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  • Introduction
    nativecn is shadcn for Expo apps: Components you copy into your app and own, built so AI agents can build and verify whole mobile apps.
  • Installation
    Create a new Expo app with nativecn, or add nativecn to an existing one.
  • components.json
    The project file that records your Preset, Structure, aliases and agents.
  • CLI
    Every nativecn-cli command and flag: init, create, add, agents and mcp.
  • Changelog
    What changed in each nativecn release.
  • Theming
    Tokens, Colour Roles, Scale, Scheme, createStyles and fonts.
  • Presets & Styles
    Style, Base Colour, Accent Colour, Radius and fonts: chosen once, baked into your code.
  • Folder structure
    Flat and feature Structures, Destinations and the placement rule.
  • AI agents
    Rules, Skills, the nativecn MCP server, the Plugin and the Visual QA Loop.
  • Alert
    Alert, AlertTitle and AlertDescription: an inline message with Variants (default, destructive, success, warning, info), each with a default icon.
  • Avatar
    Round user image (expo-image) with fallback initials, in sizes sm, md and lg.
  • Badge
    Small status label with Variants default, secondary, outline, destructive, success and warning.
  • Button
    Button with Variants (primary, secondary, outline, ghost, destructive, link), Sizes, an icon slot, loading and status; icon-only requires aria-label.
  • Card
    Card surface with CardHeader, CardTitle, CardDescription, CardContent and CardFooter; onPress makes the whole card pressable.
  • Checkbox
    Checkbox with an optional label, controlled or uncontrolled, an indeterminate (mixed) state and a haptic tick.
  • Chip
    Chip (plain, toggle or removable, with an optional icon) and ChipGroup (single or multiple choice on the SelectionGroup Primitive), with a haptic tick.
  • Container
    Wraps a Screen: safe-area edges, scrolling, keyboard avoidance, Token padding and a max content width.
  • Drawer
    Drawer panel content for Expo Router's drawer (expo-router/drawer): DrawerContent, DrawerHeader, DrawerSection, DrawerItem (label, icon, href, badge; active from the current route) and DrawerFooter.
  • Empty State
    What a Screen or list shows when there is nothing to show yet: an icon, a title, a description and an action.
  • FormField
    Lays out a control with its Label, description and error, and links them for screen readers ("Email, text field, Enter a valid email").
  • Icon
    Every glyph: a Lucide icon at a Token size in a Colour Role, decorative unless labelled.
  • Input
    Single-line text field with Sizes, a leading icon, error/success status, a focus ring and an automatic Show/Hide password toggle.
  • InputOTP
    One-time code field: one hidden input drives N cells; numeric keyboard, SMS/Keychain autofill, paste, onComplete, error/success status and secure.
  • Label
    A field's visible label in the label type Variant, with a required marker read as "required".
  • List
    Settings-style rows: ListSection, ListSectionHeader, ListSectionFooter and ListItem (title, description, icon, trailing, chevron, destructive, onPress); FlashList-safe.
  • Progress
    A horizontal progress bar: a value 0–100 that animates, or indeterminate; role progressbar with its value.
  • RadioGroup
    RadioGroup and RadioGroupItem: a single choice from a list on the SelectionGroup Primitive, vertical or horizontal, with a haptic tick.
  • SchemeSwitcher
    Theme switcher / dark mode toggle: System, Light and Dark as SegmentedTabs, or one icon button cycling through them. Calls setScheme, which persists the choice.
  • SearchField
    Search box with a search icon, an automatic clear (×) button, a loading spinner and onSubmit from the keyboard's Search key.
  • SegmentedTabs
    In-screen tabs (not navigation): segmented or underline Variants, an animated indicator, and only the selected tab's content rendered.
  • Separator
    A hairline divider, horizontal or vertical, decorative by default.
  • Skeleton
    A placeholder shape shown while content loads; pulses unless Reduce Motion is on, hidden from screen readers.
  • Slider
    Pick a number in a range by dragging or tapping (Gesture Handler + Reanimated), snapped to steps with a haptic tick; adjustable for screen readers.
  • Spinner
    An indeterminate loading indicator in a Colour Role, announced as busy; still under Reduce Motion.
  • Switch
    A themed on/off Switch, identical on iOS and Android, with an optional label, a thumb that slides (instant under Reduce Motion) and a haptic tick.
  • TabNavigation
    The bottom tab bar: the custom tabBar of an Expo Router JS Tabs Layout, with classic and floating Variants, per-tab icons and badges from Tabs.Screen options.
  • Text
    All text: the type ramp as Variants, text Colour Roles, alignment and the font-scaling switch.
  • Textarea
    Multi-line text field that grows from minRows to maxRows, with a character counter when maxLength is set.
  • Toast
    Sonner-style Toasts: a <Toaster /> in the root Layout and toast(), toast.success/error/info/warning/dismiss. At most 3 stacked, 4s auto-dismiss, swipe away, announced, above native modals.
  • Profile header + grouped sections
    Drawer panel with a profile header (avatar, name, email, plan Badge), labelled sections (Main, Workspace, Support) and Log out pinned in the footer.
  • SaaS workspace
    Drawer panel for a SaaS workspace: logo and name with a close button, an Accent Colour onboarding item with a 5 Steps Badge, main items, a bottom group (Notifications with a count, Settings, Docs, Help) and a footer with a team switcher and the user's avatar.
  • Cover header
    Drawer panel with a dark cover (large avatar, name, View profile, a bell with a count, an overflow button and a round + action), icon items active in Accent Colour text, a divider and text-only secondary items.
  • Classic centred
    A centred sign-in Screen: logo, email and password, Forgot password, an "or" divider, then Apple and Google, and a Sign up link.
  • Social-first hero
    A social-first sign-in Screen: a dark brand hero (logo, headline, subtitle, centred) above a panel where Apple and Google lead and "Continue with email" reveals the email form.
  • Email-first, two steps
    An email-first sign-in Screen in two steps: the email, then the password, with "Email me a code instead" switching to a 6-digit code (InputOTP). Lucide chevron-left Back buttons.
  • Classic single form
    A classic sign-up Screen on one scroll: Apple and Google on top, "or", then name, email and password, a terms Checkbox with Terms and Privacy Policy links, Create account, and a Sign in link.
  • Step-by-step wizard
    A sign-up wizard, one question per step under a Progress bar: email, name, password, then a 6-digit code (InputOTP). Lucide chevron-left Back buttons; the Continue button rides above the keyboard.
  • Social-first + verify
    A brand-led, passwordless sign-up Screen: the logo and headline centred above Apple and Google; "Sign up with email" reveals the email field, and Send code moves on to a 6-digit code (InputOTP).
  • announce
    Reliable screen-reader announcements on iOS and Android (Button and Input status, Toast, error, success and warning Alerts).
  • FocusChain
    Automatic Next/Done between fields in on-screen order; Done submits the form.
  • FormField context
    Links a field to its label, description and error for screen readers; passes status, disabled and required down.
  • Keyboard
    KeyboardProvider setup, a scroll view that keeps the focused field above the keyboard, and a footer that keeps a form's main button above it.
  • Portal
    Renders content above every Screen (above native modals on iOS), layered and safe-area aware.
  • Pressable
    Pressed look from a Style Slot, tap area extended to 48, no handlers while disabled or loading, optional haptics, role and aria-* states.
  • SelectionGroup
    Single or multiple choice within a group, with radio, tab or checkbox roles and selected states.
  • useControllableState
    One implementation of controlled and uncontrolled values for form controls.
  • useMotion
    Enter/exit animations and timing/spring configs from the motion Tokens; instant when Reduce Motion is on.
  • Theme
    Tokens, Scale, Colour Roles, ThemeProvider, createStyles and the navigation theme.

