The part after flutter@ in vfox install, vfox use and vfox uninstall is a version: the name of a release as vfox search flutter prints it, with or without an architecture suffix, or a channel.
vfox install flutter@3.47.4 # a stable release, for the architecture of this machine
vfox install flutter@3.47.4-x64 # the same release, as an x64 build
vfox install flutter@3.50.0-0.1.pre # a beta release
vfox install flutter@stable # the release the stable channel points to today
vfox install flutter@3.41.10-ohos-1.0.0 # an OpenHarmony buildA version is matched as a whole. flutter@3.47 and flutter@3 do not select the newest 3.47.x or 3.x, they fail with no installable runtime provided. Names are case sensitive (flutter@Stable fails), and vfox itself drops a leading v, so flutter@v3.47.4 is flutter@3.47.4.
A release is named after the Flutter version it contains, as Flutter's release index spells it. vfox search shows the channel it was published to next to it, see Searching.
| Name | What it is |
|---|---|
3.47.7 |
A stable release |
3.50.0-0.1.pre |
A beta release. Flutter's pre-releases end in .pre |
3.47.4-x64, 3.47.4-arm64 |
The same release as an x64 or an arm64 build, see arm64.md |
1.22.6 |
An old release without architecture metadata, which installs the same everywhere, see arm64.md |
3.41.10-ohos-1.0.0 |
An OpenHarmony build: release 1.0.0 of the fork's 3.41.10 line, see ohos.md |
stable, beta |
Channels, resolved to a release when you install, see channels.md |
The plugin lists the releases from Flutter 1.17 (April 2020) on. Flutter published its older releases with a v prefix (v1.12.13+hotfix.9 is the first one the plugin stops at), and they are not offered.
vfox install asks the plugin which package matches, then vfox downloads and unpacks it.
- The plugin reads Flutter's release index for the operating system:
releases_linux.json,releases_macos.jsonorreleases_windows.jsonunderhttps://storage.googleapis.com/flutter_infra_release/releases/, or under the mirror thatFLUTTER_STORAGE_BASE_URLnames (see mirror.md). It asks up to three times, five seconds apart. - The version has to equal a name in that index, see Release names. A release nobody published fails with
no installable runtime provided. - Without an architecture suffix the plugin picks the build for the architecture of this machine. A release that has no architecture metadata has a single archive, which is the one it takes.
- vfox verifies the archive against the SHA-256 checksum from the index and prints
Verifying checksum .... It removes the archive after unpacking. - On Linux ARM64 and Windows ARM64 the plugin installs a git tag instead of an archive, see arm64.md. OpenHarmony builds are git checkouts as well, see ohos.md. Neither is verified against a checksum.
- Installing a name that is already there prints
flutter@3.47.4 is already installedand downloads nothing. - Installing an official release does not contact gitcode.com. Listing versions does:
vfox search, and thelatestofvfox install, ask it for the OpenHarmony releases, twice at most, and say so when it does not answer, see troubleshooting.md.
An archive is large: 3.47.7 on 2026-10-21 was 1.6 GB for Linux x64, 1.9 GB for Windows x64 and 2.3 GB for macOS. The first flutter run downloads more, see troubleshooting.md.
The plugin names an install after the version you asked for, with the architecture suffix only if you wrote one. These are the Linux x64 results on 2026-10-21; a channel or latest is replaced by the release it stands for:
| You run | Installed name |
|---|---|
vfox install flutter@3.47.4 |
3.47.4 |
vfox install flutter@3.47.4-x64 |
3.47.4-x64 |
vfox install flutter@stable |
3.47.7 |
vfox install flutter@stable-x64 |
3.47.7-x64 |
vfox install flutter@beta |
3.50.0-0.1.pre |
vfox install flutter@latest |
3.47.7-x64, the first line of vfox search flutter, see Searching |
vfox install flutter@3.41.10-ohos-1.0.0 |
3.41.10-ohos-1.0.0 |
These are the names vfox list flutter shows and vfox use and vfox uninstall need:
$ vfox list flutter
-> 3.50.0-0.1.pre-x64
-> 3.47.4-x64
-> 3.47.4 <— current
3.47.4 and 3.47.4-x64 are the same Flutter on an x64 machine, and vfox keeps them as two installs, each a full SDK. Write the suffix always or never. Uninstalling one leaves the other alone:
vfox uninstall flutter@3.47.4-x64vfox uninstall flutter@stable answers flutter@stable is not installed; vfox uninstall takes the installed name, as vfox use does. When you uninstall the version in use, vfox switches to the first entry left in vfox list flutter, which can be a beta.
