All arguments must be documented. (#75888)

dev/integration_tests/flutter_gallery/linux/flutter/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ add_custom_command(
   COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E env
     ${FLUTTER_TOOL_ENVIRONMENT}
     "${FLUTTER_ROOT}/packages/flutter_tools/bin/tool_backend.sh"
-      linux-x64 ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
+      ${FLUTTER_TARGET_PLATFORM} ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
   VERBATIM
 )
 add_custom_target(flutter_assemble DEPENDS

packages/flutter_tools/lib/executable.dart

@@ -89,96 +89,108 @@ Future<void> main(List<String> args) async {
     userMessages: UserMessages(),
   );
 
-  await runner.run(args, () => <FlutterCommand>[
-    AnalyzeCommand(
+  await runner.run(
+    args,
+    () => generateCommands(
       verboseHelp: verboseHelp,
-      fileSystem: globals.fs,
-      platform: globals.platform,
-      processManager: globals.processManager,
-      logger: globals.logger,
-      terminal: globals.terminal,
-      artifacts: globals.artifacts,
+      verbose: verbose,
     ),
-    AssembleCommand(),
-    AttachCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
-    BuildCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
-    ChannelCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
-    CleanCommand(verbose: verbose),
-    ConfigCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
-    CreateCommand(),
-    DaemonCommand(hidden: !verboseHelp),
-    DevicesCommand(),
-    DoctorCommand(verbose: verbose),
-    DowngradeCommand(),
-    DriveCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp,
-      fileSystem: globals.fs,
-      logger: globals.logger,
-    ),
-    EmulatorsCommand(),
-    FormatCommand(),
-    GenerateCommand(),
-    GenerateLocalizationsCommand(
-      fileSystem: globals.fs,
-      logger: globals.logger,
-    ),
-    InstallCommand(),
-    LogsCommand(),
-    MakeHostAppEditableCommand(),
-    PackagesCommand(),
-    PrecacheCommand(
-      verboseHelp: verboseHelp,
-      cache: globals.cache,
-      logger: globals.logger,
-      platform: globals.platform,
-      featureFlags: featureFlags,
-    ),
-    RunCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
-    ScreenshotCommand(),
-    ShellCompletionCommand(),
-    TestCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
-    UpgradeCommand(),
-    SymbolizeCommand(
-      stdio: globals.stdio,
-      fileSystem: globals.fs,
-    ),
-    // Development-only commands. These are always hidden,
-    IdeConfigCommand(),
-    UpdatePackagesCommand(),
-  ], verbose: verbose,
-     muteCommandLogging: muteCommandLogging,
-     verboseHelp: verboseHelp,
-     overrides: <Type, Generator>{
-       // The web runner is not supported in google3 because it depends
-       // on dwds.
-       WebRunnerFactory: () => DwdsWebRunnerFactory(),
-       // The mustache dependency is different in google3
-       TemplateRenderer: () => const MustacheTemplateRenderer(),
-       // The devtools launcher is not supported in google3 because it depends on
-       // devtools source code.
-       DevtoolsLauncher: () => DevtoolsServerLauncher(
-         processManager: globals.processManager,
-         pubExecutable: globals.artifacts.getArtifactPath(Artifact.pubExecutable),
-         logger: globals.logger,
-         platform: globals.platform,
-         persistentToolState: globals.persistentToolState,
-       ),
-       Logger: () {
-        final LoggerFactory loggerFactory = LoggerFactory(
-          outputPreferences: globals.outputPreferences,
-          terminal: globals.terminal,
-          stdio: globals.stdio,
-        );
-        return loggerFactory.createLogger(
-          daemon: daemon,
-          machine: runMachine,
-          verbose: verbose && !muteCommandLogging,
-          prefixedErrors: prefixedErrors,
-          windows: globals.platform.isWindows,
-        );
-       }
-     });
+    verbose: verbose,
+    muteCommandLogging: muteCommandLogging,
+    verboseHelp: verboseHelp,
+    overrides: <Type, Generator>{
+      // The web runner is not supported in google3 because it depends
+      // on dwds.
+      WebRunnerFactory: () => DwdsWebRunnerFactory(),
+      // The mustache dependency is different in google3
+      TemplateRenderer: () => const MustacheTemplateRenderer(),
+      // The devtools launcher is not supported in google3 because it depends on
+      // devtools source code.
+      DevtoolsLauncher: () => DevtoolsServerLauncher(
+        processManager: globals.processManager,
+        pubExecutable: globals.artifacts.getArtifactPath(Artifact.pubExecutable),
+        logger: globals.logger,
+        platform: globals.platform,
+        persistentToolState: globals.persistentToolState,
+      ),
+      Logger: () {
+       final LoggerFactory loggerFactory = LoggerFactory(
+         outputPreferences: globals.outputPreferences,
+         terminal: globals.terminal,
+         stdio: globals.stdio,
+       );
+       return loggerFactory.createLogger(
+         daemon: daemon,
+         machine: runMachine,
+         verbose: verbose && !muteCommandLogging,
+         prefixedErrors: prefixedErrors,
+         windows: globals.platform.isWindows,
+       );
+      },
+    },
+  );
 }
 
+List<FlutterCommand> generateCommands({
+  @required bool verboseHelp,
+  @required bool verbose,
+}) => <FlutterCommand>[
+  AnalyzeCommand(
+    verboseHelp: verboseHelp,
+    fileSystem: globals.fs,
+    platform: globals.platform,
+    processManager: globals.processManager,
+    logger: globals.logger,
+    terminal: globals.terminal,
+    artifacts: globals.artifacts,
+  ),
+  AssembleCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  AttachCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  BuildCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  ChannelCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  CleanCommand(verbose: verbose),
+  ConfigCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  CreateCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  DaemonCommand(hidden: !verboseHelp),
+  DevicesCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  DoctorCommand(verbose: verbose),
+  DowngradeCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  DriveCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp,
+    fileSystem: globals.fs,
+    logger: globals.logger,
+  ),
+  EmulatorsCommand(),
+  FormatCommand(),
+  GenerateCommand(),
+  GenerateLocalizationsCommand(
+    fileSystem: globals.fs,
+    logger: globals.logger,
+  ),
+  InstallCommand(),
+  LogsCommand(),
+  MakeHostAppEditableCommand(),
+  PackagesCommand(),
+  PrecacheCommand(
+    verboseHelp: verboseHelp,
+    cache: globals.cache,
+    logger: globals.logger,
+    platform: globals.platform,
+    featureFlags: featureFlags,
+  ),
+  RunCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  ScreenshotCommand(),
+  ShellCompletionCommand(),
+  TestCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  UpgradeCommand(verboseHelp: verboseHelp),
+  SymbolizeCommand(
+    stdio: globals.stdio,
+    fileSystem: globals.fs,
+  ),
+  // Development-only commands. These are always hidden,
+  IdeConfigCommand(),
+  UpdatePackagesCommand(),
+];
+
 /// An abstraction for instantiation of the correct logger type.
 ///
 /// Our logger class hierarchy and runtime requirements are overly complicated.

packages/flutter_tools/lib/runner.dart

@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ import 'src/runner/flutter_command.dart';
 import 'src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart';
 
 /// Runs the Flutter tool with support for the specified list of [commands].
-///
-/// [commands] must be either `List<FlutterCommand>` or `List<FlutterCommand> Function()`.
-// TODO(jonahwilliams): update command type once g3 has rolled.
 Future<int> run(
   List<String> args,
   List<FlutterCommand> Function() commands, {

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/analyze.dart

@@ -42,14 +42,14 @@ class AnalyzeCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     argParser.addFlag('dartdocs',
         negatable: false,
         help: 'List every public member that is lacking documentation. '
-              '(The public_member_api_docs lint must be enabled in analysis_options.yaml)',
+              '(The "public_member_api_docs" lint must be enabled in "analysis_options.yaml".)',
         hide: !verboseHelp);
     argParser.addFlag('watch',
         help: 'Run analysis continuously, watching the filesystem for changes.',
         negatable: false);
     argParser.addOption('write',
         valueHelp: 'file',
-        help: 'Also output the results to a file. This is useful with --watch '
+        help: 'Also output the results to a file. This is useful with "--watch" '
               'if you want a file to always contain the latest results.');
     argParser.addOption('dart-sdk',
         valueHelp: 'path-to-sdk',
@@ -67,13 +67,13 @@ class AnalyzeCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     // Not used by analyze --watch
     argParser.addFlag('congratulate',
         help: 'Show output even when there are no errors, warnings, hints, or lints. '
-              'Ignored if --watch is specified.',
+              'Ignored if "--watch" is specified.',
         defaultsTo: true);
     argParser.addFlag('preamble',
         defaultsTo: true,
         help: 'When analyzing the flutter repository, display the number of '
               'files that will be analyzed.\n'
-              'Ignored if --watch is specified.');
+              'Ignored if "--watch" is specified.');
     argParser.addFlag('fatal-infos',
         negatable: true,
         help: 'Treat info level issues as fatal.',

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/assemble.dart

@@ -73,14 +73,20 @@ const List<Target> _kDefaultTargets = <Target>[
   ReleaseBundleWindowsAssets(),
 ];
 
+// TODO(ianh): https://github.com/dart-lang/args/issues/181 will allow us to remove useLegacyNames
+// and just switch to arguments that use the regular style, which still supporting the old names.
+// When fixing this, remove the hack in test/general.shard/args_test.dart that ignores these names.
+const bool useLegacyNames = true;
+
 /// Assemble provides a low level API to interact with the flutter tool build
 /// system.
 class AssembleCommand extends FlutterCommand {
-  AssembleCommand() {
+  AssembleCommand({ bool verboseHelp = false }) {
     argParser.addMultiOption(
       'define',
       abbr: 'd',
-      help: 'Allows passing configuration to a target with --define=target=key=value.',
+      valueHelp: 'target=key=value',
+      help: 'Allows passing configuration to a target, as in "--define=target=key=value".',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'performance-measurement-file',
@@ -89,28 +95,28 @@ class AssembleCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     argParser.addMultiOption(
       'input',
       abbr: 'i',
-      help: 'Allows passing additional inputs with --input=key=value. Unlike '
-      'defines, additional inputs do not generate a new configuration, instead '
+      help: 'Allows passing additional inputs with "--input=key=value". Unlike '
+      'defines, additional inputs do not generate a new configuration; instead '
       'they are treated as dependencies of the targets that use them.'
     );
-    argParser.addOption('depfile', help: 'A file path where a depfile will be written. '
-      'This contains all build inputs and outputs in a make style syntax'
+    argParser.addOption('depfile',
+      help: 'A file path where a depfile will be written. '
+            'This contains all build inputs and outputs in a Make-style syntax.'
     );
-    argParser.addOption('build-inputs', help: 'A file path where a newline '
-        'separated file containing all inputs used will be written after a build.'
-        ' This file is not included as a build input or output. This file is not'
-        ' written if the build fails for any reason.');
-    argParser.addOption('build-outputs', help: 'A file path where a newline '
-        'separated file containing all outputs used will be written after a build.'
-        ' This file is not included as a build input or output. This file is not'
-        ' written if the build fails for any reason.');
+    argParser.addOption('build-inputs', help: 'A file path where a newline-separated '
+        'file containing all inputs used will be written after a build. '
+        'This file is not included as a build input or output. This file is not '
+        'written if the build fails for any reason.');
+    argParser.addOption('build-outputs', help: 'A file path where a newline-separated '
+        'file containing all outputs created will be written after a build. '
+        'This file is not included as a build input or output. This file is not '
+        'written if the build fails for any reason.');
     argParser.addOption('output', abbr: 'o', help: 'A directory where output '
         'files will be written. Must be either absolute or relative from the '
         'root of the current Flutter project.',
     );
-    argParser.addOption(kExtraGenSnapshotOptions);
-    argParser.addOption(kExtraFrontEndOptions);
-    argParser.addOption(kDartDefines);
+    usesExtraDartFlagOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp, useLegacyNames: useLegacyNames);
+    usesDartDefineOption(useLegacyNames: useLegacyNames);
     argParser.addOption(
       'resource-pool-size',
       help: 'The maximum number of concurrent tasks the build system will run.',
@@ -205,15 +211,14 @@ class AssembleCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       final String value = chunk.substring(indexEquals + 1);
       results[key] = value;
     }
-    // Workaround for extraGenSnapshot formatting.
-    if (argResults.wasParsed(kExtraGenSnapshotOptions)) {
-      results[kExtraGenSnapshotOptions] = argResults[kExtraGenSnapshotOptions] as String;
+    if (argResults.wasParsed(useLegacyNames ? kExtraGenSnapshotOptions : FlutterOptions.kExtraGenSnapshotOptions)) {
+      results[kExtraGenSnapshotOptions] = (argResults[useLegacyNames ? kExtraGenSnapshotOptions : FlutterOptions.kExtraGenSnapshotOptions] as List<String>).join(',');
     }
-    if (argResults.wasParsed(kDartDefines)) {
-      results[kDartDefines] = argResults[kDartDefines] as String;
+    if (argResults.wasParsed(useLegacyNames ? kDartDefines : FlutterOptions.kDartDefinesOption)) {
+      results[kDartDefines] = (argResults[useLegacyNames ? kDartDefines : FlutterOptions.kDartDefinesOption] as List<String>).join(',');
     }
-    if (argResults.wasParsed(kExtraFrontEndOptions)) {
-      results[kExtraFrontEndOptions] = argResults[kExtraFrontEndOptions] as String;
+    if (argResults.wasParsed(useLegacyNames ? kExtraFrontEndOptions : FlutterOptions.kExtraFrontEndOptions)) {
+      results[kExtraFrontEndOptions] = (argResults[useLegacyNames ? kExtraFrontEndOptions : FlutterOptions.kExtraFrontEndOptions] as List<String>).join(',');
     }
     return results;
   }

