home / skills / a5c-ai / babysitter / react-native-dev

This skill provides deep React Native integration to execute CLI commands, generate components, optimize performance, and debug across iOS and Android.

npx playbooks add skill a5c-ai/babysitter --skill react-native-dev

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (2)
SKILL.md
8.7 KB
---
name: React Native Development
description: Deep integration with React Native ecosystem for cross-platform mobile development
version: 1.0.0
category: Cross-Platform Development
slug: react-native-dev
status: active
---

# React Native Development Skill

## Overview

This skill provides deep integration with the React Native ecosystem for cross-platform mobile development. It enables execution of React Native CLI commands, component generation, build optimization, and comprehensive debugging capabilities.

## Allowed Tools

- `bash` - Execute React Native CLI, Expo CLI, and npm/yarn commands
- `read` - Analyze React Native project files, configurations, and components
- `write` - Generate and modify React Native components and configurations
- `edit` - Update existing React Native code and configurations
- `glob` - Search for React Native components and configuration files
- `grep` - Search for patterns in React Native codebase

## Capabilities

### Core Development

1. **React Native CLI Operations**
   - Initialize new React Native projects
   - Run Metro bundler with custom configurations
   - Execute platform-specific builds (iOS/Android)
   - Link native dependencies
   - Generate native code bridges

2. **Expo CLI Operations**
   - Create and manage Expo projects
   - Configure EAS Build and EAS Submit
   - Manage Expo config plugins
   - Handle over-the-air updates
   - Prebuild for bare workflow ejection

3. **Component Generation**
   - Generate TypeScript-based functional components
   - Create custom hooks with proper typing
   - Implement React Navigation screens and navigators
   - Build reusable UI component libraries
   - Generate Storybook stories for components

### State Management

4. **Redux Toolkit Integration**
   - Generate Redux slices with createSlice
   - Configure RTK Query for API caching
   - Implement async thunks with proper typing
   - Set up Redux DevTools integration
   - Create selectors with createSelector

5. **Zustand/Jotai/Recoil**
   - Configure lightweight state stores
   - Implement atomic state patterns
   - Set up persistence middleware
   - Create derived state computations

### Navigation

6. **React Navigation**
   - Configure Stack, Tab, and Drawer navigators
   - Implement type-safe navigation with TypeScript
   - Set up deep linking configurations
   - Handle authentication flows
   - Implement nested navigation patterns

### Performance

7. **Performance Optimization**
   - Configure Hermes JavaScript engine
   - Implement FlatList/FlashList optimizations
   - Set up React Native Performance monitoring
   - Analyze and fix re-render issues
   - Implement lazy loading and code splitting

8. **Native Module Integration**
   - Configure TurboModules and JSI
   - Bridge native code (Objective-C/Swift/Java/Kotlin)
   - Set up Codegen for native modules
   - Debug native crashes and issues

### Testing

9. **Testing Configuration**
   - Configure Jest with React Native preset
   - Set up React Native Testing Library
   - Implement component snapshot testing
   - Configure Detox for E2E testing
   - Mock native modules effectively

### Debugging

10. **Debug Tools**
    - Configure Flipper plugins
    - Set up Reactotron integration
    - Use React DevTools for component inspection
    - Debug network requests
    - Profile JavaScript performance

## Target Processes

This skill integrates with the following processes:

- `react-native-app-setup.js` - Project initialization and configuration
- `cross-platform-ui-library.js` - Shared component development
- `mobile-testing-strategy.js` - Test implementation and coverage
- `mobile-performance-optimization.js` - Performance tuning

## Dependencies

### Required

- Node.js 18+
- npm or yarn package manager
- React Native CLI (`npx react-native`)
- Watchman (macOS)

### Optional

- Expo CLI (`npx expo`)
- Android Studio with Android SDK
- Xcode (macOS only)
- Flipper
- Reactotron

## Configuration

### Project Structure

```
project-root/
├── src/
│   ├── components/
│   ├── screens/
│   ├── navigation/
│   ├── store/
│   ├── hooks/
│   ├── services/
│   ├── utils/
│   └── types/
├── __tests__/
├── android/
├── ios/
├── metro.config.js
├── babel.config.js
├── tsconfig.json
└── package.json
```

### Metro Configuration

```javascript
// metro.config.js
const { getDefaultConfig, mergeConfig } = require('@react-native/metro-config');

const config = {
  transformer: {
    getTransformOptions: async () => ({
      transform: {
        experimentalImportSupport: false,
        inlineRequires: true,
      },
    }),
  },
};

module.exports = mergeConfig(getDefaultConfig(__dirname), config);
```

## Usage Examples

### Initialize Project

```bash
# Create new React Native project
npx react-native init MyApp --template react-native-template-typescript

# Or with Expo
npx create-expo-app MyApp --template expo-template-blank-typescript
```

