Skip to content
Flutter News App Toolkit

Local Setup

This guide will walk you through setting up the API server in a local development environment.

  1. Prerequisites

    Ensure you have the following software installed on your system:

    • Dart SDK: Version 3.0.0 or higher.
    • MongoDB: Version 5.0 or higher is recommended.
    • Dart Frog CLI: Install it globally by running:
      Terminal window
      dart pub global activate dart_frog_cli

  2. Clone the Repository

    If you haven’t already, clone the repository to your local machine.

    Terminal window
    git clone https://github.com/flutter-news-app-full-source-code/flutter-news-app-api-server-full-source-code.git
    cd flutter-news-app-api-server-full-source-code

  3. Set Up Local Database

    The API server requires a MongoDB database. For local development, the recommended approach is to use Docker.

  4. Configure Environment Variables

    The server uses a .env file to manage secrets and configuration. You will need to create this file and populate it with the correct values for your local environment.

  5. Install Dependencies

    Navigate to the server’s root directory and fetch the required Dart packages:

    Terminal window
    dart pub get

  6. Run the Development Server

    Start the Dart Frog development server:

    Terminal window
    dart_frog dev

  7. Automatic Database Seeding

    On its first startup, the server automatically connects to your MongoDB database and seeds it with initial data (countries, topics, users, etc.). This process is idempotent, meaning you can safely restart the server multiple times without creating duplicate data.