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/attach.dart

@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ import '../vmservice.dart';
 /// also be provided.
 class AttachCommand extends FlutterCommand {
   AttachCommand({bool verboseHelp = false, this.hotRunnerFactory}) {
-    addBuildModeFlags(defaultToRelease: false, excludeRelease: true);
+    addBuildModeFlags(verboseHelp: verboseHelp, defaultToRelease: false, excludeRelease: true);
     usesTargetOption();
-    usesPortOptions();
-    usesIpv6Flag();
+    usesPortOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
+    usesIpv6Flag(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     usesFilesystemOptions(hide: !verboseHelp);
     usesFuchsiaOptions(hide: !verboseHelp);
     usesDartDefineOption();
@@ -73,13 +73,13 @@ class AttachCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       ..addOption(
         'debug-port',
         hide: !verboseHelp,
-        help: 'Device port where the observatory is listening. Requires '
-        '--disable-service-auth-codes to also be provided to the Flutter '
-        'application at launch, otherwise this command will fail to connect to '
-        'the application. In general, --debug-uri should be used instead.',
+        help: '(deprecated) Device port where the observatory is listening. Requires '
+              '"--disable-service-auth-codes" to also be provided to the Flutter '
+              'application at launch, otherwise this command will fail to connect to '
+              'the application. In general, "--debug-uri" should be used instead.',
       )..addOption(
-        'debug-uri',
-        help: 'The URI at which the observatory is listening.',
+        'debug-uri', // TODO(ianh): we should support --debug-url as well (leaving this as an alias).
+        help: 'The URL at which the observatory is listening.',
       )..addOption(
         'app-id',
         help: 'The package name (Android) or bundle identifier (iOS) for the app. '
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class AttachCommand extends FlutterCommand {
         'report-ready',
         help: 'Print "ready" to the console after handling a keyboard command.\n'
               'This is primarily useful for tests and other automation, but consider '
-              'using --machine instead.',
+              'using "--machine" instead.',
         hide: !verboseHelp,
       )..addOption(
         'project-root',
@@ -417,8 +417,8 @@ known, it can be explicitly provided to attach via the command-line, e.g.
 
     final FlutterDevice flutterDevice = await FlutterDevice.create(
       device,
-      fileSystemRoots: stringsArg('filesystem-root'),
-      fileSystemScheme: stringArg('filesystem-scheme'),
+      fileSystemRoots: stringsArg(FlutterOptions.kFileSystemRoot),
+      fileSystemScheme: stringArg(FlutterOptions.kFileSystemScheme),
       target: targetFile,
       targetModel: TargetModel(stringArg('target-model')),
       buildInfo: buildInfo,

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_aar.dart

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class BuildAarCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
       ..addOption(
         'output-dir',
         help: 'The absolute path to the directory where the repository is generated. '
-              "By default, this is '<current-directory>android/build'. ",
+              'By default, this is "<current-directory>android/build".',
       );
   }
 

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_apk.dart

@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@ class BuildApkCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
     usesPubOption();
     usesBuildNumberOption();
     usesBuildNameOption();
-    addShrinkingFlag();
+    addShrinkingFlag(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addSplitDebugInfoOption();
     addDartObfuscationOption();
     usesDartDefineOption();
-    usesExtraDartFlagOptions();
+    usesExtraDartFlagOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addBundleSkSLPathOption(hide: !verboseHelp);
     addEnableExperimentation(hide: !verboseHelp);
     addBuildPerformanceFile(hide: !verboseHelp);

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_appbundle.dart

@@ -19,16 +19,16 @@ class BuildAppBundleCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
   BuildAppBundleCommand({bool verboseHelp = false}) {
     addTreeShakeIconsFlag();
     usesTargetOption();
-    addBuildModeFlags();
+    addBuildModeFlags(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     usesFlavorOption();
     usesPubOption();
     usesBuildNumberOption();
     usesBuildNameOption();
-    addShrinkingFlag();
+    addShrinkingFlag(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addSplitDebugInfoOption();
     addDartObfuscationOption();
     usesDartDefineOption();
-    usesExtraDartFlagOptions();
+    usesExtraDartFlagOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addBundleSkSLPathOption(hide: !verboseHelp);
     addBuildPerformanceFile(hide: !verboseHelp);
     usesTrackWidgetCreation(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_bundle.dart

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import '../features.dart';
 import '../globals.dart' as globals;
 import '../project.dart';
 import '../reporting/reporting.dart';
-import '../runner/flutter_command.dart' show FlutterCommandResult;
+import '../runner/flutter_command.dart';
 import 'build.dart';
 
 class BuildBundleCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
@@ -21,9 +21,13 @@ class BuildBundleCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
     usesFilesystemOptions(hide: !verboseHelp);
     usesBuildNumberOption();
     addBuildModeFlags(verboseHelp: verboseHelp, defaultToRelease: false);
-    usesExtraDartFlagOptions();
+    usesExtraDartFlagOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     argParser
-      ..addOption('depfile', defaultsTo: defaultDepfilePath)
+      ..addOption('depfile',
+        defaultsTo: defaultDepfilePath,
+        help: 'A file path where a depfile will be written. '
+              'This contains all build inputs and outputs in a Make-style syntax.'
+      )
       ..addOption('target-platform',
         defaultsTo: 'android-arm',
         allowed: const <String>[
@@ -37,8 +41,13 @@ class BuildBundleCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
           'linux-arm64',
           'windows-x64',
         ],
+        help: 'The architecture for which to build the application.',
       )
-      ..addOption('asset-dir', defaultsTo: getAssetBuildDirectory());
+      ..addOption('asset-dir',
+        defaultsTo: getAssetBuildDirectory(),
+        help: 'The output directory for the kernel_blob.bin file, the native snapshet, the assets, etc. '
+              'Can be used to redirect the output when driving the Flutter toolchain from another build system.',
+      );
     usesPubOption();
     usesTrackWidgetCreation(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
 
@@ -112,8 +121,8 @@ class BuildBundleCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
       trackWidgetCreation: boolArg('track-widget-creation'),
       extraFrontEndOptions: buildInfo.extraFrontEndOptions,
       extraGenSnapshotOptions: buildInfo.extraGenSnapshotOptions,
-      fileSystemScheme: stringArg('filesystem-scheme'),
-      fileSystemRoots: stringsArg('filesystem-root'),
+      fileSystemRoots: stringsArg(FlutterOptions.kFileSystemRoot),
+      fileSystemScheme: stringArg(FlutterOptions.kFileSystemScheme),
       treeShakeIcons: buildInfo.treeShakeIcons,
     );
     return FlutterCommandResult.success();

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_ios.dart

@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ abstract class _BuildIOSSubCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
   _BuildIOSSubCommand({ @required bool verboseHelp }) {
     addTreeShakeIconsFlag();
     addSplitDebugInfoOption();
-    addBuildModeFlags(defaultToRelease: true);
+    addBuildModeFlags(verboseHelp: verboseHelp, defaultToRelease: true);
     usesTargetOption();
     usesFlavorOption();
     usesPubOption();
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ abstract class _BuildIOSSubCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
     usesBuildNameOption();
     addDartObfuscationOption();
     usesDartDefineOption();
-    usesExtraDartFlagOptions();
+    usesExtraDartFlagOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addEnableExperimentation(hide: !verboseHelp);
     addBuildPerformanceFile(hide: !verboseHelp);
     addBundleSkSLPathOption(hide: !verboseHelp);

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_ios_framework.dart

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class BuildIOSFrameworkCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
     usesDartDefineOption();
     addSplitDebugInfoOption();
     addDartObfuscationOption();
-    usesExtraDartFlagOptions();
+    usesExtraDartFlagOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addNullSafetyModeOptions(hide: !verboseHelp);
     addEnableExperimentation(hide: !verboseHelp);
 
@@ -74,15 +74,15 @@ class BuildIOSFrameworkCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
               'By default, all build configurations are built.'
       )
       ..addFlag('universal',
-        help: '(Deprecated) Produce universal frameworks that include all valid architectures.',
+        help: '(deprecated) Produce universal frameworks that include all valid architectures.',
         negatable: true,
-        hide: true,
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
       )
       ..addFlag('xcframework',
         help: 'Produce xcframeworks that include all valid architectures.',
         negatable: false,
         defaultsTo: true,
-        hide: true,
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
       )
       ..addFlag('cocoapods',
         help: 'Produce a Flutter.podspec instead of an engine Flutter.xcframework (recommended if host app uses CocoaPods).',
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ class BuildIOSFrameworkCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
       )
       ..addFlag('force',
         abbr: 'f',
-        help: 'Force Flutter.podspec creation on the master channel. For testing only.',
-        hide: true
+        help: 'Force Flutter.podspec creation on the master channel. This is only intended for testing the tool itself.',
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
       );
   }
 

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_web.dart

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class BuildWebCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
     addTreeShakeIconsFlag(enabledByDefault: false);
     usesTargetOption();
     usesPubOption();
-    addBuildModeFlags(excludeDebug: true);
+    addBuildModeFlags(verboseHelp: verboseHelp, excludeDebug: true);
     usesDartDefineOption();
     usesWebRendererOption();
     addEnableExperimentation(hide: !verboseHelp);
@@ -33,30 +33,31 @@ class BuildWebCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
       defaultsTo: false,
       negatable: false,
       help: 'Disable dynamic generation of code in the generated output. '
-        'This is necessary to satisfy CSP restrictions (see http://www.w3.org/TR/CSP/).'
+            'This is necessary to satisfy CSP restrictions (see http://www.w3.org/TR/CSP/).'
     );
     argParser.addFlag(
       'source-maps',
       defaultsTo: false,
-      help: 'Whether to generate a sourcemap file. These can be used by browsers '
-      'To view and debug the original source code of a compiled and minified Dart '
-      'application. Defaults to false (i.e. no sourcemaps produced).'
+      help: 'Generate a sourcemap file. These can be used by browsers '
+            'to view and debug the original source code of a compiled and minified Dart '
+            'application.'
     );
     argParser.addOption('pwa-strategy',
       defaultsTo: kOfflineFirst,
-      help:
-        'The caching strategy to be used by the PWA service worker.\n'
-        'offline-first will attempt to cache the app shell eagerly and '
-        'then lazily cache all subsequent assets as they are loaded. When '
-        'making a network request for an asset, the offline cache will be '
-        'preferred.\n'
-        'none will generate a service worker with no body. This is useful for '
-        'local testing or in cases where the service worker caching functionality '
-        'is not desirable',
+      help: 'The caching strategy to be used by the PWA service worker.',
       allowed: <String>[
         kOfflineFirst,
         kNoneWorker,
-      ]
+      ],
+      allowedHelp: <String, String>{
+        kOfflineFirst: 'Attempt to cache the application shell eagerly and '
+                       'then lazily cache all subsequent assets as they are loaded. When '
+                       'making a network request for an asset, the offline cache will be '
+                       'preferred.',
+        kNoneWorker:   'Generate a service worker with no body. This is useful for '
+                       'local testing or in cases where the service worker caching functionality '
+                       'is not desirable',
+      },
     );
   }
 

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/config.dart

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class ConfigCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       help: 'Clear the saved development certificate choice used to sign apps for iOS device deployment.');
     argParser.addOption('android-sdk', help: 'The Android SDK directory.');
     argParser.addOption('android-studio-dir', help: 'The Android Studio install directory.');
-    argParser.addOption('build-dir', help: 'The relative path to override a projects build directory',
+    argParser.addOption('build-dir', help: 'The relative path to override a projects build directory.',
         valueHelp: 'out/');
     argParser.addFlag('machine',
       negatable: false,

