rn-version-manager

Keep your app's version and build number in sync across every file a React Native CLI project needs them in — one command instead of four manual edits.

rnvm reads and writes:

• package.json — version
• android/app/build.gradle — versionName, versionCode
• ios/<App>/Info.plist — CFBundleShortVersionString, CFBundleVersion
• ios/<App>.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj — MARKETING_VERSION, CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION

No runtime dependencies. No changes to your app's package.json scripts. It's a standalone binary (rnvm) you call from your terminal or from a CI/CD pipeline (Fastlane, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, etc.).

TOC

• Installation
• Getting Started
• Commands
• The Config File
• Using it in CI/CD
• Troubleshooting
• Requirements

Installation

yarn add -D rn-version-manager

or

npm install --save-dev rn-version-manager

Getting Started

Run once, interactively, from your project root:

npx rnvm init

init autodetects your Android build.gradle and iOS Info.plist/project.pbxproj paths and asks you to confirm each one with an arrow-key menu:

🤖 Android
   Found: android/app/build.gradle
  ● Yes, use this path
  ○ No, I'll enter my own path
  ○ Skip Android entirely

  ↑/↓ to navigate · Enter to confirm

If a platform isn't detected — or your project only ships one platform — you get a menu to enter the path manually or skip that platform entirely. At least one platform must stay configured; init refuses to write a config if you skip both.

This writes .rnvm/config.json to your project root.

[!WARNING] Commit .rnvm/config.json to git. Every command other than init reads from it — nothing is re-autodetected on every run, which is what makes rnvm safe to call from CI/CD. If the file is missing, commands fail with a clear "run rnvm init first" error instead of guessing at paths.

To reconfigure later (paths changed, a platform was added or dropped), just run rnvm init again — it fully overwrites the existing config.

Commands

| Command | Description | Reads/writes | | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- | | init | Detect native paths, write .rnvm/config.json | writes .rnvm/config.json | | status | Show current version/build across all configured files | read-only | | set <semver> | Set version everywhere and increment build number | package.json, build.gradle, Info.plist, project.pbxproj | | set-version <semver> | Set version everywhere (build number untouched) | package.json, build.gradle, Info.plist, project.pbxproj | | set-build-number <n> | Set build number everywhere (version untouched) | build.gradle, Info.plist, project.pbxproj | | reset-build-number | Reset build number to 1 everywhere | build.gradle, Info.plist, project.pbxproj |

Every command that writes files supports --dry-run to preview the change first.

rnvm init

Interactive, one-time setup. Detects native paths and writes .rnvm/config.json. See Getting Started above. Not intended to run unattended in CI — it's meant to be run once by a human and its output committed to git.

rnvm status

Reads (never writes) the version/build number from every configured file and reports whether they're in sync.

Examples

rnvm status

📦 package.json         1.0.2
🤖 Android              versionName 1.0.2  versionCode 26
🍎 iOS Info.plist       shortVersion 1.0.2  bundleVersion 26
🍎 iOS project.pbxproj  MARKETING_VERSION 1.0.2  CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION 26
✅ Version in sync
✅ Build number in sync

If a platform was skipped during init, its line reads (not configured — skipped in .rnvm/config.json) instead, and it's excluded from the sync check.

rnvm set <semver>

Sets the version everywhere and increments the build number by 1, as a single atomic operation. This is the one you want for a normal release bump.

Examples

rnvm set 1.5.2

🚀 Setting version to 1.5.2 and incrementing the build number...
📦 Updated:
   - package.json
   - Android build.gradle
   - iOS Info.plist
   - iOS project.pbxproj
✅ Version and build number updated successfully.
📱 Version: 1.5.2
🔢 Build number: 26 → 27

rnvm set-version <semver>

Sets the version everywhere, leaving the build number untouched. Use this when you want to control the build number separately (e.g. your CI increments it, not the developer).

Examples

rnvm set-version 1.5.2

rnvm set-build-number <n>

Sets an exact build number everywhere, leaving the version untouched. <n> must be a positive integer.

Examples

rnvm set-build-number 42

rnvm reset-build-number

Shorthand for rnvm set-build-number 1.

Examples

rnvm reset-build-number

--dry-run

Add to set, set-version, set-build-number, or reset-build-number to preview the change without writing anything.

Examples

rnvm set-version 1.5.2 --dry-run

🔍 [dry-run] would set version to 1.5.2 in:
   - package.json
   - Android build.gradle
   - iOS Info.plist
   - iOS project.pbxproj

--version / --help

rnvm --version prints rnvm's own installed version. rnvm --help prints the command usage summary.

The Config File

.rnvm/config.json, written by init, is the single source of truth every other command reads from:

{
  "configVersion": 1,
  "generatedBy": "1.0.0",
  "android": { "buildGradle": "android/app/build.gradle" },
  "ios": "skip"
}

| Field | Meaning | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | configVersion | On-disk schema version — bumped only if this file's shape changes; reserved for future migrations | | generatedBy | The rnvm version that wrote the file, for humans reading it; nothing reads it back for logic | | android | Either { "buildGradle": "<relative path>" }, or the literal string "skip" | | ios | Either { "infoPlist": "<relative path>", "projectPbxproj": "<relative path>" }, or "skip" |

"skip" is explicit on purpose — a missing key would leave a reader guessing whether the platform was forgotten or intentionally excluded. Android-only and iOS-only projects are fully supported; at least one platform has to stay configured, though.

Using it in CI/CD

Every command except init only reads the already-committed .rnvm/config.json — no interaction, no autodetection at pipeline time:

# Fastlane, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, etc.
npx rnvm set 1.2.0

If the config is missing, or one of its paths no longer exists on disk, the command fails immediately with a clear, non-interactive error rather than silently doing the wrong thing — see Troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting

| Error | Cause | Fix | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | No package.json found in <dir> | Not run from inside a project root | cd into the project root (where package.json lives) | | No .rnvm/config.json found in <dir>. Run "rnvm init" first. | init was never run, or its output wasn't committed | Run rnvm init | | Path from .rnvm/config.json no longer exists: <path>. Run "rnvm init" again. | A configured native file was moved, renamed, or deleted | Run rnvm init again to re-detect and rewrite the config | | At least one platform must be configured... | Both Android and iOS were skipped during init | Run rnvm init again and configure at least one platform | | Invalid version format. Use semantic versioning... | <semver> argument isn't a valid semver string | Use e.g. 1.2.3 or 1.2.3-beta.1 | | .rnvm/config.json is not valid JSON | The config file was hand-edited into an invalid state | Run rnvm init again to regenerate it |

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18
• A React Native CLI project (not Expo-managed) — the standard android/ + ios/ native folders

License

MIT

Author

Mykhail Ovsiannykov