rn-forge

Zero-to-hero React Native & Expo development environment setup — one command, fully automated.

Buy a new MacBook or Windows laptop and be coding your first React Native app in minutes, not hours.

What is rn-forge?

rn-forge is an intelligent CLI tool that sets up your entire React Native / Expo development environment with a single command. No Googling, no copy-pasting shell commands, no hours of debugging PATH issues.

It handles:

| Tool | macOS | Windows | |---|:---:|:---:| | Homebrew / Chocolatey | ✅ | ✅ | | Node.js LTS | ✅ | ✅ | | Git | ✅ | ✅ | | Watchman | ✅ | — | | Java JDK (Temurin 21) | ✅ | ✅ | | Android Studio + SDK | ✅ | ✅ | | Android Emulator | ✅ | ✅ | | Xcode CLI Tools | ✅ | — | | Xcode (full IDE) | ✅ | — | | CocoaPods | ✅ | — | | Expo CLI | ✅ | ✅ | | React Native CLI | ✅ | ✅ | | VS Code + 15 extensions | ✅ | ✅ | | GitHub SSH keys | ✅ | ✅ | | bun / yarn / pnpm | ✅ | ✅ |

Quick Start

npx rn-forge setup

That's it. The interactive wizard handles the rest.

Installation

# Run directly without installing (recommended)
npx rn-forge setup

# Or install globally
npm install -g rn-forge
rn-forge setup

Requirements: Node.js ≥ 18 (if you don't have Node yet, see bootstrapping)

Commands

rn-forge setup

Installs and configures your full development environment.

rn-forge setup            # Interactive wizard
rn-forge setup --force    # Re-run even if already set up
rn-forge setup --debug    # Enable verbose output

Flow:

1. AI Version Agent fetches the latest stable versions of all tools
2. Interactive questionnaire (platforms, package manager, GitHub info)
3. Confirmation summary before any changes are made
4. Automated installation — sit back and watch

rn-forge create [name]

Scaffold a new React Native or Expo project with the latest dependencies.

rn-forge create MyApp                         # Interactive
rn-forge create MyApp --template expo         # Expo Router (tabs)
rn-forge create MyApp --template expo-bare    # Bare Expo
rn-forge create MyApp --template rn           # React Native CLI
rn-forge create MyApp --package-manager bun   # Use bun

Options: | Flag | Default | Description | |---|---|---| | -t, --template | expo | expo | expo-bare | rn | | -p, --package-manager | npm | npm | yarn | bun | pnpm | | -d, --dir | CWD | Output directory |

rn-forge clone [repo-url]

Clone an existing GitHub repository and automatically set it up (install deps, pod install, .env detection).

rn-forge clone https://github.com/org/my-app
rn-forge clone [email protected]:org/my-app.git
rn-forge clone                                 # Prompts for URL

Options: | Flag | Description | |---|---| | -b, --branch | Branch to checkout | | -p, --package-manager | Override detected package manager | | -d, --dir | Target parent directory |

rn-forge doctor

Scan your environment and report what's working, what's missing, and what's outdated.

rn-forge doctor
rn-forge doctor --fix   # Attempt to auto-fix issues

rn-forge update

Update installed development tools to their latest versions.

rn-forge update          # Review then confirm
rn-forge update --yes    # Apply all updates immediately

Checks: global npm packages (expo, react-native), Homebrew packages/casks (macOS).

rn-forge versions

Fetch and display the latest available versions of all React Native ecosystem tools.

rn-forge versions

rn-forge config

View or manage saved configuration.

rn-forge config           # Show saved config
rn-forge config --path    # Show config file location
rn-forge config --reset   # Clear all saved config

AI Version Agent

rn-forge includes a built-in Version Agent that queries public APIs to find the latest stable versions of every tool before installing:

• Node.js LTS — nodejs.org/dist/index.json
• React Native — npm registry
• Expo SDK & CLI — npm registry
• Java (Temurin) — api.adoptium.net
• Yarn, Bun, pnpm — GitHub Releases + npm registry

No paid AI API key required.

VS Code Extensions Installed

When you enable VS Code setup, rn-forge installs 15 hand-picked extensions:

| Extension | Purpose | |---|---| | ESLint | Linting | | Prettier | Code formatting | | React Native Tools | Debugging & IntelliSense | | Expo Tools | Expo workflow integration | | GitLens | Enhanced Git | | Material Icon Theme | File icons | | Error Lens | Inline error display | | Thunder Client | In-editor API testing | | DotENV | .env syntax highlighting | | Auto Rename Tag | HTML/JSX tag sync | | Tailwind CSS IntelliSense | Tailwind support | | Path Intellisense | File path completion | | Code Spell Checker | Spell checking | | Better Comments | Comment highlighting |

Bootstrapping Without Node

If you're starting from scratch with no Node.js installed:

macOS:

# Install Homebrew first
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Then install Node
brew install node

# Now run rn-forge
npx rn-forge setup

Windows:

# Install via official Node.js installer
# https://nodejs.org/en/download/

# Then run rn-forge
npx rn-forge setup

iOS Setup Notes

Full Xcode installation requires:

• An Apple ID (used by xcodes CLI — credentials never leave your machine)
• ~12 GB disk space
• macOS (iOS development is macOS-only)

When you choose to install Xcode, rn-forge uses the open-source xcodes tool to download and install the latest stable Xcode version automatically.

Android Setup Notes

rn-forge installs:

• Android Studio (via Homebrew Cask on macOS, Chocolatey on Windows)
• Android SDK platform-tools, build-tools, and NDK
• A preconfigured emulator (Pixel_7_API_34)
• Sets ANDROID_HOME and updates your PATH

GitHub SSH Setup

rn-forge generates an Ed25519 SSH key, adds it to ssh-agent, and displays your public key with a direct link to github.com/settings/keys so you can paste it in seconds.

Optionally installs and authenticates the GitHub CLI (gh).

Saved Configuration

rn-forge remembers your preferences (package manager, GitHub username, installed tools) using conf, stored in:

• macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/rn-forge-nodejs/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\rn-forge-nodejs\

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/rn-forge
cd rn-forge
npm install
node bin/rn-forge.js --help

License

MIT © rn-forge contributors