Best practices for integrating and using RNRepo — Software Mansion's infrastructure for pre-built React Native library artifacts that reduces native build times by up to 2×. Use when setting up, configuring, or troubleshooting RNRepo in a React Native or Expo project. Trigger on: 'RNRepo', 'rnrepo', 'slow builds', 'build times', 'prebuilt artifacts', 'prebuilt libraries', '@rnrepo/expo-config-plugin', '@rnrepo/build-tools', 'prebuilds-plugin', 'rnrepo.config.json', 'DISABLE_RNREPO', 'packages.rnrepo.org', 'Maven prebuild', 'CocoaPods prebuild', 'xcframework prebuild', 'prebuild AAR', 'build from source', 'native compilation slow', 'Gradle plugin slow', 'pod install slow', 'CI build times'.
Software Mansion's infrastructure for pre-building and distributing React Native library artifacts, reducing native build times by up to 2× with zero infrastructure changes.
Read the relevant reference for the topic at hand. All references are in references/.
Key facts
Beta, New Architecture only. Works with React Native latest patches of 0.77, 0.78, 0.79 and all versions above 0.80.0.
How it works: A Gradle plugin (Android) and CocoaPods plugin (iOS) intercept the build and substitute libraries with prebuilt artifacts from packages.rnrepo.org. Falls back to source if a prebuild is unavailable.
Expo CNG: Use @rnrepo/expo-config-plugin — it configures both Android and iOS automatically.
Standard RN: Install @rnrepo/build-tools and edit android/build.gradle, android/app/build.gradle, and ios/Podfile manually.
Opt out per library: Add a rnrepo.config.json with a denyList at the project root. Required for libraries with native patches (Objective-C/Java/Kotlin). JS-only patches do NOT require opting out.
Opt out entirely: Set DISABLE_RNREPO=1 environment variable before the build command.
References
File
When to read
references/installation.md
Setting up RNRepo for the first time — Expo CNG, standard React Native, Android Gradle, iOS CocoaPods
references/configuration.md
Opting out specific libraries (denyList), disabling the plugin, Fingerprint config, GPG verification
references/troubleshooting.md
Build failures, C++ debug/release mismatch, duplicate .so files, Xcode version issues, empty repository list, verifying the plugin works
