create-expo-starter
Published CLI tool — scaffold production-ready Expo React Native apps in one command. Pre-configures TypeScript, Expo Router, NativeWind, Zustand, and Axios with a clean folder architecture.
Timeline
1 Week
Role
OSS Author
Status
CompletedTechnology Stack
Key Challenges
- Cross-platform template generation
- Interactive CLI prompts
- File patching utilities
- npm package publishing
Key Learnings
- CLI tooling with Node.js
- NPM package lifecycle
- Template scaffolding patterns
- Cross-platform file system ops
Overview
create-expo-starter is a CLI tool that generates fully-configured Expo React Native applications with a modern production tech stack in seconds. Think create-t3-app, but for mobile development.
npx create-expo-starter my-appOne command. A production-ready mobile app template.
Problem Solved
Every React Native developer knows the pain of setting up a new project: 2–4 hours manually configuring NativeWind, state management, routing, API layers, and auth screens. This tool eliminates that entirely.
| Without | With | |---------|------| | 2–4 hours setup | 30 seconds | | Manual NativeWind config | Pre-configured and working | | Setting up Zustand from scratch | Store ready to use | | Creating API layer every time | Axios client with interceptors | | Building auth screens again | Login, Signup, Home included |
What You Get
my-app/
├── app/ # Expo Router file-based routing
│ ├── _layout.tsx # Root layout
│ ├── index.tsx # Welcome screen
│ ├── login.tsx # Login with validation
│ ├── signup.tsx # Signup with validation
│ └── home.tsx # Authenticated home
├── src/
│ ├── api/ # Axios client + service functions
│ ├── components/ # Button, Input, Card UI components
│ ├── store/ # Zustand store
│ ├── hooks/ # Custom React hooks
│ ├── constants/ # Theme tokens
│ └── types/ # TypeScript types
└── global.css # Tailwind CSS entry
Features
- 🎨 NativeWind — Tailwind classes directly in React Native
- 🗂️ Expo Router — File-based routing with deep link support
- 🐻 Zustand — Lightweight global state management
- 🌐 Axios — Pre-configured API client with auth interceptors
- 🔐 Auth Screens — Login, Signup, Home with validation and navigation
- 📁 Clean Architecture — Scalable structure following best practices
Tech Stack
Expo SDK 54 · TypeScript · Expo Router
NativeWind 4.x · Zustand 5.x · Axios 1.x
Node.js (CLI) · npm