Getting Started
March 3, 2026 ยท View on GitHub
It is recommended to follow the steps for a fresh environment setup from the react native docs depending on the version that you are aiming to develop for.
Prerequisites
You'll need homebrew asdf, Yarn and Watchman installed (brew install watchman).
Setting up asdf
There are instructions here: https://asdf-vm.com/guide/getting-started.html You will want the java, nodejs, and ruby plugins to get all of our tooling.
brew install asdf
# configure your shell setup scripts for your shell, see asdfs instructions on the site
asdf plugin add ruby
asdf plugin add nodejs
asdf plugin add java
Set up iOS
Download Xcode version 16. You can find all available versions of Xcode at Apple's Developer Portal ๐.
Ask your mentor to add you on the firebase.console to be able to release.
NOTE: After installing Xcode
Check that Command Line Tools version is added in the Locations tab. Xcode>Settings>Locations:

Set up Android
Important
We use asdf for managing java, you can skip the section in the docs below around the Java Development Kit. Instead do:
asdf install in the eigen directory.
then set JAVA_HOME in you shell config (e.g. .zshrc) to the asdf java install path.
find that path by running:
asdf where java
and then add to your shell config:
export JAVA_HOME="<YOUR-ASDF-JAVA-PATH-HERE>"
-
Android development environment: Follow the official docs. Select "React Native CLI Quickstart" tab
-
Create a virtual device on which to run the Android app.
Run Eigen
Get eigen
git clone https://github.com/artsy/eigen.git
cd eigen
Install the dependencies
Work at Artsy?
- Run
asdf install
yarn setup:artsy
yarn install:all
yarn relay
You will need awscli to get our ENV vars.
Independent Contributor?
Set up awscli
You will need awscli to get our font files. You can configure it with a personal user account.
Set up your env file and download assets:
yarn setup:oss # this is `yarn setup:artsy` if you're working at Artsy
Get a mapbox token and set it in .env.shared:
You can create an account on mapbox and get a token with their free tier:
Follow the instructions here: https://docs.mapbox.com/ios/maps/guides/install.
Add the token to .env.shared as MAPBOX_DOWNLOAD_TOKEN
Install dependencies and generate relay files:
yarn install:all
yarn relay
Known limitations
Some third party services will not function when working as an open source contributor including but not limited to Braze, Unleash, Sentry and Google Sign In. The conversations tab and related features are also inaccessible. Thanks for supporting open source!
Note: yarn pod-install (which is included in yarn install:all) may fail the first time you run it (due to a bug in a dependency of ours). Re-running the command should work.
Troubleshooting
If there are issues setting up the app, see the troubleshooting doc.
Contribute
We welcome independent contributions! Feel free to open an issue and open a PR and assign one of Brian Beckerle, George Kartalis, Mounir Dhahri as a reviewer or anyone else listed here.
If you work at Artsy you can find a ticket on CX backlog ๐ and look for a #good-first-issue
Run the app
Start the react-native bundler:
yarn start
Run the iOS app
First, ask for your apple developer account to be added on the project and login with your apple id under settings/accounts/apple Id.
Using terminal
yarn ios
This will use a cached build if one is available. To force a full rebuild, use yarn ios:no-cache.
Using Xcode
Open the app in Xcode:
open ios/Artsy.xcworkspace
From Xcode, run the app by hitting Product > Run (or โR). This will start the Artsy app in an iOS simulator, pointed at Artsy's staging environment.
Run the Android app
yarn android
This will start the Artsy app in an Android emulator, pointed at Artsy's staging environment. To use build caching, use yarn android:cached.
Wifi setup on Android emulators
In order to have internet access on android emulator you need to add Google's DNS servers to your device's network settings. You can do that by following these steps:
- Click Apple menu > System Preferences > Search for DNS.
- Click DNS Domains.
- Select the DNS tab.
- Add 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
- Click OK > Apply.
- Restart the emulator with cold boot now. (Android Studio > Device Manager > Three Dots (settings) > Cold Boot Now)
:warning: You might need to run the last step above after you get setup with Artsy's VPN or if you edit your DNS settings!
Run native tests
We can only run tests in one specific environment, today that is iPhone 12 Pro with the iOS 14.2 Simulator. This is because we use visual snapshots for UI regressions.
Run tests in Xcode
Tap cmd + u to run all tests, use ctrl + alt + cmd + g to run the last set you clicked on via the GUI.
Run tests via command line
You can run tests via the CLI using:
./scripts/ci/test-ios
Certificates
We use Xcode's auto-codesigning. It should magically "just work" if you log in to Xcode with an iTunes account which is on the Artsy team.
We have cert troubleshooting here
Connect a device
iOS
When you connect an iPhone to your machine, Xcode will prompt you to join a team, then to enable the device for development. If you have to choose a team, choose Art.sY Inc..
Android
- On your Android device go to Settings > About Phone
- Find the 'Build number' menu item and tap it 7 times to enable developer mode.
- Now go to Settings > System > Developer Options, and turn on 'USB Debugging'
- Connect your device to your computer via USB cable. After a moment the device should show a prompt for you to allow USB debugging for your computer. Press yes.
- After that run
yarn androidfrom within the eigen directory. This will build the app, install it on your device, and run it.
Read more
Learn about what things are architecturally here, then move to the blog. for more in-depth discussions on Eigen.
Steps To Upgrade react-native to 0.73.9 on your machine:
Upgrading JAVA:
For asdf users:
- install the new Java version:
# in the eigen directory
asdf install
- Update
$JAVA_HOMEin your shell config (.zshrc) to the asdf java install path.
- Open your
.zshrcfile with the editor of your choice and add the following lines:
. ~/.asdf/plugins/java/set-java-home.zsh
- Save the file and run
source ~/.zshrcto make the changes effective.
- Set global java version in your machine (optional):
$ asdf global java zulu-17.50.19
For brew users:
- install the new Java version
brew install --cask zulu@17
# Get path to where cask was installed to double-click installer
brew info --cask zulu@17
- Update
$JAVA_HOMEin your shell config (.zshrc) to the homebrew java install path.
- Open your
.zshrcfile with the editor of your choice and add the following lines:
export JAVA_HOME="/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-17.jdk/Contents/Home"
- Save the file and run
source ~/.zshrcto make the changes effective.
Note
For both approaches - you can try out in the terminal by typing $JAVA_HOME to make sure that it was updated properly.
Before running the app and in order to install without any caching issues
# Delete node modules and caches:
rm -rf node_modules && rm -rf .cache && rm -rf "$TMPDIR/metro*" && rm -rf "$TMPDIR/haste-map-*"
# install all the dependencies needed
yarn install:all
# you will most likely have to run also the following to bump hermes-engine:
cd ios && bundle exec pod update hermes-engine --no-repo-update & cd ..
Read more on proper environmet setup
You can also find more information on how to properly setup your environment for react native in this official doc.