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name mobile-dev-environment
description Detect and set up mobile development prerequisites across macOS, Windows, and Linux. Use when the user needs to verify their environment, install missing tools, or fix common setup issues.
standards-version 1.6.3

Mobile Dev Environment

Trigger

Use this skill when the user:

  • Asks if their machine is ready for mobile development
  • Gets build errors related to missing tools or SDKs
  • Needs to install Node, Watchman, Xcode, Android Studio, or JDK
  • Mentions "setup", "install", "environment", "prerequisites", or "can't build"
  • Is starting mobile development for the first time

Required Inputs

  • Operating system: Detected automatically via process.platform or user statement
  • Target platform: iOS, Android, or both
  • Framework: Expo (default) or React Native CLI

Workflow

  1. Detect the operating system. Check process.platform or ask the user:

    • darwin = macOS
    • win32 = Windows
    • linux = Linux

  2. Check required tools. Run version checks for each dependency:

    node --version          # Required: >= 18.0.0
npm --version           # Comes with Node
npx expo --version      # Expo CLI (installed via npx, no global install needed)
git --version           # Required for version control

  3. Check platform-specific tools:

    macOS (iOS + Android):

    xcode-select -p         # Xcode command line tools
xcodebuild -version     # Full Xcode (required for iOS device builds)
watchman --version       # File watcher (recommended for performance)
pod --version            # CocoaPods (required for iOS native modules)
java -version            # JDK 17 or 21 (required for Android)

    Windows (Android only):

    java -version            # JDK 17 or 21
# Android Studio: check ANDROID_HOME environment variable
echo $env:ANDROID_HOME

    Linux (Android only):

    java -version            # JDK 17 or 21
echo $ANDROID_HOME       # Android SDK path
watchman --version        # Recommended

  4. Report results. Present a checklist:

    Tool Status Version Action
    Node.js Installed v20.19.0 -
    Expo CLI Available latest -
    Watchman Missing - brew install watchman
    Xcode Installed 16.1 Upgrade to Xcode 26 for iOS 26 SDK (required from April 28, 2026)
    Android Studio Missing - Download from developer.android.com

  5. Provide install commands for missing tools:

    Node.js (all platforms):

    # macOS
brew install node

# Windows (use installer)
# Download from https://nodejs.org/

# Linux
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

    Watchman (macOS):

    brew install watchman

    Xcode (macOS):

    xcode-select --install
# For full Xcode: install from the Mac App Store

    JDK 17 or 21 (all platforms):

    # macOS
brew install --cask zulu@17

# Windows
# Download Azul Zulu JDK 17 or 21 from https://www.azul.com/downloads/

# Linux
sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk

    Android Studio: Download from https://developer.android.com/studio. During setup, install:

    • Android SDK
    • Android SDK Platform 36 (or latest)
    • Android Virtual Device (AVD)

    Set ANDROID_HOME:

    # macOS/Linux (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc)
export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Library/Android/sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/emulator
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools
    # Windows (System Environment Variables)
# ANDROID_HOME = C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk

  6. Verify the fix. After installing missing tools, re-run the checks to confirm everything works.

Key References

Example Interaction

User: "I want to build a mobile app but I'm not sure if my Mac is set up for it."

Agent:

  1. Runs mobile_checkDevEnvironment to scan installed tools
  2. Reports: Node 20.19.0 installed, Watchman missing, Xcode 16.1 installed, Android Studio missing
  3. Provides brew install watchman command
  4. Asks if the user wants Android support (if yes, links to Android Studio download)
  5. Confirms the environment is ready for Expo/iOS development

MCP Usage

Step MCP Tool Description
Scan environment mobile_checkDevEnvironment Detect all installed tools and SDKs, report gaps

Common Pitfalls

  1. Wrong Node version - Expo SDK 55+ requires Node 20+. If you have an older version, use nvm or fnm to manage versions.
  2. Missing ANDROID_HOME - Android builds fail silently if this env var is not set. Check with echo $ANDROID_HOME (macOS/Linux) or echo $env:ANDROID_HOME (Windows).
  3. Xcode CLI tools without full Xcode - xcode-select --install gives you command line tools, but iOS device builds require the full Xcode from the App Store.
  4. JDK version mismatch - Android Gradle builds require JDK 17 or 21. JDK 21 ships with recent Android Studio versions and is the recommended choice for new projects.
  5. Windows and iOS - You cannot build iOS apps on Windows. Use Expo Go for testing or EAS Build for cloud-based iOS builds.
  6. CocoaPods not installed - Run sudo gem install cocoapods on macOS if pod --version fails. On Apple Silicon, you may need sudo arch -x86_64 gem install ffi first.

See Also