Dart Frog Framework Guide

Applies to: Dart Frog 1.x, Dart 3.x, REST APIs, Full-Stack Dart, Serverless Functions

Overview

Dart Frog is a fast, minimalistic backend framework for Dart built on top of Shelf. It provides file-based routing (similar to Next.js), built-in middleware support, dependency injection via providers, hot reload during development, and easy deployment with Docker. Dart Frog pairs naturally with Flutter for full-stack Dart applications.

Key Features

• File-based routing: route structure mirrors the filesystem
• Middleware cascades: _middleware.dart files apply to all routes in their directory subtree
• Dependency injection: provider<T>() and context.read<T>() for clean service access
• Hot reload: dart_frog dev watches for changes automatically
• Production builds: compiles to a self-contained server binary
• Docker-ready: ships with a Dockerfile scaffold