The .zip of a Flutter project

In short: zip your project folder as Flutter created it, keeping your configuration files and any private dependencies — and leaving out build folders and caches.

What the archive must contain

• pubspec.yaml — the project's manifest, at the root of the archive.
• pubspec.lock — recommended: it pins the exact versions of your dependencies, so the cloud build matches what you test locally.
• lib/ — your Dart code.
• android/ and ios/ — the platform folders Flutter generated (icons, native configuration, permissions…). The build needs them, even if you never touched them.
• Your assets — images, fonts, and other files declared in pubspec.yaml.
• Any configuration files your app uses, if applicable: google-services.json (Firebase Android), GoogleService-Info.plist (Firebase iOS), .env files read at build time, etc.

A well-formed archive looks like this:

my-app.zip
├── pubspec.yaml
├── pubspec.lock
├── lib/
├── android/
├── ios/
├── assets/
└── packages/          ← your local packages, if any (see below)

Local and private dependencies: include them

We build only what's in the archive. The build machine has no access to your computer or your private git repositories. So:

• path: dependencies (local packages) must be included in the .zip, with relative paths that stay valid inside the archive. If your pubspec.yaml points to ../my-package, that path escapes the archive: move the package into the project (e.g. packages/my-package) and update the path.
• Dependencies coming from a private git or a private registry must be copied into the project and referenced with path:, because the build cannot reach them.

What Releasely downloads for you

No need to put these in the archive — they are fetched automatically during the build:

• pub.dev packages (flutter pub get runs for you);
• iOS CocoaPods (pod install runs on the build Mac);
• the Flutter SDK itself.

What you can leave out

These folders are regenerated at build time — including them only makes the upload heavier:

• build/ and .dart_tool/ — build artifacts and caches;
• .git/ — your repository history;
• ios/Pods/ and android/.gradle/ — native dependency caches;
• .idea/, *.iml, .vscode/ — your editor's configuration.

On macOS or Linux, this command creates a clean archive from the project root:

zip -r my-app.zip . -x "build/*" ".dart_tool/*" ".git/*" "ios/Pods/*" "android/.gradle/*" ".idea/*" ".vscode/*"

Signing: never in the .zip

Size and build number

• 2 GB maximum per archive — plenty for a project without build folders.
• The build number auto-increments from the last known build; a field on the Upload screen lets you override it if you need to catch up with a number already used on the stores.

What's next?

Once the archive is uploaded, Releasely starts the cloud build (iOS and/or Android depending on your project) and the resulting binary automatically joins your next version.