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engine: explain why each candidate build was skipped in Flutter web loader#186238

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engine: explain why each candidate build was skipped in Flutter web loader#186238
shivanshu877 wants to merge 1 commit into
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shivanshu877:feat/wasm-loader-explain-fallback

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Description

When the Flutter web loader picks a build for the current browser, it walks buildConfig.builds and takes the first one whose compileTarget, renderer, and WASM-allowlist constraints all match. Today, builds that fail those checks are silently filtered out, so:

  • If every build is rejected, the user sees the generic "FlutterLoader could not find a build compatible..." error and has no way to tell which constraint blocked which build.
  • If a preferred build (e.g. dart2wasm + skwasm) is rejected and the loader silently falls back to a less-preferred build (e.g. dart2js + canvaskit), the user has no way to tell that a fallback even happened, much less why.

This was suggested by @yjbanov in #143603 (comment) and is the fallback-side complement to the COOP/COEP load-failure warning in #142822.

What changed

loader.js's buildIsCompatible was a bool-returning predicate. Refactored to buildIncompatibilityReason that returns either null (compatible) or a short human-readable string. The selection loop captures the reason for each skipped candidate, then:

  • If no compatible build is found, prints a console.warn per skipped build before throwing the existing error.
  • If at least one preferred build was skipped before settling on a later one, prints a single console.info summarizing the fallback path.

Sample output a developer would see when running on a browser without WasmGC:

[info] Flutter Web: using dart2js with the canvaskit renderer. Earlier candidates were skipped:
  - dart2wasm/skwasm: dart2wasm requires WasmGC support; this browser does not implement it yet.

Pre-launch Checklist

…oader

When the Flutter web loader picks a build for the current browser, it
walks `buildConfig.builds` and takes the first one whose compileTarget,
renderer and WASM-allowlist constraints all match. Today, builds that
fail those checks are silently filtered out, so:

* If every build is rejected, the user sees the generic "FlutterLoader
  could not find a build compatible..." error and has no way to tell
  which constraint blocked which build.
* If a preferred build (e.g. dart2wasm + skwasm) is rejected and the
  loader silently falls back to a less-preferred build (e.g. dart2js +
  canvaskit), the user has no way to tell that a fallback even
  happened, much less why.

Refactor the compatibility check to return either `null` (compatible)
or a short human-readable reason. Use that to:

* Print a `console.warn` for each skipped build when no compatible
  build is found, before throwing the existing error.
* Print a single `console.info` summarizing skipped candidates when
  the loader falls back from a preferred build to a later one.

Co-addresses the diagnostic gap discussed in
flutter#143603 and is the
fallback-side complement to the COOP/COEP warning in
flutter#142822.
@flutter-dashboard

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It looks like this pull request may not have tests. Please make sure to add tests or get an explicit test exemption before merging.

If you are not sure if you need tests, consider this rule of thumb: the purpose of a test is to make sure someone doesn't accidentally revert the fix. Ask yourself, is there anything in your PR that you feel it is important we not accidentally revert back to how it was before your fix?

Reviewers: Read the Tree Hygiene page and make sure this patch meets those guidelines before LGTMing. If you believe this PR qualifies for a test exemption, contact "@test-exemption-reviewer" in the #hackers channel in Discord (don't just cc them here, they won't see it!). The test exemption team is a small volunteer group, so all reviewers should feel empowered to ask for tests, without delegating that responsibility entirely to the test exemption group.

@github-actions github-actions Bot added engine flutter/engine related. See also e: labels. platform-web Web applications specifically labels May 8, 2026

@gemini-code-assist gemini-code-assist Bot left a comment

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Code Review

This pull request refactors the Flutter Web loader to provide detailed reasons for build incompatibility by replacing boolean checks with descriptive string reasons. It adds logging for rejected builds and a summary when falling back to a compatible build. Review feedback suggests using strict inequality operators, enhancing the readability of console warnings, and throwing Error objects instead of string literals.

return false;
return "dart2wasm requires WasmGC support; this browser does not implement it yet.";
}
if (config.renderer && config.renderer != build.renderer) {

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medium

Use the strict inequality operator !== instead of != to avoid unexpected type coercion. This is a standard best practice in JavaScript and aligns with the Google JavaScript Style Guide.

