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Strip Hermes debug info from production iOS bytecode#83256

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roryabraham wants to merge 5 commits intomainfrom
rory-strip-hermes-debug-info
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Strip Hermes debug info from production iOS bytecode#83256
roryabraham wants to merge 5 commits intomainfrom
rory-strip-hermes-debug-info

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@roryabraham roryabraham commented Feb 23, 2026

Explanation of Change

Patches react-native-xcode.sh to always pass -output-source-map to hermesc for production iOS builds, regardless of whether SOURCEMAP_FILE is set. This strips ~10MB of debug metadata from the Hermes bytecode — the data gets written to a separate source map file instead of being embedded in the bytecode.

Previously, -output-source-map was only passed conditionally when EMIT_SOURCEMAP was true (derived from SOURCEMAP_FILE being set). If the build environment didn't properly propagate SOURCEMAP_FILE, the flag was omitted and debug info remained in the shipped main.jsbundle.

When source maps are being composed (the normal case), the existing compose-and-cleanup flow is unchanged. When they aren't, the generated .map file is cleaned up so it doesn't ship in the IPA.

This is the standalone App build counterpart to the same fix applied in Mobile-Expensify for HybridApp builds: https://github.com/Expensify/Mobile-Expensify/pull/13867

Fixed Issues

$ #83000

MOBILE-EXPENSIFY: https://github.com/Expensify/Mobile-Expensify/pull/13867

Tests

  1. Run an AdHoc build of this branch using the workflow code from [No QA] Add Sentry build size analysis for AdHoc builds #82952.
  2. Open the Sentry mobile build analysis for the build.
  3. Verify that the bundle size is smaller and Sentry no longer reports Hermes debug symbols contributing to the bundle size:
before after
Bundle Size image image
Sentry Analysis image image

Offline tests

N/A — this change only affects the build-time bytecode compilation, not runtime behavior.

QA Steps

None.

PR Author Checklist

  • I linked the correct issue in the ### Fixed Issues section above
  • I wrote clear testing steps that cover the changes made in this PR
    • I added steps for local testing in the Tests section
    • I added steps for the expected offline behavior in the Offline steps section
    • I added steps for Staging and/or Production testing in the QA steps section
    • I added steps to cover failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
    • I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
    • I tested this PR with a High Traffic account against the staging or production API to ensure there are no regressions (e.g. long loading states that impact usability).
  • I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
  • I ran the tests on all platforms & verified they passed on:
    • Android: Native
    • Android: mWeb Chrome
    • iOS: Native
    • iOS: mWeb Safari
    • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
  • I verified there are no console errors (if there's a console error not related to the PR, report it or open an issue for it to be fixed)
  • I verified there are no new alerts related to the canBeMissing param for useOnyx
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    • I verified that any new or modified comments were clear, correct English, and explained "why" the code was doing something instead of only explaining "what" the code was doing.
    • I verified any copy / text shown in the product is localized by adding it to src/languages/* files and using the translation method
      • If any non-english text was added/modified, I used JaimeGPT to get English > Spanish translation. I then posted it in #expensify-open-source and it was approved by an internal Expensify engineer. Link to Slack message:
    • I verified all numbers, amounts, dates and phone numbers shown in the product are using the localization methods
    • I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
    • I verified proper file naming conventions were followed for any new files or renamed files. All non-platform specific files are named after what they export and are not named "index.js". All platform-specific files are named for the platform the code supports as outlined in the README.
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  • If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
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  • If any new file was added I verified that:
    • The file has a description of what it does and/or why is needed at the top of the file if the code is not self explanatory
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    • A similar style doesn't already exist
    • The style can't be created with an existing StyleUtils function (i.e. StyleUtils.getBackgroundAndBorderStyle(theme.componentBG))
  • If new assets were added or existing ones were modified, I verified that:
    • The assets are optimized and compressed (for SVG files, run npm run compress-svg)
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  • If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
  • If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
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    • I verified that all the inputs inside a form are aligned with each other.
    • I added Design label and/or tagged @Expensify/design so the design team can review the changes.
  • If a new page is added, I verified it's using the ScrollView component to make it scrollable when more elements are added to the page.
  • I added unit tests for any new feature or bug fix in this PR to help automatically prevent regressions in this user flow.
  • If the main branch was merged into this PR after a review, I tested again and verified the outcome was still expected according to the Test steps.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

N/A — build-time only change, no UI impact

Android: mWeb Chrome

N/A — build-time only change, no UI impact

iOS: Native

N/A — build-time only change, no UI impact

iOS: mWeb Safari

N/A — build-time only change, no UI impact

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

N/A — build-time only change, no UI impact

Add a patch for react-native's react-native-xcode.sh to always pass
-output-source-map to hermesc for production builds. This strips
~13.4MB of debug metadata from the bytecode by writing it to the
source map file instead. When source maps aren't being composed,
the generated .map file is cleaned up to prevent it from shipping.

This is the standalone App counterpart to the same fix applied in
Mobile-Expensify for HybridApp builds.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
@roryabraham roryabraham changed the title Strip Hermes debug info from production iOS bytecode [WIP] Strip Hermes debug info from production iOS bytecode Feb 23, 2026
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🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
Built from App PR #83256 Mobile-Expensify PR Expensify/Mobile-Expensify#13867.

Android 🤖 iOS 🍎
https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-android-Adhoc-e52fc10-b93053425d-c367ba08fede802963923ba348459b3717fc7bce/index.html https://ad-hoc-expensify-cash.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rock-artifacts/ad-hoc/rock-ios-device-AdHoc-e52fc10-b93053425d-272ca666ca6126a561d3cc88ade00b1017f3dfeb/index.html
Android iOS
Web 🕸️
⏩ SKIPPED ⏩
The build for Web was skipped

👀 View the workflow run that generated this build 👀

@roryabraham roryabraham marked this pull request as ready for review February 27, 2026 00:35
@roryabraham roryabraham requested a review from a team as a code owner February 27, 2026 00:35
@melvin-bot melvin-bot bot requested review from truph01 and removed request for a team February 27, 2026 00:35
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@truph01 Please copy/paste the Reviewer Checklist from here into a new comment on this PR and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]

@roryabraham roryabraham changed the title [WIP] Strip Hermes debug info from production iOS bytecode Strip Hermes debug info from production iOS bytecode Feb 27, 2026
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@truph01 I don't think we need C+ review here

Julesssss
Julesssss previously approved these changes Feb 27, 2026
chatgpt-codex-connector[bot]

This comment was marked as resolved.

The previous patch broke debug builds on physical devices where
EMIT_SOURCEMAP=true. The compose step expects main.jsbundle.map
from hermesc, which wasn't being generated for dev builds.

Now pass -output-source-map when EITHER source maps are requested
(EMIT_SOURCEMAP=true) OR it's a production build (DEV!=true).

Made-with: Cursor
@roryabraham
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@codex review

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Codex Review: Didn't find any major issues. Keep them coming!

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