dvm

dvm keeps every Dart SDK you use in one central cache, lets a project pin the version it wants in a committed .dvmrc, and makes the plain dart command resolve to that version — the same way fvm does for Flutter, and nvm does for Node.

The whole thing in five commands#

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mrgnhnt96/dvm/main/install.sh | sh
dvm setup               # write the dart shim, print the PATH line to add

dvm install 3.13.2      # download into ~/.dvm/versions
dvm use 3.13.2          # pin this project; writes .dvmrc
dart --version          # 3.13.2, here and nowhere else

dvm use writes a .dvmrc you commit. Anyone who clones the repo and has dvm installed gets the same SDK, and dart in that directory means that SDK — without them typing a dvm command at all.

What it is made of#

• One cache. Every SDK lives in ~/.dvm/versions/<version>, extracted once and shared by every project that pins it. Two projects on the same version cost one download.
• A committed pin. .dvmrc is a two-line JSON file at the root of a project. It is the only dvm file you commit.
• A shim on PATH. ~/.dvm/shims/dart is a two-line shell script that hands off to dvm. It is what makes plain dart — and every tool that spawns dart behind your back — respect the pin.
• A resolution order you can inspect. Five rules, first match wins, and dvm which tells you which one answered. See Resolution Order.

One machine, several projects#

dvm is for a machine with more than one project on it. One repository needs the SDK it was built against; another has already moved on; a third pins an old one because a dependency has not caught up.

dvm makes "which Dart am I running?" a property of the directory you are standing in. cd into a project and dart is that project's SDK; cd into the next one and dart is that project's SDK. Your shell profile stays out of it.

How it stays out of your way#

• One way in, one way forward. An install script puts dvm on your machine and dvm update keeps it current — see Updating dvm.
• A file read per invocation. Resolution reads two small files and stats a directory, so dart stays fast, works offline, and works behind a firewall — see Resolution Order.
• A fallback you set once. A global default covers directories that pin nothing, while a project with a .dvmrc uses its own SDK.

Everything else#