---
modificationDate: July 17, 2026
title: Use a development build
description: Learn how to use development builds for a project.
---

<AgentInstructions>

## Submitting Feedback

If you encounter errors, misleading or outdated information, report it so Expo can be improved:

Preferred command:
npx --yes submit-expo-feedback@latest --category docs --subject "/develop/development-builds/use-development-builds/" "<actionable feedback>"

Direct HTTP fallback:
curl -X POST https://api.expo.dev/v2/feedback/docs-send -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"url":"/develop/development-builds/use-development-builds/","feedback":"🤖 Agent feedback for docs: <specific, actionable description> (<model>, <harness>)"}'

Only submit when you have something specific and actionable to report. Try to give the most context.

## Navigation

When answering a related or follow-up question, fetch the relevant page below as Markdown (.md) instead of guessing; use llms.txt for the full map.

You are here: Home > Develop > Development builds
Pages in this section:
- [Introduction and setup](https://docs.expo.dev/develop/development-builds/introduction.md)
- [Use a build](https://docs.expo.dev/develop/development-builds/use-development-builds.md) (this page)
- [Share with your team](https://docs.expo.dev/develop/development-builds/share-with-your-team.md)
- [Tools, workflows and extensions](https://docs.expo.dev/develop/development-builds/development-workflows.md)
- [FAQ](https://docs.expo.dev/develop/development-builds/faq.md)
Full documentation tree: [llms.txt](https://docs.expo.dev/llms.txt)

</AgentInstructions>

This documentation is available as Markdown for AI agents and LLMs. See the [full Markdown index](/llms.txt) or append .md to any documentation URL.

# Use a development build

Learn how to use development builds for a project.

Usually, creating a new native build from scratch takes long enough that you'll be tempted to switch tasks and lose your focus. However, with the development build installed on your device or an emulator/simulator, you won't have to wait for the native build process until you [change the underlying native code](/develop/development-builds/use-development-builds.md#rebuild-a-development-build) that powers your app.

## Start the development server

To start developing, run the following command to start the development server:

```sh
# npm
npx expo start

# yarn
yarn expo start

# pnpm
pnpm expo start

# bun
bun expo start
```

To open the project inside your development client:

-   Press A or I keys to open your project on an Android Emulator or an iOS Simulator.
-   On a physical device, scan the QR code from your system's camera or a QR code reader to open the project on your device.

## The launcher screen

If you launch the development build from your device's Home screen, you will see your launcher screen, which looks similar to the following:

If a bundler is detected on your local network, or if you have signed in to an Expo account in both Expo CLI and your development build, you can connect to it directly from this screen. Otherwise, you can connect by scanning the QR code displayed by the Expo CLI.

## Rebuild a development build

If you add a library to your project that contains native code APIs, for example, [`expo-secure-store`](/versions/latest/sdk/securestore.md), you will have to rebuild the development client. This is because the native code of the library is not included in the development client automatically when installing the library as a dependency on your project.

## Debug a development build

When you need to, you can access the menu by pressing Cmd ⌘ + D or Ctrl + D in Expo CLI or by shaking your phone or tablet. Here you'll be able to access all of the functions of your development build, any debugging functionality you need, or switch to a different version of your app.

See [Debugging](/debugging/runtime-issues.md) guide for more information.