📄 expo/versions/v53.0.0/sdk/dev-client

File: dev-client.md | Updated: 11/15/2025

Source: https://docs.expo.dev/versions/v53.0.0/sdk/dev-client

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Expo DevClient

GitHub Changelog npm

A library that allows creating a development build and includes useful development tools.

GitHub Changelog npm

Android

iOS

Bundled version:

~5.2.4

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expo-dev-client adds various useful development tools to your debug builds:

A configurable launcher UI, so you can launch updates (such as from PR previews ) and switch between development servers without needing to recompile the native app
Improved debugging tools (such as support for inspecting network requests )
A powerful and extensible developer menu UI

Expo documentation refers to debug builds that include expo-dev-client as development builds .

Installation

Terminal

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- npx expo install expo-dev-client

If you are installing this in an existing React Native app , start by installing expo in your project. Then, follow the instructions from Install expo-dev-client in an existing React Native project .

Configuration in app config

You can configure development client launcher using its built-in config plugin if you use config plugins in your project (Continuous Native Generation (CNG) ). The plugin allows you to configure various properties that cannot be set at runtime and require building a new app binary to take effect. If your app does not use CNG, then you'll need to manually configure the library.

Example app.json with config plugin

app.json

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{ "expo": { "plugins": [ [ "expo-dev-client", { "launchMode": "most-recent" } ] ] } }

Configurable properties

| Name | Default | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | launchMode | "most-recent" | Determines whether to launch the most recently opened project or navigate to the launcher screen. * most-recent - Attempt to launch directly into a previously opened project and if unable to connect, fall back to the launcher screen. * launcher - Opens the launcher screen. | | addGeneratedScheme | true | By default, expo-dev-client will register a custom URL scheme to open a project. Set this property to false to disable this scheme. |

API

import * as DevClient from 'expo-dev-client';

Methods

`DevClient.closeMenu()`

A method that closes development client menu when called.

Returns:

void

`DevClient.hideMenu()`

A method that hides development client menu when called.

Returns:

void

`DevClient.isDevelopmentBuild()`

A method that returns a boolean to indicate if the current application is a development build.

Returns:

boolean

`DevClient.openMenu()`

A method that opens development client menu when called.

Returns:

void

`DevClient.registerDevMenuItems(items)`

| Parameter | Type | | --- | --- | | items | [ExpoDevMenuItem[]](https://docs.expo.dev/versions/v53.0.0/sdk/dev-client#expodevmenuitem) |

A method that allows to specify custom entries in the development client menu.

Returns:

[Promise](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Promise) <void>

Types

`ExpoDevMenuItem`

An object representing the custom development client menu entry.

| Property | Type | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | callback | () => void | Callback to fire, when user selects an item. | | name | string | Name of the entry, will be used as label. | | shouldCollapse(optional) | boolean | A boolean specifying if the menu should close after the user interaction. Default:false |