Quickstart

Start here

Create an account, register your app, add the Flutter SDK, create a link and see the first attributed install in the dashboard.

This page uses the hosted service: the dashboard and API live at https://app.dectog.com, links at https://{username}.dectog.com/{slug}. Self-hosting changes a few values; the steps call them out. The examples use the username acme and the slug welcome.

Open app.dectog.com/login?tab=signup. The page opens on the Sign up tab.

Field	Rule
Email	A valid address. It is lowercased and becomes your sign-in name.
Username	3 to 32 characters: lowercase letters, digits and hyphens, starting and ending with a letter or digit (`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]{1,30}[a-z0-9]$`). Reserved names: `app`, `www`, `api`, `links`, `dashboard`, `admin`, `mail`, `static`, `cdn`, `docs`, `status`, `help`, `support`, and any name starting with `t-`. The form suggests a username from your email until you edit it.
Password	8 to 72 characters with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and one digit.

The username is your link subdomain. Every link you create is https://acme.dectog.com/{slug}, and the hint under the field reads “Your links live on acme.dectog.com”. There is no way to rename an account later.

Click Create Account. The next screen says “Account created” and shows two keys: SDK key, for your app (dtg_pub_ and 32 hex characters), which goes into the SDK, and Account key, for servers and scripts (dtg_ and 32 hex characters), which never goes into an app. Copy the account key now: it is shown only this once (Settings can replace it). The SDK key stays listed under Settings. Sign up with Google does the same after asking you to choose a username. If the Sign up tab is missing, or the server answers Signup is currently closed, signups are disabled on that deployment.

Register the app

In the dashboard open Apps and click Add app. The editor is titled “Register your first app” and only App name is required; every other field can be filled in later. The bottom bar’s Add app button saves.

Section	Field	What it does
General	App name	Required. Brands the QR page and the mobile pages.
General	Fallback URL (optional)	The web page a tap lands on when nothing better exists. Must be an http(s) URL.
iOS	iOS bundle ID, Apple Team ID	Together they generate your Universal Links file (`apple-app-site-association`). The bundle ID looks like `com.company.app`; the Team ID is 10 uppercase letters or digits.
iOS	App Store URL	Where iPhone taps go when the app is not installed. Must be on `apps.apple.com`.
iOS	iOS app scheme	The custom scheme from `CFBundleURLSchemes`, typed without `://`. Powers the “Open in app” buttons.
Android	Android package, SHA-256 fingerprints (one per line)	Together they generate your App Links file (`assetlinks.json`). Fingerprints are 32 hex byte pairs separated by colons; include the Play App Signing key, not only your debug key.
Android	Play Store URL	Where Android taps go when the app is not installed. Must be on `play.google.com`.
Android	Android app scheme	The `android:scheme` of your intent filter. With the package it also enables the `intent://` bounce for unverified taps.

Schemes may contain letters, digits, +, - and .; schemes the browser handles itself, such as http, https and javascript, are rejected. The first app you register is the account’s default app: links without an app, and all temporary links, route through it. See Concepts.

Platform setup
Section titled “Platform setup”

Both files are served per account at https://acme.dectog.com/.well-known/... as soon as the fields from step 2 are saved. The Verify buttons on the Apps page fetch the saved files and summarize what they contain.
- iOS
- Android
Add the Associated Domains capability to the Runner target with the entry for your link host:
ios/Runner/Runner.entitlements
<key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key> <array> <string>applinks:acme.dectog.com</string> </array>
iOS downloads https://acme.dectog.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association when the app is installed, so rebuild and reinstall after saving the bundle ID and Team ID. Test by tapping a link in Messages or Notes, not by typing it into Safari.
Add a verified https intent filter for your link host to the main activity. Intent filters cannot use wildcards, so list the host explicitly:
android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
<intent-filter android:autoVerify="true"> <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" /> <data android:scheme="https" android:host="acme.dectog.com" /> </intent-filter>
Android verifies https://acme.dectog.com/.well-known/assetlinks.json at install time against the package and fingerprints you saved. Until verification passes, taps in Chrome still open the app through an intent:// redirect, provided the app has both a scheme and a package. If you set an Android app scheme, add a second intent filter for it.
Custom-scheme links open only from a direct user tap; a redirect can never launch a scheme on iOS. The full walkthrough, including path-mode deployments, is in Platform setup.

