Using EAS Update with EAS CLI

EAS Update works by linking branches to channels. Channels are specified at build time and exist inside a build's native code. Branches are an ordered list of updates, similar to a Git branch, which is an ordered list of commits. With EAS Update, we can link any channel to any branch, allowing us to make different updates available to different builds.

Channel "production" linked to branch "version-1.0"

The diagram above visualizes this link. Here, we have the builds with the "production" channel linked to the branch named "version-1.0". When we're ready, we can adjust the channel–branch pointer. Imagine we have more fixes tested and ready on a branch named "version-2.0". We could update this link to make the "version-2.0" branch available to all builds with the "production" channel.

Channel "production" linked to branch "version-2.0"

Inspecting the state of your project's updates

Inspect channels

View all channels:

eas channel:list

View a specific channel:

eas channel:view [channel-name]

# Example
eas channel:view production

Create a channel:

eas channel:create [channel-name]

# Example
eas channel:create production

Inspect branches

See all branches:

eas branch:list

See a specific branch and a list of its updates:

eas branch:view [branch-name]

# Example
eas branch:view version-1.0

Inspect updates

View a specific update:

eas update:view [update-group-id]

# Example
eas update:view dbfd479f-d981-44ce-8774-f2fbcc386aa

Changing the state of your project's updates

Create a new update and publish it

eas update --branch [branch-name] --message "..."

# Example
eas update --branch version-1.0 --message "Fixes typo"

If you're using Git, we can use the --auto flag to auto-fill the branch name and the message. This flag will use the current Git branch as the branch name and the latest Git commit message as the message.

eas update --branch

Delete a branch

eas branch:delete [branch-name]

# Example
eas branch:delete version-1.0

Rename a branch

Renaming branches does not disconnect any channel–branch links. If you had a channel named "production" linked to a branch named "version-1.0", and then you renamed the branch named "version-1.0" to "version-1.0-new", the "production" channel would be linked to the now-renamed branch "version-1.0-new".

eas branch:rename --from [branch-name] --to [branch-name]

# Example
eas branch:rename --from version-1.0 --to version-1.0-new

Republish a previous update within a branch

We can make a previous update immediately available to all users. This command takes the previous update and publishes it again so that it becomes the most current update on the branch. As your users re-open their apps, the apps will see the newly re-published update and will download it.

Republish is similar to a Git reversion, where the correct commit is placed on top of the Git history.

eas update --branch [branch-name] --republish --group [update-group-id]

# Example
eas update --branch version-1.0 --republish --group dbfd479f-d981-44ce-8774-f2fbcc386aa