Routing Guide - Flint Dart

Routing

Define routes in lib/main.dart or a route group.

CodeBlock dart

import 'package:flint_dart/flint_dart.dart';

void main() {
  final app = Flint(
    withDefaultMiddleware: true,
    enableSwaggerDocs: true,
    autoConnectDb: false,
  );

  app.get('/', (Context ctx) async {
    return ctx.res?.json({'status': 'ok'});
  });

  app.get('/users/:id', (Context ctx) async {
    final id = ctx.req.params['id'];
    return ctx.res?.json({'id': id});
  });

  app.post('/users', (Context ctx) async {
    final data = await ctx.req.json();
    return ctx.res?.json({'created': true, 'data': data});
  });

  app.query('/products/search', (Context ctx) async {
    final filters = await ctx.req.json();
    return ctx.res?.json({'filters': filters});
  });

  app.listen(port: 3000);
}

Attach middleware per route:

CodeBlock dart

app.post('/profile', handler)
  .use(AuthMiddleware());

Route Params

Use :param segments. Read them with ctx.req.param(). The raw map is ctx.req.params.

CodeBlock dart

app.get('/users/:id', (Context ctx) async {
  final id = ctx.req.param('id');
  return ctx.res?.json({'id': id});
});

Query Params

Read query string values from ctx.req.queryParam() or ctx.req.query (e.g. ?page=2&limit=10).

CodeBlock dart

app.get('/users', (Context ctx) async {
  final page = ctx.req.queryParam('page') ?? '1';
  final limit = ctx.req.queryParam('limit') ?? '10';
  return ctx.res?.json({'page': page, 'limit': limit});
});

HTTP QUERY

QUERY is an HTTP method from RFC 10008. It is safe and idempotent like GET, but it can carry request content like POST. Use it when a search or filter operation should not change server state, but the query expression is too large or structured for a URL query string.

CodeBlock dart

app.query('/products/search', (Context ctx) async {
  final filters = await ctx.req.json();
  final page = ctx.req.queryParam('page') ?? '1';

  return ctx.res?.json({
    'filters': filters,
    'page': page,
  });
});

ctx.req.queryParam() reads URI query string values such as ?page=2. ctx.req.json(), ctx.req.body(), and ctx.req.form() read the QUERY request content. Keep those two concepts separate when naming filters and parameters.

Compatibility warning: some proxies, browsers, servers, and API tools may not support QUERY yet. RFC: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc10008.html.

Unified Context

Route handlers receive a single Context object: ctx.req (always), ctx.res (HTTP), and ctx.socket (WebSocket).

Request & Response

Common helpers you’ll use in most handlers.

CodeBlock dart

app.post('/users', (Context ctx) async {
  final body = await ctx.req.json(); // parse JSON body
  final token = ctx.req.bearerToken; // read Authorization token
  final ip = ctx.req.ipAddress; // client IP

  return ctx.res
      .status(201)
      .json({'created': true, 'data': body, 'ip': ip, 'token': token});
});

Response Methods

Use the right response method based on what you’re returning.

CodeBlock dart

app.get('/text', (Context ctx) async {
  return ctx.res?.send('Plain text');
});

app.get('/json', (Context ctx) async {
  return ctx.res?.json({'status': 'ok'});
});

app.get('/auto', (Context ctx) async {
  return ctx.res?.respond({'auto': 'json'}); // infers JSON/HTML/text
});

app.get('/page', (Context ctx) async {
  return ctx.res?.view('home', data: {'title': 'Flint Docs'});
});

send() is for plain text or custom content types. json() sets JSON headers and encodes safely. respond() auto-detects the best type. view() renders a template.

For form workflows, you can combine flash messages with redirect-back: withSuccess(), withError(), and back().

CodeBlock dart

app.post('/settings', (Context ctx) async {
  final data = await ctx.req.validate({'name': 'required|string|min:2'});
  // ... save settings
  return ctx.res
      ?.withSuccess('Settings updated.')
      .back(fallback: '/settings');
});

You can also return values directly from the route handler. Flint will serialize Map/List as JSON and custom classes that implement toMap() or toJson().

CodeBlock dart

class UserDto {
  final int id;
  final String email;
  UserDto(this.id, this.email);

  Map toMap() => {'id': id, 'email': email};
}

app.get('/me', (Context ctx) async {
  return UserDto(1, 'ada@example.com'); // auto JSON
});

Request Body

Choose the right body reader based on the incoming content type.

CodeBlock dart

app.post('/raw', (Context ctx) async {
  final text = await ctx.req.body(); // raw string body
  return ctx.res?.send(text);
});

app.post('/json', (Context ctx) async {
  final data = await ctx.req.json(); // Map
  return ctx.res?.json({'received': data});
});

app.post('/form', (Context ctx) async {
  final fields = await ctx.req.form(); // Map
  return ctx.res?.json({'fields': fields});
});

body() returns a raw string. json() parses JSON into a map. form() reads application/x-www-form-urlencoded or multipart/form-data.

File Uploads & Storage

Uploads come from multipart/form-data. You can read files, check if they exist, or store them on disk.

ctx.req.file('avatar') — get a single uploaded file.

ctx.req.files('photos') — get multiple files for the same field.

ctx.req.hasFile('avatar') / ctx.req.hasFiles('photos') — check if files were sent.

ctx.req.storeFile(...) / ctx.req.storeFiles(...) — save to disk and return path(s).

CodeBlock dart

app.post('/avatar', (Context ctx) async {
  // Access the uploaded file
  final upload = await ctx.req.file('avatar');
  if (upload == null) {
    return ctx.res?.status(400).json({'error': 'No file uploaded'});
  }

  // Save with a custom name
  final path = await ctx.req.storeFile(
    'avatar',
    directory: 'public/uploads',
    filename: 'user-1.png',
  );

  return ctx.res?.json({'saved_to': path});
});

CodeBlock dart

app.post('/gallery', (Context ctx) async {
  if (!await ctx.req.hasFiles('photos')) {
    return ctx.res?.status(400).json({'error': 'No photos uploaded'});
  }

  final paths = await ctx.req.storeFiles('photos', directory: 'public/uploads');
  return ctx.res?.json({'saved_to': paths});
});

Tip: you can also save manually using upload.saveTo(path) if you want full control.