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/create.dart

@@ -23,10 +23,12 @@ import '../runner/flutter_command.dart';
 import 'create_base.dart';
 
 class CreateCommand extends CreateBase {
-  CreateCommand() {
+  CreateCommand({
+    bool verboseHelp = false,
+  }) : super(verboseHelp: verboseHelp) {
     addPlatformsOptions(customHelp: 'The platforms supported by this project. '
-        'This argument only works when the --template is set to app or plugin. '
         'Platform folders (e.g. android/) will be generated in the target project. '
+        'This argument only works when "--template" is set to app or plugin. '
         'When adding platforms to a plugin project, the pubspec.yaml will be updated with the requested platform. '
         'Adding desktop platforms requires the corresponding desktop config setting to be enabled.');
     argParser.addOption(
@@ -50,17 +52,17 @@ class CreateCommand extends CreateBase {
     argParser.addOption(
       'sample',
       abbr: 's',
-      help: 'Specifies the Flutter code sample to use as the main.dart for an application. Implies '
-        '--template=app. The value should be the sample ID of the desired sample from the API '
-        'documentation website (http://docs.flutter.dev). An example can be found at '
-        'https://master-api.flutter.dev/flutter/widgets/SingleChildScrollView-class.html',
+      help: 'Specifies the Flutter code sample to use as the "main.dart" for an application. Implies '
+        '"--template=app". The value should be the sample ID of the desired sample from the API '
+        'documentation website (http://docs.flutter.dev/). An example can be found at: '
+        'https://api.flutter.dev/flutter/widgets/SingleChildScrollView-class.html',
       defaultsTo: null,
       valueHelp: 'id',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'list-samples',
       help: 'Specifies a JSON output file for a listing of Flutter code samples '
-        'that can be created with --sample.',
+        'that can be created with "--sample".',
       valueHelp: 'path',
     );
   }
@@ -218,7 +220,7 @@ class CreateCommand extends CreateBase {
 
     if (boolArg('with-driver-test')) {
       globals.printError(
-        '--with-driver-test has been deprecated and will no longer add a flutter '
+        'The "--with-driver-test" argument has been deprecated and will no longer add a flutter '
         'driver template. Instead, learn how to use package:integration_test by '
         'visiting https://pub.dev/packages/integration_test .'
       );

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/create_base.dart

@@ -32,13 +32,15 @@ const List<String> _kAvailablePlatforms = <String>[
 ];
 
 const String _kDefaultPlatformArgumentHelp =
-    'Required: The platforms supported by this project. '
+    '(required) The platforms supported by this project. '
     'Platform folders (e.g. android/) will be generated in the target project. '
     'Adding desktop platforms requires the corresponding desktop config setting to be enabled.';
 
 /// Common behavior for `flutter create` commands.
 abstract class CreateBase extends FlutterCommand {
-  CreateBase() {
+  CreateBase({
+    @required bool verboseHelp,
+  }) {
     argParser.addFlag(
       'pub',
       defaultsTo: true,
@@ -57,9 +59,10 @@ abstract class CreateBase extends FlutterCommand {
       'with-driver-test',
       negatable: true,
       defaultsTo: false,
-      help: '(Deprecated) Also add a flutter_driver dependency and generate a '
-          "sample 'flutter drive' test. This flag has been deprecated, instead see "
-          'package:integration_test at https://pub.dev/packages/integration_test .',
+      help: '(deprecated) Historically, this added a flutter_driver dependency and generated a '
+            'sample "flutter drive" test. Now it does nothing. Consider using the '
+            '"integration_test" package: https://pub.dev/packages/integration_test',
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addFlag(
       'overwrite',
@@ -91,19 +94,21 @@ abstract class CreateBase extends FlutterCommand {
       abbr: 'i',
       defaultsTo: 'swift',
       allowed: <String>['objc', 'swift'],
+      help: 'The language to use for iOS-specific code, either ObjectiveC (legacy) or Swift (recommended).'
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'android-language',
       abbr: 'a',
       defaultsTo: 'kotlin',
       allowed: <String>['java', 'kotlin'],
+      help: 'The language to use for Android-specific code, either Java (legacy) or Kotlin (recommended).',
     );
     argParser.addFlag(
       'skip-name-checks',
       help:
-          'integration test only parameter to allow creating applications/plugins with '
-          'invalid names.',
-      hide: true,
+          'Allow the creation of applications and plugins with invalid names. '
+          'This is only intended to enable testing of the tool itself.',
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
   }
 

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/devices.dart

@@ -12,17 +12,17 @@ import '../globals.dart' as globals;
 import '../runner/flutter_command.dart';
 
 class DevicesCommand extends FlutterCommand {
-
-  DevicesCommand() {
+  DevicesCommand({ bool verboseHelp = false }) {
     argParser.addFlag('machine',
       negatable: false,
-      help: 'Output device information in machine readable structured JSON format',
+      help: 'Output device information in machine readable structured JSON format.',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'timeout',
       abbr: 't',
       defaultsTo: null,
-      help: '(deprecated) Use --device-timeout instead',
+      help: '(deprecated) This option has been replaced by "--${FlutterOptions.kDeviceTimeout}".',
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     usesDeviceTimeoutOption();
   }
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class DevicesCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     if (argResults['timeout'] != null) {
       final int timeoutSeconds = int.tryParse(stringArg('timeout'));
       if (timeoutSeconds == null) {
-        throwToolExit( 'Could not parse -t/--timeout argument. It must be an integer.');
+        throwToolExit('Could not parse -t/--timeout argument. It must be an integer.');
       }
       return Duration(seconds: timeoutSeconds);
     }
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class DevicesCommand extends FlutterCommand {
   @override
   Future<void> validateCommand() {
     if (argResults['timeout'] != null) {
-      globals.printError('--timeout has been deprecated, use --${FlutterOptions.kDeviceTimeout} instead');
+      globals.printError('"--timeout" argument is deprecated, use "--${FlutterOptions.kDeviceTimeout}" instead');
     }
     return super.validateCommand();
   }

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/downgrade.dart

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import '../version.dart';
 /// the command would fail since there was no previously recorded stable version.
 class DowngradeCommand extends FlutterCommand {
   DowngradeCommand({
+    bool verboseHelp = false,
     PersistentToolState persistentToolState,
     Logger logger,
     ProcessManager processManager,
@@ -46,14 +47,17 @@ class DowngradeCommand extends FlutterCommand {
        _fileSystem = fileSystem {
     argParser.addOption(
       'working-directory',
-      hide: true,
-      help: 'Override the downgrade working directory for integration testing.'
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
+      help: 'Override the downgrade working directory. '
+            'This is only intended to enable integration testing of the tool itself.'
     );
     argParser.addFlag(
       'prompt',
       defaultsTo: true,
-      hide: true,
-      help: 'Disable the downgrade prompt for integration testing.'
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
+      help: 'Show the downgrade prompt. '
+            'The ability to disable this using "--no-prompt" is only provided for '
+            'integration testing of the tool itself.'
     );
   }
 
@@ -74,7 +78,7 @@ class DowngradeCommand extends FlutterCommand {
 
   @override
   Future<FlutterCommandResult> runCommand() async {
-    // Note: commands do not necessarily have access to the correct zone injected
+    // Commands do not necessarily have access to the correct zone injected
     // values when being created. Fields must be lazily instantiated in runCommand,
     // at least until the zone injection is refactored.
     _terminal ??= globals.terminal;

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/drive.dart

@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ class DriveCommand extends RunCommandBase {
     @required Logger logger,
   }) : _flutterDriverFactory = flutterDriverFactory,
        _fileSystem = fileSystem,
-       _logger = logger {
+       _logger = logger,
+       super(verboseHelp: verboseHelp) {
     requiresPubspecYaml();
     addEnableExperimentation(hide: !verboseHelp);
 
@@ -65,14 +66,14 @@ class DriveCommand extends RunCommandBase {
         defaultsTo: null,
         help: 'Will keep the Flutter application running when done testing.\n'
               'By default, "flutter drive" stops the application after tests are finished, '
-              'and --keep-app-running overrides this. On the other hand, if --use-existing-app '
+              'and "--keep-app-running" overrides this. On the other hand, if "--use-existing-app" '
               'is specified, then "flutter drive" instead defaults to leaving the application '
-              'running, and --no-keep-app-running overrides it.',
+              'running, and "--no-keep-app-running" overrides it.',
       )
       ..addOption('use-existing-app',
         help: 'Connect to an already running instance via the given observatory URL. '
               'If this option is given, the application will not be automatically started, '
-              'and it will only be stopped if --no-keep-app-running is explicitly set.',
+              'and it will only be stopped if "--no-keep-app-running" is explicitly set.',
         valueHelp: 'url',
       )
       ..addOption('driver',
@@ -86,23 +87,21 @@ class DriveCommand extends RunCommandBase {
       )
       ..addFlag('build',
         defaultsTo: true,
-        help: '(Deprecated) Build the app before running. To use an existing app, pass the --use-application-binary '
-          'flag with an existing APK',
+        help: '(deprecated) Build the app before running. To use an existing app, pass the "--use-application-binary" '
+              'flag with an existing APK.',
       )
       ..addOption('driver-port',
         defaultsTo: '4444',
-        help: 'The port where Webdriver server is launched at. Defaults to 4444.',
+        help: 'The port where Webdriver server is launched at.',
         valueHelp: '4444'
       )
       ..addFlag('headless',
         defaultsTo: true,
-        help: 'Whether the driver browser is going to be launched in headless mode. Defaults to true.',
+        help: 'Whether the driver browser is going to be launched in headless mode.',
       )
       ..addOption('browser-name',
         defaultsTo: 'chrome',
-        help: 'Name of browser where tests will be executed. \n'
-              'Following browsers are supported: \n'
-              'Chrome, Firefox, Safari (macOS and iOS) and Edge. Defaults to Chrome.',
+        help: 'Name of the browser where tests will be executed.',
         allowed: <String>[
           'android-chrome',
           'chrome',
@@ -111,24 +110,31 @@ class DriveCommand extends RunCommandBase {
           'ios-safari',
           'safari',
         ],
+        allowedHelp: <String, String>{
+          'android-chrome': 'Chrome on Android (see also "--android-emulator").',
+          'chrome': 'Google Chrome on this computer (see also "--chrome-binary").',
+          'edge': 'Microsoft Edge on this computer (Windows only).',
+          'firefox': 'Mozilla Firefox on this computer.',
+          'ios-safari': 'Apple Safari on an iOS device.',
+          'safari': 'Apple Safari on this computer (macOS only).',
+        },
       )
       ..addOption('browser-dimension',
         defaultsTo: '1600,1024',
-        help: 'The dimension of browser when running Flutter Web test. \n'
-              'This will affect screenshot and all offset-related actions. \n'
-              'By default. it is set to 1600,1024 (1600 by 1024).',
+        help: 'The dimension of the browser when running a Flutter Web test. '
+              'This will affect screenshot and all offset-related actions.',
+        valueHelp: 'width,height',
       )
       ..addFlag('android-emulator',
         defaultsTo: true,
-        help: 'Whether to perform Flutter Driver testing on Android Emulator.'
-          'Works only if \'browser-name\' is set to \'android-chrome\'')
+        help: 'Whether to perform Flutter Driver testing using an Android Emulator. '
+              'Works only if "browser-name" is set to "android-chrome".')
       ..addOption('chrome-binary',
-        help: 'Location of Chrome binary. '
-          'Works only if \'browser-name\' is set to \'chrome\'')
+        help: 'Location of the Chrome binary. '
+              'Works only if "browser-name" is set to "chrome".')
       ..addOption('write-sksl-on-exit',
-        help:
-          'Attempts to write an SkSL file when the drive process is finished '
-          'to the provided file, overwriting it if necessary.')
+        help: 'Attempts to write an SkSL file when the drive process is finished '
+              'to the provided file, overwriting it if necessary.')
       ..addMultiOption('test-arguments', help: 'Additional arguments to pass to the '
           'Dart VM running The test script.');
   }

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/emulators.dart

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class EmulatorsCommand extends FlutterCommand {
         help: 'Creates a new Android emulator based on a Pixel device.',
         negatable: false);
     argParser.addOption('name',
-        help: 'Used with flag --create. Specifies a name for the emulator being created.');
+        help: 'Used with the "--create" flag. Specifies a name for the emulator being created.');
   }
 
   @override

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/format.dart

@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ class FormatCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     );
     argParser.addOption('line-length',
       abbr: 'l',
-      help: 'Wrap lines longer than this length. Defaults to 80 characters.',
+      help: 'Wrap lines longer than this length.',
+      valueHelp: 'characters',
       defaultsTo: '80',
     );
   }

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/generate_localizations.dart

