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Follow this guide for setting up the freeCodeCamp mobile app locally on your system. This is highly recommended if you want to contribute regularly.

Some of the contribution workflows – like fixing bugs in the codebase – need you to run freeCodeCamp app locally.

How to prepare your local machine

Start by installing the prerequisite software for your operating system.

Prerequisites:

Prerequisite Version Notes
Flutter 3.x -
Dart (comes bundled with Flutter) 2.x We use the version bundled with Flutter.

[!ATTENTION] If you have a different version, please install the recommended version. We can only support installation issues for recommended versions.

If Flutter is already installed on your machine, run the following commands to validate the versions:

flutter --version
dart --version

Tip

We highly recommend updating to the latest stable releases of the software listed above.

Once you have the prerequisites installed, you need to prepare your development environment. This is common for many development workflows, and you will only need to do this once.

Follow these steps to get your development environment ready:

  1. Install Git or your favorite Git client, if you haven't already. Update to the latest version; the version that came bundled with your OS may be outdated.

  2. Setup Android Studio and Android Emulators with the latest released Android version. We recommend using the Pixel 3a XL and Nexus One(for emulating smaller screens).

  3. (Optional for MacOS) Setup Xcode and iOS Simulator with the latest released iOS version.

  4. (Optional but recommended) Set up an SSH Key for GitHub.

  5. Install a code editor of your choice.

    We highly recommend using Visual Studio Code or Android Studio. We also recommend installing the official extensions.

Fork the repository on GitHub

Forking is a step where you get your own copy of the repository (a.k.a repo) on GitHub.

This is essential, as it allows you to work on your own copy of freeCodeCamp mobile app on GitHub, or to download (clone) your repository to work on locally. Later, you will be able to request changes to be pulled into the main repository from your fork via a pull request (PR).

Tip

The main repository at https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/mobile is often referred to as the upstream repository.

Your fork at https://github.com/YOUR_USER_NAME/mobile is often referred to as the origin repository. YOUR_USER_NAME would be replaced with your GitHub username.

Follow these steps to fork the https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/mobile repository:

  1. Go to the freeCodeCamp mobile repository on GitHub: https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/mobile

  2. Click the "Fork" Button in the upper right-hand corner of the interface (More Details Here)

  3. After the repository has been forked, you will be taken to your copy of the repository at https://github.com/YOUR_USER_NAME/mobile (YOUR_USER_NAME would be replaced with your GitHub user name.)

Clone your fork from GitHub

Cloning is where you download a copy of a repository from a remote location that is either owned by you or by someone else. In your case, this remote location is your fork of freeCodeCamp's repository that should be available at https://github.com/YOUR_USER_NAME/mobile. (YOUR_USER_NAME would be replaced with your GitHub user name.)

Run these commands on your local machine:

  1. Open a Terminal / Command Prompt / Shell in your projects directory

    i.e.: /yourprojectsdirectory/

  2. Clone your fork of freeCodeCamp, replacing YOUR_USER_NAME with your GitHub Username

    git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/YOUR_USER_NAME/mobile.git

This will download the entire freeCodeCamp mobile repository to your projects directory.

Note: --depth=1 creates a shallow clone of your fork, with only the most recent history/commit.

Set up syncing from parent

Now that you have downloaded a copy of your fork, you will need to set up an upstream remote to the parent repository.

As mentioned earlier, the main repository is referred upstream repository. Your fork referred to as the origin repository.

You need a reference from your local clone to the upstream repository in addition to the origin repository. This is so that you can sync changes from the main repository without the requirement of forking and cloning repeatedly.

  1. Change directory to the new mobile directory:

    cd mobile

  2. Add a remote reference to the main freeCodeCamp mobile repository:

    git remote add upstream https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/mobile.git

  3. Ensure the configuration looks correct:

    git remote -v

    The output should look something like below (replacing YOUR_USER_NAME with your GitHub username):

    origin    https://github.com/YOUR_USER_NAME/mobile.git (fetch)
origin    https://github.com/YOUR_USER_NAME/mobile.git (push)
upstream    https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/mobile.git (fetch)
upstream    https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/mobile.git (push)

Running freeCodeCamp mobile app locally

Now that you have a local copy of the mobile app, you can follow these instructions to run it locally.

If you do run into issues, first perform a web search for your issue and see if it has already been answered. If you cannot find a solution, please search our GitHub issues page for a solution and report the issue if it has not yet been reported.

And as always, feel free to ask questions on the 'Contributors' category on our forum or our chat server.

Note

The mobile directory contains two folders ie. mobile-api and mobile-app. mobile-api contains the API code used for serving the podcasts. mobile-app contains the Flutter app which is where you should be when you follow the below steps.

Configuring dependencies

Step 1: Set up the environment variable file

The default API keys and environment variables are stored in the file sample.env. This file needs to be copied to a new file named .env that is accessed dynamically during the installation step. Remember to change the directory to mobile-app before running the following commands.

# Create a copy of the "sample.env" and name it ".env".
# Populate it with the necessary API keys and secrets:

macOS/Linux

cp sample.env .env

Windows

copy sample.env .env

The keys in the .env file are not required to be changed to run the app locally. You can leave the default values copied over from sample.env as-is.

Step 2: Install dependencies

This step will install the dependencies required for the application to run:

flutter pub get

Step 3: Start the freeCodeCamp mobile app

Start the emulator of your choice(Android or iOS) and wait for the bootup process to complete.

