lints/my_custom_lints.dart';

• final_project/

  • pubspec.yaml:

    name: final_project
    description: A Flutter project that uses custom lints.
    version: 0.0.1
    
    environment:
      sdk: ">=2.17.0 <3.0.0"
    
    dependencies:
      flutter:
        sdk: flutter
    
    dev_dependencies:
      central_lint_package:
        path: ../central_lint_package
      custom_lint: ^0.6.0

  • analysis_options.yaml:

    include: package:central_lint_package/analysis_options.yaml

  • lib/main.dart:

    import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
    
    void main() {
      runApp(const MyApp());
    }
    
    class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
      const MyApp({super.key});
    
      @override
      Widget build(BuildContext context) {
        return MaterialApp(
          title: 'Flutter Demo',
          theme: ThemeData(
            primarySwatch: Colors.blue,
          ),
          home: const MyHomePage(),
        );
      }
    }
    
    class MyHomePage extends StatelessWidget {
      const MyHomePage({super.key});
    
      @override
      Widget build(BuildContext context) {
        return Scaffold(
          appBar: AppBar(
            title: const Text('Flutter Demo Home Page'),
          ),
          body: const Center(
            child: Text('Hello World!'),
          ),
        );
      }
    }

Even after setting it up this way, my custom lints are not being recognized in the final_project. I suspect there might be something I don't fully understand about how custom_lint propagates plugins across dependencies or how the analyzer processes them.

My Question:
Is it possible to achieve this type of centralized setup with custom_lint, where the custom_lint plugin and custom lints are inherited by a project through an intermediate lint package (central_lint_package)? Or is there a limitation that prevents this from working as intended?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

[rrousselGit]

Custom_lint only enables plugins if they are directly depended on. It doesn't look through the dependencies of your dependencies (because they could be using a different set of lints than yours :) )

You should therefore have your "central" package also depend on custom_lint_builder ; and define a Plugin for it (which would re-export all lints from your different packages)

[MobiliteDev]

Thanks for your answer !