Using Prebuilt React Native Core

Using Prebuilt React Native Core

Overview

By default, this plugin depends only on React-Core, which means React Native is built from source during pod install. If your project uses prebuilt React Native binaries, you can opt in to the React-Core-prebuilt dependency by setting the RCT_USE_PREBUILT_RNCORE environment variable.

How to enable

Set RCT_USE_PREBUILT_RNCORE to '1' before running pod install. There are two ways to do this:

Option 1: In your Podfile (recommended)

Add this line at the top of your ios/Podfile:

ENV['RCT_USE_PREBUILT_RNCORE'] = '1'

Option 2: Shell environment variable

Export the variable before running pod install:

export RCT_USE_PREBUILT_RNCORE=1
cd ios && pod install

Behavior

RCT_USE_PREBUILT_RNCORE	Dependencies resolved
Not set or != '1'	React-Core only
'1'	React-Core + React-Core-prebuilt

When to use

Use this flag when your React Native setup relies on prebuilt binaries instead of building from source. This is typically the case when:

• You are using a custom React Native distribution that ships prebuilt frameworks
• Your CI/CD pipeline uses prebuilt artifacts to speed up builds
• Your project explicitly provides React-Core-prebuilt pods

If you are unsure whether you need this, you likely do not. The default (building from source) works for most projects.