NutrientInstantView widget

NutrientInstantView is a Flutter widget that embeds a live collaborative PDF document directly into your widget tree. It connects to the Nutrient Document Engine server and renders the document with real-time annotation syncing — multiple users see each other’s changes instantly without any extra setup.

Platform support: Android, iOS. Web renders a placeholder.

Server setup

Before using the NutrientInstantView widget, set up a running Document Engine instance and obtain a signed JSON Web Token (JWT) for the target document.

• Document Engine — Getting started
• Real-time collaboration (Instant syncing)
• Generating a JWT

Basic usage

Add the widget to your widget tree and give it a serverUrl pointing to the document on your Document Engine instance, along with a signed JWT. The widget fills its available space, so wrap it in an Expanded, SizedBox, or any other layout widget:

NutrientInstantView(
  serverUrl: 'https://your-server.example.com/api/1/documents/ABC123',
  jwt: 'eyJhbGci...',
  onViewCreated: (NutrientViewHandle handle) {
    // The native view is ready. Store the handle for programmatic access
    // to annotations, page navigation, and other document operations.
  },
)

Constructor parameters

Applying configuration

Use NutrientViewConfiguration to customize the viewer’s layout, user interface (UI), and editing capabilities. Platform-specific options are grouped under androidConfig and iosConfig:

NutrientInstantView(
  serverUrl: serverUrl,
  jwt: jwt,
  configuration: const NutrientViewConfiguration(
    pageLayoutMode: PageLayoutMode.single,
    thumbnailBarMode: ThumbnailBarMode.floating,
    enableAnnotationEditing: true,
    enableFormEditing: true,
    androidConfig: AndroidViewConfiguration(
      showSearchAction: true,
      showOutlineAction: true,
    ),
    iosConfig: IOSViewConfiguration(
      spreadFitting: SpreadFitting.adaptive,
    ),
  ),
)

For a complete list of options, refer to the view configuration guide.

Reconnecting and changing documents

serverUrl and jwt are fixed at construction time — the native SDK establishes the WebSocket connection once and doesn’t observe changes to these values. To switch to a different document or refresh an expired JWT, force the widget to fully rebuild by changing its key.

A common pattern is to keep an integer counter in state and increment it whenever new connection settings are applied:

int _viewKey = 0;

void _applyNewConnection(String serverUrl, String jwt) {
  setState(() {
    _serverUrl = serverUrl;
    _jwt = jwt;
    _viewKey++; // Forces NutrientInstantView to rebuild with new values.
  });
}

NutrientInstantView(
  key: ValueKey(_viewKey),
  serverUrl: _serverUrl!,
  jwt: _jwt!,
)

Complete example

Refer to nutrient_flutter/example/lib/nutrient_instant_view_example.dart for a complete working example, including a connection sheet, a status indicator, and platform-specific configuration.