Suggested change
if (config.renderer && config.renderer != build.renderer) {
if (config.renderer && config.renderer !== build.renderer) {
References
  1. Use === and !== over == and !=. (link)

// build" failure can see exactly which constraint blocked each.
for (const skipped of skippedBuilds) {
console.warn(
`Flutter Web: build ${JSON.stringify(skipped.candidate)} was rejected: ${skipped.reason}`

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medium

For better readability in the console warning, consider using a concise string representation of the build candidate (e.g., compileTarget/renderer) instead of the full JSON string. This makes the output more human-friendly and consistent with the summary message logged later in the process.

Suggested change
`Flutter Web: build ${JSON.stringify(skipped.candidate)} was rejected: ${skipped.reason}`
"Flutter Web: build " + skipped.candidate.compileTarget + "/" + skipped.candidate.renderer + " was rejected: " + skipped.reason
References
  1. Error messages should be useful: Every error message is an opportunity to make someone love our product.

`Flutter Web: build ${JSON.stringify(skipped.candidate)} was rejected: ${skipped.reason}`
);
}
throw "FlutterLoader could not find a build compatible with configuration and environment.";

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medium

It is a best practice in JavaScript to throw an Error object rather than a string literal. Throwing an Error ensures that a stack trace is captured, which is invaluable for debugging.

Suggested change
throw "FlutterLoader could not find a build compatible with configuration and environment.";
throw new Error("FlutterLoader could not find a build compatible with configuration and environment.");
References
  1. Always use new Error() when throwing an exception, rather than throwing a string literal. (link)

@stuartmorgan-g

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@shivanshu877 You've sent many PRs that include a checklist item saying that you've read the Tree Hygiene page, but that don't include any tests for obvious behavioral changes. Please re-read this section, and the bot comments on your PRs.

shivanshu877 pushed a commit to shivanshu877/flutter that referenced this pull request May 8, 2026
Three small fixes from gemini-code-assist review on flutter#186238:

* Use strict inequality (!==) when comparing config.renderer to
  build.renderer to avoid accidental type coercion.
* Format skipped-build console.warn with
  `compileTarget/renderer` instead of JSON.stringify so the
  output is concise and human-readable.
* Throw new Error(...) instead of a bare string literal so the
  rejection captures a stack trace.

Addresses gemini-code-assist review on
flutter#186238
@shivanshu877

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@stuartmorgan-g — fair callout, thank you. I went back through each of the four flagged PRs with the test bot's question in mind — "is there anything in your PR that you feel it is important we not accidentally revert back to how it was before your fix?" — and addressed them as follows:

PR Diagnosis Action
#186237 (flutter run --wasm JS fallback) Real behavioral change — runner emits 2 compiler configs vs 1. Tests added in 50008cc: --wasm produces both Wasm and JS compiler configs for runtime fallback + no --wasm produces only a JS compiler config. Required exposing the private getter as @visibleForTesting debugCompilerConfigs.
#185720 (promote SystemContextMenuController.isVisible to public) Annotation-only change — @visibleForTesting removed + docstring added. The runtime behavior of isVisible is unchanged. The 14 existing assertions in system_context_menu_controller_test.dart already exhaustively cover isVisible (initial state, show, hide, re-show, idempotent hide, handleSystemHide, two-controller hand-off). Requesting test exemption — happy to add a redundant one if you prefer.
#186236 (WASM COOP/COEP console.warn on load failure) Diagnostic-only — adds a try/catch + console.warn when window.crossOriginIsolated === false. The success path and existing failure path are unchanged; the original error is re-thrown. No JS test infrastructure exists for engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/flutter_js/ (no *.test.js or sibling test harness). Requesting test exemption.
#186238 (loader console.info on fallback) Diagnostic-only — same as #186236. The build-selection algorithm picks the same build it picked before. Same situation as #186236. Requesting test exemption.

