Using Kubernetes with Flutter Backend Services

Sep 29, 2025

Flutter

Engineering

Vibe Studio

Summary

This tutorial shows how to containerize a Dart HTTP service, write Kubernetes manifests, deploy to a cluster, and manage rolling updates and auto-scaling for robust Flutter backend deployment.

Key insights:

Containerizing a Dart Service: Use multi-stage Docker builds to compile and package a Dart HTTP server efficiently.
Configuring Kubernetes Manifests: Define Deployment, Service, and ConfigMap YAML to manage pods, networking, and environment variables.
Deploying to a Cluster: Use kubectl to apply manifests and verify pod status, service endpoints, and logs.
Rolling Updates and Scaling: Implement rollingUpdate strategy and HorizontalPodAutoscaler for zero-downtime releases and dynamic scaling.

Introduction

Flutter has become a leading framework for building cross-platform mobile applications, but many teams overlook the value of a robust backend operating in production-grade environments. Kubernetes offers powerful orchestration, auto-scaling, and resilient deployments for backend services written in Dart. In this tutorial, we'll demonstrate how to containerize a simple HTTP service in Dart, author Kubernetes manifests, deploy to a cluster, and implement rolling updates and scaling strategies. By the end, you’ll have a practical understanding of managing Flutter-compatible backend services with Kubernetes.

Containerizing a Dart Service

The first step is packaging your Dart HTTP server in a Docker container. Here’s a minimal Dart server that responds with a JSON payload:

import 'dart:io';

void main() async {
  final server = await HttpServer.bind(InternetAddress.anyIPv4, 8080);
  print('Server running on port ${server.port}');

  await for (var request in server) {
    request.response
      ..headers.contentType = ContentType.json
      ..write('{"message":"Hello from Dart!"}')
      ..close();
  }
}

Create a Dockerfile in the project root:

FROM dart:stable AS build
WORKDIR /app
COPY pubspec.* ./
RUN dart pub get
COPY . .
RUN dart compile exe bin/server.dart -o bin/server

FROM scratch
COPY --from=build /runtime/ /runtime/
COPY --from=build /app/bin/server /app/bin/server
ENTRYPOINT ["/app/bin/server"

Build and tag this image:

docker build -t

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Introduction

Containerizing a Dart Service

The first step is packaging your Dart HTTP server in a Docker container. Here’s a minimal Dart server that responds with a JSON payload:

import 'dart:io';

void main() async {
  final server = await HttpServer.bind(InternetAddress.anyIPv4, 8080);
  print('Server running on port ${server.port}');

  await for (var request in server) {
    request.response
      ..headers.contentType = ContentType.json
      ..write('{"message":"Hello from Dart!"}')
      ..close();
  }
}

Create a Dockerfile in the project root:

FROM dart:stable AS build
WORKDIR /app
COPY pubspec.* ./
RUN dart pub get
COPY . .
RUN dart compile exe bin/server.dart -o bin/server

FROM scratch
COPY --from=build /runtime/ /runtime/
COPY --from=build /app/bin/server /app/bin/server
ENTRYPOINT ["/app/bin/server"

Build and tag this image:

docker build -t

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