Add the SDK

The SDK is flutter_dectog 1.0.x. It needs Flutter 3.29 or newer (Dart 3.7), iOS 15 and Android 7 (API 24).

flutter pub add flutter_dectog

Initialize it once at startup with your SDK key, then listen to links and to the install verdict:

import 'package:flutter_dectog/flutter_dectog.dart';

final dectog = FlutterDectog();

Future<void> initDectog() async {
  await dectog.initialize(DectogConfig(
    apiKey: 'dtg_pub_your_sdk_key', // Dashboard > Settings > SDK keys
  ));

  // A link opened the running app (Universal Link, App Link or your scheme).
  dectog.onLinkClick.listen((click) {
    final route = click.clickParams?.deepLink; // dec_deeplink on the URL, if any
    final target = click.targetUrl;            // the link's fallback URL
    print('${click.username}/${click.slug} route=$route target=$target');
  });

  // The link that launched the app. Delivered once per process.
  final initial = await dectog.getInitialLink();
  if (initial != null) {
    print('Launched by ${initial.originalUrl}');
  }

  // The install verdict: on first launch, and again when a late signal upgrades it.
  dectog.onAppInstalled.listen((install) {
    final route = install.routing?.deepLink ?? install.deepLink;
    if (route != null) {
      // Medium confidence or better: route the new user to the content they tapped.
    }
    if (install.matched) {
      // Guaranteed or high confidence: credit the install to install.slug.
    }
  });
}

onAppInstalled can emit more than once: a Play referrer that was not ready at first launch, or a pasted link, upgrades the verdict later (claim == 'upgraded'). currentAppInstall always holds the latest one.

Point the SDK at your worker with baseUrl (the worker’s PUBLIC_BASE_URL). Add linkRootDomain when your links live on a different host than the API, for example API at app.example.com and links at {username}.example.com:

DectogConfig(
  apiKey: 'dtg_pub_your_sdk_key',
  baseUrl: 'https://app.example.com',
  linkRootDomain: 'example.com',
)

Installation details, the dependency ranges and the Android build notes are in Installation.

Create a link

Open Links and click New link. The form is open already when the account has no links.

Field	What to enter
Fallback URL	App fallback URL (default) uses the app’s Fallback URL from step 2; the option is disabled until that URL is set. Custom URL takes an http(s) URL for this link.
Link URL	The slug: letters, digits, `_` and `-`, up to 128 characters, unique across your permanent and temporary links. Enter `welcome`.
App	Shown once you have an app. Default app means the first app you registered.
Expires	Leave Never. Any other value creates a temporary link.

Click Create link. The list now shows /welcome; the copy icon next to it copies https://acme.dectog.com/welcome. Advanced options on the same form hold the per-platform deep-link paths, the Tracking defaults and the custom mobile and desktop destinations, all described in How a tap is routed.

You can also create links from code: dectog.createLink(slug: 'welcome', target: 'https://example.com/welcome') in the SDK, or POST /api/v1/links with your account key and the request signature described in REST API overview.

Test an install
Section titled “Test an install”

Use a device that has never had the app installed. A device the SDK has seen before reports a reinstall (isReinstall: true), which the Installs KPI leaves out. On an emulator, wipe its data between runs.
- Android
- iOS
1. Open https://acme.dectog.com/welcome in Chrome on the phone. DecTog sends it to the Play Store with referrer=dtg_click=<id>&dtg_l=acme/welcome on the store URL.
2. Install the app from the store and open it.
3. onAppInstalled emits a verdict with matched: true, matchSource: 'referrer', referrerSource: 'google_play' and matchConfidence: 'guaranteed'.
A debug build pushed with flutter run never went through the store, so there is no referrer. The server then falls back to the fingerprint, which needs the tap and the first launch to come from the same network within the window (24 hours with a device model, 2 hours otherwise). The deterministic path needs a Play (or internal testing track) install.
1. On the Apps page, turn on iOS tap-to-store under Advanced and save.
2. Open the link in Safari on the iPhone and tap Get {app name}. The page copies https://acme.dectog.com/welcome?dtg_click=<id> to the pasteboard and opens the App Store.
3. Install the app (App Store or TestFlight) and open it. On iOS 16 and later the system asks to allow the paste; accept it.
4. onAppInstalled emits matched: true, matchSource: 'clipboard' and matchConfidence: 'guaranteed'.
Without tap-to-store, or when the user declines the paste, iOS installs rely on the fingerprint.
In the dashboard, Overview shows the install in the Installs card (“1 attributed”), in Attribution quality and in the Match confidence & referrer health panel. The Links list shows it in the Installs column of /welcome. The next launches of the app are not installs; a link that opens the installed app counts as an Open.

Next steps

How attribution worksThe signals, the confidence levels and what matched means.

How a tap is routedEvery decision between the tap and the destination.

Install attribution in the SDKThe verdict object, late claims and the install state.

TestingLocal loop, adb and simctl triggers, the end-to-end install test.