--- id: quick-start-getting-started title: Getting Started layout: docs category: Quick Start permalink: docs/getting-started.html next: tutorial-core-components ---
Target: iOS Android Development OS: Mac Linux Windows
## Unsupported
Unfortunately, Apple only lets you develop for iOS on a Mac machine. Please check out the Android instructions instead.
## Installation ### Required Prerequisites #### Homebrew [Homebrew](http://brew.sh/), in order to install the required NodeJS, in addition to some recommended installs. ``` /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" ``` #### Node Use Homebrew to install [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/). > NodeJS 4.0 or greater is required for React Native. The default Homebrew package for Node is > currently 6.0, so that is not an issue. ``` brew install node ``` #### React Native Command Line Tools The React Native command line tools allow you to easily create and initialize projects, etc. ``` npm install -g react-native-cli ``` > If you see the error, `EACCES: permission denied`, please run the command: > `sudo npm install -g react-native-cli`. #### Xcode [Xcode](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/downloads/) 7.0 or higher is required. You can install Xcode via the App Store or [Apple developer downloads](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/downloads/). This will install the Xcode IDE and Xcode Command Line Tools. > While generally installed by default, you can verify that the Xcode Command Line Tools are installed by launching Xcode and selecting `Xcode | Preferences | Locations` and ensuring there is a version of the command line tools shown in the `Command Line Tools` list box. The Command Line Tools give you `git`, etc. #### Android Studio [Android Studio](http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html) 2.0 or higher. > Android Studio requires the Java Development Kit [JDK] 1.8 or higher. You can type > `javac -version` to see what version you have, if any. If you do not meet the JDK requirement, > you can > [download it](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html). Android Studio will provide you the Android SDK and emulator required to run and test your React Native apps. > Unless otherwise mentioned, keep all the setup defaults intact. For example, the > `Android Support Repository` is installed automatically with Android Studio, and we need that > for React Native. You will need to customize your installation: - Choose a `Custom` installation ![custom installation](img/react-native-android-studio-custom-install.png) - Choose both `Performance` and `Android Virtual Device` ![additional installs](img/react-native-android-studio-additional-installs.png) - After installation, choose `Configure | SDK Manager` from the Android Studio welcome window. ![configure sdk](img/react-native-android-studio-configure-sdk.png) - In the `SDK Platforms` window, choose `Show Package Details` and under `Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)`, make sure that `Google APIs`, `Intel x86 Atom System Image`, `Intel x86 Atom_64 System Image`, and `Google APIs Intel x86 Atom_64 System Image` are checked. ![platforms](img/react-native-android-studio-android-sdk-platforms.png) - In the `SDK Tools` window, choose `Show Package Details` and under `Android SDK Build Tools`, make sure that `Android SDK Build-Tools 23.0.1` is selected. ![build tools](img/react-native-android-studio-android-sdk-build-tools.png) #### ANDROID_HOME Environment Variable Ensure the `ANDROID_HOME` environment variable points to your existing Android SDK. To do that, add this to your `~/.bashrc`, `~/.bash_profile` (or whatever your shell uses) and re-open your terminal: ``` # If you installed the SDK without Android Studio, then it may be something like: # /usr/local/opt/android-sdk export ANDROID_HOME=~/Library/Android/sdk ``` ### Highly Recommended Installs #### Watchman [Watchman](https://facebook.github.io/watchman/docs/install.html) is a tool by Facebook for watching changes in the filesystem. It is recommended you install it for better performance. ``` brew install watchman ``` #### Flow [Flow](http://www.flowtype.org), for static typechecking of your React Native code (when using Flow as part of your codebase). ``` brew install flow ``` #### Add Android Tools Directory to your `PATH` You can add the Android tools directory on your `PATH` in case you need to run any of the Android tools from the command line such as `android avd`. In your `~/.bash` or `~/.bash_profile`: ``` # Your exact string here may be different. PATH="~/Library/Android/sdk/tools:~/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools:${PATH}" export PATH ``` #### Gradle Daemon Enable [Gradle Daemon](https://docs.gradle.org/2.9/userguide/gradle_daemon.html) which greatly improves incremental build times for changes in java code. ### Other Optional Installs #### Git Git version control. If you have installed [Xcode](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/), Git is already installed, otherwise run the following: ``` brew install git ``` #### Nuclide [Nuclide](http://nuclide.io) is an IDE from Facebook providing a first-class development environment for writing, [running](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/#running-applications) and [debugging](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/#debugging) [React Native](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/) applications. Get started with Nuclide [here](http://nuclide.io/docs/quick-start/getting-started/). #### Genymotion Genymotion is an alternative to the stock Google emulator that comes with Android Studio. However, it's only free for personal use. If you want to use Genymotion, see below. 