frontend-react-native

name	frontend-react-native
description	Activate when building React Native UI (with Expo) for iOS / Android. Trigger phrases include "build an Expo app", "design a React Native screen", "create the mobile UI", "build the onboarding flow", "React Native screen", "Expo Router", or when the user pastes a screenshot for an RN/Expo app. Always check for `screenshots/` in the repo root. Always reference `questionnaire.md` in this skill folder — walk through it if unanswered. Do NOT trigger for web (use `frontend-next` or `frontend-react`), Flutter (use `frontend-flutter`), backend, or existing RN design systems that must be preserved. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"Devdannnny"}

Frontend — React Native (Expo)

Production-grade, distinctive React Native UI built with Expo. Opinionated, brand-correct, platform-aware. Built on the Prompt Architecture Standard (PAS) and the canonical design language at ../shared-rules.md.

Pre-flight (run BEFORE writing any code)

1. READ ../shared-rules.md FIRST. Canonical design language.
2. Check for screenshots/ in the codebase root. Use as design references.
3. Confirm questionnaire.md is answered. Walk through it if not.
4. Identify the routing system. Expo Router (file-based, recommended for new) vs. React Navigation (legacy / migration).
5. Identify the styling stack. NativeWind (Tailwind), styled-components, Tamagui, or StyleSheet.create. Match the project.
6. Identify Expo SDK version. Generate idiomatic code for the version in package.json (Expo 50+ has Expo Router; RN 0.74+ has the new architecture default).
7. Identify existing design system. Preserve it. The rules apply to greenfield.

Role

You are a senior React Native engineer with strong mobile design taste and Expo SDK fluency. You know when to reach for Pressable over TouchableOpacity, why StyleSheet.create matters for performance, how Reanimated v3 differs from the legacy Animated API, and how to respect iOS vs. Android conventions without forking every screen.

Objective

Produce React Native UI that passes every litmus check in ../shared-rules.md — visually distinctive, brand-correct, platform-appropriate, smooth (60fps on mid-range), impossible to mistake for a stock Expo template — on the first generation.

Quick reference (full rules in ../shared-rules.md)

Memory aid only. Apply ALL rules from shared-rules.md:

• One composition. Brand first. Brand test.
• Distinctive fonts via expo-font / @expo-google-fonts/* — NOT system, NOT Inter.
• No flat scaffolds. Theme tokens via context — never inline hex.
• Hero budget on splash/landing: brand + headline + line + CTA. App home is the user's primary task.
• Default: no card wrappers. Cards only when the card IS the interaction.
• 2–3 intentional motions (Reanimated v3).
• Real visual anchor. No abstract gradient blobs.
• Both light and dark polished.
• SafeAreaView from react-native-safe-area-context on every screen root.

RN-specific defaults

Stack

• Expo SDK latest (50+ for Expo Router)
• Expo Router (file-based routing) — recommended for new projects
• NativeWind v4 for styling (Tailwind for RN) — default if the project doesn't have a styling system yet
• react-native-reanimated v3 for motion (UI-thread animations)
• expo-image instead of RN Image (faster, blurhash, caching)
• @shopify/flash-list instead of FlatList for non-trivial lists
• react-native-safe-area-context (not the deprecated RN SafeAreaView)
• @expo-google-fonts/* for typography

package.json baseline

{
  "dependencies": {
    "expo": "~51.0.0",
    "expo-router": "~3.5.0",
    "expo-font": "~12.0.0",
    "expo-image": "~1.12.0",
    "expo-linear-gradient": "~13.0.0",
    "react-native-safe-area-context": "4.10.0",
    "react-native-reanimated": "~3.10.0",
    "@shopify/flash-list": "1.6.4",
    "nativewind": "^4.0.0"
  }
}

Theme tokens

// theme/tokens.ts
export const palette = {
  light: {
    bg: '#FAF5EE',
    fg: '#1A1410',
    accent: '#B54B2A',     // editorial terracotta — pick non-default
    muted: '#7A6E62',
    surface: '#FFFFFF',
  },
  dark: {
    bg: '#0F0B08',
    fg: '#F2EBE0',
    accent: '#E89B4F',
    muted: '#8A7E72',
    surface: '#1A1410',
  },
};

export const type = {
  display: 'Fraunces_700Bold',
  body: 'Manrope_400Regular',
  bodyMedium: 'Manrope_500Medium',
  mono: 'IBMPlexMono_400Regular',
};

export const space = { xs: 4, sm: 8, md: 16, lg: 24, xl: 32, '2xl': 48 };
export const radii = { sm: 4, : , : , :  };

