expo-native-ui Skill: Build Native-Feeling Expo Screens

Makes your coding assistant build Expo screens that follow Apple and Android design rules, with native colors, icons and controls.

Installs: 34.1K; on skills.sh
Stars: 4K; on GitHub
Files: 8; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Nov 2026; last repo commit

expo-native-ui is an official skill from the Expo team. It sets rules for Expo screens: Apple Human Interface Guidelines on iOS, Material Design 3 on Android, semantic colors, safe areas, shadows, SF Symbols, media, storage and visual effects. It also tells the assistant to try Expo Go before it makes custom builds.

The skill hands routing, animation, data fetching and @expo/ui components to other Expo skills, so the install box adds them too. Seven reference guides cover controls, gradients, icons, media, storage, visual effects and WebGPU with Three.js.

Good for

Expo developers who want iOS screens that feel like Apple apps
Teams that want one set of styling rules for every screen
Anyone adding blur, liquid glass, camera, audio or storage to an Expo app

Install expo-native-ui

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the expo-native-ui skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

claude plugin install expo@claude-plugins-official

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Pick one route, not both, or you get every skill twice. The skill hands work to expo-ui, expo-router, expo-animation and expo-data-fetching, so the skills command above installs those four with it. The plugin route installs all 23 skills in the expo plugin and a hosted Expo MCP server (mcp.expo.dev). Restart your agent session afterwards.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Build beautiful, native-feeling Expo screens. Covers Apple HIG styling, semantic colors, native controls, SF Symbols, media, visual effects, gradients, storage, and responsive layout. For routing and navigation, use the expo-router skill; for motion and animation, use the expo-animation skill.

Sections in SKILL.md

References
Running the App
When Custom Builds Are Required
When Expo Go Works
Code Style
Library Preferences
Responsiveness
Behavior
General Styling Rules
Colors
Text Styling
Shadows
Submitting Feedback

Key facts

Author: Expo (the README calls these official skills from the Expo team)
Repo: expo/skills
Installs on skills.sh: 34,079 as of 2026-11-02
GitHub stars: 4,005 for the whole expo/skills repo, 2026-11-02
License: MIT (SKILL.md frontmatter)
Last commit to the repo: 2026-11-01
What is inside: 9 files including SKILL.md: 7 reference guides and agents/openai.yaml
Works with: expo-ui, expo-router, expo-animation and expo-data-fetching, which the SKILL.md names
Part of: The expo plugin, which holds 23 skills and a hosted Expo MCP server
skills.sh audits: Gen Agent Trust Hub pass, Socket pass, Snyk pass (2026-11-02)

What it includes

Tries Expo Go before any custom build
Start with npx expo start. The skill says to use npx expo run:ios, npx expo run:android or eas build only for local native modules, Apple targets, third-party native modules or custom native configuration.
Try: “Build a profile screen for my Expo app and run it in Expo Go.”
Runs code · Running the app
Picks current Expo packages over old ones
Examples: expo-audio and expo-video instead of expo-av, expo-symbols for SF Symbols, expo-image instead of img, Color from expo-router for semantic colors, and no removed React Native modules such as Picker or WebView.
Write · Library preferences
Semantic colors, boxShadow and continuous corners
Centralizes a palette in theme/colors.ts with Platform.select. Uses CSS boxShadow instead of legacy shadow styles, borderCurve continuous for rounded corners, and inline styles.
Write · Colors and styling
Safe areas, scrolling, keyboards and four data states
ScrollView with contentInsetAdjustmentBehavior automatic instead of SafeAreaView, useWindowDimensions, keyboardShouldPersistTaps, and loading, error, empty and content states on every data screen.
Write · Responsiveness and behavior
Seven deeper guides loaded as needed
controls, gradients, icons, media, storage, visual-effects and webgpu-three.
Read · Reference guides
Walks the screen before calling it done
Checks the main task, one failure and recovery, keyboard access, back and dismiss behavior, long titles, missing images, empty results and large system text. It asks the assistant to report what it ran and what it could not.
Read · Finish checklist
Sends routing, motion, data and components elsewhere
expo-router for navigation, expo-animation for motion, expo-data-fetching for loading rules and expo-ui for @expo/ui components.
Read · Hand-offs to other skills
Reports wrong or outdated skill content to Expo
npx --yes @expo/agent-cli@latest feedback --category skills --subject "expo-native-ui" with a specific note.
Runs code · Feedback command

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

This skill is mostly rules, but it lets your assistant run Expo build commands and, through the plugin route, adds a hosted MCP server. Choose the route you need and review the commands.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

The plugin route adds more than this skill
The expo plugin installs 23 skills and a hosted Expo MCP server. Use the skills command if you only want the UI skills. github.com
Custom builds need native tools
The skill sends the assistant to npx expo run:ios, npx expo run:android or eas build only when needed. Approve them yourself. github.com
The feedback command runs a package from npm
When something is wrong the skill tells the assistant to run npx --yes @expo/agent-cli@latest feedback with as much context as it can. Read the text before it is sent, and skip it for private projects. github.com

Security advisories

No published security advisories as of Nov 2, 2026.

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only mode. The assistant writes screen and style code.
Talks to	Expo, if you send feedback with the npx command. The plugin route adds a hosted Expo MCP server at mcp.expo.dev
Scopes	The assistant may run npx expo start, and npx expo run:ios, npx expo run:android or eas build when a feature needs a custom build The feedback command runs a package from npm with npx

Questions

What does the expo-native-ui skill do?

It gives your assistant rules for building Expo screens that feel native: Apple and Material design, semantic colors, safe areas, SF Symbols, media, storage and visual effects.

How do I install expo-native-ui?

Use the install box at the top of this page and pick one route. The plugin route installs every Expo skill. The skills command installs this skill with the four it depends on.

Does it need the other Expo skills?

It sends work to them. The SKILL.md tells the assistant to load expo-ui before picking any UI component, expo-router for navigation, expo-animation for motion and expo-data-fetching for data states. Install them with it.

Is expo-native-ui safe to use?

It is a rules file with guides and bundles no scripts. It tells the assistant to run Expo commands such as npx expo start, and it describes a feedback command that sends a note to Expo. Review the code it writes.

Does it work in Expo Go?

Yes, the skill tells the assistant to try Expo Go first and to make custom builds only when a feature needs one. WebGPU needs more than Expo Go bundles, so check the guide first.

expo-native-ui or expo-ui?

expo-ui covers the @expo/ui components. expo-native-ui covers the surrounding screen styling and structure, and tells the assistant to check expo-ui first.

Does it work in the Claude app, Codex or Cursor?

The Expo README gives a plugin for Claude Code and Codex and the skills CLI for Cursor and other agents. It does not document uploading to the Claude app, and this skill depends on sibling skills, so the install box leaves that tab out.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: expo/skills
Folder: plugins/expo/skills/expo-native-ui

expo/skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 5

expo/skills README · github.com
expo-native-ui SKILL.md · github.com
expo plugin README · github.com
expo plugin .mcp.json · github.com
skills CLI commands · github.com