@@ -34,134 +34,143 @@ class GenerateLocalizationsCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     argParser.addOption(
       'output-dir',
       help: 'The directory where the generated localization classes will be written '
-        'if the synthetic-package flag is set to false.'
-        '\n\n'
-        'If output-dir is specified and the synthetic-package flag is enabled, '
-        'this option will be ignored by the tool.'
-        '\n\n'
-        'The app must import the file specified in the \'output-localization-file\' '
-        'option from this directory. If unspecified, this defaults to the same '
-        'directory as the input directory specified in \'arb-dir\'.',
+            'if the synthetic-package flag is set to false.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'If output-dir is specified and the synthetic-package flag is enabled, '
+            'this option will be ignored by the tool.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'The app must import the file specified in the "--output-localization-file" '
+            'option from this directory. If unspecified, this defaults to the same '
+            'directory as the input directory specified in "--arb-dir".',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'template-arb-file',
       defaultsTo: 'app_en.arb',
       help: 'The template arb file that will be used as the basis for '
-        'generating the Dart localization and messages files.',
+            'generating the Dart localization and messages files.',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'output-localization-file',
       defaultsTo: 'app_localizations.dart',
       help: 'The filename for the output localization and localizations '
-        'delegate classes.',
+            'delegate classes.',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'untranslated-messages-file',
-      help: 'The location of a file that describes the localization\n'
-        'messages have not been translated yet. Using this option will create\n'
-        'a JSON file at the target location, in the following format:\n\n'
-        '"locale": ["message_1", "message_2" ... "message_n"]\n\n'
-        'If this option is not specified, a summary of the messages that\n'
-        'have not been translated will be printed on the command line.'
+      help: 'The location of a file that describes the localization '
+            'messages have not been translated yet. Using this option will create '
+            'a JSON file at the target location, in the following format:\n'
+            '\n'
+            '    "locale": ["message_1", "message_2" ... "message_n"]\n'
+            '\n'
+            'If this option is not specified, a summary of the messages that '
+            'have not been translated will be printed on the command line.',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'output-class',
       defaultsTo: 'AppLocalizations',
       help: 'The Dart class name to use for the output localization and '
-        'localizations delegate classes.',
+            'localizations delegate classes.',
     );
     argParser.addMultiOption(
       'preferred-supported-locales',
       valueHelp: 'locale',
       help: 'The list of preferred supported locales for the application. '
-        'By default, the tool will generate the supported locales list in '
-        'alphabetical order. Use this flag if you would like to default to '
-        'a different locale. \n\n'
-        'For example, pass in `en_US` if you would like your app to '
-        'default to American English if a device supports it.'
-        '(Pass this option multiple times for defining multiple items',
+            'By default, the tool will generate the supported locales list in '
+            'alphabetical order. Use this flag if you would like to default to '
+            'a different locale. '
+            'For example, pass in "en_US" if you would like your app to '
+            'default to American English on devices that support it. '
+            'Pass this option multiple times to define multiple items.',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'header',
       help: 'The header to prepend to the generated Dart localizations '
-        'files. This option takes in a string. \n\n'
-        'For example, pass in "/// All localized files." if you would '
-        'like this string prepended to the generated Dart file. \n\n'
-        'Alternatively, see the `header-file` option to pass in a text '
-        'file for longer headers.'
+            'files. This option takes in a string.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'For example, pass in "/// All localized files." if you would '
+            'like this string prepended to the generated Dart file.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'Alternatively, see the "--header-file" option to pass in a text '
+            'file for longer headers.'
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'header-file',
       help: 'The header to prepend to the generated Dart localizations '
-        'files. The value of this option is the name of the file that '
-        'contains the header text which will be inserted at the top '
-        'of each generated Dart file. \n\n'
-        'Alternatively, see the `header` option to pass in a string '
-        'for a simpler header. \n\n'
-        'This file should be placed in the directory specified in \'arb-dir\'.'
+            'files. The value of this option is the name of the file that '
+            'contains the header text which will be inserted at the top '
+            'of each generated Dart file.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'Alternatively, see the "--header" option to pass in a string '
+            'for a simpler header.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'This file should be placed in the directory specified in "--arb-dir".'
     );
     argParser.addFlag(
       'use-deferred-loading',
       defaultsTo: false,
-      help: 'Whether to generate the Dart localization file with locales imported'
-        ' as deferred, allowing for lazy loading of each locale in Flutter web.\n'
-        '\n'
-        'This can reduce a web app’s initial startup time by decreasing the '
-        'size of the JavaScript bundle. When this flag is set to true, the '
-        'messages for a particular locale are only downloaded and loaded by the '
-        'Flutter app as they are needed. For projects with a lot of different '
-        'locales and many localization strings, it can be an performance '
-        'improvement to have deferred loading. For projects with a small number '
-        'of locales, the difference is negligible, and might slow down the start '
-        'up compared to bundling the localizations with the rest of the '
-        'application.\n\n'
-        'Note that this flag does not affect other platforms such as mobile or '
-        'desktop.',
+      help: 'Whether to generate the Dart localization file with locales imported '
+            'as deferred, allowing for lazy loading of each locale in Flutter web.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'This can reduce a web app’s initial startup time by decreasing the '
+            'size of the JavaScript bundle. When this flag is set to true, the '
+            'messages for a particular locale are only downloaded and loaded by the '
+            'Flutter app as they are needed. For projects with a lot of different '
+            'locales and many localization strings, it can be an performance '
+            'improvement to have deferred loading. For projects with a small number '
+            'of locales, the difference is negligible, and might slow down the start '
+            'up compared to bundling the localizations with the rest of the '
+            'application.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'This flag does not affect other platforms such as mobile or desktop.',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'gen-inputs-and-outputs-list',
       valueHelp: 'path-to-output-directory',
       help: 'When specified, the tool generates a JSON file containing the '
-        'tool\'s inputs and outputs named gen_l10n_inputs_and_outputs.json.'
-        '\n\n'
-        'This can be useful for keeping track of which files of the Flutter '
-        'project were used when generating the latest set of localizations. '
-        'For example, the Flutter tool\'s build system uses this file to '
-        'keep track of when to call gen_l10n during hot reload.\n\n'
-        'The value of this option is the directory where the JSON file will be '
-        'generated.'
-        '\n\n'
-        'When null, the JSON file will not be generated.'
+            'tool\'s inputs and outputs named gen_l10n_inputs_and_outputs.json.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'This can be useful for keeping track of which files of the Flutter '
+            'project were used when generating the latest set of localizations. '
+            'For example, the Flutter tool\'s build system uses this file to '
+            'keep track of when to call gen_l10n during hot reload.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'The value of this option is the directory where the JSON file will be '
+            'generated.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'When null, the JSON file will not be generated.'
     );
     argParser.addFlag(
       'synthetic-package',
       defaultsTo: true,
       help: 'Determines whether or not the generated output files will be '
-        'generated as a synthetic package or at a specified directory in '
-        'the Flutter project.'
-        '\n\n'
-        'This flag is set to true by default.'
-        '\n\n'
-        'When synthetic-package is set to false, it will generate the '
-        'localizations files in the directory specified by arb-dir by default. '
-        '\n\n'
-        'If output-dir is specified, files will be generated there.',
+            'generated as a synthetic package or at a specified directory in '
+            'the Flutter project.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'This flag is set to true by default.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'When synthetic-package is set to false, it will generate the '
+            'localizations files in the directory specified by arb-dir by default.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'If output-dir is specified, files will be generated there.',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       'project-dir',
       valueHelp: 'absolute/path/to/flutter/project',
       help: 'When specified, the tool uses the path passed into this option '
-        'as the directory of the root Flutter project.'
-        '\n\n'
-        'When null, the relative path to the present working directory will be used.'
+            'as the directory of the root Flutter project.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'When null, the relative path to the present working directory will be used.'
     );
     argParser.addFlag(
       'required-resource-attributes',
-      help: 'Requires all resource ids to contain a corresponding resource attribute.\n\n'
-        'By default, simple messages will not require metadata, but it is highly '
-        'recommended as this provides context for the meaning of a message to '
-        'readers.\n\n'
-        'Resource attributes are still required for plural messages.'
+      help: 'Requires all resource ids to contain a corresponding resource attribute.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'By default, simple messages will not require metadata, but it is highly '
+            'recommended as this provides context for the meaning of a message to '
+            'readers.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'Resource attributes are still required for plural messages.'
     );
   }
 

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/ide_config.dart

@@ -23,19 +23,19 @@ class IdeConfigCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       'update-templates',
       negatable: false,
       help: 'Update the templates in the template directory from the current '
-          'configuration files. This is the opposite of what $name usually does. '
-          'Will search the flutter tree for .iml files and copy any missing ones '
-          'into the template directory. If --overwrite is also specified, it will '
-          'update any out-of-date files, and remove any deleted files from the '
-          'template directory.',
+            'configuration files. This is the opposite of what $name usually does. '
+            'Will search the flutter tree for *.iml files and copy any missing ones '
+            'into the template directory. If "--overwrite" is also specified, it will '
+            'update any out-of-date files, and remove any deleted files from the '
+            'template directory.',
     );
     argParser.addFlag(
       'with-root-module',
       negatable: true,
       defaultsTo: true,
       help: 'Also create module that corresponds to the root of Flutter tree. '
-          'This makes the entire Flutter tree browsable and searchable in IDE. '
-          'Without this flag, only the child modules will be visible in IDE.',
+            'This makes the entire Flutter tree browsable and searchable in IDE. '
+            'Without this flag, only the child modules will be visible in IDE.',
     );
   }
 

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/precache.dart

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class PrecacheCommand extends FlutterCommand {
         help: 'Force re-downloading of artifacts.');
     argParser.addFlag('android', negatable: true, defaultsTo: false,
         help: 'Precache artifacts for Android development.',
-        hide: verboseHelp);
+        hide: !verboseHelp);
     argParser.addFlag('android_gen_snapshot', negatable: true, defaultsTo: false,
         help: 'Precache gen_snapshot for Android development.',
         hide: !verboseHelp);
@@ -57,9 +57,9 @@ class PrecacheCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     argParser.addFlag('universal', negatable: true, defaultsTo: true,
         help: 'Precache artifacts required for any development platform.');
     argParser.addFlag('flutter_runner', negatable: true, defaultsTo: false,
-        help: 'Precache the flutter runner artifacts.', hide: true);
+        help: 'Precache the flutter runner artifacts.', hide: !verboseHelp);
     argParser.addFlag('use-unsigned-mac-binaries', negatable: true, defaultsTo: false,
-        help: 'Precache the unsigned mac binaries when available.', hide: true);
+        help: 'Precache the unsigned macOS binaries when available.', hide: !verboseHelp);
   }
 
   final Cache _cache;

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/run.dart

@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ import 'daemon.dart';
 
