@kernaq/verify-react-native

Official React Native SDK for Kernaq Identity — a drop-in KYC verification component that handles document capture, selfie, and liveness detection in a single modal. Works with both bare React Native and Expo.

Install

npm install @kernaq/verify-react-native react-native-vision-camera react-native-permissions

Bare React Native — link native modules:

cd ios && pod install

Expo — generate native folders:

npx expo install @kernaq/verify-react-native react-native-vision-camera react-native-permissions
npx expo prebuild

Android permissions

Add to android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />

Android — vision-camera setup

Add to android/app/build.gradle:

android {
  ...
  defaultConfig {
    ...
    minSdkVersion 26
  }
}

iOS — link native modules

cd ios && pod install

iOS permissions

Add to ios/<App>/Info.plist:

<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>Camera is required to capture your ID document and selfie.</string>
<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>Microphone is required to record the liveness video.</string>

Quick start

import React, { useState } from 'react'
import { Button, View } from 'react-native'
import { KernaqVerify } from '@kernaq/verify-react-native'

export default function App() {
  const [visible, setVisible] = useState(false)

  return (
    <View>
      <Button title="Verify Identity" onPress={() => setVisible(true)} />

      <KernaqVerify
        visible={visible}
        apiKey="k_test_..."
        country="KEN"
        reference="user_abc123"
        onComplete={(result) => {
          console.log(result.verdict)        // "pass" | "fail" | "review"
          console.log(result.score)          // 0-100
          console.log(result.faceMatch)      // true | false
          console.log(result.documentFields) // { name, dob, document_number, ... }
          setVisible(false)
        }}
        onCancel={() => setVisible(false)}
        onError={(err) => console.error(err.code, err.message)}
      />
    </View>
  )
}

Props

| Prop | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|---|---| | visible | boolean | ✓ | Show or hide the verification modal | | apiKey | string | * | Your Kernaq API key (k_test_... or k_live_...) | | backendUrl | string | * | Backend proxy URL (use instead of apiKey for production) | | country | string | | ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code. Default: KEN | | reference | string | | Your internal user/session ID | | sandbox | boolean | | Use sandbox mode — no billing. Default: false | | livenessDuration | number | | Liveness recording duration in ms. Default: 3000 | | documentTypes | DocumentType[] | | Document types to accept. Default: ['national_id', 'passport'] | | theme | VerifyTheme | | Customise colours, border radius and font | | locale | Partial<VerifyLocale> | | Override any displayed string | | onComplete | (result: VerifyResult) => void | | Called when verification completes | | onCancel | () => void | | Called when user dismisses without completing | | onError | (error) => void | | Called on unrecoverable error |

*Either apiKey or backendUrl is required.

Theming

<KernaqVerify
  visible={visible}
  apiKey="k_test_..."
  theme={{
    accentColor: '#6366f1',
    backgroundColor: '#0f0f0f',
    textColor: '#f9fafb',
    mode: 'dark',
    borderRadius: 16,
  }}
  onComplete={handleComplete}
  onCancel={() => setVisible(false)}
/>

Localisation

<KernaqVerify
  visible={visible}
  apiKey="k_test_..."
  locale={{
    intro_title: 'Thibitisha utambulisho wako',
    intro_cta: 'Anza',
    result_pass_title: 'Umefaulu',
  }}
  onComplete={handleComplete}
  onCancel={() => setVisible(false)}
/>

Using a backend proxy (recommended for production)

Never expose a live API key in your app. Instead, forward requests through your server:

<KernaqVerify
  visible={visible}
  backendUrl="https://api.yourapp.com/kyc/verify"
  country="KEN"
  reference={userId}
  onComplete={handleComplete}
  onCancel={() => setVisible(false)}
/>

Your backend endpoint receives a multipart/form-data POST with document, selfie, video, document_type, country, and reference fields. Forward it to https://api.identity.kernaq.com/v1/verify with your secret key.

Result object

interface VerifyResult {
  verificationId: string
  reference: string
  verdict: 'pass' | 'fail' | 'review'
  score: number                              // 0–100
  faceMatch: boolean
  isLive: boolean
  documentFields?: {
    name?: string
    first_name?: string
    last_name?: string
    date_of_birth?: string
    document_number?: string
    nationality?: string
    gender?: string
    expiry_date?: string
  }
}

Peer dependencies

| Package | Version | |---|---| | react | >=18.0.0 | | react-native | >=0.73.0 | | react-native-vision-camera | >=4.0.0 | | react-native-permissions | >=4.0.0 |

Links

• Documentation
• API Reference
• Dashboard
• GitHub