Troubleshooting

The fastest general fix is to give your coding agent the exact command and full error output:

This command failed: [command]
Here is the complete output: [paste it]
Read AGENTS.md and the matching agent skill, identify the first root-cause error,
and fix it without downgrading Expo or removing native capabilities just to hide
the problem. Re-run the original command when done.

pnpm is not found

corepack enable

Then confirm node --version is Node 22.13 or later and pnpm --version works.

Expo Doctor reports version mismatches

Do not randomly upgrade everything. Ask the agent to use the Expo SDK 57 package versions and install Expo-managed dependencies with the Expo installer. Re-run:

pnpm run doctor

Expo Go will not open the project

Expo Go availability can lag the newest SDK and cannot validate all native modules. Use the supported development-build path from Get it running. Do not remove RevenueCat, notifications, biometrics, or other native packages just to force an Expo Go preview.

Development build says a native module is missing

The installed build is older than the native configuration. Create a fresh development build and reinstall it. Restarting Metro cannot add native code to an existing binary.

Phone cannot reach the development server

Keep phone and computer on a reachable network, disable restrictive VPN/firewall temporarily if safe, and ask Expo to use a tunnel when LAN discovery fails.

Environment changes do nothing

Adapter and config-plugin values are build-time configuration. Restart the dev server and create a new development build when the public Expo config changed. Run pnpm setup:check to catch missing or incompatible values.

A complete screen still uses fake data

That may be correct: mock mode is the default. Run:

pnpm seams
pnpm setup:check

Then ask the agent which adapter is active. Do not call a feature “wired” because its UI looks realistic.

Start clean without deleting work

To clear Metro's cache safely:

pnpm exec expo start --clear

Do not delete project files, credentials, or Git history as a generic fix.