React Native Chat

Getting Started

1. Install node & npm: brew install node
2. Install watchman: brew install watchman
3. Install dependencies: npm install
4. Update api.php in Web-Expensify to add the following headers to avoid CORS issues

   header('Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *');
   header('Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true');
   

5. Run cp .env.example .env and edit .env to have your local config options

Running the web app 🕸

• To run a Development Server: npm run web
• To build a production build: npm run build
• Changes applied to Javascript will be applied automatically

Deploying the web app

• The web app automatically deploys via a GitHub Action in .github/workflows/main.yml

Running the iOS app 📱

• To install the iOS dependencies, run: cd ios/ && pod install
• To run a on a Development Simulator: npm run ios
  • If the app is booting on a simulator for the first time, run the following two commands:

  xcrun simctl keychain booted add-root-cert ~/Expensidev/config/ssl/rootCA.crt #Adds root cert and trusts it
  xcrun simctl keychain booted add-cert ~/Expensidev/config/ssl/expensify.com.dev.pem #Adds .dev cert and trusts it

• Changes applied to Javascript will be applied automatically, any changes to native code will require a recompile

Running the Android app 🤖

• Running via ngrok is required to communicate with the API
  • Start ngrok (Expensidev/script/ngrok.sh), replace expensify.com.dev value in src/CONFIG.js with your ngrok value
• To run a on a Development Emulator: npm run android
• Changes applied to Javascript will be applied automatically, any changes to native code will require a recompile

Deploying the iOS & Android app

• To install the required tools to deploy, run bundle install from the root of this project
• To deploy the iOS app run: npm run deploy-ios
• The Android app automatically deploys via a GitHub action to: https://chat.expensify.com/app-release.apk
• To build an APK to share run (e.g. via Slack): Build > Generate Signed Bundle / APK... from Android Studio

Running the desktop app 🖥

• To run the Development app, run: npm run desktop
• To build a production build, run: npm run desktop-build

Deploying the desktop app

• The desktop app automatically deploys via a GitHub Action in .github/workflows/desktop.yml

Running the tests 🎰

• To run the Jest Unit Tests: npm run test

Troubleshooting

1. If you are having issues with Getting Started, please reference React Native's Documentation
2. If you are running into issues communicating with expensify.com.dev (CORS, SSL, etc.), running via ngrok is recommended, see step 3 in Getting Started

Debugging

1. If running on the iOS simulator ⌘D, or ⌘M on Android emulator will open the debugging menu.
2. This will allow you to attach a debugger in your IDE, React Developer Tools, or your browser.
3. For more information on how to attach a debugger, see React Native Debugging Documentation