▸Install the Flutter SDK
# pubspec.yaml
dependencies:
flutter:
sdk: flutter
respectlytics_flutter: ^3.0.0Pure Dart — no platform channels for analytics. Same code on every platform Flutter compiles to (iOS, Android, web, macOS, Windows, Linux). On web, events are sent via the REST API; mobile platforms use the same path.
▸Initialize Respectlytics in Flutter
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:respectlytics_flutter/respectlytics_flutter.dart';
Future<void> main() async {
WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
await Respectlytics.configure(appKey: '<YOUR_APP_KEY>');
runApp(const MyApp());
}Initialize in main() after WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized() and before runApp(). The future completes immediately on configuration; events queued before completion are flushed once the network is available.
✦Privacy & implementation notes
AGPL-3.0 is a common license for SaaS-as-source projects (Plausible, Matomo, GitLab Community Edition). The license design is to prevent vendors from forking the project, modifying it privately, and offering their fork as a competing closed-source SaaS — but it does not impede internal self-hosting at all. For most enterprise self-hosters, the license is a non-issue.
Self-hosted Respectlytics is operated by the same management commands and Django infrastructure as our cloud — the deployment difference is purely the database hostname and the network egress profile. If you can run a Django + Postgres app on your infrastructure, you can run Respectlytics.
The Flutter SDK is pure Dart. No MethodChannel, no platform-specific iOS or Android plugin code. The same code runs on every platform Flutter supports — including web and desktop targets. This eliminates one common audit surface ("what's the Android implementation doing?").
Always initialize after WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized() and before runApp(). If you skip the binding step, the configure call will throw on platforms that need a binding for asynchronous I/O. The SDK documentation example uses this pattern by default.
⇋How this compares to other analytics SDKs
| Self-hosting | Firebase Analytics | Mixpanel | Amplitude | Respectlytics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hostable | No | No | No (cloud-only) | Yes (AGPL-3.0 server) |
| SDK license | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 | MIT | MIT |
| Server source available | No | No | No | Yes (public repo) |
| Operator-managed database | No | No | No | Yes (you choose) |
| Air-gapped deployment possible | No | No | No | Yes |
❓Frequently asked questions
What infrastructure do we need to self-host?
A Linux box (or container) running Python 3.12, Postgres 14+ (managed or self-managed), and a reverse proxy (nginx / Caddy / similar). The default configuration scales to ~10 million events/day on a 4-vCPU / 8 GB box; larger deployments scale horizontally. Hardware requirements are documented in the public README.
What's the AGPL-3.0 obligation?
If you modify the server source AND offer the modified server as a service to third parties (over a network), you must publish your modifications under the same license. Internal self-hosting for your own apps does NOT trigger publication obligations — it's only when you offer the server to others over a network. Consult your legal team for specific applicability; the FSF's AGPL FAQ is the canonical reference.
Are SDK changes also covered by AGPL?
No. The SDKs (Swift, Kotlin, RN, Flutter) are MIT-licensed — fork and modify freely with no copyleft obligation. Only the SERVER is AGPL.
Do self-hosted instances get our updates automatically?
No — you upgrade by pulling the latest source and running migrations. We publish release notes for each version. There's no auto-update; self-hosting means you control the deployment cadence.