1. Download and install [Genymotion](https://www.genymotion.com/). 2. Open Genymotion. It might ask you to install VirtualBox unless you already have it. 3. Create a new emulator and start it. 4. To bring up the developer menu press ⌘+M ### Troubleshooting #### Virtual Device Not Created When Installing Android Studio There is a [known bug](https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=207563) on some versions of Android Studio where a virtual device will not be created, even though you selected it in the installation sequence. You may see this at the end of the installation: ``` Creating Android virtual device Unable to create a virtual device: Unable to create Android virtual device ``` If you see this, run `android avd` and create the virtual device manually. ![avd](img/react-native-android-studio-avd.png) Then select the new device in the AVD Manager window and click `Start...`. #### Shell Command Unresponsive Exception If you encounter: ``` Execution failed for task ':app:installDebug'. com.android.builder.testing.api.DeviceException: com.android.ddmlib.ShellCommandUnresponsiveException ``` try downgrading your Gradle version to 1.2.3 in `/android/build.gradle` (https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/2720) ## Installation ### Required Prerequisites #### Chocolatey [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org) is a package manager for Windows similar to `yum` and `apt-get`. See the [website](https://chocolatey.org) for updated instructions, but installing from the Terminal should be something like: ``` @powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex ((new-object net.webclient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))" && SET PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin ``` > Normally when you run Chocolatey to install a package, you should run your Terminal as > Administrator. #### Python 2 Fire up the Terminal and use Chocolatey to install Python 2. > Python 3 will currently not work when initializing a React Native project. ``` choco install python2 ``` #### Node Fire up the Terminal and type the following commands to install NodeJS from the NodeSource repository: ``` sudo apt-get install -y build-essential curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_4.x | sudo -E bash - sudo apt-get install -y nodejs sudo ln -s /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node ``` Fire up the Termimal and use Chocolatey to install NodeJS. ``` choco install nodejs.install ``` #### React Native Command Line Tools The React Native command line tools allow you to easily create and initialize projects, etc. ``` npm install -g react-native-cli ``` > If you see the error, `EACCES: permission denied`, please run the command: > `sudo npm install -g react-native-cli`. #### Android Studio [Android Studio](http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html) 2.0 or higher. > Android Studio requires the Java Development Kit [JDK] 1.8 or higher. You can type > `javac -version` to see what version you have, if any. If you do not meet the JDK requirement, > you can > [download it](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html), > or use a pacakage manager to install it (e.g. `choco install jdk8`, > `apt-get install default-jdk`). Android Studio will provide you the Android SDK and emulator required to run and test your React Native apps. > Unless otherwise mentioned, keep all the setup defaults intact. For example, the > `Android Support Repository` is installed automatically with Android Studio, and we need that > for React Native. You will need to customize your installation: - Choose a `Custom` installation ![custom installation](img/react-native-android-studio-custom-install-linux.png) - Choose `Android Virtual Device` ![additional installs](img/react-native-android-studio-additional-installs-linux.png) - Make sure all components are checked for the install, particularly the `Android SDK` and `Android Device Emulator`. - After the initial install, choose a `Custom` installation. ![custom installation](img/react-native-android-studio-custom-install-windows.png) - Verify installed components, particularly the emulator and the HAXM accelerator. They should be checked. ![verify installs](img/react-native-android-studio-verify-installs-windows.png) - After installation, choose `Configure | SDK Manager` from the Android Studio welcome window. ![configure sdk](img/react-native-android-studio-configure-sdk-linux.png) ![configure sdk](img/react-native-android-studio-configure-sdk-windows.png) - In the `SDK Platforms` window, choose `Show Package Details` and under `Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)`, make sure that `Google APIs`, `Intel x86 Atom System Image`, `Intel x86 Atom_64 System Image`, and `Google APIs Intel x86 Atom_64 System Image` are checked. ![platforms](img/react-native-android-studio-android-sdk-platforms-linux.png) ![platforms](img/react-native-android-studio-android-sdk-platforms-windows.png) - In the `SDK Tools` window, choose `Show Package Details` and under `Android SDK Build Tools`, make sure that `Android SDK Build-Tools 23.0.1` is selected. ![build tools](img/react-native-android-studio-android-sdk-build-tools-linux.png) ![build tools](img/react-native-android-studio-android-sdk-build-tools-windows.png) #### ANDROID_HOME Environment Variable Ensure the `ANDROID_HOME` environment variable points to your existing Android SDK. To do that, add this to your `~/.bashrc`, `~/.bash_profile` (or whatever your shell uses) and re-open your terminal: ``` # If you installed the SDK without Android Studio, then it may be something like: # /usr/local/opt/android-sdk; Generally with Android Studio, the SDK is installed here... export ANDROID_HOME=~/Android/Sdk ``` > You need to restart the Terminal to apply the new environment variables (or `source` the relevant > bash file). Go to `Control Panel` -> `System and Security` -> `System` -> `Change settings` -> `Advanced System Settings` -> `Environment variables` -> `New` > Your path to the SDK will vary to the one shown below. ![env variable](img/react-native-android-sdk-environment-variable-windows.png) > You need to restart the Command Prompt (Windows) to apply the new environment variables. ### Highly Recommended Installs #### Watchman Watchman is a tool by Facebook for watching changes in the filesystem. It is recommended you install it for better performance. > This also helps avoid a node file-watching bug. Type the following into your terminal to compile watchman from source and install it: ``` git clone https://github.com/facebook/watchman.git cd watchman git checkout v4.5.0 # the latest stable release ./autogen.sh ./configure make sudo make install ``` #### Flow [Flow](http://www.flowtype.org), for static typechecking of your React Native code (when using Flow as part of your codebase). Type the following in the terminal: ``` npm install -g flow-bin ``` #### Gradle Daemon Enable [Gradle Daemon](https://docs.gradle.org/2.9/userguide/gradle_daemon.html) which greatly improves incremental build times for changes in java code. ``` touch ~/.gradle/gradle.properties && echo "org.gradle.daemon=true" >> ~/.gradle/gradle.properties ``` ``` (if not exist "%USERPROFILE%/.gradle" mkdir "%USERPROFILE%/.gradle") && (echo org.gradle.daemon=true >> "%USERPROFILE%/.gradle/gradle.properties") ``` #### Android Emulator Accelerator You may have seen the following screen when installing Android Studio. ![accelerator](img/react-native-android-studio-kvm-linux.png) If your system supports KVM, you should install the [Intel Android Emulator Accelerator](https://software.intel.com/en-us/android/articles/speeding-up-the-android-emulator-on-intel-architecture#_Toc358213272). #### Add Android Tools Directory to your `PATH` You can add the Android tools directory on your `PATH` in case you need to run any of the Android tools from the command line such as `android avd`. In your `~/.bashrc` or `~/.bash_profile`: ``` # Your exact string here may be different. PATH="~/Android/Sdk/tools:~/Android/Sdk/platform-tools:${PATH}" export PATH ``` Go to `Control Panel` -> `System and Security` -> `System` -> `Change settings` -> `Advanced System Settings` -> `Environment variables` -> highlight `PATH` -> `Edit...` > The location of your Android tools directories will vary. ![env variable](img/react-native-android-tools-environment-variable-windows.png) ### Other Optional Installs #### Git Install Git [via your package manager](https://git-scm.com/download/linux) (e.g., `sudo apt-get install git-all`). You can use Chocolatey to install `git` via: ``` choco install git ``` Alternatively, you can download and install [Git for Windows](https://git-for-windows.github.io/). During the setup process, choose "Run Git from Windows Command Prompt", which will add `git` to your `PATH` environment variable. #### Nuclide [Nuclide] is an IDE from Facebook providing a first-class development environment for writing, [running](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/#running-applications) and [debugging](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/#debugging) [React Native](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/) applications. Get started with Nuclide [here](http://nuclide.io/docs/quick-start/getting-started/). #### Genymotion Genymotion is an alternative to the stock Google emulator that comes with Android Studio. However, it's only free for personal use. If you want to use the stock Google emulator, see below. 1. Download and install [Genymotion](https://www.genymotion.com/). 