History Service Implementation for Auto-Clearing API Requests

Team Dart Knight

• User - Vishwa Karthik
• Mail - vishwa.prarthana@gmail.com

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• Issues with Isolate & Compute Methodology

Overview

This document outlines the implementation of the autoClearHistory feature in APIDASH to efficiently manage stored API request history while maintaining a smooth user experience across all supported platforms.

Features

Auto-Clear History on App Launch

• When the app is launched, it automatically clears 50 old API records to prevent excessive local storage usage.

• This helps in keeping the app responsive and prevents unnecessary memory consumption.

• Triggered using autoClearHistory() from HistoryServiceImpl.

Dynamic Auto-Clear Trigger (State Management-Based)

• Uses Riverpod StateNotifier to monitor the API request list dynamically.

• If the length exceeds 50, the history clearance is automatically triggered, just to avoid heavy duty on app launch.

• Reason to use State management here is to resist unnecessary local database call because user may keep switching apps/window during development cycle.

Platform-Specific Cleanup Handling

• For Android & iOS: Uses AppLifecycleState.paused via WidgetsBindingObserver to trigger autoClearHistory() when the app goes to the background.

• For Windows, macOS, Linux:Uses window_manager to detect app minimize events and trigger cleanup accordingly.

• Ensures proper handling since AppLifecycleState does not work on desktops.

Batch Deletion Strategy

• Deleting 50 records at a time minimizes performance issues.

• Ensures smooth UX by avoiding excessive database transactions.

• Users can continue adding new requests seamlessly without experiencing lag.

cc: @ashitaprasad

Moved project doc to https://github.com/foss42/apidash/blob/main/doc/proposals/2025/fosshack/dark_knight_history.md

To be reviewed by @DenserMeerkat

@ashitaprasad

Platforms tested

• Windows
• Android

Observation

The auto-clearing works in the platforms tested.
But the history providers are not updated after clearing files hence the deleted history cards are still shown in the UI.

Other Comments

The app.dart now has 2 ConsumerStatefulWidget with WindowListener mixins which feels redundant and can be tidied up