React Native Device Companion

Run React Native commands (run-android, run-ios, Metro) from VS Code without blocking the editor, plus a real Android/iOS device and simulator picker and multi-environment .env profile support.

Why it exists

Built from the same real-world evidence as its IntelliJ/WebStorm sibling plugin: the leading paid React Native tooling in that ecosystem has recent, severe, reproducible complaints about freezing the IDE and needing thread dumps to recover, plus older reports of buggy device/simulator integration. VS Code's integrated terminal already runs shell commands off the extension host's event loop by construction — this extension is a thin, reliable layer on top of that, not a reimplementation of the React Native CLI.

Usage

Open the React Native view in the Activity Bar, or use the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

• React Native: Run Android / Run iOS / Start Metro — runs the real npx react-native command in an integrated terminal.
• Devices & Simulators view — lists currently connected Android devices/emulators (adb devices) and iOS simulators (xcrun simctl list devices), parsed from their real output. Use the refresh icon in the view title to re-scan.
• React Native: Select Environment Profile — auto-discovers .env* files at your workspace root (the convention react-native-config reads) and sets ENVFILE for every command run from this extension until changed.
• React Native: Build Android Release / Build iOS Release — runs react-native build-android --mode=release / build-ios --mode=Release, respecting the selected environment profile.

What this extension does not do

It does not wrap, parse, or modify React Native CLI output beyond the device/simulator list — everything you run appears in a normal integrated terminal exactly as if you'd typed it yourself. See PRIVACY.md for exactly which local commands this extension runs and when.

Enterprise / Team Licensing

Need enterprise features or team licensing? Contact us at gaphunterlabs@gmail.com.

Development

npm install
npm test       # compiles and runs the unit test suite

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.