/kotlin-coroutines-flows

name: kotlin-coroutines-flows
description: Kotlin Coroutines and Flow patterns for Android and KMP — structured concurrency, Flow operators, StateFlow, error handling, and testing. Use when writing coroutines or Flow code on Android or KMP, or debugging cancellation and concurrency.
metadata:
  origin: ECC

Kotlin Coroutines & Flows

Patterns for structured concurrency, Flow-based reactive streams, and coroutine testing in Android and Kotlin Multiplatform projects.

When to Activate

• Writing async code with Kotlin coroutines
• Using Flow, StateFlow, or SharedFlow for reactive data
• Handling concurrent operations (parallel loading, debounce, retry)
• Testing coroutines and Flows
• Managing coroutine scopes and cancellation

Structured Concurrency

Scope Hierarchy

Application
  └── viewModelScope (ViewModel)
        └── coroutineScope { } (structured child)
              ├── async { } (concurrent task)
              └── async { } (concurrent task)

Always use structured concurrency — never `GlobalScope`:

// BAD
GlobalScope.launch { fetchData() }

// GOOD — scoped to ViewModel lifecycle
viewModelScope.launch { fetchData() }

// GOOD — scoped to composable lifecycle
LaunchedEffect(key) { fetchData() }

Parallel Decomposition

Use `coroutineScope` + `async` for parallel work:

suspend fun loadDashboard(): Dashboard = coroutineScope {
    val items = async { itemRepository.getRecent() }
    val stats = async { statsRepository.getToday() }
    val profile = async { userRepository.getCurrent() }
    Dashboard(
        items = items.await(),
        stats = stats.await(),
        profile = profile.await()
    )
}

SupervisorScope

Use `supervisorScope` when child failures should not cancel siblings:

suspend fun syncAll() = supervisorScope {
    launch { syncItems() }       // failure here won't cancel syncStats
    launch { syncStats() }
    launch { syncSettings() }
}

Flow Patterns

Cold Flow — One-Shot to Stream Conversion

fun observeItems(): Flow<List<Item>> = flow {
    // Re-emits whenever the database changes
    itemDao.observeAll()
        .map { entities -> entities.map { it.toDomain() } }
        .collect { emit(it) }
}

StateFlow for UI State

class DashboardViewModel(
    observeProgress: ObserveUserProgressUseCase
) : ViewModel() {
    val progress: StateFlow<UserProgress> = observeProgress()
        .stateIn(
            scope = viewModelScope,
            started = SharingStarted.WhileSubscribed(5_000),
            initialValue = UserProgress.EMPTY
        )
}

`WhileSubscribed(5_000)` keeps the upstream active for 5 seconds after the last subscriber leaves — survives configuration changes without restarting.

Combining Multiple Flows

val uiState: StateFlow<HomeState> = combine(
    itemRepository.observeItems(),
    settingsRepository.observeTheme(),
    userRepository.observeProfile()
) { items, theme, profile ->
    HomeState(items = items, theme = theme, profile = profile)
}.stateIn(viewModelScope, SharingStarted.WhileSubscribed(5_000), HomeState())

Flow Operators

// Debounce search input
searchQuery
    .debounce(300)
    .distinctUntilChanged()
    .flatMapLatest { query -> repository.search(query) }
    .catch { emit(emptyList()) }
    .collect { results -> _state.update { it.copy(results = results) } }

// Retry with exponential backoff
fun fetchWithRetry(): Flow<Data> = flow { emit(api.fetch()) }
    .retryWhen { cause, attempt ->
        if (cause is IOException && attempt < 3) {
            delay(1000L * (1 shl attempt.toInt()))
            true
        } else {
            false
        }
    }

SharedFlow for One-Time Events

class ItemListViewModel : ViewModel() {
    private val _effects = MutableSharedFlow<Effect>()
    val effects: SharedFlow<Effect> = _effects.asSharedFlow()

    sealed interface Effect {
        data class ShowSnackbar(val message: String) : Effect
        data class NavigateTo(val route: String) : Effect
    }

    private fun deleteItem(id: String) {
        viewModelScope.launch {
            repository.delete(id)
            _effects.emit(Effect.ShowSnackbar("Item deleted"))
        }
    }
}

// Collect in Composable
LaunchedEffect(Unit) {
    viewModel.effects.collect { effect ->
        when (effect) {
            is Effect.ShowSnackbar -> snackbarHostState.showSnackbar(effect.message)
            is Effect.NavigateTo -> navController.navigate(effect.route)
        }
    }
}

Dispatchers

// CPU-intensive work
withContext(Dispatchers.Default) { parseJson(largePayload) }

// IO-bound work
withContext(Dispatchers.IO) { database.query() }

// Main thread (UI) — default in viewModelScope
withContext(Dispatchers.Main) { updateUi() }

In KMP, use `Dispatchers.Default` and `Dispatchers.Main` (available on all platforms). `Dispatchers.IO` is JVM/Android only — use `Dispatchers.Default` on other platforms or provide via DI.

Cancellation

Cooperative Cancellation

Long-running loops must check for cancellation:

suspend fun processItems(items: List<Item>) = coroutineScope {
    for (item in items) {
        ensureActive()  // throws CancellationException if cancelled
        process(item)
    }
}

Cleanup with try/finally

viewModelScope.launch {
    try {
        _state.update { it.copy(isLoading = true) }
        val data = repository.fetch()
        _state.update { it.copy(data = data) }
    } finally {
        _state.update { it.copy(isLoading = false) }  // always runs, even on cancellation
    }
}

Testing

Testing StateFlow with Turbine

@Test
fun `search updates item list`() = runTest {
    val fakeRepository = FakeItemRepository().apply { emit(testItems) }
    val viewModel = ItemListViewModel(GetItemsUseCase(fakeRepository))

    viewModel.state.test {
        assertEquals(ItemListState()