 /// Shared logic between `flutter run` and `flutter drive` commands.
 abstract class RunCommandBase extends FlutterCommand with DeviceBasedDevelopmentArtifacts {
-  RunCommandBase({ bool verboseHelp = false }) {
-    addBuildModeFlags(defaultToRelease: false, verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
+  RunCommandBase({ @required bool verboseHelp }) {
+    addBuildModeFlags(verboseHelp: verboseHelp, defaultToRelease: false);
     usesDartDefineOption();
     usesFlavorOption();
     usesWebRendererOption();
@@ -44,44 +44,45 @@ abstract class RunCommandBase extends FlutterCommand with DeviceBasedDevelopment
       )
       ..addFlag('verbose-system-logs',
         negatable: false,
-        help: 'Include verbose logging from the flutter engine.',
+        help: 'Include verbose logging from the Flutter engine.',
       )
       ..addFlag('cache-sksl',
         negatable: false,
-        help: 'Only cache the shader in SkSL instead of binary or GLSL.',
+        help: 'Cache the shader in the SkSL format instead of in binary or GLSL formats.',
       )
       ..addFlag('dump-skp-on-shader-compilation',
         negatable: false,
         help: 'Automatically dump the skp that triggers new shader compilations. '
-            'This is useful for writing custom ShaderWarmUp to reduce jank. '
-            'By default, this is not enabled to reduce the overhead. '
-            'This is only available in profile or debug build. ',
+              'This is useful for writing custom ShaderWarmUp to reduce jank. '
+              'By default, this is not enabled as it introduces significant overhead. '
+              'This is only available in profile or debug builds.',
       )
       ..addFlag('purge-persistent-cache',
         negatable: false,
         help: 'Removes all existing persistent caches. This allows reproducing '
-            'shader compilation jank that normally only happens the first time '
-            'an app is run, or for reliable testing of compilation jank fixes '
-            '(e.g. shader warm-up).',
+              'shader compilation jank that normally only happens the first time '
+              'an app is run, or for reliable testing of compilation jank fixes '
+              '(e.g. shader warm-up).',
       )
       ..addOption('route',
         help: 'Which route to load when running the app.',
       )
       ..addOption('vmservice-out-file',
-        help: 'A file to write the attached vmservice uri to after an'
-          ' application is started.',
-        valueHelp: 'project/example/out.txt'
+        help: 'A file to write the attached vmservice URL to after an '
+              'application is started.',
+        valueHelp: 'project/example/out.txt',
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
       )
       ..addFlag('disable-service-auth-codes',
         negatable: false,
         hide: !verboseHelp,
-        help: 'No longer require an authentication code to connect to the VM '
-              'service (not recommended).'
+        help: '(deprecated) Allow connections to the VM service without using authentication codes. '
+              '(Not recommended! This can open your device to remote code execution attacks!)'
       )
       ..addOption('use-application-binary',
-        help: 'Specify a pre-built application binary to use when running. For android applications, '
-        'this must be the path to an APK. For iOS applications, the path to an IPA. Other device types '
-        'do not yet support prebuilt application binaries',
+        help: 'Specify a pre-built application binary to use when running. For Android applications, '
+              'this must be the path to an APK. For iOS applications, the path to an IPA. Other device types '
+              'do not yet support prebuilt application binaries.',
         valueHelp: 'path/to/app.apk',
       )
       ..addFlag('start-paused',
@@ -101,10 +102,9 @@ abstract class RunCommandBase extends FlutterCommand with DeviceBasedDevelopment
       )
       ..addFlag('endless-trace-buffer',
         negatable: false,
-        help: 'Enable tracing to the endless tracer. This is useful when '
-              'recording huge amounts of traces. If we need to use endless buffer to '
-              'record startup traces, we can combine the ("--trace-startup"). '
-              'For example, flutter run --trace-startup --endless-trace-buffer. ',
+        help: 'Enable tracing to an infinite buffer, instead of a ring buffer. '
+              'This is useful when recording large traces. To use an endless buffer to '
+              'record startup traces, combine this with "--trace-startup".',
       )
       ..addFlag('trace-systrace',
         negatable: false,
@@ -115,12 +115,13 @@ abstract class RunCommandBase extends FlutterCommand with DeviceBasedDevelopment
         negatable: false,
         help: 'Enable tracing of Skia code. This is useful when debugging '
               'the raster thread (formerly known as the GPU thread). '
-              'By default, Flutter will not log skia code.',
+              'By default, Flutter will not log Skia code, as it introduces significant '
+              'overhead that may affect recorded performance metrics in a misleading way.',
       )
       ..addOption('trace-allowlist',
-        hide: true,
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
         help: 'Filters out all trace events except those that are specified in '
-            'this comma separated list of allowed prefixes.',
+              'this comma separated list of allowed prefixes.',
         valueHelp: 'foo,bar',
       )
       ..addMultiOption('dart-entrypoint-args',
@@ -129,11 +130,12 @@ abstract class RunCommandBase extends FlutterCommand with DeviceBasedDevelopment
               'startup. By default this is main(List<String> args). Specify '
               'this option multiple times each with one argument to pass '
               'multiple arguments to the Dart entrypoint. Currently this is '
-              'only supported on desktop platforms.');
-    usesWebOptions(hide: !verboseHelp);
+              'only supported on desktop platforms.'
+    );
+    usesWebOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     usesTargetOption();
-    usesPortOptions();
-    usesIpv6Flag();
+    usesPortOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
+    usesIpv6Flag(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     usesPubOption();
     usesTrackWidgetCreation(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addNullSafetyModeOptions(hide: !verboseHelp);
@@ -227,7 +229,7 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
   RunCommand({ bool verboseHelp = false }) : super(verboseHelp: verboseHelp) {
     requiresPubspecYaml();
     usesFilesystemOptions(hide: !verboseHelp);
-    usesExtraDartFlagOptions();
+    usesExtraDartFlagOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addEnableExperimentation(hide: !verboseHelp);
 
     // By default, the app should to publish the VM service port over mDNS.
@@ -244,8 +246,9 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
       )
       ..addFlag('skia-deterministic-rendering',
         negatable: false,
-        help: 'When combined with --enable-software-rendering, provides 100% '
-              'deterministic Skia rendering.',
+        help: 'When combined with "--enable-software-rendering", this should provide completely '
+              'deterministic (i.e. reproducible) Skia rendering. This is useful for testing purposes '
+              '(e.g. when comparing screenshots).',
       )
       ..addFlag('await-first-frame-when-tracing',
         defaultsTo: true,
@@ -253,7 +256,7 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
               'or just dump the trace as soon as the application is running. The first frame '
               'is detected by looking for a Timeline event with the name '
               '"${Tracing.firstUsefulFrameEventName}". '
-              "By default, the widgets library's binding takes care of sending this event. ",
+              'By default, the widgets library\'s binding takes care of sending this event.',
       )
       ..addFlag('use-test-fonts',
         negatable: true,
@@ -298,7 +301,7 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
         'report-ready',
         help: 'Print "ready" to the console after handling a keyboard command.\n'
               'This is primarily useful for tests and other automation, but consider '
-              'using --machine instead.',
+              'using "--machine" instead.',
         hide: !verboseHelp,
       )..addFlag('benchmark',
         negatable: false,
@@ -308,12 +311,6 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
               'results out to "refresh_benchmark.json", and exit. This flag is '
               'intended for use in generating automated flutter benchmarks.',
       )
-      ..addFlag('web-initialize-platform',
-        negatable: true,
-        defaultsTo: true,
-        hide: true,
-        help: 'Whether to automatically invoke webOnlyInitializePlatform.',
-      )
       // TODO(jonahwilliams): Off by default with investigating whether this
       // is slower for certain use cases.
       // See: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/49499
@@ -322,7 +319,8 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
         defaultsTo: false,
         help: 'Whether to quickly bootstrap applications with a minimal app. '
               'Currently this is only supported on Android devices. This option '
-              'cannot be paired with --use-application-binary.'
+              'cannot be paired with "--use-application-binary".',
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
       );
   }
 
@@ -451,7 +449,7 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
       throwToolExit(null);
     }
     if (globals.deviceManager.hasSpecifiedAllDevices && runningWithPrebuiltApplication) {
-      throwToolExit('Using -d all with --use-application-binary is not supported');
+      throwToolExit('Using "-d all" with "--use-application-binary" is not supported');
     }
 
     if (userIdentifier != null
@@ -523,7 +521,7 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
 
     if (boolArg('machine')) {
       if (devices.length > 1) {
-        throwToolExit('--machine does not support -d all.');
+        throwToolExit('"--machine" does not support "-d all".');
       }
       final Daemon daemon = Daemon(
         stdinCommandStream,
@@ -574,7 +572,7 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
       }
       if (hotMode) {
         if (!device.supportsHotReload) {
-          throwToolExit('Hot reload is not supported by ${device.name}. Run with --no-hot.');
+          throwToolExit('Hot reload is not supported by ${device.name}. Run with "--no-hot".');
         }
       }
       if (await device.isLocalEmulator && await device.supportsHardwareRendering) {
@@ -602,8 +600,8 @@ class RunCommand extends RunCommandBase {
       for (final Device device in devices)
         await FlutterDevice.create(
           device,
-          fileSystemRoots: stringsArg('filesystem-root'),
-          fileSystemScheme: stringArg('filesystem-scheme'),
+          fileSystemRoots: stringsArg(FlutterOptions.kFileSystemRoot),
+          fileSystemScheme: stringArg(FlutterOptions.kFileSystemScheme),
           experimentalFlags: expFlags,
           target: targetFile,
           buildInfo: buildInfo,

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/screenshot.dart

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import '../vmservice.dart';
 
 const String _kOut = 'out';
 const String _kType = 'type';
-const String _kObservatoryUri = 'observatory-uri';
+const String _kObservatoryUri = 'observatory-uri'; // TODO(ianh): change this to "observatory-url" (but support -uri as an alias)
 const String _kDeviceType = 'device';
 const String _kSkiaType = 'skia';
 const String _kRasterizerType = 'rasterizer';
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ class ScreenshotCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     argParser.addOption(
       _kObservatoryUri,
       valueHelp: 'URI',
-      help: 'The observatory URI to connect to.\n'
-          'This is required when --$_kType is "$_kSkiaType" or "$_kRasterizerType".\n'
-          'To find the observatory URI, use "flutter run" and look for '
+      help: 'The Observatory URL to which to connect.\n'
+          'This is required when "--$_kType" is "$_kSkiaType" or "$_kRasterizerType".\n'
+          'To find the Observatory URL, use "flutter run" and look for '
           '"An Observatory ... is available at" in the output.',
     );
     argParser.addOption(
@@ -43,11 +43,11 @@ class ScreenshotCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       help: 'The type of screenshot to retrieve.',
       allowed: const <String>[_kDeviceType, _kSkiaType, _kRasterizerType],
       allowedHelp: const <String, String>{
-        _kDeviceType: "Delegate to the device's native screenshot capabilities. This "
-            'screenshots the entire screen currently being displayed (including content '
-            'not rendered by Flutter, like the device status bar).',
-        _kSkiaType: 'Render the Flutter app as a Skia picture. Requires --$_kObservatoryUri',
-        _kRasterizerType: 'Render the Flutter app using the rasterizer. Requires --$_kObservatoryUri',
+        _kDeviceType: 'Delegate to the device\'s native screenshot capabilities. This '
+                      'screenshots the entire screen currently being displayed (including content '
+                      'not rendered by Flutter, like the device status bar).',
+        _kSkiaType: 'Render the Flutter app as a Skia picture. Requires "--$_kObservatoryUri".',
+        _kRasterizerType: 'Render the Flutter app using the rasterizer. Requires "--$_kObservatoryUri."',
       },
       defaultsTo: _kDeviceType,
     );

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/symbolize.dart

@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class SymbolizeCommand extends FlutterCommand {
     argParser.addOption(
       'output',
       abbr: 'o',
-      valueHelp: 'A file path for a symbolized stack trace to be written to.'
+      help: 'A file path for a symbolized stack trace to be written to.'
     );
   }
 

