Instructions
Providers are lazy by default: they initialize on first use. There is no built-in "eager" flag (for tree-shaking). To force early initialization, watch the provider at the root of your app so it stays alive and runs immediately.
Approach
Place a Consumer (or ConsumerWidget) directly under ProviderScope that only watches the providers you want to initialize and returns your real app as child:
void main() {
runApp(ProviderScope(child: MyApp()));
}
class MyApp extends StatelessWidget { @override Widget build(BuildContext context) { return const _EagerInitialization(child: MaterialApp()); } }
class _EagerInitialization extends ConsumerWidget { const _EagerInitialization({required this.child}); final Widget child;
@override Widget build(BuildContext context, WidgetRef ref) { ref.watch(myProvider); // Eagerly initialize return child; } }
Only the initializer widget rebuilds when the provider changes; **child** is unchanged so Flutter does not rebuild the rest of the tree unless something else is listening.
### Async: loading and error
If the provider is async, handle loading/error in the initializer (e.g. show CircularProgressIndicator or error until ready, then return child). Other widgets can use **AsyncValue.requireValue** to read the data without pattern matching; if they run before the value is ready, it throws with a clear message.
Put the initializer in a shared widget (e.g. MyApp) so tests can reuse the same setup by using that widget.