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Official agent skill

Expo Dev Client

by expo in expo/skills

Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight for internal testing.

OfficialMITAuto-check passedMobile

Install Expo Dev Client

skills CLI
$ npx skills add expo/skills --skill expo-dev-client -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install expo/skills expo-dev-client --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/expo/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/expo/skills/expo-dev-client .claude/skills/expo-dev-client && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
expo-dev-client
GitHub stars
2.7k
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~1.2k tokens
SKILL.md length
436 words
Files
2
Skills in repo
26
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight for internal testing.

  • Works in 3 steps: Build the development client in the cloud → Automatically submit to App Store Connect → Send you an email when the build is…
  • Tasks that involve App store release
  • SKILL.md covers Important: When Development…, EAS Configuration, Building for TestFlight and Building Locally, plus 6 more sections
  • Calls eas, npx and xcrun

What it does

Expo Dev Client is an agent skill from expo/skills, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight for internal testing. For production TestFlight releases and store submission, use the eas-app-stores skill.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files (for example `agents/openai.yaml`).

It sits in Mobile, covering App store release and Cross-platform mobile apps. It works with Expo, App Store Connect and iOS. The repository describes itself as: A collection of AI agent skills for working with Expo projects and Expo Application Services. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve App store release
  • Tasks that involve Cross-platform mobile apps

Example prompts

  • “/expo-dev-client”

Requirements

  • Node.js

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Build the development client in the cloud
  2. Automatically submit to App Store Connect
  3. Send you an email when the build is ready in TestFlight

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit d4f4840. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • eas
    • npx
    • xcrun
    • adb

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • expo.dev
    • docs.expo.dev

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Expo Dev Client loads about 1.2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 49 tokens; SKILL.md has 436 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~49
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from expo/skills at commit d4f4840, republished under its MIT licence (© expo). 436 words, ~1,181 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/expo-dev-client/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
expo-dev-client
description
Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight for internal testing. For production TestFlight releases and store submission, use the eas-app-stores skill.
version
1.1.0
license
MIT

Use EAS Build to create development clients for testing native code changes on physical devices. Use this for creating custom Expo Go clients for testing branches of your app.

Free locally; cloud builds are paid. expo-dev-client itself is open source and building locally is free. Building or distributing via EAS Build/TestFlight uses your EAS plan's build minutes and needs a paid Apple Developer account for device/TestFlight distribution. See https://expo.dev/pricing.

Important: When Development Clients Are Needed

Development clients are the recommended setup for any real or production app. Expo Go is a playground for learning and quick experiments with the native libraries it bundles; most apps outgrow it and move to a development client. See Expo Go vs. development builds for the full reasoning.

You need a dev client ONLY when using:

  • Local Expo modules (custom native code)
  • Apple targets (widgets, app clips, extensions)
  • Third-party native modules not in Expo Go
  • Config plugins, or testing remote push notifications and App/Universal Links

EAS Configuration

Ensure eas.json has a development profile:

json
{
  "cli": {
    "version": ">= 16.0.1",
    "appVersionSource": "remote"
  },
  "build": {
    "production": {
      "autoIncrement": true
    },
    "development": {
      "autoIncrement": true,
      "developmentClient": true
    }
  },
  "submit": {
    "production": {},
    "development": {}
  }
}

Key settings:

  • developmentClient: true - Bundles expo-dev-client for development builds
  • autoIncrement: true - Automatically increments build numbers
  • appVersionSource: "remote" - Uses EAS as the source of truth for version numbers

Building for TestFlight

Build iOS dev client and submit to TestFlight in one command:

bash
eas build -p ios --profile development --submit

This will:

  1. Build the development client in the cloud
  2. Automatically submit to App Store Connect
  3. Send you an email when the build is ready in TestFlight

After receiving the TestFlight email:

  1. Download the build from TestFlight on your device
  2. Launch the app to see the expo-dev-client UI
  3. Connect to your local Metro bundler or scan a QR code
Show full SKILL.md (163 more words)Show less

Building Locally

Build a development client on your machine:

bash
# iOS (requires Xcode)
eas build -p ios --profile development --local

# Android
eas build -p android --profile development --local

Local builds output:

  • iOS: .ipa file
  • Android: .apk or .aab file

Installing Local Builds

Install iOS build on simulator:

bash
# Find the .app in the .tar.gz output
tar -xzf build-*.tar.gz
xcrun simctl install booted ./path/to/App.app

Install iOS build on device (requires signing):

bash
# Use Xcode Devices window or ideviceinstaller
ideviceinstaller -i build.ipa

Install Android build:

bash
adb install build.apk

Building for Specific Platform

bash
# iOS only
eas build -p ios --profile development

# Android only
eas build -p android --profile development

# Both platforms
eas build --profile development

Checking Build Status

bash
# List recent builds
eas build:list

# View build details
eas build:view

Using the Dev Client

Once installed, the dev client provides:

  • Development server connection - Enter your Metro bundler URL or scan QR
  • Build information - View native build details
  • Launcher UI - Switch between development servers

Connect to local development:

bash
# Start Metro bundler
npx expo start --dev-client

# Scan QR code with dev client or enter URL manually

Troubleshooting

Build fails with signing errors:

bash
eas credentials

Clear build cache:

bash
eas build -p ios --profile development --clear-cache

Check EAS CLI version:

bash
eas --version
eas update

Submitting Feedback

If you encounter errors, misleading or outdated information in this skill, report it so Expo can improve:

bash
npx --yes submit-expo-feedback@latest --category skills --subject "expo-dev-client" "<actionable feedback>"

Only submit when you have something specific and actionable to report. Include as much relevant context as possible. If an AI agent repeatedly failed or the user had to take over an Expo task, load the expo-skill-feedback skill and follow its eval-candidate flow instead of reusing the command above.

© expo, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file in plugins/expo/skills/expo-dev-client of expo/skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • agents/openai.yaml

Open the folder on GitHubat commit d4f4840

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in expo/skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

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Expo Deploymentsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k1 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Expo Dev Clientsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k1 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Expo Dev Client

What does Expo Dev Client do?

Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight for internal testing. Expo Dev Client is an agent skill from expo/skills, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight for internal testing.

When should I use Expo Dev Client?

Expo Dev Client fits situations like: tasks that involve App store release; tasks that involve Cross-platform mobile apps.

How do I install Expo Dev Client in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add expo/skills --skill expo-dev-client -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/expo/skills/expo-dev-client in expo/skills) into .claude/skills/expo-dev-client in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Expo Dev Client in Codex?

Run `npx skills add expo/skills --skill expo-dev-client -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/expo/skills/expo-dev-client in expo/skills) into .agents/skills/expo-dev-client in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Expo Dev Client in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add expo/skills --skill expo-dev-client -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/expo-dev-client, .gemini/skills/expo-dev-client, .github/skills/expo-dev-client and .opencode/skills/expo-dev-client in your project.

What does Expo Dev Client need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Expo Dev Client needs the command-line tools its instructions call (eas, npx, xcrun and adb). Our summary lists: Node.js.

Does Expo Dev Client access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. As links in the text: expo.dev and docs.expo.dev. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Expo Dev Client safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Expo Dev Client use?

Expo Dev Client is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Expo Dev Client use?

About 1.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Expo Dev Client?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Expo Dev Client: Expo Deployment (kingstinct/react-native-healthkit, 716 stars), Expo Dev Client (kingstinct/react-native-healthkit, 716 stars), Iapkit E2E Martie (hyodotdev/openiap, 154 stars) and Expo Deployment (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Expo Dev Client?

expo (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in expo/skills, which has 2,680 GitHub stars. The repository holds 26 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: expo/skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.