Introduction

nativecn is shadcn for Expo apps: Components you copy into your app and own, built so AI agents can build and verify whole mobile apps.

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nativecn is shadcn for the Expo ecosystem. It is not a component library you install from npm. You run nativecn-cli, and the source of each Component is copied into your Expo app, where you own it and edit it freely.

It targets iOS and Android first, and it is built so that AI agents can build, check and fix whole mobile apps with it.

Principles

  • You own the code. Components, Blocks and the Theme are plain source files in your app. There is no runtime package to upgrade around.
  • One Theme, the same look on both platforms. Every Component reads Tokens from the Theme and never hardcodes a colour or size, so iOS and Android match.
  • Plain React Native. Styling is React Native's StyleSheet plus a TypeScript Theme. There is no Tailwind, NativeWind or className, and no build-time CSS step.
  • nativecn builds its own Primitives. Dialogs, sheets, pickers and menus are written by nativecn rather than wrapped native controls, so they follow your Theme and you can edit them.
  • Few dependencies. Components depend only on the Expo SDK's pinned modules, plus a short list of recorded exceptions (zustand, react-hook-form, zod, @hookform/resolvers and lucide-react-native).
  • Agent first. Every project gets Rules, Skills and the nativecn MCP server, so an agent knows what exists, how to add it and how to check the result on a device.

What you get

  • Components: the reusable building blocks, such as Button, Text, Icon and Container.
  • Blocks: pre-designed Screens (such as sign-in) and navigation pieces that you install, rename and adapt. Each purpose comes in several Block Variants (sign-in-01, sign-in-02, …).
  • The Theme: the single source of truth for every Token in your app: Colour Roles, spacing, radius, the type ramp, elevation and motion. See Theming.
  • A Preset: your project's Style, colours, radius and fonts, chosen once when you create the app. See Presets & Styles.
  • The Agent Kit: Rules, Skills, the nativecn MCP server and the Plugin. See AI agents.

How it works

  1. nativecn-cli create builds a new Expo app from the nativecn Starter, or nativecn-cli init sets nativecn up in an existing one.
  2. Your choices are recorded in components.json.
  3. nativecn-cli add fetches Registry Items from the nativecn Registry at nativecn.dev and writes them into your app's folders, following your folder structure.

Following shadcn

If you know shadcn, nativecn will feel familiar: the same command names and flags, the same init/create flow, the same Preset model and builder, the same copy-and-own approach and the same MCP tool shape. nativecn departs from shadcn only where React Native or Expo's own conventions require it:

  • StyleSheet and a TypeScript Theme instead of Tailwind;
  • Expo's folder layout (src/components, src/hooks, …) instead of components/ui and lib;
  • its own components.json shape.

nativecn is not compatible with the shadcn CLI, the shadcn MCP or shadcn's registry directory. Use nativecn-cli and the nativecn MCP server.

Requirements

  • Expo SDK 57 or newer, with Expo Router. SDK 57 is the permanent support floor.
  • Bare React Native apps are not supported.