expo-api-routes

name	expo-api-routes
description	Guidelines for creating API routes in Expo Router with EAS Hosting
type	skill
created	2026-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
domain	software-development
category	mobile
risk	unknown
source	community
tags	["skill","software-development","mobile","expo","api","routes"]

When to Use API Routes

Use API routes when you need:

• Server-side secrets — API keys, database credentials, or tokens that must never reach the client
• Database operations — Direct database queries that shouldn't be exposed
• Third-party API proxies — Hide API keys when calling external services (OpenAI, Stripe, etc.)
• Server-side validation — Validate data before database writes
• Webhook endpoints — Receive callbacks from services like Stripe or GitHub
• Rate limiting — Control access at the server level
• Heavy computation — Offload processing that would be slow on mobile

When NOT to Use API Routes

Avoid API routes when:

• Data is already public — Use direct fetch to public APIs instead
• No secrets required — Static data or client-safe operations
• Real-time updates needed — Use WebSockets or services like Supabase Realtime
• Simple CRUD — Consider Firebase, Supabase, or Convex for managed backends
• File uploads — Use direct-to-storage uploads (S3 presigned URLs, Cloudflare R2)
• Authentication only — Use Clerk, Auth0, or Firebase Auth instead

File Structure

API routes live in the app directory with +api.ts suffix:

app/
  api/
    hello+api.ts          → GET /api/hello
    users+api.ts          → /api/users
    users/[id]+api.ts     → /api/users/:id
  (tabs)/
    index.tsx

Basic API Route

// app/api/hello+api.ts
export function GET(request: Request) {
  return Response.json({ message: "Hello from Expo!" });
}

HTTP Methods

Export named functions for each HTTP method:

// app/api/items+api.ts
  () {
   .({ : [] });
}

   () {
   body =  request.();
   .({ : body }, { :  });
}

   () {
   body =  request.();
   .({ : body });
}

   () {
    (, { :  });
}