Quickstart

Holy smokes, you're here! Let's get started on using the coolest Flutter database out there...

We're going to be short on words and quick on code in this quickstart.

1. Add dependencies

Before the fun begins, we need to add a few packages to the pubspec.yaml. We can use pub to do the heavy lifting for us.

flutter pub add isar isar_flutter_libs path_provider
flutter pub add -d isar_generator build_runner

2. Annotate classes

Annotate your collection classes with @collection and choose an Id field.

import 'package:isar/isar.dart';

part 'user.g.dart';

@collection
class User {
  Id id = Isar.autoIncrement; // you can also use id = null to auto increment

  String? name;

  int? age;
}

Ids uniquely identify objects in a collection and allow you to find them again later.

3. Run code generator

Execute the following command to start the build_runner:

dart run build_runner build

If you are using Flutter, use the following:

flutter pub run build_runner build

4. Open Isar instance

Open a new Isar instance and pass all of your collection schemas. Optionally you can specify an instance name and directory.

final dir = await getApplicationDocumentsDirectory();
final isar = await Isar.open(
  [UserSchema],
  directory: dir.path,
);

5. Write and read

Once your instance is open, you can start using the collections.

All basic CRUD operations are available via the IsarCollection.

final newUser = User()..name = 'Jane Doe'..age = 36;

await isar.writeTxn(() async {
  await isar.users.put(newUser); // insert & update
});

final existingUser = await isar.users.get(newUser.id); // get

await isar.writeTxn(() async {
  await isar.users.delete(existingUser.id!); // delete
});

Other resources

Are you a visual learner? Check out these videos to get started with Isar: