Reserved paths

URL paths reserved by Metro and Expo Router that you should avoid using for routes or static files.

For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt. Use this file to discover all available pages.

If you create a route or place static files at certain URL paths, Metro or Expo Router will intercept the request instead of serving your content. Depending on the path, this can result in a "404 Asset not found" error or your page being silently replaced by an internal dev server response.

/assets/*

Metro serves all bundled assets (images, fonts, and other files) at this path. If you create a route at app/assets.tsx or a directory at public/assets/, Metro intercepts the request and your content is never reached.

This applies to both top-level routes and static files:

Rename your route or directory to avoid the conflict:

/_expo/*

Expo Router uses this path for multiple internal middlewares, including dev tools and manifests. Do not create routes or static files under this path.

/_flight/*

React Server Components use this path internally. Do not create routes or static files under this path.

/inspector

React Native uses /inspector/debug and /inspector/network for the debugger. Avoid creating routes that match /inspector or its sub-paths.

/expo-dev-plugins/*

Expo development tool plugins use this path. Do not create routes or static files under this path.

/manifest

The dev server serves the native app manifest at this path. If you create a route at app/manifest.tsx, the dev server responds with manifest JSON instead of your page. Your route will appear to silently not load during development.

/_sitemap

Expo Router automatically generates a sitemap route at this path for debugging. If you create a route at app/_sitemap.tsx, it will override the built-in sitemap. See Sitemap for more details on this feature.

/public/*

If your project has a public directory, the /public URL path may conflict with static file serving. Avoid creating a route at app/public.tsx or app/public/index.tsx since the path is implicitly reserved when the public directory exists.

/favicon.ico

Unlike the paths above, /favicon.ico is safe to override. Expo CLI serves a default favicon when none is provided. You can replace it by placing a favicon.ico file in your public directory or by creating an API route.