### Generate Component

```typescript
// src/components/Button/Button.tsx
import React from 'react';
import { TouchableOpacity, Text, StyleSheet, ViewStyle, TextStyle } from 'react-native';

interface ButtonProps {
  title: string;
  onPress: () => void;
  variant?: 'primary' | 'secondary';
  disabled?: boolean;
}

export const Button: React.FC<ButtonProps> = ({
  title,
  onPress,
  variant = 'primary',
  disabled = false,
}) => {
  return (
    <TouchableOpacity
      style={[styles.button, styles[variant], disabled && styles.disabled]}
      onPress={onPress}
      disabled={disabled}
      activeOpacity={0.8}
    >
      <Text style={[styles.text, styles[`${variant}Text`]]}>{title}</Text>
    </TouchableOpacity>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  button: {
    paddingVertical: 12,
    paddingHorizontal: 24,
    borderRadius: 8,
    alignItems: 'center',
  },
  primary: {
    backgroundColor: '#007AFF',
  },
  secondary: {
    backgroundColor: 'transparent',
    borderWidth: 1,
    borderColor: '#007AFF',
  },
  disabled: {
    opacity: 0.5,
  },
  text: {
    fontSize: 16,
    fontWeight: '600',
  },
  primaryText: {
    color: '#FFFFFF',
  },
  secondaryText: {
    color: '#007AFF',
  },
});
```

### Configure Navigation

```typescript
// src/navigation/RootNavigator.tsx
import React from 'react';
import { NavigationContainer } from '@react-navigation/native';
import { createNativeStackNavigator } from '@react-navigation/native-stack';
import { HomeScreen } from '../screens/HomeScreen';
import { DetailsScreen } from '../screens/DetailsScreen';

export type RootStackParamList = {
  Home: undefined;
  Details: { id: string };
};

const Stack = createNativeStackNavigator<RootStackParamList>();

export const RootNavigator: React.FC = () => {
  return (
    <NavigationContainer>
      <Stack.Navigator initialRouteName="Home">
        <Stack.Screen name="Home" component={HomeScreen} />
        <Stack.Screen name="Details" component={DetailsScreen} />
      </Stack.Navigator>
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
};
```

### Configure Redux Store

```typescript
// src/store/store.ts
import { configureStore } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';
import { setupListeners } from '@reduxjs/toolkit/query';
import { api } from './api';
import userReducer from './slices/userSlice';

export const store = configureStore({
  reducer: {
    user: userReducer,
    [api.reducerPath]: api.reducer,
  },
  middleware: (getDefaultMiddleware) =>
    getDefaultMiddleware().concat(api.middleware),
});

setupListeners(store.dispatch);

export type RootState = ReturnType<typeof store.getState>;
export type AppDispatch = typeof store.dispatch;
```

## Quality Gates

### Code Quality

- TypeScript strict mode enabled
- ESLint with React Native config
- Prettier for code formatting
- No any types in production code

### Performance Benchmarks

- App launch time < 2 seconds
- FPS maintained at 60fps during scrolling
- Memory usage within platform limits
- Bundle size optimized with tree shaking

### Test Coverage

- Unit test coverage > 80%
- Component test coverage > 70%
- E2E critical paths covered

## Error Handling

### Common Issues

1. **Metro bundler cache issues**
   ```bash
   npx react-native start --reset-cache
   ```

2. **iOS pod installation failures**
   ```bash
   cd ios && pod install --repo-update
   ```

3. **Android Gradle sync issues**
   ```bash
   cd android && ./gradlew clean
   ```

4. **Native module linking issues**
   ```bash
   npx react-native link
   # Or for newer versions, use autolinking
   ```

## Related Skills

- `flutter-dart` - Alternative cross-platform framework
- `mobile-testing` - Comprehensive testing frameworks
- `mobile-perf` - Performance profiling and optimization
- `push-notifications` - Push notification implementation

## Version History

- 1.0.0 - Initial release with core React Native capabilities

Overview

This skill provides deep integration with the React Native ecosystem for cross-platform mobile development. It streamlines CLI operations, component generation, state management, navigation, performance tuning, testing, and native module bridging. Use it to scaffold projects, implement typed components and stores, and automate reproducible build and debug workflows.

How this skill works

The skill uses file inspection and CLI execution to run React Native and Expo commands, analyze project configuration, and generate or edit TypeScript components, navigation, and store code. It can execute bash for builds, read and search project files, and write or edit code to apply fixes, generate components, or configure tools. It also runs diagnostics, configures testing and performance tools, and provides actionable remediation steps.

When to use it

  • Initialize or migrate a React Native or Expo project with TypeScript
  • Generate reusable UI components, hooks, or navigation stacks
  • Set up or refactor state management with Redux Toolkit, Zustand, or Jotai
  • Automate builds, configure Metro/Herems, and tune performance
  • Configure testing (Jest, RN Testing Library, Detox) or CI pipelines
  • Bridge native modules and debug native-JS integration issues

Best practices

  • Keep strict TypeScript and ESLint enabled; avoid any in production code
  • Follow the suggested project structure for predictable file locations
  • Use createSlice and RTK Query for typed and testable API logic
  • Enable inlineRequires and Hermes for performance on supported platforms
  • Write Storybook stories and snapshot tests for reusable components
  • Run Metro with --reset-cache when build artifacts cause inconsistent behavior

Example use cases

  • Scaffold a new React Native TypeScript app and configure Metro, Babel, and tsconfig
  • Generate a typed Button component, Storybook story, and unit tests
  • Add Redux Toolkit slice and RTK Query endpoints, wire up the store and DevTools
  • Prebuild an Expo project, configure EAS build settings, and prepare OTA updates
  • Diagnose slow FlatList renders and apply virtualization and memoization fixes
  • Create a native module bridge and set up Codegen, then reproduce and fix a native crash

FAQ

Does this skill support both React Native CLI and Expo?

Yes. It supports React Native CLI operations and Expo workflows including EAS build and prebuild steps.

What are the required host tools and versions?

Node.js 18+, npm or yarn, React Native CLI (npx react-native). Watchman is recommended on macOS; Xcode/Android Studio for platform builds.