json_library_parser

A Dart package that analyzes other Dart packages and extracts their public API surface as JSON.

Features

• Automatic API Extraction: Analyzes Dart packages and extracts all public classes and their members
• Inheritance Support: Captures both declared and inherited members from the complete interface
• Privacy Respecting: Automatically excludes private elements (starting with _) and files in lib/src/
• Rich Member Information: Extracts methods, getters, setters with full type signatures and parameters
• Type Information: Includes superclasses, interfaces, mixins, and generic type parameters

Getting started

Add this package to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  json_library_parser: ^1.0.0

Usage

import 'dart:convert';
import 'package:json_library_parser/json_library_parser.dart';

Future<void> main() async {
  final analyzer = PackageApiAnalyzer();
  
  // Analyze a Dart package
  final result = await analyzer.analyzePackage('/path/to/package');
  
  // Convert to JSON
  final jsonString = JsonEncoder.withIndent('  ').convert(result);
  print(jsonString);
}

Example Output

For a simple class hierarchy:

class BaseClass {
  void baseMethod() {}
  String get baseProp => 'base';
}

class DerivedClass extends BaseClass {
  void derivedMethod() {}
  int get derivedProp => 42;
}

The analyzer produces:

{
  "lib/example.dart": {
    "classes": [
      {
        "name": "BaseClass",
        "members": [
          {
            "name": "baseMethod",
            "kind": "method",
            "isStatic": false,
            "returnType": "void"
          },
          {
            "name": "baseProp",
            "kind": "getter",
            "isStatic": false,
            "returnType": "String"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "name": "DerivedClass",
        "superclass": "BaseClass",
        "members": [
          {
            "name": "derivedMethod",
            "kind": "method",
            "isStatic": false,
            "returnType": "void"
          },
          {
            "name": "derivedProp",
            "kind": "getter",
            "isStatic": false,
            "returnType": "int"
          },
          {
            "name": "baseMethod",
            "kind": "method",
            "isStatic": false,
            "returnType": "void"
          },
          {
            "name": "baseProp",
            "kind": "getter",
            "isStatic": false,
            "returnType": "String"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Note how DerivedClass includes both its own members (derivedMethod, derivedProp) and inherited members from BaseClass (baseMethod, baseProp).

API Reference

PackageApiAnalyzer

The main class for analyzing Dart packages.

analyzePackage(String packagePath)

Analyzes a Dart package and returns its public API as JSON.

Parameters:

• packagePath: The root directory of the package to analyze (must contain pubspec.yaml)

Returns:

• Future<Map<String, dynamic>>: A map where keys are library file paths and values contain the API data

Throws:

• ArgumentError: If the package path doesn't exist or doesn't contain a pubspec.yaml file
• Exception: If analysis fails for any other reason

Limitations

This initial version focuses on:

• Classes and their interface members (methods, getters, setters)
• Type information and inheritance relationships

Future versions may include:

• Top-level functions and variables
• Enums and their values
• Typedefs
• Extensions
• More detailed documentation extraction

Additional information

This package uses the Dart analyzer package to perform semantic analysis of Dart code. It respects Dart's privacy conventions by excluding:

• Elements whose names start with _
• Files in the lib/src/ directory

For issues, feature requests, or contributions, please visit the repository.