CI/CD, flavors and store deployment

Separate environments with build flavors, keep signing material out of the repository, automate releases with Fastlane and Codemagic, and submit to both stores.

Flavors and environments

# Android: product flavors in android/app/build.gradle.kts
flutter build apk --flavor staging -t lib/main_staging.dart
flutter build appbundle --flavor production -t lib/main_production.dart

# iOS: schemes and configurations created in Xcode
flutter build ipa --flavor production -t lib/main_production.dart

// lib/config.dart: one compile-time source of truth
class Env {
  static const apiBase = String.fromEnvironment(
    'API_BASE',
    defaultValue: 'https://staging.api.example.com',
  );
  static const flavor = String.fromEnvironment('FLAVOR', defaultValue: 'staging');
  static bool get isProduction => flavor == 'production';
}

// build with: flutter build apk --dart-define=FLAVOR=production \
//   --dart-define=API_BASE=https://api.example.com

• Use --dart-define plus String.fromEnvironment so configuration is baked at compile time and cannot be changed at runtime.
• Give each flavor a distinct application id suffix on Android and bundle id on iOS so both can be installed side by side.
• Keep keystores and provisioning profiles in the CI secret store, never in the repository, and rotate them when someone leaves the team.

A release pipeline

# .github/workflows/flutter.yml
name: flutter
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2
        with:
          flutter-version: 3.24.x
          cache: true
      - run: flutter pub get
      - run: flutter analyze --fatal-infos
      - run: flutter test --coverage
      - run: flutter build appbundle --flavor production
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: appbundle
          path: build/app/outputs/bundle/productionRelease/app-production-release.aab

# fastlane/Fastfile
default_platform(:android)

platform :android do
  lane :beta do
    gradle(task: "bundle", build_type: "Release", flavor: "production")
    upload_to_play_store(
      track: "internal",
      aab: "build/app/outputs/bundle/productionRelease/app-production-release.aab"
    )
  end
end

Submitting to both stores

Automate versioning from the CI run number for the build identifier and bump the user-facing version manually when you intend a release. Tying both to the same counter produces meaningless store versions.

FAQ

Related

Testing Flutter apps Next steps: Firebase, web and desktop targets

Last refreshed 2026-09-18.