Flutter downgrade 3.19.0 doesn't work

[TheCarpetMerchant]

Steps to reproduce

Run flutter downgrade 3.19.0

Actual results

Flutter asks "Downgrade flutter to version 3.29.2" instead.

Logs

NA

Flutter Doctor output

Doctor output

[√] Flutter (Channel stable, 3.32.4, on Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26200.7705], locale fr-BE) [1 634ms]
    • Flutter version 3.32.4 on channel stable at D:\Code\Dart\flutter_sdk\flutter
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision 6fba2447e9 (9 months ago), 2025-06-12 19:03:56 -0700
    • Engine revision 8cd19e509d
    • Dart version 3.8.1
    • DevTools version 2.45.1

[√] Windows Version (11 Professionnel 64-bit, 25H2, 2009) [2,8s]

[!] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 35.0.0) [4,8s]
    • Android SDK at C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk
    • Platform android-35, build-tools 35.0.0
    • Java binary at: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-18.0.2.1\bin\java
      This JDK is specified in your Flutter configuration.
      To change the current JDK, run: `flutter config --jdk-dir="path/to/jdk"`.
    • Java version Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 18.0.2.1+1-1)
    ! Some Android licenses not accepted. To resolve this, run: flutter doctor --android-licenses

[√] Chrome - develop for the web [581ms]
    • Chrome at C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

[√] Visual Studio - develop Windows apps (Visual Studio Community 2019 16.3.2) [580ms]
    • Visual Studio at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community
    • Visual Studio Community 2019 version 16.3.29326.143
    • Windows 10 SDK version 10.0.22621.0

[√] Android Studio (version 2024.3) [21ms]
    • Android Studio at C:\Program Files\Android\Android Studio
    • Flutter plugin can be installed from:
       https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
    • Dart plugin can be installed from:
       https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.5+-12932927-b750.29)

[√] VS Code (version unknown) [20ms]
    • VS Code at C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code
    • Flutter extension version 3.128.0
    X Unable to determine VS Code version.

[√] VS Code, 64-bit edition (version unknown) [20ms]
    • VS Code at C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code
    • Flutter extension version 3.128.0
    X Unable to determine VS Code version.

[√] Connected device (3 available) [674ms]
    • Windows (desktop) • windows • windows-x64    • Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26200.7705]
    • Chrome (web)      • chrome  • web-javascript • Google Chrome 143.0.7499.170
    • Edge (web)        • edge    • web-javascript • Microsoft Edge 144.0.3719.92
    ! Device emulator-5556 is offline.

[√] Network resources [604ms]
    • All expected network resources are available.

! Doctor found issues in 1 category.

[mbcorona]

Hi @TheCarpetMerchant, thanks for the report! Currently, the flutter downgrade command does not accept a specific version number as an argument.

According to the official documentation, if you want to switch to a specific Flutter version, you should:

Find your desired Flutter version on the Flutter SDK archive.

Navigate to the Flutter SDK path (you can find the path using flutter doctor --verbose):

cd /path/to/flutter

Use git checkout to switch to your desired Flutter version:

git checkout 3.19.0

Run flutter doctor to download the corresponding Dart SDK and tools.

That being said, the fact that flutter downgrade silently ignores positional arguments leads to a confusing developer experience. I am keeping this issue open and labeling it as a proposal so the tool team can evaluate either adding support for version arguments, or throwing a clear error message when a user tries to pass one.