Expo Development Builds

Add the Ansight React Native bridge to an Expo development build, initialize it from app bootstrap, and verify the first connection.

Open your Expo app repository in your coding agent and send:

Copyable prompt:

Use https://www.ansight.ai/skills/react-native/ansight-install-react-native.md to install Ansight in this Expo development build. Verify a connected session and show me the changes.

The React Native installation skill checks the native development client and SDK bridge. The steps below are the manual reference.

Expo Go is not supported. Ansight includes native iOS and Android modules, so use a custom development client or an EAS development build.

1. Add the package

npx expo install expo-dev-client @ansight/react-native

Generate or update the native projects and launch one development client:

npx expo prebuild
npx expo run:ios
# or: npx expo run:android

If the project does not commit native folders, use its normal prebuild process or create an EAS development build instead:

eas build --profile development --platform ios
# or: eas build --profile development --platform android

2. Initialize the development build

Initialize once from index.ts / index.js before app registration, or from a guarded useEffect(...) in the root app component:

import Ansight from "@ansight/react-native";

let ansightStarted = false;

export async function startAnsight(): Promise<void> {
  if (!__DEV__ || ansightStarted) {
    return;
  }
  ansightStarted = true;

  await Ansight.initializeAndActivate({
    useNativeAllInOneDefaults: true,
    clientName: "Expo App",
    toolGuard: "readOnly",
  });
}

Call void startAnsight(); once during app bootstrap. Use a separate development target when the native package must be absent from distributable builds.

3. Add stable test ids

<Pressable testID="login-button" onPress={signIn}>
  <Text>Sign in</Text>
</Pressable>

Stable testID values make live and recorded React trees easier for developers and agents to query.

4. Run and verify

Start the host in one terminal:

ansight host run

Launch the custom development client. From another terminal, confirm its session and tool catalog:

ansight session list --connected --json
ansight app tools <session-id> --detail summary --include-unavailable --max-results 50 --json

A physical device requires the one-time enrollment flow.

Motion capture

Expo development builds use the same app-fed motion API as the React Native bridge. See React Native Motion Capture to enable it and forward observations from an app-owned motion handler.

Troubleshooting

  • The app is still running in Expo Go: install expo-dev-client, rebuild, and open the custom client instead.
  • The native module is missing: rerun npx expo prebuild --clean, reinstall pods when using iOS locally, and rebuild the client.
  • The app does not connect: confirm ansight host run is active, run ansight doctor, and check that the app is using the development build.

Continue with React Native Configuration and React Native Security after the first connection works.