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Migrate engine code off legacy "vm:external-name" native function annotations #190154
Description
The Dart team would like to deprecate this legacy native function declaration syntax in favor of FFI-based native function declarations.
The legacy version are functions annotated with @pragma('vm:external-name', <name>). The new version would be @Native<FFI_FunctionType>(symbol: <name>).
This query should include all the instances of the legacy-style declarations: https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Aflutter%2Fflutter%20%22vm%3Aexternal-name%22&type=code
Examples of the new-style declarations: https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Aflutter%2Fflutter+%22%40Native%22&type=code
Note: The FFI-based declarations require the native signature of the declaration to be explicitly passed to @Native.
Activity
Migrate the shell unit tests from legacy Dart native functions to FFI
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jason-simmons commentedon Aug 11, 2026
The code in the main Flutter engine tree has been updated to use FFI.
The remaining usage of legacy native functions is in the Fuchsia embedder (https://github.com/flutter/flutter/tree/master/engine/src/flutter/shell/platform/fuchsia). The Fuchsia team will need to be involved in that migration.