The agent skills to install before you build a mobile app
Expo's own skills for screens, routing and the App Store, plus Vercel's React Native rules and Supabase for the backend.
Written by the IndieHacked teamAgent skills5 min read
For a React Native app, install Expo's skills first: they cover native-looking screens, routing and the path to TestFlight, the App Store and Google Play.
Add Vercel's React Native skill for lists and animation that stay fast, and Supabase's skills if Supabase is your backend.
Each installs with one command and works in Claude Code and the other agents that read SKILL.md files.
Want your coding agent to walk you through it?Get the prompt
Start with Expo's skills
Expo publishes its skills as one Claude Code plugin and as a repository for the skills CLI. A router skill, expo-overview, reads each request and hands it to the right specialist, so the agent picks up the routing rules when you ask for a tab bar and the store rules when you ask to ship.
/plugin install expo@claude-plugins-official
npx skills add expo/skills- expo-native-ui: screens that follow Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, with semantic colours and SF Symbols.
- expo-router: file-based routing, tabs, modals and headers.
- eas-app-stores: builds and submissions to TestFlight, the App Store and Google Play.
Keep it fast: Vercel's React Native skill
vercel-react-native-skills covers the places a React Native app usually gets slow: long lists, animations and native modules. It sits in the same repository as Vercel's web skills, so pick it by name.
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill vercel-react-native-skillsThe backend: Supabase
Most mobile apps need sign-in, a database and file storage. If yours runs on Supabase, its two skills keep the agent on current APIs and on row level security, which matters more in an app: the public key ships inside every copy you hand out.
npx skills add supabase/agent-skillsIf your agent asks for building-native-ui
Older copies of Expo's skills had one called building-native-ui. It is no longer in Expo's repository: expo-native-ui and expo-router replaced it. Update with npx skills update, or reinstall the plugin.
Set it up with your coding agent
A prompt for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or the agent you use. Fill in your setup at the end and it walks you through the work, one step at a time. Free with an account.
Questions founders ask
Do these skills work for a Swift or Kotlin app?
No. Expo's and Vercel's skills are written for React Native. For a native Swift or Kotlin app, look for skills published by the companies behind your tools, and read each one before you install it.
Where to go next
- Skills for a web app
The same idea for a site or a web app.
- How to use agent skills
How the agent decides to load one.
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