GuidesExpo Application ServicesAPI Reference
ArchiveExpo SnackDiscordForumsChangelog

Getting started

Learn how to get started with EAS Update and use in your project.


Setting up EAS Update allows you to push critical bug fixes and improvements that your users need right away.

1

Install the latest EAS CLI

EAS CLI is the command line app you will use to interact with EAS services from your terminal. To install it, run the command:

Terminal
npm install --global eas-cli

You can also use the above command to check if a new version of EAS CLI is available. We encourage you to always stay up to date with the latest version.

We recommend using npm instead of yarn for global package installations. You may alternatively use npx eas-cli; remember to use that instead of eas whenever it's called for in the documentation.

2

Create a project

Create a project by running:

Terminal
npx create-expo-app

3

Configure your project

To configure your project, run the following commands in the order they are specified:

Terminal
# Install the latest `expo-updates` library
npx expo install expo-updates

# Initialize your project with EAS Update
eas update:configure

# Set up the configuration file for builds
eas build:configure

After running these commands, eas.json file will be created in the root directory of your project.

Inside the preview and production build profiles in eas.json, add a channel property for each:

eas.json
{
  "build": {
    "preview": {
      "channel": "preview"
      // ...
    },
    "production": {
      "channel": "production"
      // ...
    }
  }
}

The channel allows you to point updates at builds of that profile. For example, if we set up a GitHub Action to publish changes on merge, it will make it so that we can merge code into the "production" Git branch. Then, each commit will trigger a GitHub Action that will publish an update which will be available to builds with the channel "production".

Optional: If your project is a bare React Native project, see Updating bare app for any additional configuration.

4

Create a build for the project

You need to create a build for Android or iOS. We recommend creating a build with the preview build profile first. See Creating your first build on how to get started and set up Internal distribution for your device or simulator.

Once you have a build running on your device or a simulator, you are ready to send an update.

5

Make changes locally

After creating the build, you are ready to iterate on the project. Start a local development server with the following command:

Terminal
npx expo start

Then, make any desired changes to your project's JavaScript, styling, or image assets.

6

Publish an update

To publish an update to the build, run the following command:

Terminal
eas update --branch [branch] --message [message]

# Example
eas update --branch preview --message "Updating the app"

Once the update is built and uploaded to EAS and the command completes, force close and reopen your app up to two times to download and view the update.

Next steps

You can publish updates continuously with GitHub Actions. See Using GitHub Actions with EAS Update for more information.