🚀 Expo Build Automation (Direct Execution)

Streamline your React Native build and submission workflow. Automate Android & iOS builds and TestFlight submissions directly from your server.

📋 Overview

Expo Build Automation is a web-based tool designed to simplify the complex process of building and deploying Expo apps. Unlike dispersed CI/CD pipelines, this version runs directly on your server, giving you full control over the build environment and execution.

It abstracts away the command-line intricacies (EAS CLI), offering a user-friendly form to:

1. Generate/Clone Expo apps.
2. inject configuration and credentials dynamically.
3. Build & Submit using the server's local resources.

🚀 User Guide

How to Use the Application

1. Access the Web Interface: Navigate to http://localhost:3000 (or your server's IP).

2. Fill in App Details:

   • App Name: Enter a unique slug. This will be used to create a dedicated Git branch app/<slug>.
   • Expo Access Token: Your Expo authentication token.
   • Source Repo: (Optional) URL of a Template repository to clone. If left blank, a default "Blank" template is used.

3. Configure Credentials:

   • Android: Upload/path to Keystore (or let it auto-generate one).
   • iOS: Provide P12 Certificate and Provisioning Profile paths.

4. Start Build:

   • Click Create & Build App.
   • Live Logs: You will see real-time logs streaming from the server as it:
     • Clones/Scaffolds the app.
     • Configures app.json.
     • Runs eas build.

5. Artifacts:

   • Once the build completes, a direct download link (Expo Artifact URL) will be provided.

🏗️ Architecture & Internal Workflow

This branch uses a Direct Server Execution model.

High-Level Flow

graph TD
    User[User @ Web UI] -->|Submits Form| API[Next.js API Route]
    API -->|Instantiates| Framework[MyFramework Class]
    
    subgraph Server Context
        Framework -->|1. Scaffolds| AppDir[Temp App Directory]
        Framework -->|2. Injects| Config[app.json / eas.json]
        Framework -->|3. Git Ops| Git[Push to Branch app/xyz]
        Framework -->|4. Executes| EAS[EAS CLI Process]
    end
    
    EAS -->|Builds| Cloud[Expo Cloud Builders]
    EAS -->|Submits| Apple[TestFlight]
    
    EAS -.->|Streams Logs| API
    API -.->|SSE Stream| User

Key Components (src/lib/framework.ts)

1. MyFramework Class: The core orchestrator that manages the lifecycle of an automated build.

2. App Generation Strategy:

   • Branch Reuse: Checks if a branch app/<appName> already exists in the hosting repo. If so, it reuses it.
   • Template Cloning: If repoUrl is provided, it clones that repo.
   • Scaffolding: If neither, it runs npx create-expo-app to generate a fresh blank app.

3. Git Management:

   • The tool runs inside a Git repository.
   • For every new app build, it creates an Orphan Branch (app/<appName>).
   • It commits the generated code and pushes it to origin. This ensures every build has a reproducible source history.

4. Local Execution:

   • Instead of dispatching to GitHub Actions, this tool uses Node.js spawn and execSync to run eas build commands locally on the server.
   • Benefit: Immediate feedback, no external CI dependencies.
   • Requirement: The server must be capable of running Node.js processes for extended periods.

💻 Prerequisites & Setup

Since this runs builds locally, your server environment must be prepared.

System Requirements

• OS: Linux (Ubuntu/Debian recommended), macOS, or Windows using WSL.
• Runtime: Node.js 18+.
• Git: Installed and authenticated (SSH keys or HTTPS credentials stored).

Installation

1. Clone the Repo:

   git clone https://github.com/YourRepo/Expo-Automation.git
   cd Expo-Automation

2. Install Dependencies:

   npm install

3. Install Global Tools: The framework relies on eas-cli.

   npm install -g eas-cli

4. Environment Variables: Create a .env.local file:

   EXPO_TOKEN=your_token_here (Optional default)

Running the Server

# Development
npm run dev

# Production
npm run build
npm start

🔑 Credentials Handling

• Transient: Credentials used during the build are written to credentials.json in a temporary directory.
• Cleanup: The temporary directory is deleted after the build completes (success or fail).
• Security: Ensure your server is secure, as credentials exist on the filesystem for the duration of the build.

Built with ❤️ for the Expo Community.