Upgrade Workflow

You are performing a version upgrade on a React Native or Expo project. This skill provides a systematic migration process.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke when:

• Upgrading Expo SDK version (e.g., SDK 51 → 52)
• Upgrading React Native version (e.g., 0.75 → 0.76)
• Upgrading major dependencies (React Navigation, Reanimated, etc.)
• Migrating from Expo managed to bare workflow

5-Step Upgrade Process

Step 1: Pre-Assessment

Before changing anything:

1. Document current state:

   npx expo-doctor  # Expo projects
   npx react-native info  # All RN projects
   

2. Check compatibility matrix:

   • Expo SDK → React Native version mapping
   • React Native → React version mapping
   • Key dependency version requirements

3. Identify breaking changes:

   • Read the official changelog/migration guide
   • Check each major dependency's changelog
   • List all breaking changes that affect this project

4. Ensure clean state:

   git status  # Must be clean
   git checkout -b upgrade/[target-version]
   

Step 2: Core Upgrade

Expo managed:

npx expo install expo@latest
npx expo install --fix  # Fix peer dependency issues

Bare React Native:

npx react-native upgrade [version]
# Or use the upgrade helper:
# https://react-native-community.github.io/upgrade-helper/

Step 3: Dependency Updates

Update dependencies in order of importance:

1. React and React Native core
2. Navigation (expo-router or React Navigation)
3. State management (zustand, tanstack-query)
4. UI libraries (nativewind, reanimated, gesture-handler)
5. Native modules and Expo packages
6. Dev dependencies (jest, typescript, eslint)

# Check for outdated packages
npx npm-check-updates

# Update with Expo compatibility
npx expo install [package]@latest

Step 4: Migration Steps

Apply breaking changes systematically:

1. API changes — Update deprecated API calls
2. Import changes — Fix moved/renamed imports
3. Config changes — Update app.config.ts, babel.config.js, metro.config.js
4. Native changes — Update Podfile, build.gradle if bare workflow
5. Type changes — Fix TypeScript type errors from updated types

For each change:

# Make change
# Run: npx tsc --noEmit  (type check)
# Run: npm test  (unit tests)
# Fix any failures before moving to next change

Step 5: Verification

Complete verification checklist:

• npx tsc --noEmit

  passes (no type errors)

• npm test

  passes (all unit tests)

• npx expo start

  launches dev server (Expo)
• iOS build succeeds
• Android build succeeds
• Critical user flows work on both platforms
• No new console warnings related to deprecation
• Bundle size hasn't increased significantly

Output

## Upgrade Report

### Versions
From: [previous versions]
To: [new versions]

### Breaking Changes Applied
[List with file locations and descriptions]

### Dependencies Updated
[Package] [old] → [new]

### Verification
[Status of each check]

### Known Issues
[Any remaining warnings or known issues with notes]

Rollback

If upgrade fails:

git checkout main
git branch -D upgrade/[target-version]

Never force through a broken upgrade. It's better to wait for fixes.