Node 22+, pnpm 9+
Xcode (iOS) / Android Studio (Android) — only needed for local prebuild + emulator runs; EAS Build runs everything in the cloud.
An Expo account (free) — required for eas init below.
Optional: npm i -g eas-cli for the CLI commands. If you skip globals, prefix every eas invocation with npx eas-cli.

Phase 0 quickstart

# From the repo root.
pnpm install

# One-time: claim an EAS project ID. This rewrites the placeholder
# `extra.eas.projectId` in app.json and links the local repo to your
# Expo dashboard. Commit the resulting app.json change.
cd apps/mobile
npx eas-cli init

# Sign in to Expo if you haven't.
npx eas-cli login

# Build a development client (custom dev-client APK + iOS simulator
# bundle). First iOS build prompts for Apple ID — free signing works
# for development distribution.
npx eas-cli build --platform all --profile development

When the builds finish, EAS gives you a QR code / install link. Install the dev client on your device, then start the Metro server from the repo root:

pnpm mobile:dev    # = pnpm --filter @chat-app/mobile dev = expo start --dev-client

Open the dev client on the device, scan the QR code, and Netralax's Landing screen should render.

Day-to-day

pnpm mobile:dev          # Metro server
pnpm mobile:ios          # native iOS run (local Xcode)
pnpm mobile:android      # native Android run (local Android Studio)
pnpm mobile:typecheck    # tsc --noEmit

Architecture notes

Expo Router (file-based) — screens live under app/.
expo-secure-store — Keychain / Keystore-backed secret store (used by the mobile SecretStore adapter in Phase 1).
expo-sqlite — local encrypted history (Phase 1).
react-native-libsodium — crypto primitives (Phase 1's CryptoBackend adapter wraps this).
@chat-app/shared — business logic shared with the desktop, including the CryptoBackend and SecretStore interfaces the mobile adapters plug into.
lib/sharedSmoke.ts exists only to prove Metro can resolve the workspace package; it's deleted in Phase 1.

Roadmap

See docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-13-mobile-deployment-roadmap.md.