Testing

Run the architecture rules inside your test suite, so dart test and flutter test fail when a change breaks them. No separate CI step is needed.

In a Dart or Flutter test

# pubspec.yaml
dev_dependencies:
  arch_guard: ^1.5.0

// test/architecture_test.dart
import 'package:arch_guard/testing.dart';
import 'package:test/test.dart'; // or package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart

void main() {
  test('architecture', () async {
    await expectArchitecture();
  });
}

expectArchitecture() reads the same arch_guard.yaml and arch_guard_baseline.json as the CLI. It fails exactly when arch_guard would exit with 1, and the failure lists every problem:

arch_guard found 1 architecture problem(s):
  - Layer violation: lib/domain/user.dart:1 (domain) imports lib/data/repo.dart (data). `domain` may not import other layers.
Fix them, or record them as known with `dart run arch_guard --update-baseline`.

It works with any test runner and adds no test dependencies of its own.

Options

Parameter	Default	Same as
`projectPath`	`'.'` (the package root under `dart test` / `flutter test`)	`arch_guard <path>`
`failOnCycle`	`true`	`--no-fail-on-cycle` when `false`
`useBaseline`	`true`	Set `false` to fail on known problems too
`scanDirs`	`['lib']`	`--scan-dir`
`exclude`	`[]`	`--exclude`
`enableWorkspace`	`true`	`--no-workspace` when `false`
`since`	`null`	`--since <git-ref>`: only problems touching files changed since that ref

To check only what a branch changed (handy as a pre-push test in a large repository):

await expectArchitecture(since: 'origin/main');

Custom assertions

expectArchitecture() returns the ArchAnalysis. You can also run one directly and assert what you like:

final a = await ArchAnalysis.run();
expect(a.cycles.where((c) => c.files.length > 3), isEmpty);
expect(a.packageViolations, isEmpty);

Baselines

With a baseline file, known problems pass and only new ones fail, the same as in CI. Pass useBaseline: false for a strict test that fails on every problem.

Test or CI step?

Both read the same configuration. A test gives feedback locally as soon as you run the suite. The GitHub Action adds PR comments, job summaries and SARIF for Code Scanning. Many projects use both.