File: install-dev-builds-in-bare.md | Updated: 11/15/2025
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Learn how to install and configure expo-dev-client in your existing React Native project.
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The following guide explains how to install and configure expo-dev-client in an existing React Native project.
Do you need to create a new project?
If you're starting with a new project, create it using the with-dev-client template:
Terminal
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- npx create-expo-app -e with-dev-client
Do you use Continuous Native Generation (CNG) in your project?
To use expo-dev-client in a project that uses CNG
, see Create a development build
.
The expo package must be installed and configured. If you created your project with npx @react-native-community/cli@latest init and do not have any other Expo libraries installed, you will need to install Expo modules
before proceeding.
1
Add the expo-dev-client library to your package.json:
Terminal
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- npx expo install expo-dev-client
If your project has an ios directory on disk, run the following command to fully install the native code for expo-dev-client:
Terminal
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- npx pod-install
If your project doesn't have an ios directory, you can skip this step.
2
Expo CLI uses a deep link to launch your project, and it's also useful if you use plan to use expo-dev-client for launching preview updates
if you have added a custom deep link scheme to your project.
If you haven't configured a scheme for your app yet to support deep linking, then use uri-scheme library to do this for you.
Terminal
# List your project's schemes
- npx uri-scheme list
# Add a scheme to your project
- npx uri-scheme add your-scheme
For more information, see the uri-scheme library
.
3
Create a debug build of your app using the tools of your choice. For example, you can do this locally with Expo CLI or in the cloud with EAS Build .