---
name: riverpod-auto-dispose-b7073104c6fc
description: Enable automatic disposal of Riverpod providers when they have no listeners; keepAlive, onDispose, invalidate, ref.keepAlive. Use when preventing memory leaks, caching only while used, or cleaning up resources when a provider is no longer needed. Use this skill when the user asks about auto-dispose, keepAlive, or when to dispose Riverpod state.
---

# Riverpod — Automatic disposal

## Instructions

With **automatic disposal** enabled, Riverpod destroys a provider's state when it has no listeners for one frame. This frees memory and stops work (e.g. network requests) when the provider is no longer used.

### Enabling

- **Code generation:** Enabled by default. Disable with `@Riverpod(keepAlive: true)`.
- **Manual:** Add `isAutoDispose: true` when creating the provider (e.g. `Provider.autoDispose(...)` or `FutureProvider.autoDispose(...)`).

```dart
// Codegen: disable auto-dispose
@Riverpod(keepAlive: true)
String helloWorld(Ref ref) => 'Hello world!';

// Manual: enable
final helloWorldProvider = Provider<String>(
  isAutoDispose: true,
  (ref) => 'Hello world!',
);
```

When a provider has **parameters** (family), enable auto-dispose to avoid caching every parameter combination forever and causing memory leaks.

### When disposal runs

Riverpod counts listeners (from ref.watch, ref.listen, etc.). When the count reaches zero, it waits one frame; if still zero, **ref.onCancel** runs, then the state is destroyed and **ref.onDispose** runs.

### Reacting to disposal: ref.onDispose

Register a callback when the state is destroyed (e.g. close a StreamController):

```dart
final provider = StreamProvider<int>((ref) {
  final controller = StreamController<int>();
  ref.onDispose(controller.close);
  return controller.stream;
});
```

Do not trigger side effects that modify other providers inside onDispose. You can call onDispose multiple times. Other lifecycles: **ref.onCancel** (last listener removed), **ref.onResume** (new listener added after cancel).

### Forcing destruction: ref.invalidate

From a widget or another provider, call **ref.invalidate(provider)** to destroy the current state. If the provider is still listened to, it will recompute; otherwise it stays destroyed until read again.

```dart
onPressed: () => ref.invalidate(someProvider),
```

For family providers you can invalidate one parameter combination or all (see riverpod-family and docs).

### Keeping state alive: ref.keepAlive

When auto-dispose is enabled, you can call **ref.keepAlive()** to prevent disposal until the next recomputation. Use to keep successful results alive while allowing failed or unused state to be disposed. The return value can be called to revert to automatic disposal. If the provider is recomputed, auto-dispose is re-enabled.

### Caching for a duration

Riverpod does not provide a built-in "cache for X seconds". You can implement it with a Timer and ref.keepAlive, or use ref.onCancel/onResume to dispose after a period of no listeners.


---
Source attribution: dangdungvn
Original project: https://github.com/dangdungvn/review_system_app/blob/f397d2abe0a8d4c041cd274f0ffc5680d85e7c44/.github/skills/riverpod-auto-dispose/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2024 Minh Nguyen

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: dangdungvn
Original project: https://github.com/dangdungvn/review_system_app/blob/f397d2abe0a8d4c041cd274f0ffc5680d85e7c44/.github/skills/riverpod-auto-dispose/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Development & Engineering
Roles: Frontend Developer, Mobile Developer
Specialties: Frontend, Mobile
Tools: Riverpod
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: 43cb9e668d8e428c753046162579042058d6665481efaa9c261d581579412b4f