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/test.dart

@@ -49,11 +49,11 @@ class TestCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       )
       ..addOption('tags',
         abbr: 't',
-        help: 'Run only tests associated with tags',
+        help: 'Run only tests associated with the specified tags. See: https://pub.dev/packages/test#tagging-tests',
       )
       ..addOption('exclude-tags',
         abbr: 'x',
-        help: 'Run only tests WITHOUT given tags',
+        help: 'Run only tests that do not have the specified tags. See: https://pub.dev/packages/test#tagging-tests',
       )
       ..addFlag('start-paused',
         defaultsTo: false,
@@ -64,11 +64,11 @@ class TestCommand extends FlutterCommand {
               'console once the test has started.',
       )
       ..addFlag('disable-service-auth-codes',
-        hide: !verboseHelp,
         defaultsTo: false,
         negatable: false,
-        help: 'No longer require an authentication code to connect to the VM '
-              'service (not recommended).',
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
+        help: '(deprecated) Allow connections to the VM service without using authentication codes. '
+              '(Not recommended! This can open your device to remote code execution attacks!)'
       )
       ..addFlag('coverage',
         defaultsTo: false,
@@ -79,11 +79,11 @@ class TestCommand extends FlutterCommand {
         defaultsTo: false,
         negatable: false,
         help: 'Whether to merge coverage data with "coverage/lcov.base.info".\n'
-              'Implies collecting coverage data. (Requires lcov)',
+              'Implies collecting coverage data. (Requires lcov.)',
       )
       ..addFlag('ipv6',
         negatable: false,
-        hide: true,
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
         help: 'Whether to use IPv6 for the test harness server socket.',
       )
       ..addOption('coverage-path',
@@ -93,12 +93,12 @@ class TestCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       ..addFlag('machine',
         hide: !verboseHelp,
         negatable: false,
-        help: 'Handle machine structured JSON command input\n'
+        help: 'Handle machine structured JSON command input '
               'and provide output and progress in machine friendly format.',
       )
       ..addFlag('update-goldens',
         negatable: false,
-        help: 'Whether matchesGoldenFile() calls within your test methods should '
+        help: 'Whether "matchesGoldenFile()" calls within your test methods should '
               'update the golden files rather than test for an existing match.',
       )
       ..addOption('concurrency',
@@ -110,8 +110,9 @@ class TestCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       ..addFlag('test-assets',
         defaultsTo: true,
         negatable: true,
-        help: 'Whether to build the assets bundle for testing.\n'
-              'Consider using --no-test-assets if assets are not required.',
+        help: 'Whether to build the assets bundle for testing. '
+              'This takes additional time before running the tests. '
+              'Consider using "--no-test-assets" if assets are not required.',
       )
       // --platform is not supported to be used by Flutter developers. It only
       // exists to test the Flutter framework itself and may be removed entirely
@@ -119,33 +120,47 @@ class TestCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       // `package:integration_test` instead.
       ..addOption('platform',
         allowed: const <String>['tester', 'chrome'],
-        hide: true,
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
         defaultsTo: 'tester',
+        help: 'Selects the test backend.',
+        allowedHelp: <String, String>{
+          'tester': 'Run tests using the default VM-based test environment.',
+          'chrome': '(deprecated) Run tests using the Google Chrome web browser. '
+                    'This value is intended for testing the Flutter framework '
+                    'itself and may be removed at any time.',
+        },
       )
       ..addOption('test-randomize-ordering-seed',
-        help: 'The seed to randomize the execution order of test cases.\n'
-              'Must be a 32bit unsigned integer or "random".\n'
-              'If "random", pick a random seed to use.\n'
-              'If not passed, do not randomize test case execution order.',
+        help: 'The seed to randomize the execution order of test cases within test files. '
+              'Must be a 32bit unsigned integer or the string "random", '
+              'which indicates that a seed should be selected randomly. '
+              'By default, tests run in the order they are declared.',
       )
       ..addFlag('enable-vmservice',
         defaultsTo: false,
         hide: !verboseHelp,
-        help: 'Enables the vmservice without --start-paused. This flag is '
-              'intended for use with tests that will use dart:developer to '
-              'interact with the vmservice at runtime.\n'
-              'This flag is ignored if --start-paused or coverage are requested. '
-              'The vmservice will be enabled no matter what in those cases.'
+        help: 'Enables the VM service without "--start-paused". This flag is '
+              'intended for use with tests that will use "dart:developer" to '
+              'interact with the VM service at runtime.\n'
+              'This flag is ignored if "--start-paused" or coverage are requested, as '
+              'the VM service will be enabled in those cases regardless.'
       )
       ..addOption('reporter',
         abbr: 'r',
         defaultsTo: 'compact',
-        help: 'Set how to print test results.\n'
-        '[compact] (default)         A single line, updated continuously.\n'
-        '[expanded]                  A separate line for each update.\n'
-        '[json]                      A machine-readable format (see https://dart.dev/go/test-docs/json_reporter.md).\n')
+        help: 'Set how to print test results.',
+        allowed: <String>['compact', 'expanded', 'json'],
+        allowedHelp: <String, String>{
+          'compact':  'A single line that updates dynamically.',
+          'expanded': 'A separate line for each update. May be preferred when logging to a file or in continuous integration.',
+          'json':     'A machine-readable format. See: https://dart.dev/go/test-docs/json_reporter.md',
+        },
+      )
       ..addOption('timeout',
-        help: 'The default test timeout. For example: 15s, 2x, none. Defaults to "30s"',
+        help: 'The default test timeout, specified either '
+              'in seconds (e.g. "60s"), '
+              'as a multiplier of the default timeout (e.g. "2x"), '
+              'or as the string "none" to disable the timeout entirely.',
         defaultsTo: '30s',
       );
       addDdsOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/update_packages.dart

@@ -86,19 +86,19 @@ class UpdatePackagesCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       ..addFlag(
         'paths',
         help: 'Finds paths in the dependency chain leading from package specified '
-              'in --from to package specified in --to.',
+              'in "--from" to package specified in "--to".',
         defaultsTo: false,
         negatable: false,
       )
       ..addOption(
         'from',
-        help: 'Used with flag --dependency-path. Specifies the package to begin '
+        help: 'Used with "--dependency-path". Specifies the package to begin '
               'searching dependency path from.',
       )
       ..addOption(
         'to',
-        help: 'Used with flag --dependency-path. Specifies the package that the '
-              'sought after dependency path leads to.',
+        help: 'Used with "--dependency-path". Specifies the package that the '
+              'sought-after dependency path leads to.',
       )
       ..addFlag(
         'transitive-closure',
@@ -110,20 +110,20 @@ class UpdatePackagesCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       ..addFlag(
         'consumer-only',
         help: 'Only prints the dependency graph that is the transitive closure '
-              'that a consumer of the Flutter SDK will observe (When combined '
-              'with transitive-closure)',
+              'that a consumer of the Flutter SDK will observe (when combined '
+              'with transitive-closure).',
         defaultsTo: false,
         negatable: false,
       )
       ..addFlag(
         'verify-only',
-        help: 'verifies the package checksum without changing or updating deps',
+        help: 'Verifies the package checksum without changing or updating deps.',
         defaultsTo: false,
         negatable: false,
       )
       ..addFlag(
         'offline',
-        help: 'Use cached packages instead of accessing the network',
+        help: 'Use cached packages instead of accessing the network.',
         defaultsTo: false,
         negatable: false,
       );

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/upgrade.dart

@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ import '../runner/flutter_command.dart';
 import '../version.dart';
 
 class UpgradeCommand extends FlutterCommand {
-  UpgradeCommand([UpgradeCommandRunner commandRunner])
+  UpgradeCommand({
+    @required bool verboseHelp,
+    UpgradeCommandRunner commandRunner,
+  })
     : _commandRunner = commandRunner ?? UpgradeCommandRunner() {
     argParser
       ..addFlag(
@@ -29,20 +32,22 @@ class UpgradeCommand extends FlutterCommand {
       )
       ..addFlag(
         'continue',
-        hide: true,
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
         negatable: false,
-        help: 'For the second half of the upgrade flow requiring the new '
-              'version of Flutter. Should not be invoked manually, but '
-              're-entrantly by the standard upgrade command.',
+        help: 'Trigger the second half of the upgrade flow. This should not be invoked '
+              'manually. It is used re-entrantly by the standard upgrade command after '
+              'the new version of Flutter is available, to hand off the upgrade process '
+              'from the old version to the new version.',
       )
       ..addOption(
         'working-directory',
-        hide: true,
-        help: 'Override the upgrade working directory for integration testing.'
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
+        help: 'Override the upgrade working directory. '
+              'This is only intended to enable integration testing of the tool itself.'
       )
       ..addFlag(
         'verify-only',
-        help: 'Verifies for any new flutter update, without fetching the update.',
+        help: 'Checks for any new flutter updates, without actually fetching them.',
         negatable: false,
       );
   }
@@ -138,7 +143,7 @@ class UpgradeCommandRunner {
         throwToolExit(
           'Unknown flutter tag. Abandoning upgrade to avoid destroying local '
           'changes. If it is okay to remove local changes, then re-run this '
-          'command with --force.'
+          'command with "--force".'
         );
       }
     }
@@ -150,7 +155,7 @@ class UpgradeCommandRunner {
         'upgrading. If you want to keep these changes, it is recommended that '
         'you stash them via "git stash" or else commit the changes to a local '
         'branch. If it is okay to remove local changes, then re-run this '
-        'command with --force.'
+        'command with "--force".'
       );
     }
     recordState(flutterVersion);
@@ -211,8 +216,8 @@ class UpgradeCommandRunner {
         'The tool could not verify the status of the current flutter checkout. '
         'This might be due to git not being installed or an internal error. '
         'If it is okay to ignore potential local changes, then re-run this '
-        'command with --force.'
-        '\nError: $error.'
+        'command with "--force".\n'
+        'Error: $error.'
       );
     }
     return false;

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command.dart

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import '../base/user_messages.dart';
 import '../base/utils.dart';
 import '../build_info.dart';
 import '../build_system/build_system.dart';
+import '../build_system/targets/common.dart' show kExtraFrontEndOptions, kExtraGenSnapshotOptions; // for "useLegacyNames" only
 import '../build_system/targets/icon_tree_shaker.dart' show kIconTreeShakerEnabledDefault;
 import '../bundle.dart' as bundle;
 import '../cache.dart';
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
     _requiresPubspecYaml = true;
   }
 
-  void usesWebOptions({ bool hide = true }) {
+  void usesWebOptions({ @required bool verboseHelp }) {
     argParser.addOption('web-hostname',
       defaultsTo: 'localhost',
       help:
@@ -202,13 +203,13 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
         'from. The unresolved hostname is used to launch Chrome when using '
         'the chrome Device. The name "any" may also be used to serve on any '
         'IPV4 for either the Chrome or web-server device.',
-      hide: hide,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addOption('web-port',
       defaultsTo: null,
       help: 'The host port to serve the web application from. If not provided, the tool '
         'will select a random open port on the host.',
-      hide: hide,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addOption('web-server-debug-protocol',
       allowed: <String>['sse', 'ws'],
@@ -217,7 +218,7 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
       'when using the Web Server device and Dart Debug extension. '
       'This is useful for editors/debug adapters that do not support debugging '
       'over SSE (the default protocol for Web Server/Dart Debugger extension).',
-      hide: hide,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addOption('web-server-debug-backend-protocol',
       allowed: <String>['sse', 'ws'],
@@ -226,31 +227,31 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
       'backend service when using the Web Server device. '
       'Using WebSockets can improve performance but may fail when connecting through '
       'some proxy servers.',
-      hide: hide,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addFlag('web-allow-expose-url',
       defaultsTo: false,
       help: 'Enables daemon-to-editor requests (app.exposeUrl) for exposing URLs '
         'when running on remote machines.',
-      hide: hide,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addFlag('web-run-headless',
       defaultsTo: false,
       help: 'Launches the browser in headless mode. Currently only Chrome '
         'supports this option.',
-      hide: true,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addOption('web-browser-debug-port',
       help: 'The debug port the browser should use. If not specified, a '
         'random port is selected. Currently only Chrome supports this option. '
         'It serves the Chrome DevTools Protocol '
         '(https://chromedevtools.github.io/devtools-protocol/).',
-      hide: true,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addFlag('web-enable-expression-evaluation',
       defaultsTo: true,
       help: 'Enables expression evaluation in the debugger.',
-      hide: hide,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
   }
 
@@ -259,7 +260,7 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
       abbr: 't',
       defaultsTo: bundle.defaultMainPath,
       help: 'The main entry-point file of the application, as run on the device.\n'
-            'If the --target option is omitted, but a file name is provided on '
+            'If the "--target" option is omitted, but a file name is provided on '
             'the command line, then that is used instead.',
       valueHelp: 'path');
     _usesTargetOption = true;
@@ -285,8 +286,8 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
 
   /// Adds flags for using a specific filesystem root and scheme.
   ///
-  /// [hide] indicates whether or not to hide these options when the user asks
-  /// for help.
+  /// The `hide` argument indicates whether or not to hide these options when
+  /// the user asks for help.
   void usesFilesystemOptions({ @required bool hide }) {
     argParser
       ..addOption('output-dill',
@@ -295,27 +296,28 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
       )
       ..addMultiOption(FlutterOptions.kFileSystemRoot,
         hide: hide,
-        help: 'Specify the path, that is used as root in a virtual file system\n'
-            'for compilation. Input file name should be specified as Uri in\n'
-            'filesystem-scheme scheme. Use only in Dart 2 mode.\n'
-            'Requires --output-dill option to be explicitly specified.\n',
+        help: 'Specify the path that is used as the root of a virtual file system '
+              'during compilation. The input file name should be specified as a URL '
+              'using the scheme given in "--${FlutterOptions.kFileSystemScheme}".\n'
+              'Requires the "--output-dill" option to be explicitly specified.',
       )
       ..addOption(FlutterOptions.kFileSystemScheme,
         defaultsTo: 'org-dartlang-root',
         hide: hide,
-        help: 'Specify the scheme that is used for virtual file system used in\n'
-            'compilation. See more details on filesystem-root option.\n',
+        help: 'Specify the scheme that is used for virtual file system used in '
+              'compilation. See also the "--${FlutterOptions.kFileSystemRoot}" option.',
       );
   }
 
   /// Adds options for connecting to the Dart VM observatory port.
-  void usesPortOptions() {
+  void usesPortOptions({ @required bool verboseHelp }) {
     argParser.addOption(observatoryPortOption,
-        help: '(deprecated use host-vmservice-port instead) '
+        help: '(deprecated; use host-vmservice-port instead) '
               'Listen to the given port for an observatory debugger connection.\n'
-              'Specifying port 0 (the default) will find a random free port.\nNote: '
+              'Specifying port 0 (the default) will find a random free port.\n '
               'if the Dart Development Service (DDS) is enabled, this will not be the port '
               'of the Observatory instance advertised on the command line.',
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     argParser.addOption('device-vmservice-port',
       help: 'Look for vmservice connections only from the specified port.\n'
@@ -335,16 +337,16 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
       kEnableDevTools,
       hide: !verboseHelp,
       defaultsTo: true,
-      help: 'Enable (or disable, with --no-$kEnableDevTools) the launching of the '
+      help: 'Enable (or disable, with "--no-$kEnableDevTools") the launching of the '
             'Flutter DevTools debugger and profiler. '
-            'If specified, --$kDevToolsServerAddress is ignored.'
+            'If specified, "--$kDevToolsServerAddress" is ignored.'
     );
     argParser.addOption(
       kDevToolsServerAddress,
       hide: !verboseHelp,
       help: 'When this value is provided, the Flutter tool will not spin up a '
             'new DevTools server instance, and will instead use the one provided '
-            'at the given address. Ignored if --no-$kEnableDevTools is specified.'
+            'at the given address. Ignored if "--no-$kEnableDevTools" is specified.'
     );
   }
 