You can now start the app by running the following command:

flutter run

Tip

If you're using VSCode or Android Studio then you can easily start the app without having to execute any terminal commands. More information here.

Making changes locally

You can now make changes to files and commit your changes to your local clone of your fork.

Follow these steps:

  1. Validate that you are on the main branch:

    git status

    You should get an output like this:

    On branch main
Your branch is up-to-date with 'origin/main'.

nothing to commit, working directory clean

    If you are not on main or your working directory is not clean, resolve any outstanding files/commits and checkout main:

    git checkout main

  2. Sync the latest changes from the upstream main branch to your local main branch:

    [!WARNING] If you have any outstanding pull request that you made from the main branch of your fork, you will lose them at the end of this step.

    You should ensure your pull request is merged by a moderator before performing this step. To avoid this scenario, you should always work on a branch other than the main.

    This step will sync the latest changes from the main repository of freeCodeCamp mobile. It is important that you rebase your branch on top of the latest upstream/main as often as possible to avoid conflicts later.

    Update your local copy of the freeCodeCamp mobile upstream repository:

    git fetch upstream

    Hard reset your main branch with the freeCodeCamp mobile main:

    git reset --hard upstream/main

    Push your main branch to your origin to have a clean history on your fork on GitHub:

    git push origin main --force

    You can validate your current main matches the upstream/main by performing a diff:

    git diff upstream/main

    The resulting output should be empty.

  3. Create a fresh new branch:

    Working on a separate branch for each issue helps you keep your local work copy clean. You should never work on the main. This will soil your copy of freeCodeCamp mobile and you may have to start over with a fresh clone or fork.

    Check that you are on main as explained previously, and branch off from there:

    git checkout -b fix/update-guide-for-xyz

    Your branch name should start with a fix/, feat/, docs/, etc. Avoid using issue numbers in branches. Keep them short, meaningful and unique.

    Some examples of good branch names are:

    fix/update-challenges-for-react
fix/update-guide-for-html-css
fix/platform-bug-sign-in-issues
feat/add-guide-article-for-javascript
translate/add-spanish-basic-html

  4. Edit pages and work on code in your favorite text editor.

  5. Once you are happy with the changes you should optionally run the mobile app locally to preview the changes.

  6. Make sure you fix any errors and check the formatting of your changes.

  7. Check and confirm the files you are updating:

    git status

    This should show a list of unstaged files that you have edited.

    On branch feat/documentation
Your branch is up to date with 'upstream/feat/documentation'.

Changes were not staged for commit:
(use "git add/rm <file>..." to update what will be committed)
(use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in the working directory)

    modified:   README.md
    modified:   mobile-app/lib/main.dart
...

  8. Stage the changes and make a commit:

    In this step, you should only mark files that you have edited or added yourself. You can perform a reset and resolve files that you did not intend to change if needed.

    git add path/to/my/changed/file.ext

    Or you can add all the unstaged files to the staging area:

    git add .

    Only the files that were moved to the staging area will be added when you make a commit.

    git status

    Output:

    On branch feat/documentation
Your branch is up to date with 'upstream/feat/documentation'.

Changes to be committed:
(use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)

    modified:   README.md
    modified:   mobile-app/lib/main.dart

    Now, you can commit your changes with a short message like so:

    git commit -m "fix: my short commit message"

    Some examples:

    fix: update guide article for Java - for loop
feat: add guide article for alexa skills

    Optional:

    We highly recommend making a conventional commit message. This is a good practice that you will see on some of the popular Open Source repositories. As a developer, this encourages you to follow standard practices.

    Some examples of conventional commit messages are:

    fix: update HTML guide article
fix: update build scripts for Travis-CI
feat: add article for JavaScript hoisting
docs: update contributing guidelines

    Keep these short, not more than 50 characters. You can always add additional information in the description of the commit message.

    This does not take any additional time than an unconventional message like 'update file' or 'add index.md'

    You can learn more about why you should use conventional commits here.

  9. If you realize that you need to edit a file or update the commit message after making a commit you can do so after editing the files with:

    git commit --amend

    This will open up a default text editor like nano or vi where you can edit the commit message title and add/edit the description.

  10. Next, you can push your changes to your fork:

    git push origin branch/name-here

Proposing a Pull Request (PR)

After you've committed your changes, check here for how to open a Pull Request.

Troubleshooting

Issues with installing the recommended prerequisites

We regularly develop on the latest or most popular operating systems like macOS 10.15 or later, Ubuntu 18.04 or later, and Windows 10 (with WSL2).

It is recommended to research your specific issue on resources such as Google, Stack Overflow, and Stack Exchange. There is a good chance that someone has faced the same issue and there is already an answer to your specific query.

If you are on a different OS and/or are still running into issues, see getting help.

Issues with the UI, build errors, etc.

If you face issues with the UI, or builds errors a cleanup can be useful:

flutter clean

Issues installing dependencies

If you get errors while installing the dependencies, please make sure that you are not in a restricted network or your firewall settings do not prevent you from accessing resources.

Be patient as the first time setup can take a while depending on your network bandwidth.

Getting Help

If you are stuck and need help, feel free to ask questions on the 'Contributors' category on our forum or the contributors chat room.

There might be an error in the console of your browser or in Bash / Terminal / Command Line that will help identify the problem. Provide this error message in your problem description so others can more easily identify the issue and help you find a resolution.