React Native and Expo best practices for building performant mobile apps. Use when building React Native components, optimizing list performance, implementing animations, or working with native modules. Triggers on tasks involving React Native, Expo, mobile performance, or native platform APIs.
Install with the open skills CLI (global, non-interactive — available in every Claude Code session):
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill "vercel-react-native-skills" -g -a claude-code -yOr manually — clone and copy the skill directory (SKILL.md + companion files):
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills /tmp/agent-skills && cp -r /tmp/agent-skills/skills/react-native-skills ~/.claude/skills/vercel-react-native-skills-vercel-labsThis skill is a directory: SKILL.md is the entry point; the files below ship with it.
---
name: vercel-react-native-skills
description:
React Native and Expo best practices for building performant mobile apps. Use
when building React Native components, optimizing list performance,
implementing animations, or working with native modules. Triggers on tasks
involving React Native, Expo, mobile performance, or native platform APIs.
license: MIT
metadata:
author: vercel
version: '1.0.0'
---
# React Native Skills
Comprehensive best practices for React Native and Expo applications. Contains
rules across multiple categories covering performance, animations, UI patterns,
and platform-specific optimizations.
## When to Apply
Reference these guidelines when:
- Building React Native or Expo apps
- Optimizing list and scroll performance
- Implementing animations with Reanimated
- Working with images and media
- Configuring native modules or fonts
- Structuring monorepo projects with native dependencies
## Rule Categories by Priority
| Priority | Category | Impact | Prefix |
| -------- | ---------------- | -------- | -------------------- |
| 1 | List Performance | CRITICAL | `list-performance-` |
| 2 | Animation | HIGH | `animation-` |
| 3 | Navigation | HIGH | `navigation-` |
| 4 | UI Patterns | HIGH | `ui-` |
| 5 | State Management | MEDIUM | `react-state-` |
| 6 | Rendering | MEDIUM | `rendering-` |
| 7 | Monorepo | MEDIUM | `monorepo-` |
| 8 | Configuration | LOW | `fonts-`, `imports-` |
## Quick Reference
### 1. List Performance (CRITICAL)
- `list-performance-virtualize` - Use FlashList for large lists
- `list-performance-item-memo` - Memoize list item components
- `list-performance-callbacks` - Stabilize callback references
- `list-performance-inline-objects` - Avoid inline style objects
- `list-performance-function-references` - Extract functions outside render
- `list-performance-images` - Optimize images in lists
- `list-performance-item-expensive` - Move expensive work outside items
- `list-performance-item-types` - Use item types for heterogeneous lists
### 2. Animation (HIGH)
- `animation-gpu-properties` - Animate only transform and opacity
- `animation-derived-value` - Use useDerivedValue for computed animations
- `animation-gesture-detector-press` - Use Gesture.Tap instead of Pressable
### 3. Navigation (HIGH)
- `navigation-native-navigators` - Use native stack and native tabs over JS navigators
### 4. UI Patterns (HIGH)
- `ui-expo-image` - Use expo-image for all images
- `ui-image-gallery` - Use Galeria for image lightboxes
- `ui-pressable` - Use Pressable over TouchableOpacity
- `ui-safe-area-scroll` - Handle safe areas in ScrollViews
- `ui-scrollview-content-inset` - Use contentInset for headers
- `ui-menus` - Use native context menus
- `ui-native-modals` - Use native modals when possible
- `ui-measure-views` - Use onLayout, not measure()
- `ui-styling` - Use StyleSheet.create or Nativewind
### 5. State Management (MEDIUM)
- `react-state-minimize` - Minimize state subscriptions
- `react-state-dispatcher` - Use dispatcher pattern for callbacks
- `react-state-fallback` - Show fallback on first render
- `react-compiler-destructure-functions` - Destructure for React Compiler
- `react-compiler-reanimated-shared-values` - Handle shared values with compiler
### 6. Rendering (MEDIUM)
- `rendering-text-in-text-component` - Wrap text in Text components
- `rendering-no-falsy-and` - Avoid falsy && for conditional rendering
### 7. Monorepo (MEDIUM)
- `monorepo-native-deps-in-app` - Keep native dependencies in app package
- `monorepo-single-dependency-versions` - Use single versions across packages
### 8. Configuration (LOW)
- `fonts-config-plugin` - Use config plugins for custom fonts
- `imports-design-system-folder` - Organize design system imports
- `js-hoist-intl` - Hoist Intl object creation
## How to Use
Read individual rule files for detailed explanations and code examples:
```
rules/list-performance-virtualize.md
rules/animation-gpu-properties.md
```
Each rule file contains:
- Brief explanation of why it matters
- Incorrect code example with explanation
- Correct code example with explanation
- Additional context and references
## Full Compiled Document
For the complete guide with all rules expanded: `AGENTS.md`
You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior. Explores user intent, requirements and design before implementation.
Roleplay the most difficult, tech-resistant user for your product. Browse the app as that persona, find every UX pain point, then filter complaints through a pragmatism layer to separate real problems from noise. Creates actionable tickets from genuine issues only.
ASCII video: convert video/audio to colored ASCII MP4/GIF.