Build

Expo · Reference cheat sheet

📋 Overview

EAS Build compiles iOS/Android binaries in the cloud (or locally) from your Expo project. Profiles in eas.json define development, preview, and production builds.

🔧 Core concepts

• Profiles — development (dev client), preview (internal), production (store).
• Workflow — eas build -p android|ios --profile <name>.
• Credentials — EAS can manage keystores / distribution certs / provisioning.
• App config — app.json / app.config.ts + native projects via CNG / prebuild.
• Local — eas build --local when you need on-machine compiles.

💡 Examples

// eas.json
{
  "cli": { "version": ">= 12.0.0" },
  "build": {
    "development": {
      "developmentClient": true,
      "distribution": "internal"
    },
    "preview": {
      "distribution": "internal",
      "android": { "buildType": "apk" }
    },
    "production": {
      "autoIncrement": true
    }
  },
  "submit": {
    "production": {}
  }
}

npx eas-cli login
npx eas-cli build --platform android --profile preview
npx eas-cli build --platform ios --profile production
npx eas-cli submit --platform ios --latest

⚠️ Pitfalls

• Building production without matching bundle ID / package + store listings.
• Forgetting developmentClient: true when you need custom native modules in dev.
• Native changes without rebuilding the binary (JS OTA can’t add native code).

🔗 Related

• commands.md — CLI commands
• config.md — app config
• keystore_sign.md — Android signing
• plugins.md — config plugins in builds