@@ -453,13 +455,13 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
 
   bool get disablePortPublication => !boolArg('publish-port');
 
-  void usesIpv6Flag() {
+  void usesIpv6Flag({@required bool verboseHelp}) {
     argParser.addFlag(ipv6Flag,
-      hide: true,
       negatable: false,
       help: 'Binds to IPv6 localhost instead of IPv4 when the flutter tool '
             'forwards the host port to a device port. Not used when the '
-            '--debug-port flag is not set.',
+            '"--debug-port" flag is not set.',
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
     _usesIpv6Flag = true;
   }
@@ -471,8 +473,8 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
         help: 'An identifier used as an internal version number.\n'
               'Each build must have a unique identifier to differentiate it from previous builds.\n'
               'It is used to determine whether one build is more recent than another, with higher numbers indicating more recent build.\n'
-              "On Android it is used as 'versionCode'.\n"
-              "On Xcode builds it is used as 'CFBundleVersion'",
+              'On Android it is used as "versionCode".\n'
+              'On Xcode builds it is used as "CFBundleVersion".',
     );
   }
 
@@ -480,18 +482,18 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
     argParser.addOption('build-name',
         help: 'A "x.y.z" string used as the version number shown to users.\n'
               'For each new version of your app, you will provide a version number to differentiate it from previous versions.\n'
-              "On Android it is used as 'versionName'.\n"
-              "On Xcode builds it is used as 'CFBundleShortVersionString'",
+              'On Android it is used as "versionName".\n'
+              'On Xcode builds it is used as "CFBundleShortVersionString".',
         valueHelp: 'x.y.z');
   }
 
-  void usesDartDefineOption() {
+  void usesDartDefineOption({ bool useLegacyNames = false }) {
     argParser.addMultiOption(
-      FlutterOptions.kDartDefinesOption,
+      useLegacyNames ? kDartDefines : FlutterOptions.kDartDefinesOption,
       help: 'Additional key-value pairs that will be available as constants '
             'from the String.fromEnvironment, bool.fromEnvironment, int.fromEnvironment, '
             'and double.fromEnvironment constructors.\n'
-            'Multiple defines can be passed by repeating --dart-define multiple times.',
+            'Multiple defines can be passed by repeating "--${FlutterOptions.kDartDefinesOption}" multiple times.',
       valueHelp: 'foo=bar',
       splitCommas: false,
     );
@@ -501,10 +503,12 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
     argParser.addOption('web-renderer',
       defaultsTo: 'auto',
       allowed: <String>['auto', 'canvaskit', 'html'],
-      help: 'The renderer implementation to use when building for the web. Possible values are:\n'
-            'html - always use the HTML renderer. This renderer uses a combination of HTML, CSS, SVG, 2D Canvas, and WebGL. This is the default.\n'
-            'canvaskit - always use the CanvasKit renderer. This renderer uses WebGL and WebAssembly to render graphics.\n'
-            'auto - use the HTML renderer on mobile devices, and CanvasKit on desktop devices.',
+      help: 'The renderer implementation to use when building for the web.',
+      allowedHelp: <String, String>{
+        'html': 'Always use the HTML renderer. This renderer uses a combination of HTML, CSS, SVG, 2D Canvas, and WebGL. This is the default.',
+        'canvaskit': 'Always use the CanvasKit renderer. This renderer uses WebGL and WebAssembly to render graphics.',
+        'auto': 'Use the HTML renderer on mobile devices, and CanvasKit on desktop devices.',
+      }
     );
   }
 
@@ -534,7 +538,7 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
         && argResults.wasParsed(FlutterOptions.kDeviceTimeout)) {
       final int timeoutSeconds = int.tryParse(stringArg(FlutterOptions.kDeviceTimeout));
       if (timeoutSeconds == null) {
-        throwToolExit( 'Could not parse --${FlutterOptions.kDeviceTimeout} argument. It must be an integer.');
+        throwToolExit( 'Could not parse "--${FlutterOptions.kDeviceTimeout}" argument. It must be an integer.');
       }
       _deviceDiscoveryTimeout = Duration(seconds: timeoutSeconds);
     }
@@ -543,8 +547,8 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
   Duration _deviceDiscoveryTimeout;
 
   void addBuildModeFlags({
+    @required bool verboseHelp,
     bool defaultToRelease = true,
-    bool verboseHelp = false,
     bool excludeDebug = false,
     bool excludeRelease = false,
   }) {
@@ -576,13 +580,13 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
   void addSplitDebugInfoOption() {
     argParser.addOption(FlutterOptions.kSplitDebugInfoOption,
       help: 'In a release build, this flag reduces application size by storing '
-        'Dart program symbols in a separate file on the host rather than in the '
-        'application. The value of the flag should be a directory where program '
-        'symbol files can be stored for later use. These symbol files contain '
-        'the information needed to symbolize Dart stack traces. For an app built '
-        "with this flag, the 'flutter symbolize' command with the right program "
-        'symbol file is required to obtain a human readable stack trace.\n'
-        'This flag cannot be combined with --analyze-size',
+            'Dart program symbols in a separate file on the host rather than in the '
+            'application. The value of the flag should be a directory where program '
+            'symbol files can be stored for later use. These symbol files contain '
+            'the information needed to symbolize Dart stack traces. For an app built '
+            'with this flag, the "flutter symbolize" command with the right program '
+            'symbol file is required to obtain a human readable stack trace.\n'
+            'This flag cannot be combined with "--${FlutterOptions.kAnalyzeSize}".',
       valueHelp: 'v1.2.3/',
     );
   }
@@ -590,17 +594,18 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
   void addDartObfuscationOption() {
     argParser.addFlag(FlutterOptions.kDartObfuscationOption,
       help: 'In a release build, this flag removes identifiers and replaces them '
-        'with randomized values for the purposes of source code obfuscation. This '
-        'flag must always be combined with "--split-debug-info" option, the '
-        'mapping between the values and the original identifiers is stored in the '
-        'symbol map created in the specified directory. For an app built with this '
-        'flag, the \'flutter symbolize\' command with the right program '
-        'symbol file is required to obtain a human readable stack trace.\n\n'
-        'Because all identifiers are renamed, methods like Object.runtimeType, '
-        'Type.toString, Enum.toString, Stacktrace.toString, Symbol.toString '
-        '(for constant symbols or those generated by runtime system) will '
-        'return obfuscated results. Any code or tests that rely on exact names '
-        'will break.'
+            'with randomized values for the purposes of source code obfuscation. This '
+            'flag must always be combined with "--${FlutterOptions.kSplitDebugInfoOption}" option, the '
+            'mapping between the values and the original identifiers is stored in the '
+            'symbol map created in the specified directory. For an app built with this '
+            'flag, the "flutter symbolize" command with the right program '
+            'symbol file is required to obtain a human readable stack trace.\n'
+            '\n'
+            'Because all identifiers are renamed, methods like Object.runtimeType, '
+            'Type.toString, Enum.toString, Stacktrace.toString, Symbol.toString '
+            '(for constant symbols or those generated by runtime system) will '
+            'return obfuscated results. Any code or tests that rely on exact names '
+            'will break.'
     );
   }
 
@@ -625,11 +630,11 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
     );
   }
 
-  void addShrinkingFlag() {
+  void addShrinkingFlag({ @required bool verboseHelp }) {
     argParser.addFlag('shrink',
       negatable: true,
-      hide: true,
-      help: 'This flag is deprecated. Code shrinking is always enabled in release builds. '
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
+      help: 'This flag has no effect. Code shrinking is always enabled in release builds. '
             'To learn more, see: https://developer.android.com/studio/build/shrink-code'
     );
   }
@@ -655,21 +660,28 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
 
   /// Enables support for the hidden options --extra-front-end-options and
   /// --extra-gen-snapshot-options.
-  void usesExtraDartFlagOptions() {
-    argParser.addMultiOption(FlutterOptions.kExtraFrontEndOptions,
+  void usesExtraDartFlagOptions({ @required bool verboseHelp, bool useLegacyNames = false }) {
+    argParser.addMultiOption(useLegacyNames ? kExtraFrontEndOptions : FlutterOptions.kExtraFrontEndOptions,
+      help: 'A comma-separated list of additional command line arguments that will be passed directly to the Dart front end. '
+            'For example, "--${FlutterOptions.kExtraFrontEndOptions}=--enable-experiment=nonfunction-type-aliases".',
+      valueHelp: '--foo,--bar',
       splitCommas: true,
-      hide: true,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
-    argParser.addMultiOption(FlutterOptions.kExtraGenSnapshotOptions,
+    argParser.addMultiOption(useLegacyNames ? kExtraGenSnapshotOptions : FlutterOptions.kExtraGenSnapshotOptions,
+      help: 'A comma-separated list of additional command line arguments that will be passed directly to the Dart native compiler. '
+            '(Only used in "--profile" or "--release" builds.)'
+            'For example, "--${FlutterOptions.kExtraGenSnapshotOptions}=--no-strip".',
+      valueHelp: '--foo,--bar',
       splitCommas: true,
-      hide: true,
+      hide: !verboseHelp,
     );
   }
 
   void usesFuchsiaOptions({ bool hide = false }) {
     argParser.addOption(
       'target-model',
-      help: 'Target model that determines what core libraries are available',
+      help: 'Target model that determines what core libraries are available.',
       defaultsTo: 'flutter',
       hide: hide,
       allowed: const <String>['flutter', 'flutter_runner'],
@@ -678,7 +690,7 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
       'module',
       abbr: 'm',
       hide: hide,
-      help: 'The name of the module (required if attaching to a fuchsia device)',
+      help: 'The name of the module (required if attaching to a fuchsia device).',
       valueHelp: 'module-name',
     );
   }
@@ -687,9 +699,8 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
     argParser.addMultiOption(
       FlutterOptions.kEnableExperiment,
       help:
-        'The name of an experimental Dart feature to enable. For more info '
-        'see: https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/blob/master/docs/process/'
-        'experimental-flags.md',
+        'The name of an experimental Dart feature to enable. For more information see: '
+        'https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/blob/master/docs/process/experimental-flags.md',
       hide: hide,
     );
   }
@@ -708,10 +719,10 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
     argParser.addFlag(
       FlutterOptions.kAndroidGradleDaemon,
       help: 'Whether to enable the Gradle daemon when performing an Android build. '
-        'Starting the daemon is the default behavior of the gradle wrapper script created '
-        ' in a Flutter project. Setting this flag to false corresponds to passing '
-        "'--no-daemon' to the gradle wrapper script. This flag will cause the daemon "
-        'process to terminate after the build is completed',
+            'Starting the daemon is the default behavior of the gradle wrapper script created '
+            'in a Flutter project. Setting this flag to false corresponds to passing '
+            '"--no-daemon" to the gradle wrapper script. This flag will cause the daemon '
+            'process to terminate after the build is completed.',
       defaultsTo: true,
       hide: hide,
     );
@@ -725,13 +736,13 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
         'the correct nullability of native (such as in dart:html) and external '
         '(such as with JS interop) types. This is enabled by default but only takes '
         'effect in sound mode. To report an issue with a null assertion failure in '
-        'dart:html or the other dart web libraries, please file a bug at '
-        'https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/issues/labels/web-libraries .'
+        'dart:html or the other dart web libraries, please file a bug at: '
+        'https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/issues/labels/web-libraries'
     );
   }
 
