channels_flutter #

Embed a Channels.social community as a native screen in your Flutter app. It's a webview_flutter-backed widget with passthrough auth — pass your signed-in member and they're logged in with no extra screen. Renders on iOS and Android from one codebase.

Phase 1 is embed only. Push notifications are a planned add-on (see below).

Requires a Channels account #

This is a client SDK for Channels.social — it embeds your community, so it needs a Channels account (a paid product) and your API key. Sign up at https://channels.social, then copy your key from Admin → Integration. The widget does nothing without a valid key.

Install #

# pubspec.yaml
dependencies:
  channels_flutter: ^0.1.0

flutter pub get

Usage #

Give it a bounded size (e.g. a Scaffold body or an Expanded):

import 'package:channels_flutter/channels_flutter.dart';

Scaffold(
  body: ChannelsCommunity(
    apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    user: ChannelsUser(
      externalId: 'u_123',      // your user id (preferred)
      name: 'Jane',
      email: 'jane@acme.com',
    ),
    // channel: 'general',      // optional: open a specific channel/topic
    // theme: 'dark',           // optional: 'light' | 'dark'
  ),
)

Get your apiKey from the admin Integration tab.

Props #

ChannelsCommunity also accepts loadingBuilder and errorBuilder to customize those states.

Passthrough auth #

When you pass a user with an externalId or email, the SDK loads the embed with autoLogin=true and the identity params, so the member is signed in automatically — provided the community's auth mode is Trusted or JWT (set in the admin panel). On other auth modes the embed shows its normal login.

The SDK sends: external_id / email / name / image (whichever you provide) as query params on the embed URL.

Platform setup #

Android — webview_flutter needs minSdkVersion 19+ (check android/app/build.gradle). The INTERNET permission is included by default; no extra config.

iOS — works over HTTPS out of the box; no App Transport Security changes needed. Run cd ios && pod install after adding the dependency.

Roadmap: push notifications #

Native push (mentions, DMs, Talk-to-us replies) is a planned add-on. It will use firebase_messaging to register the device with the Channels backend and a WebView JavaScript channel to deep-link into the right channel on tap — the same phased approach as the React Native SDK. It is intentionally not in this version, so embedding requires no Firebase setup.

License #

MIT