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name mobile-navigation-setup
description Set up file-based navigation in an Expo Router project. Covers tab layouts, stack navigation, drawer navigation, typed routes, dynamic segments, deep linking, and layout composition. Use when the user wants to add screens, tabs, or navigation flows.
standards-version 1.6.3

Mobile Navigation Setup

Trigger

Use this skill when the user:

  • Wants to add tabs, a drawer, or stack navigation to an Expo app
  • Asks how Expo Router file-based routing works
  • Needs to add a screen or route group
  • Wants to set up deep linking or typed routes
  • Mentions "navigation", "tabs", "stack", "drawer", "routes", or "linking"

Required Inputs

  • Navigation type: tabs, stack, drawer, or a combination
  • Screen list: which screens/tabs the user wants
  • Deep link scheme (optional): custom URL scheme for deep linking

Workflow

  1. Confirm Expo Router is installed. It ships with create-expo-app by default. If the project was set up manually:

    npx expo install expo-router expo-linking expo-constants

  2. Explain the app/ directory convention. Expo Router uses file-system routing:

    app/
├── _layout.tsx           # Root layout (wraps everything)
├── index.tsx              # "/" route (home)
├── +not-found.tsx         # Catch-all 404
├── (tabs)/                # Tab group
│   ├── _layout.tsx        # Tab bar configuration
│   ├── index.tsx          # First tab
│   ├── search.tsx         # Second tab
│   └── profile.tsx        # Third tab
├── settings/              # Stack group
│   ├── _layout.tsx        # Stack navigator config
│   ├── index.tsx          # Settings home
│   └── [id].tsx           # Dynamic route: /settings/123
└── modal.tsx              # Modal screen (presented modally via root layout)

    Key conventions:

    • _layout.tsx files define the navigator for that directory
    • Parenthesized directories like (tabs) are route groups (do not appear in the URL)
    • [param].tsx files are dynamic segments
    • +not-found.tsx is the 404 handler

  3. Create the root layout. The root _layout.tsx wraps the entire app:

    import { Stack } from "expo-router";

export default function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <Stack>
      <Stack.Screen name="(tabs)" options={{ headerShown: false }} />
      <Stack.Screen name="modal" options={{ presentation: "modal" }} />
    </Stack>
  );
}

  4. Create a tab layout. Inside app/(tabs)/_layout.tsx:

    import { Tabs } from "expo-router";
import { Ionicons } from "@expo/vector-icons";

export default function TabLayout() {
  return (
    <Tabs screenOptions={{ tabBarActiveTintColor: "#007AFF" }}>
      <Tabs.Screen
        name="index"
        options={{
          title: "Home",
          tabBarIcon: ({ color, size }) => (
            <Ionicons name="home" size={size} color={color} />
          ),
        }}
      />
      <Tabs.Screen
        name="search"
        options={{
          title: "Search",
          tabBarIcon: ({ color, size }) => (
            <Ionicons name="search" size={size} color={color} />
          ),
        }}
      />
      <Tabs.Screen
        name="profile"
        options={{
          title: "Profile",
          tabBarIcon: ({ color, size }) => (
            <Ionicons name="person" size={size} color={color} />
          ),
        }}
      />
    </Tabs>
  );
}

  5. Set up typed routes. Enable typed routes in app.json for autocompletion and type safety:

    {
  "expo": {
    "experiments": {
      "typedRoutes": true
    }
  }
}

    Then generate types:

    npx expo customize tsconfig.json

    Usage with typed routes:

    import { useRouter } from "expo-router";

const router = useRouter();
router.push("/settings/42");        // Typed and validated
router.push("/(tabs)/profile");     // Group paths work too

  6. Dynamic segments. For routes like /settings/[id]:

    import { useLocalSearchParams } from "expo-router";

export default function SettingsDetail() {
  const { id } = useLocalSearchParams<{ id: string }>();
  return <Text>Setting: {id}</Text>;
}

  7. Deep linking. Set the scheme in app.json:

    {
  "expo": {
    "scheme": "myapp"
  }
}

    This enables myapp://settings/42 to open the dynamic route. Expo Router handles the mapping automatically because routes mirror the file system.

  8. Generate screens using MCP. Use the mobile_generateScreen tool for quick scaffolding:

    mobile_generateScreen(name: "profile", type: "tab", layout_group: "(tabs)")

Key References

Example Interaction

User: "I want my app to have a tab bar with Home, Search, and Profile tabs, plus a Settings screen that opens as a stack."

Agent:

  1. Checks that Expo Router is installed
  2. Creates app/(tabs)/_layout.tsx with three tab screens
  3. Creates app/(tabs)/index.tsx, search.tsx, profile.tsx
  4. Creates app/settings/_layout.tsx as a Stack
  5. Creates app/settings/index.tsx
  6. Updates root app/_layout.tsx to include both groups
  7. Enables typed routes in app.json

MCP Usage

Step MCP Tool Description
Scaffold a screen mobile_generateScreen Create a new screen file with correct Expo Router convention
Install nav packages mobile_installDependency Install expo-router or related packages via npx expo install
Verify environment mobile_checkDevEnvironment Confirm Expo CLI and Node are available

Common Pitfalls

  1. Forgetting _layout.tsx - Every route group needs a layout file. Without it, screens in that directory will not render.
  2. Nesting navigators manually - Expo Router replaces manual NavigationContainer setup. Do not import from @react-navigation/native directly.
  3. Using index.tsx as a catch-all - index.tsx only matches the exact path of its parent directory, not nested paths.
  4. Group names in URLs - Parenthesized groups like (tabs) do not appear in the URL. /(tabs)/profile is accessed as /profile externally.
  5. Missing scheme for deep links - Deep linking will not work without setting scheme in app.json. It also needs to be unique across apps on the device.
  6. Drawer navigator not installed - expo-router ships Stack and Tabs. For drawers, install @react-navigation/drawer and react-native-gesture-handler.

See Also