Upgrading Expo

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[Developer Tools]

When & Why to Use This Skill

This Claude skill serves as a comprehensive automation guide and technical reference for upgrading Expo SDK versions in React Native projects. It streamlines the complex process of transitioning between major releases (such as SDK 53, 54, and 55) by providing precise instructions for dependency management, cache clearing, and native module reconfiguration. By automating the identification of breaking changes and deprecated packages, it ensures a smoother migration path for mobile developers maintaining modern Expo applications.

Use Cases

  • Scenario 1: Upgrading a legacy Expo project to the latest SDK version while automatically resolving dependency conflicts and version mismatches using expo-doctor.
  • Scenario 2: Migrating from deprecated libraries like expo-av to the new expo-audio and expo-video modules with specific code transformation patterns.
  • Scenario 3: Implementing the React Native New Architecture and React 19 features (such as the React Compiler) in an existing Expo codebase.
  • Scenario 4: Performing deep 'housekeeping' by identifying and removing redundant configuration files like babel.config.js or metro.config.js that are now managed by the Expo CLI.
  • Scenario 5: Troubleshooting native build issues in both Expo Go and bare workflows by executing standardized cache-clearing and prebuild procedures.
nameupgrading-expo
descriptionGuidelines for upgrading Expo SDK versions and fixing dependency issues
version1.0.0
licenseMIT

References

  • ./references/new-architecture.md -- SDK +53: New Architecture migration guide
  • ./references/react-19.md -- SDK +54: React 19 changes (useContext → use, Context.Provider → Context, forwardRef removal)
  • ./references/react-compiler.md -- SDK +54: React Compiler setup and migration guide
  • ./references/native-tabs.md -- SDK +55: Native tabs changes (Icon/Label/Badge now accessed via NativeTabs.Trigger.*)
  • ./references/expo-av-to-audio.md -- Migrate audio playback and recording from expo-av to expo-audio
  • ./references/expo-av-to-video.md -- Migrate video playback from expo-av to expo-video

Beta/Preview Releases

Beta versions use .preview suffix (e.g., 55.0.0-preview.2), published under @next tag.

Check if latest is beta: https://exp.host/--/api/v2/versions (look for -preview in expoVersion)

npx expo install expo@next --fix  # install beta

Step-by-Step Upgrade Process

  1. Upgrade Expo and dependencies
npx expo install expo@latest
npx expo install --fix

  1. Run diagnostics: npx expo-doctor

  2. Clear caches and reinstall

npx expo export -p ios --clear
rm -rf node_modules .expo
watchman watch-del-all

Breaking Changes Checklist

  • Check for removed APIs in release notes
  • Update import paths for moved modules
  • Review native module changes requiring prebuild
  • Test all camera, audio, and video features
  • Verify navigation still works correctly

Prebuild for Native Changes

If upgrading requires native changes:

npx expo prebuild --clean

This regenerates the ios and android directories. Ensure the project is not a bare workflow app before running this command.

Clear caches for bare workflow

  • Clear the cocoapods cache for iOS: cd ios && pod install --repo-update
  • Clear derived data for Xcode: npx expo run:ios --no-build-cache
  • Clear the Gradle cache for Android: cd android && ./gradlew clean

Housekeeping

  • Review release notes for the target SDK version at https://expo.dev/changelog
  • If using Expo SDK 54 or later, ensure react-native-worklets is installed — this is required for react-native-reanimated to work.
  • Enable React Compiler in SDK 54+ by adding "experiments": { "reactCompiler": true } to app.json — it's stable and recommended
  • Delete sdkVersion from app.json to let Expo manage it automatically
  • Remove implicit packages from package.json: @babel/core, babel-preset-expo, expo-constants.
  • If the babel.config.js only contains 'babel-preset-expo', delete the file
  • If the metro.config.js only contains expo defaults, delete the file

Deprecated Packages

Old Package Replacement
expo-av expo-audio and expo-video
expo-permissions Individual package permission APIs
@expo/vector-icons expo-symbols (for SF Symbols)
AsyncStorage expo-sqlite/localStorage/install
expo-app-loading expo-splash-screen
expo-linear-gradient experimental_backgroundImage + CSS gradients in View

When migrating deprecated packages, update all code usage before removing the old package. For expo-av, consult the migration references to convert Audio.Sound to useAudioPlayer, Audio.Recording to useAudioRecorder, and Video components to VideoView with useVideoPlayer.

expo.install.exclude

Check if package.json has excluded packages:

{
  "expo": { "install": { "exclude": ["react-native-reanimated"] } }
}

Exclusions are often workarounds that may no longer be needed after upgrading. Review each one.

Removing patches

Check if there are any outdated patches in the patches/ directory. Remove them if they are no longer needed.

Postcss

  • autoprefixer isn't needed in SDK +53. Remove it from dependencies and check postcss.config.js or postcss.config.mjs to remove it from the plugins list.
  • Use postcss.config.mjs in SDK +53.

Metro

Remove redundant metro config options:

  • resolver.unstable_enablePackageExports is enabled by default in SDK +53.
  • experimentalImportSupport is enabled by default in SDK +54.
  • EXPO_USE_FAST_RESOLVER=1 is removed in SDK +54.
  • cjs and mjs extensions are supported by default in SDK +50.
  • Expo webpack is deprecated, migrate to Expo Router and Metro web.

New Architecture

The new architecture is enabled by default, the app.json field "newArchEnabled": true is no longer needed as it's the default. Expo Go only supports the new architecture as of SDK +53.