2. Open Genymotion. It might ask you to install VirtualBox unless you already have it. 3. Create a new emulator and start it. 4. To bring up the developer menu press ⌘+M #### Visual Studio Emulator for Android The [Visual Studio Emulator for Android](https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/features/msft-android-emulator-vs.aspx) is a free android emulator that is hardware accelerated via Hyper-V. It is an alternative to the stock Google emulator that comes with Android Studio. It doesn't require you to install Visual Studio at all. To use it with react-native you just have to add a key and value to your registry: 1. Open the Run Command (Windows+R) 2. Enter `regedit.exe` 3. In the Registry Editor navigate to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Android SDK Tools` 4. Right Click on `Android SDK Tools` and choose `New > String Value` 5. Set the name to `Path` 6. Double Click the new `Path` Key and set the value to `C:\Program Files\Android\sdk`. The path value might be different on your machine. You will also need to run the command `adb reverse tcp:8081 tcp:8081` with this emulator. Then restart the emulator and when it runs you can just do `react-native run-android` as usual. ### Troubleshooting #### Unable to run mksdcard SDK Tool When installing Android Studio, if you get the error: ``` Unable to run mksdcard SDK tool ``` then install the standard C++ library: ``` sudo apt-get install lib32stdc++6 ``` #### Virtual Device Not Created When Installing Android Studio There is a [known bug](https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=207563) on some versions of Android Studio where a virtual device will not be created, even though you selected it in the installation sequence. You may see this at the end of the installation: ``` Creating Android virtual device Unable to create a virtual device: Unable to create Android virtual device ``` ![no virtual device](img/react-native-android-studio-no-virtual-device-windows.png) If you see this, run `android avd` and create the virtual device manually. ![avd](img/react-native-android-studio-avd-linux.png) ![avd](img/react-native-android-studio-avd-windows.png) Then select the new device in the AVD Manager window and click `Start...`. #### Shell Command Unresponsive Exception In case you encounter ``` Execution failed for task ':app:installDebug'. com.android.builder.testing.api.DeviceException: com.android.ddmlib.ShellCommandUnresponsiveException ``` try downgrading your Gradle version to 1.2.3 in `/android/build.gradle` (https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/2720) ## Testing Installation ``` react-native init AwesomeProject cd AwesomeProject react-native run-ios ``` > You can also > [open the `AwesomeProject`](http://nuclide.io/docs/quick-start/getting-started/#adding-a-project) > folder in [Nuclide](http://nuclide.io) and > [run the application](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/#command-line), or open > `ios/AwesomeProject.xcodeproj` and hit the `Run` button in Xcode. ``` react-native init AwesomeProject cd AwesomeProject react-native run-android ``` > You can also > [open the `AwesomeProject`](http://nuclide.io/docs/quick-start/getting-started/#adding-a-project) > folder in [Nuclide](http://nuclide.io) and > [run the application](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/#command-line). ### Modifying Project Now that you successfully started the project, let's modify it: - Open `index.ios.js` in your text editor of choice (e.g. [Nuclide](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/)) and edit some lines. - Hit ⌘-R in your iOS simulator to reload the app and see your change! - Open `index.android.js` in your text editor of choice (e.g. [Nuclide](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/)) and edit some lines. - Press the `R` key twice **OR** open the menu (F2 by default, or ⌘-M in Genymotion) and select Reload JS to see your change! - Run `adb logcat *:S ReactNative:V ReactNativeJS:V` in a terminal to see your app's logs ### That's It Congratulations! You've successfully run and modified your first React Native app.
## Testing Installation ``` react-native init AwesomeProject cd AwesomeProject react-native run-android ``` ### Troubleshooting Run A common issue is that the packager is not started automatically when you run `react-native run-android`. You can start it manually using: ``` cd AwesomeProject react-native start ``` Or if you hit a `ERROR Watcher took too long to load` on Windows, try increasing the timeout in [this file](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/5fa33f3d07f8595a188f6fe04d6168a6ede1e721/packager/react-packager/src/DependencyResolver/FileWatcher/index.js#L16) (under your `node_modules/react-native/`). ### Modifying Project Now that you successfully started the project, let's modify it: - Open `index.android.js` in your text editor of choice (e.g. [Nuclide](http://nuclide.io/docs/platforms/react-native/)) and edit some lines. - Press the `R` key twice **OR** open the menu (F2 by default, or ctrl-M in the emulator) and select Reload JS to see your change! - Run `adb logcat *:S ReactNative:V ReactNativeJS:V` in a terminal to see your app's logs ### That's It Congratulations! You've successfully run and modified your first React Native app.
## Common Followups - If you want to run on a physical device, see the [Running on iOS Device page](docs/running-on-device-ios.html#content). - If you want to run on a physical device, see the [Running on Android Device page](docs/running-on-device-android.html#content). - If you run into any issues getting started, see the [Troubleshooting page](docs/troubleshooting.html#content). ## Common Followups - If you want to run on a physical device, see the [Running on Android Device page](docs/running-on-device-android.html#content). - If you run into any issues getting started, see the [Troubleshooting page](docs/troubleshooting.html#content).