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sfshaza2 merged 2 commits into from
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Document multiple Flutter plugin instances #13591

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1f9e492
Document multiple Flutter plugin instances
awnoa Jul 18, 2026
5f7c129
Add a shared-resource coordination example
awnoa Jul 18, 2026
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18 changes: 18 additions & 0 deletions sites/docs/src/content/packages-and-plugins/developing-packages.md
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Expand Up @@ -133,6 +133,23 @@ you need to develop a plugin package.
The API is connected to the platform-specific
implementation(s) using a [platform channel][].

### Supporting multiple Flutter instances

All Flutter platforms allow apps to create
[multiple Flutter engines][].
Each engine creates its own instance of every registered plugin,
and those plugin instances can have independent lifetimes.
Don't assume that a plugin class has only one instance.
Keep engine-specific state on the plugin instance rather than
in global or static variables, and clean it up when the plugin
detaches from its engine.

If plugin instances share a native singleton or other global resource,
coordinate access across the instances, for example by using
reference counting.
Release the resource only after every plugin instance
has stopped using it.
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### Federated plugins

**Federated plugins** are a way of splitting the API of a plugin
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1035,6 +1052,7 @@ file, like any other Dart package.
[How to Write a Flutter Web Plugin, Part 1]: {{site.flutter-blog}}/how-to-write-a-flutter-web-plugin-5e26c689ea1
[How To Write a Flutter Web Plugin, Part 2]: {{site.flutter-blog}}/how-to-write-a-flutter-web-plugin-part-2-afdddb69ece6
[issue #33302]: {{site.repo.flutter}}/issues/33302
[multiple Flutter engines]: /add-to-app/multiple-flutters
[`LICENSE`]: #adding-licenses-to-the-license-file
[`path`]: {{site.pub}}/packages/path
[`package:ffigen`]: {{site.pub}}/packages/ffigen
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