Building from source

End users should use prebuilt Releases. This guide is for developers and contributors.

Source of truth: NavoMessenger/Navo.

Prerequisites

  • Flutter stable (match the version in the main repo’s pubspec.yaml / CI)
  • Platform toolchains:
    • Android: Android SDK, NDK as required by the project
    • Windows: Visual Studio with Desktop development C++
    • macOS / iOS: Xcode + CocoaPods
  • Telegram API credentials from my.telegram.org (api_id, api_hash)
  • Git, CMake / platform build tools for TDLib native libraries

Exact dependency pins and env vars live in the main repository — follow its README and CI workflows when they differ from this summary.

Clone & setup 

git clone https://github.com/NavoMessenger/Navo.git
cd Navo
flutter pub get

Configure api_id / api_hash as documented in the main repo (typically via local config or dart-define; do not commit secrets).

Build: Android 

flutter build apk
# or
flutter build appbundle

Outputs are under build/app/outputs/. For signed store builds, use your keystore and the project’s signing config.

Build: Windows 

flutter build windows

Requires a Windows machine with the Flutter desktop toolchain. Packaging into an installer (.exe / .msi) is handled by the project’s release scripts or CI when available.

Build: macOS 

flutter build macos

Optional: code-sign with an Apple Developer ID for distribution outside the App Store. Unsigned builds work for local use; first-run Gatekeeper prompts are expected.

Build: iOS

For developers only. Ordinary users should wait for the App Store listing. An Apple Developer Program membership is required to run on devices and to ship to the App Store.

  1. Join the Apple Developer Program.
  2. Open the iOS project in Xcode and configure signing (team, bundle id).
  3. Build:
flutter build ios

Then archive / distribute via Xcode as usual. The public App Store release is in preparation; this path is not a substitute for end-user distribution.

TDLib native libraries

Navo talks to Telegram through TDLib (libtdjson) via Dart FFI. Native libraries are built from source per platform and are not committed to the repository.

Follow the main repo’s scripts or CI jobs (for example the Android APK workflow) to compile TDLib for your target. Rebuild TDLib when upgrading TDLib versions.

CI

Automated builds run on GitHub Actions in the main repo, including:

Use CI logs as the reference for exact Flutter versions, NDK, and TDLib steps.

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