supabase/apps/docs/content/guides/getting-started/quickstarts/expo-react-native.mdx

---
title: 'Use Supabase with Expo React Native'
subtitle: 'Learn how to create a Supabase project, add some sample data to your database, and query the data from an Expo app.'
breadcrumb: 'Framework Quickstarts'
---

<AiPrompt id="expo-react-native" />

<$Partial path="quickstart_db_setup.mdx" />

## 3. Create an Expo app

Create a minimal Expo app using the `create-expo-app` command with the blank TypeScript template.

```bash
npx create-expo-app my-app --template blank-typescript
```

## 4. Install Agent Skills (optional)

Supabase's [Agent Skills](/docs/guides/ai-tools/ai-skills) is a curated set of instructions that give your AI agent procedural knowledge about working with Supabase.

To install, run the following command in the root of your project:

```bash
npx skills add supabase/agent-skills
```

## 5. Install the Supabase client library

The fastest way to get started is to use the `@supabase/supabase-js` client library which provides a convenient interface for working with Supabase from a React Native app.

Navigate to the Expo app and install `supabase-js` along with the required dependencies for session storage and URL handling.

```bash
cd my-app && npx expo install @supabase/supabase-js react-native-url-polyfill expo-sqlite
```

## 6. Declare Supabase environment variables

Create a `.env` file in the root of your project and populate it with your Supabase connection variables that you can get from the helper below, or [from the project **Connect** panel](/dashboard/project/_?showConnect=true).

<Button variant="primary" asChild>
  <a href="/dashboard/project/_?showConnect=true">Open Connect panel</a>
</Button>

Expo requires environment variables to be prefixed with `EXPO_PUBLIC_` to be accessible in your app code.

```text name=.env
EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=<SUBSTITUTE_SUPABASE_URL>
EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=<SUBSTITUTE_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY>
```

<$Partial path="api_settings.mdx" variables={{ "framework": "", "tab": "" }} />

## 7. Initialize the Supabase client

Create a helper file at `lib/supabase.ts` to initialize the Supabase client using the environment variables.

The code below uses Expo's localStorage polyfill to persist authentication sessions.

```ts name=lib/supabase.ts
import 'react-native-url-polyfill/auto'

import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'

import 'expo-sqlite/localStorage/install'

const supabaseUrl = process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
const supabasePublishableKey = process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY

export const supabase = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabasePublishableKey, {
  auth: {
    storage: localStorage,
    autoRefreshToken: true,
    persistSession: true,
    detectSessionInUrl: false,
  },
})
```

## 8. Query data from the app

Replace the contents of `App.tsx` with the following code to fetch and display the instruments from your database.

Use `useEffect` to fetch the data when the component mounts and display the query result using React Native components.

```tsx name=App.tsx
import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
import { FlatList, StyleSheet, Text, View } from 'react-native'

import { supabase } from './lib/supabase'

export default function App() {
  const [instruments, setInstruments] = useState([])

  useEffect(() => {
    getInstruments()
  }, [])

  async function getInstruments() {
    const { data } = await supabase.from('instruments').select()
    setInstruments(data)
  }

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <FlatList
        data={instruments}
        keyExtractor={(item) => item.id.toString()}
        renderItem={({ item }) => <Text style={styles.item}>{item.name}</Text>}
      />
    </View>
  )
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    backgroundColor: '#fff',
    paddingTop: 50,
    paddingHorizontal: 16,
  },
  item: {
    padding: 16,
    borderBottomWidth: 1,
    borderBottomColor: '#ccc',
  },
})
```

## 9. Start the app

Run the development server and scan the QR code with the Expo Go app on your phone, or press `i` for iOS simulator or `a` for Android emulator.

```bash
npx expo start
```

## Next steps

- Set up [Auth](/docs/guides/auth) for your app
- [Insert more data](/docs/guides/database/import-data) into your database
- Upload and serve static files using [Storage](/docs/guides/storage)