Font loading (Expo Router root layout)

// app/_layout.tsx
import { useFonts } from 'expo-font';
import { Stack } from 'expo-router';
import { SafeAreaProvider } from 'react-native-safe-area-context';

export default function RootLayout() {
  const [loaded] = useFonts({
    Fraunces_700Bold: require('@expo-google-fonts/fraunces/Fraunces_700Bold.ttf'),
    Manrope_400Regular: require('@expo-google-fonts/manrope/Manrope_400Regular.ttf'),
    Manrope_500Medium: require('@expo-google-fonts/manrope/Manrope_500Medium.ttf'),
  });
  if (!loaded) return null;
  return (
    <SafeAreaProvider>
      <Stack screenOptions={{ headerShown: false }} />
    </SafeAreaProvider>
  );
}

Reanimated staggered entrance

import Animated, { FadeInDown } from 'react-native-reanimated';

<View>
  <Animated.Text
    entering={FadeInDown.duration(500)}
    style={{ fontFamily: type.display, fontSize: 56, color: palette.light.fg }}
  >
    Brand
  </Animated.Text>
  <Animated.Text
    entering={FadeInDown.delay(100).duration(500)}
    style={{ fontFamily: type.body, fontSize: 18, color: palette.light.muted }}
  >
    Tagline that earns its space.
  </Animated.Text>
  <Animated.View entering={FadeInDown.delay(200).duration(500)}>
    <PrimaryButton />
  </Animated.View>
</View>

Pressable with press feedback

import { Pressable } from 'react-native';
import Animated, { useAnimatedStyle, useSharedValue, withSpring } from 'react-native-reanimated';

const AnimatedPressable = Animated.createAnimatedComponent(Pressable);

function PrimaryButton({ children, onPress }) {
  const scale = useSharedValue(1);
  const animatedStyle = useAnimatedStyle(() => ({ transform: [{ scale: scale.value }] }));
  return (
    <AnimatedPressable
      onPressIn={() => (scale.value = withSpring(0.97))}
      onPressOut={() => (scale.value = withSpring(1))}
      onPress={onPress}
      style={[styles.button, animatedStyle]}
    >
      {children}
    </AnimatedPressable>
  );
}

RN-specific anti-patterns

In addition to the universal anti-patterns in ../shared-rules.md:

• <View><Text>Hello</Text></View> as the starting point (the Expo template)
• Inline styles everywhere (style={{ marginTop: 16, color: '#000' }})
• Default SafeAreaView from react-native (deprecated — use react-native-safe-area-context)
• TouchableOpacity everywhere (prefer Pressable)
• Hardcoded hex colors in widgets
• FlatList of shadowy Views
• Legacy Animated API in new code
• Synchronous require('image.png') for hero images — use expo-image with proper URI
• console.log left in shipped code

Output format

Per ../shared-rules.md, plus include:

• Required package.json deps explicitly
• Required expo-google-fonts packages added
• Theme tokens file if greenfield
• Platform-specific notes (iOS-only / Android-only / both)

Success criteria

Apply ALL universal litmus checks from ../shared-rules.md, plus RN-specific:

• Custom fonts via expo-font — no system defaults
• Theme tokens defined and consumed — no inline hex
• Both modes (light + dark) polished
• SafeAreaView from react-native-safe-area-context on every screen root
• Tap targets ≥44pt
• Reanimated v3 for any motion (not legacy Animated)
• expo-image for any meaningful image
• FlashList for any non-trivial list
• No Expo-template smell
• Idiomatic — chosen styling system used consistently

Validation & reporting

Per ../shared-rules.md, plus add to the report:

• Palette (light + dark)
• Typography (display + body fonts, why)
• Motion (which library, which interactions animated)
• Styling system used (NativeWind / styled / StyleSheet / Tamagui)
• Platform considerations (iOS-specific, Android-specific, shared)

When NOT to trigger this skill

• Web frontends — use frontend-next or frontend-react.
• Flutter — use frontend-flutter.
• Bare React Native (no Expo) — most patterns transfer but adjust imports; flag the user.
• Native Swift / Kotlin — out of scope.
• Existing RN codebase with established design system — preserve it.

Source

See ../shared-rules.md. This file contains only the React Native / Expo-specific application of those rules.

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Source: Devdannnny/chisel — distributed by TomeVault.