Each install lives in cache/flutter/v-<name>/flutter-<name>/ under the vfox home (~/.vfox unless VFOX_HOME is set), see troubleshooting.md.
vfox use takes an installed name as it is. It does not complete or search:
| You run | Result |
|---|---|
vfox use flutter@3.47.4 |
selects 3.47.4 |
vfox use flutter@3.47.4-x64 |
selects 3.47.4-x64 |
vfox use flutter@3.47 |
flutter@3.47 is not installed |
vfox use flutter@stable |
flutter@stable is not installed, see channels.md |
vfox use flutter@latest |
the first entry of vfox list flutter, which vfox sorts by itself, so it is a beta if you have one installed |
Pick the scope with vfox use's flags: --global, --project or --session. Without a flag the scope is the session on Linux and macOS and the global one on Windows. Where the choice is written:
| Scope | Written to | flutter comes from |
|---|---|---|
--global |
~/.vfox/.vfox.toml |
~/.vfox/sdks/flutter/bin |
--project |
.vfox.toml in the current directory |
.vfox/sdks/flutter/bin in that directory |
--session |
the current shell only | a directory under ~/.vfox/tmp |
.vfox.toml holds the installed name (flutter = "3.47.4"). Commit it, so that the project builds with one Flutter for everybody, and keep .vfox/ out of git: vfox 1.0.13 adds it to the .gitignore of the project when there is one (it prints Added '.vfox/' to .gitignore), and does not create a .gitignore. The choice applies in the directory that holds .vfox.toml and not in its subdirectories, where flutter comes from the session or the global choice, see use-cases.md. vfox also reads an asdf .tool-versions (flutter 3.47.4) when its legacyVersionFile.enable setting is on, which it is by default in vfox 1.0.13. The plugin has no legacy file of its own, so .fvmrc and FVM's .fvm directory are not read.
The plugin adds <sdk>/bin to PATH. That puts flutter and dart on it. It sets no FLUTTER_ROOT, and ~/.pub-cache/bin, where dart pub global activate puts executables, stays yours to add.
To run one command with a Flutter without selecting it, or in a script, a container or an IDE task where the shell hook is not active, use vfox exec with an installed name:
vfox exec flutter@3.47.4 -- flutter --versionvfox exec flutter@stable does not work, see channels.md.
$ vfox search flutter
Available versions:
- 3.47.7-x64 (stable) [dart 3.13.5]
- 3.47.6-x64 (stable) [dart 3.13.5]
...
- 1.17.0 (stable) [dart ]
- 3.50.0-0.1.pre-x64 (beta) [dart 3.14.0 (build 3.14.0-315.1.beta)]
- 3.49.0-0.2.pre-x64 (beta) [dart 3.14.0 (build 3.14.0-211.1.beta)]
...
- 1.17.0-3.2.pre (beta) [dart ]
- 3.41.10-ohos-1.0.0 (OpenHarmony)
...
Each line is a name that can follow flutter@, with the channel the release was published to in parentheses, and the Dart SDK that comes with it in brackets. A mark (installed) follows the names that are installed. Flutter's index has no Dart version for the releases up to 2.9.0-0.1.pre, which leaves the brackets empty. OpenHarmony builds carry (OpenHarmony) and no Dart version.
The mark only follows names the list prints. On x64 Linux and Windows nearly every official release is listed as 3.47.4-x64, so an install made with vfox install flutter@3.47.4 (installed name 3.47.4) shows no mark, while vfox install flutter@3.47.4-x64 does. Check vfox list flutter for what is installed.
In an interactive terminal vfox search flutter lets you pick a version and installs it; elsewhere it prints the list. vfox keeps the answer for 12 hours (vfox config cache.availableHookDuration), so a release published a minute ago may be missing; vfox config cache.availableHookDuration 0 turns the cache off.
The list is sorted as follows:
- Official releases come before OpenHarmony builds.
- The architecture of this machine comes before the others. A release without architecture metadata counts as the architecture of this machine.
- Releases of the stable channel come before the pre-releases of the beta and dev channels.
- The newest comes first, going by the numbers in the version.
3.47.0sorts above3.47.0-0.4.pre. - Two builds of one version put the architecture of this machine first, and a version in two channels lists beta before dev.
So the first line is the newest stable release, and that is what vfox install flutter@latest installs, with the architecture suffix:
$ vfox install flutter@latest
Using latest version: 3.47.7-x64
latest keeps to the architecture of this machine, as arm64.md explains, and never selects an OpenHarmony build.
A few versions appear more than once. They are in Flutter's index more than once, because a release was promoted from one channel to another and has an archive in each (2.13.0-0.1.pre is listed for beta and for dev), and the lines install the same name. A release that was published again has the same archive under two checksums, and the plugin lists only the newest entry of it, the one whose checksum matches the file (3.13.3, 3.9.0-0.1.pre and 3.17.0-0.0.pre are the three that Flutter published again), see troubleshooting.md.
The length of the list depends on the machine. On 2026-10-21 it had 455 names on Linux x64 (430 official releases and 25 OpenHarmony builds), 717 on macOS (692 and 25, with both architectures), 453 on Windows x64, and 743 and 490 on Linux ARM64 and Windows ARM64, which add 288 and 37 source installs. A list that is much shorter than that means the plugin could not read part of its sources, see troubleshooting.md.