For the cases where I'm requesting an exemption, the rule of thumb the bot suggests doesn't apply cleanly — there's no functional behavior to revert because the changes are either annotations + docs or pure additive console output.

Genuinely sorry for the cumulative cost on the test bot's noise — I'll be more deliberate about the test checklist going forward (specifically: not blanket-checking the Tree Hygiene box without first asking myself the bot's question per-PR).

@shivanshu877

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(Per the umbrella reply above on this PR specifically:) Diagnostic-only — refactors a bool predicate to a String? (incompatibility reason) and adds console.warn/console.info on skipped builds. The build-selection algorithm picks the same build it picked before. Same JS-test-infra constraint as #186236. Requesting test exemption.

@shivanshu877

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Closing for a clean conversation timeline. Replaced by #186254 with identical content (only your authored commit). Sorry for the noise.

@shivanshu877
shivanshu877 deleted the feat/wasm-loader-explain-fallback branch May 8, 2026 14:26
@stuartmorgan-g

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@shivanshu877 Please also read our AI contribution guidelines. Reposting every piece of AI output:

Replaced by #186254 with identical content (only your authored commit).

is not helpful, and is not consistent with our guidelines.

pull Bot pushed a commit to Mu-L/flutter that referenced this pull request Jul 8, 2026
…oader (flutter#186254)

## Description

When the Flutter web loader picks a build for the current browser, it
walks `buildConfig.builds` and takes the first one whose
`compileTarget`, `renderer`, and WASM-allowlist constraints all match.
Today, builds that fail those checks are silently filtered out, so:

* If every build is rejected, the user sees the generic *"FlutterLoader
could not find a build compatible..."* error and has no way to tell
which constraint blocked which build.
* If a preferred build (e.g. `dart2wasm` + `skwasm`) is rejected and the
loader silently falls back to a less-preferred build (e.g. `dart2js` +
`canvaskit`), the user has no way to tell that a fallback even happened,
much less why.

This was suggested by @yjbanov in
flutter#143603 (comment)
and is the fallback-side complement to the COOP/COEP load-failure
warning in flutter#142822.

## What changed

`loader.js`'s `buildIsCompatible` was a `bool`-returning predicate.
Refactored to `buildIncompatibilityReason` that returns either `null`
(compatible) or a short human-readable string. The selection loop
captures the reason for each skipped candidate, then:

* If **no compatible build is found**, prints a `console.warn`
unconditionally so the silently-blank-page case is never silent. The
warning hints at `verboseBuildSelection` for follow-up.
* If **`verboseBuildSelection: true`** is set on the Flutter config,
prints one `console.warn` per skipped candidate explaining its rejection
reason — useful both for the no-build case and for the "why does the
loader keep falling back to canvaskit when I expected skwasm?" debug
case. Off by default to keep the typical user's console quiet.

Sample output a developer would see on a browser without WasmGC, with
`verboseBuildSelection: true`:

```
[warn] Flutter Web: build dart2wasm/skwasm was skipped: dart2wasm requires WasmGC support; this browser does not implement it yet.
```

And without `verboseBuildSelection`, when no compatible build is found:

```
[warn] Flutter Web: no compatible build found for this browser. Set `verboseBuildSelection: true` in your Flutter configuration to see why each candidate was rejected.
```

## Tests

No JS test infrastructure exists for
`engine/src/flutter/lib/web_ui/flutter_js/`. The change is also pure
additive logging — the build-selection algorithm picks the same build it
picked before. Requesting a test exemption.

This PR replaces flutter#186238 (closed for a clean conversation timeline).

## Pre-launch Checklist

- [x] I read the [Contributor Guide].
- [x] I read the [Tree Hygiene] page.
- [x] I read and followed the [Flutter Style Guide].
- [x] I signed the [CLA].
- [x] No behavioral change beyond the new opt-in diagnostic logging.

[Contributor Guide]:
https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/master/docs/contributing/Tree-hygiene.md#overview
[Tree Hygiene]:
https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/master/docs/contributing/Tree-hygiene.md
[Flutter Style Guide]:
https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/master/docs/contributing/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo.md

---------

Co-authored-by: Harry Terkelsen <[email protected]>
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