   /// Adds build options common to all of the desktop build commands.
-  void addCommonDesktopBuildOptions({ bool verboseHelp = false }) {
+  void addCommonDesktopBuildOptions({ @required bool verboseHelp }) {
     addBuildModeFlags(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     addBuildPerformanceFile(hide: !verboseHelp);
     addBundleSkSLPathOption(hide: !verboseHelp);
@@ -742,7 +753,7 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
     addTreeShakeIconsFlag();
     usesAnalyzeSizeFlag();
     usesDartDefineOption();
-    usesExtraDartFlagOptions();
+    usesExtraDartFlagOptions(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
     usesPubOption();
     usesTargetOption();
     usesTrackWidgetCreation(verboseHelp: verboseHelp);
@@ -765,8 +776,8 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
       releaseResult,
     ];
     if (modeFlags.where((bool flag) => flag).length > 1) {
-      throw UsageException('Only one of --debug, --profile, --jit-release, '
-                           'or --release can be specified.', null);
+      throw UsageException('Only one of "--debug", "--profile", "--jit-release", '
+                           'or "--release" can be specified.', null);
     }
     if (debugResult) {
       return BuildMode.debug;
@@ -807,10 +818,10 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
       FlutterOptions.kAnalyzeSize,
       defaultsTo: false,
       help: 'Whether to produce additional profile information for artifact output size. '
-        'This flag is only supported on release builds. When building for Android, a single '
-        'ABI must be specified at a time with the --target-platform flag. When building for iOS, '
-        'only the symbols from the arm64 architecture are used to analyze code size.\n'
-        'This flag cannot be combined with --split-debug-info.'
+            'This flag is only supported on "--release" builds. When building for Android, a single '
+            'ABI must be specified at a time with the "--target-platform" flag. When building for iOS, '
+            'only the symbols from the arm64 architecture are used to analyze code size.\n'
+            'This flag cannot be combined with "--${FlutterOptions.kSplitDebugInfoOption}".'
     );
   }
 
@@ -914,10 +925,10 @@ abstract class FlutterCommand extends Command<void> {
     }
     final BuildMode buildMode = forcedBuildMode ?? getBuildMode();
     if (buildMode != BuildMode.release && codeSizeDirectory != null) {
-      throwToolExit('--analyze-size can only be used on release builds.');
+      throwToolExit('"--${FlutterOptions.kAnalyzeSize}" can only be used on release builds.');
     }
     if (codeSizeDirectory != null && splitDebugInfoPath != null) {
-      throwToolExit('--analyze-size cannot be combined with --split-debug-info.');
+      throwToolExit('"--${FlutterOptions.kAnalyzeSize}" cannot be combined with "--${FlutterOptions.kSplitDebugInfoOption}".');
     }
 
     final bool treeShakeIcons = argParser.options.containsKey('tree-shake-icons')

packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart

@@ -45,10 +45,13 @@ class FlutterCommandRunner extends CommandRunner<void> {
         abbr: 'v',
         negatable: false,
         help: 'Noisy logging, including all shell commands executed.\n'
-              'If used with --help, shows hidden options.');
+              'If used with "--help", shows hidden options. '
+              'If used with "flutter doctor", shows additional diagnostic information. '
+              '(Use "-vv" to force verbose logging in those cases.)');
     argParser.addFlag('prefixed-errors',
         negatable: false,
-        hide: true,
+        help: 'Causes lines sent to stderr to be prefixed with "ERROR:".',
+        hide: !verboseHelp,
         defaultsTo: false);
     argParser.addFlag('quiet',
         negatable: false,
@@ -62,8 +65,8 @@ class FlutterCommandRunner extends CommandRunner<void> {
     argParser.addOption('wrap-column',
         hide: !verboseHelp,
         help: 'Sets the output wrap column. If not set, uses the width of the terminal. No '
-            'wrapping occurs if not writing to a terminal. Use --no-wrap to turn off wrapping '
-            'when connected to a terminal.',
+              'wrapping occurs if not writing to a terminal. Use "--no-wrap" to turn off wrapping '
+              'when connected to a terminal.',
         defaultsTo: null);
     argParser.addOption('device-id',
         abbr: 'd',
@@ -74,7 +77,7 @@ class FlutterCommandRunner extends CommandRunner<void> {
     argParser.addFlag('machine',
         negatable: false,
         hide: !verboseHelp,
-        help: 'When used with the --version flag, outputs the information using JSON.');
+        help: 'When used with the "--version" flag, outputs the information using JSON.');
     argParser.addFlag('color',
         negatable: true,
         hide: !verboseHelp,
@@ -106,7 +109,7 @@ class FlutterCommandRunner extends CommandRunner<void> {
         hide: !verboseHelp,
         help: 'Name of a build output within the engine out directory, if you are building Flutter locally.\n'
               'Use this to select a specific version of the engine if you have built multiple engine targets.\n'
-              'This path is relative to --local-engine-src-path/out.');
+              'This path is relative to "--local-engine-src-path" or "--local-engine-src-out" (q.v.).');
 
     if (verboseHelp) {
       argParser.addSeparator('Options for testing the "flutter" tool itself:');
@@ -114,12 +117,12 @@ class FlutterCommandRunner extends CommandRunner<void> {
     argParser.addFlag('show-test-device',
         negatable: false,
         hide: !verboseHelp,
-        help: "List the special 'flutter-tester' device in device listings. "
-              'This headless device is used to\ntest Flutter tooling.');
+        help: 'List the special "flutter-tester" device in device listings. '
+              'This headless device is used to test Flutter tooling.');
     argParser.addFlag('show-web-server-device',
         negatable: false,
         hide: !verboseHelp,
-        help: "List the special 'web-server' device in device listings. "
+        help: 'List the special "web-server" device in device listings.',
     );
   }
 
@@ -275,7 +278,7 @@ class FlutterCommandRunner extends CommandRunner<void> {
         }
 
         if (machineFlag) {
-          throwToolExit('The --machine flag is only valid with the --version flag.', exitCode: 2);
+          throwToolExit('The "--machine" flag is only valid with the "--version" flag.', exitCode: 2);
         }
         await super.runCommand(topLevelResults);
       },

packages/flutter_tools/test/commands.shard/permeable/upgrade_test.dart

@@ -434,7 +434,10 @@ void main() {
         });
 
         testUsingContext('upgrade continue prints welcome message', () async {
-          final UpgradeCommand upgradeCommand = UpgradeCommand(fakeCommandRunner);
+          final UpgradeCommand upgradeCommand = UpgradeCommand(
+            verboseHelp: false,
+            commandRunner: fakeCommandRunner,
+          );
 
           await createTestCommandRunner(upgradeCommand).run(
             <String>[

packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/args_test.dart

+// Copyright 2014 The Flutter Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// @dart = 2.8
+
+import 'package:args/args.dart';
+import 'package:args/command_runner.dart';
+import 'package:flutter_tools/executable.dart' as executable;
+import 'package:flutter_tools/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart';
+
+import '../src/common.dart';
+import '../src/testbed.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  test('Help for command line arguments is consistently styled and complete', () => Testbed().run(() {
+    final FlutterCommandRunner runner = FlutterCommandRunner(verboseHelp: true);
+    executable.generateCommands(
+      verboseHelp: true,
+      verbose: true,
+    ).forEach(runner.addCommand);
+    verifyCommandRunner(runner);
+  }));
+}
+
+void verifyCommandRunner(CommandRunner<Object> runner) {
+  expect(runner.argParser, isNotNull, reason: '${runner.runtimeType} has no argParser');
+  expect(runner.argParser.allowsAnything, isFalse, reason: '${runner.runtimeType} allows anything');
+  expect(runner.argParser.allowTrailingOptions, isFalse, reason: '${runner.runtimeType} allows trailing options');
+  verifyOptions('the global argument "', runner.argParser.options.values);
+  runner.commands.values.forEach(verifyCommand);
+}
+
+void verifyCommand(Command<Object> runner) {
+  expect(runner.argParser, isNotNull, reason: 'command ${runner.name} has no argParser');
+  verifyOptions('"flutter ${runner.name} ', runner.argParser.options.values);
+  runner.subcommands.values.forEach(verifyCommand);
+}
+
+// Patterns for arguments names.
+// The "ExtraFrontEndOptions", "ExtraGenSnapshotOptions", and "DartDefines" cases are special cases
+// that we should remove; search for "useLegacyNames" in commands/assemble.dart and other files.
+// TODO(ianh): consider changing all underscores to hyphens in argument names when we can do aliases.
+// That depends on being able to have argument aliases: https://github.com/dart-lang/args/issues/181
+final RegExp _allowedArgumentNamePattern = RegExp(r'^([-a-z0-9_]+|ExtraFrontEndOptions|ExtraGenSnapshotOptions|DartDefines)$');
+
+// Patterns for help messages.
+final RegExp _bannedLeadingPatterns = RegExp(r'^[-a-z]', multiLine: true);
+final RegExp _allowedTrailingPatterns = RegExp(r'([^ ][.!:]\)?|: https?://[^ ]+[^.]|^)$');
+final RegExp _bannedQuotePatterns = RegExp(r" '|' |'\.|\('|'\)|`");
+final RegExp _bannedArgumentReferencePatterns = RegExp(r'[^"=]--[^ ]');
+final RegExp _questionablePatterns = RegExp(r'[a-z]\.[A-Z]');
+const String _needHelp = 'Every option must have help explaining what it does, even if it\'s '
+                         'for testing purposes, because this is the bare minimum of '
+                         'documentation we can add just for ourselves. If it is not intended '
+                         'for developers, then use "hide: !verboseHelp" to only show the '
+                         'help when people run with "--help --verbose".';
+
+const String _header = ' Comment: ';
+
+void verifyOptions(String command, Iterable<Option> options) {
+  assert(command.contains('"'));
+  for (final Option option in options) {
+    // If you think you need to add an exception here, please ask Hixie (but he'll say no).
+    expect(option.name, matches(_allowedArgumentNamePattern), reason: '$_header$command--${option.name}" is not a valid name for a command line argument. (Is it all lowercase?)');
+    expect(option.hide, isFalse, reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" is always hidden. $_needHelp');
+    expect(option.help, isNotNull, reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" has null help. $_needHelp');
+    expect(option.help, isNotEmpty, reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" has empty help. $_needHelp');
+    expect(option.help, isNot(matches(_bannedLeadingPatterns)), reason: '${_header}A line in the help for $command--${option.name}" starts with a lowercase letter. For stylistic consistency, all help messages must start with a capital letter.');
+    expect(option.help, isNot(startsWith('(Deprecated')), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" should start with lowercase "(deprecated)" for consistency with other deprecated commands.');
+    expect(option.help, isNot(startsWith('(Required')), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" should start with lowercase "(required)" for consistency with other deprecated commands.');
+    expect(option.help, isNot(contains('?')), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" has a question mark. Generally we prefer the passive voice for help messages.');
+    expect(option.help, isNot(contains('Note:')), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" uses "Note:". See our style guide entry about "empty prose".');
+    expect(option.help, isNot(contains('Note that')), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" uses "Note that". See our style guide entry about "empty prose".');
+    expect(option.help, isNot(matches(_bannedQuotePatterns)), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" uses single quotes or backticks instead of double quotes in the help message. For consistency we use double quotes throughout.');
+    expect(option.help, isNot(matches(_questionablePatterns)), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" may have a typo. (If it does not you may have to update args_test.dart, sorry. Search for "_questionablePatterns")');
+    if (option.defaultsTo != null) {
+      expect(option.help, isNot(contains('Default')), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" mentions the default value but that is redundant with the defaultsTo option which is also specified (and preferred).');
+    }
+    expect(option.help, isNot(matches(_bannedArgumentReferencePatterns)), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" contains the string "--" in an unexpected way. If it\'s trying to mention another argument, it should be quoted, as in "--foo".');
+    for (final String line in option.help.split('\n')) {
+      if (!line.startsWith('    ')) {
+        expect(line, isNot(contains('  ')), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" has excessive whitespace (check e.g. for double spaces after periods or round line breaks in the source).');
+        expect(line, matches(_allowedTrailingPatterns), reason: '${_header}A line in the help for $command--${option.name}" does not end with the expected period that a full sentence should end with. (If the help ends with a URL, place it after a colon, don\'t leave a trailing period; if it\'s sample code, prefix the line with four spaces.)');
+      }
+    }
+    expect(option.help, isNot(endsWith(':')), reason: '${_header}Help for $command--${option.name}" ends with a colon, which seems unlikely to be correct.');
+    // TODO(ianh): add some checking for embedded URLs to make sure we're consistent on how we format those.
+    // TODO(ianh): arguably we should ban help text that starts with "Whether to..." since by definition a flag is to enable a feature, so the "whether to" is redundant.
+    // TODO(ianh): consider looking for strings that use the term "URI" instead of "URL".
+  }
+}

packages/flutter_tools/test/integration.shard/analyze_size_test.dart

@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ void main() {
 
     print(result.stdout);
     print(result.stderr);
-    expect(result.stderr.toString(), contains('--analyze-size can only be used on release builds'));
+    expect(result.stderr.toString(), contains('"--analyze-size" can only be used on release builds'));
 
     expect(result.exitCode, 1);
   });
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ void main() {
       '--split-debug-info=infos'
     ], workingDirectory: fileSystem.path.join(getFlutterRoot(), 'examples', 'hello_world'));
 
-    expect(result.stderr.toString(), contains('--analyze-size cannot be combined with --split-debug-info'));
+    expect(result.stderr.toString(), contains('"--analyze-size" cannot be combined with "--split-debug-info"'));
 
     expect(result.exitCode, 1);
   });