pkg

Build your Flutter app as a macOS PKG installer package. The PKG format is Apple's standard installer package format, commonly used for distributing applications, drivers, and system extensions. It supports pre-install and post-install scripts for custom installation logic.

You can only build the PKG target on macOS machines.

Usage

Add make_config.yaml to your project macos/packaging/pkg directory.

# Required: Installation path prefix for the app bundle.
# The app will be installed as <install-path>/<AppName>.app.
install-path: /Applications

# Optional: The signing identity for product signing.
# e.g. "Developer ID Installer: Your Name (TEAMID)"
sign-identity: <your-sign-identity>

# Optional: Path to a directory containing installation scripts.
# Supports preinstall and postinstall scripts for custom logic
# during package installation (e.g., XPC service registration).
scripts: <your-scripts-path>

Scripts Directory Structure

When you configure the scripts option, the specified directory should contain executable scripts. productbuild will include them in the package and run them at the appropriate time during installation:

macos/packaging/pkg/
├── make_config.yaml
└── scripts/
    ├── preinstall     # Runs before file installation
    └── postinstall    # Runs after file installation

Script naming conventions:

• preinstall — Executed before the package files are installed.
• postinstall — Executed after the package files are installed.

Scripts must be executable (chmod +x). They run as root during installation.

Run:

fastforge package --platform macos --targets pkg

Configuration Options

Option	Required	Description
install-path	Yes	Installation directory, usually /Applications
sign-identity	No	Certificate identity for signing the package (e.g. Developer ID Installer: ...)
scripts	No	Path to installation scripts directory (see above)

Related Links

• Build and release a macOS app
• productbuild man page