CI Quality Gates

CI quality gates run the same lint, typecheck, format:check, and test scripts on every pull request - catching hook dependency mistakes and cross-package type breaks before EAS spends minutes on a native build.

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

// package.json - scripts CI will call
{
  "scripts": {
    "lint": "expo lint",
    "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
    "format:check": "prettier --check .",
    "test": "jest"
  }
}

# Local pre-push (same sequence as CI)
npm run format:check && npm run lint && npm run typecheck && npm run test

When to reach for this:

• Every team using pull requests to merge into main or release/*.
• Expo apps where a type error currently surfaces only during eas build.
• Monorepos that need lint and tsc across apps/mobile and packages/*.
• Projects adopting EAS Workflows and wanting quality checks before type: build jobs.
• Enforcing a zero-warning ESLint policy without relying on honor-system pre-commit hooks.

Working Example

# .github/workflows/quality.yml
name: Quality Gates
 
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
  push:
    branches: [main]
 
concurrency:
  group: quality-${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  quality:
    name: Lint, Format, Types, Tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 15
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: npm
 
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
 
      - name: Generate Expo types
        run: npx expo customize tsconfig.json
 
      - name: Prettier
        run: npm run format:check
 
      - name: ESLint
        run: npm run lint
 
      - name: TypeScript
        run: npm run typecheck
 
      - name: Unit tests
        run: npm run test -- --ci --passWithNoTests

# .eas/workflows/quality-gates.yml - same scripts on Expo infrastructure
name: Quality Gates
 
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
  push:
    branches: [main]
 
concurrency:
  cancel_in_progress: true
  group: ${{ workflow.filename }}-${{ github.ref }}
 
jobs:
  quality:
    name: Lint, Format, Types, Tests
    steps:
      - uses: eas/checkout
      - uses: eas/use_npm_token
      - uses: eas/install_node_modules
 
      - name: Generate Expo types
        run: npx expo customize tsconfig.json
 
      - name: Format check
        run: npm run format:check
 
      - name: Lint
        run: npm run lint
 
      - name: Typecheck
        run: npm run typecheck
 
      - name: Unit tests
        run: npm run test -- --ci --passWithNoTests
 
  build_ios:
    name: iOS build (after quality)
    needs: [quality]
    type: build
    params:
      platform: ios
      profile: preview

// turbo.json - monorepo fans out the same gates
{
  "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json",
  "tasks": {
    "lint": {
      "dependsOn": ["^lint"]
    },
    "typecheck": {
      "dependsOn": ["^typecheck"]
    },
    "test": {
      "dependsOn": ["^test"]
    },
    "format:check": {
      "outputs": []
    }
  }
}

# .github/workflows/quality-monorepo.yml
name: Monorepo Quality
 
on:
  pull_request:
 
jobs:
  quality:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: npm
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npx turbo run format:check lint typecheck test

What this demonstrates:

• One package.json script surface - developers and CI run identical commands.
• GitHub Actions uses npm ci, Node 20, and concurrency cancellation to save minutes.
• npx expo customize tsconfig.json ensures .expo/types exists before tsc --noEmit.
• EAS Workflows reuse the same scripts, then needs: [quality] blocks native builds on failure.
• Turborepo runs lint/typecheck/test across workspaces with dependency-aware ordering.

Deep Dive

How It Works

• Each CI step is a shell command that exits non-zero on failure - GitHub and EAS mark the run failed.
• expo lint wraps ESLint with eslint-config-expo - errors fail the job unless you pass --max-warnings intentionally.
• tsc --noEmit validates the entire TypeScript graph, including workspace packages imported by the app.
• prettier --check fails on formatting drift without mutating the runner filesystem.
• Branch protection rules can require the quality check before merge - policy enforcement, not suggestions.

Scripts CI Should Call

GitHub Actions vs EAS Workflows

Gate Ordering

format:check → lint → typecheck → test → (optional) eas build

• Format first - fastest signal; fails in seconds on small diffs.
• Lint second - catches RN-specific issues ESLint owns.
• Typecheck third - slower but finds cross-file breaks.
• Tests last - most expensive; still before native compile.
• EAS build - only after quality passes; saves queue time and build credits.

Monorepo Notes

// apps/mobile/package.json
{
  "scripts": {
    "lint": "expo lint",
    "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
    "test": "jest"
  }
}

• Root turbo run lint typecheck respects dependsOn: ["^lint"] so packages/ui lints before apps/mobile.
• Pin one Node version in engines and CI - RN tooling assumes Node 20 LTS.
• For pnpm, swap npm ci for pnpm install --frozen-lockfile and cache: pnpm on setup-node.

Gotchas

• Skipping expo customize before tsc - Typed routes fail with missing .expo/types on a clean CI checkout. Fix: Add an explicit step before typecheck, or commit generated types only if your team policy requires it (usually do not).

• npm install instead of npm ci in CI - Lockfile drift produces "works on CI, fails locally" flakiness. Fix: Always npm ci when package-lock.json exists.

• Running prettier --write in CI - Runner formats files that never get committed; main stays dirty. Fix: Use --check only in workflows.

• Lint warnings allowed to merge - --max-warnings 0 is not the default everywhere; warnings accumulate. Fix: Treat warnings as errors in CI when adopting a zero-warning policy, or fix warnings before enabling the gate.

• Quality job not required in branch protection - Developers merge with admin bypass while checks are red. Fix: GitHub → Settings → Branches → require the quality status check.

• EAS build without needs: [quality] - Native builds start while lint is still failing. Fix: Chain needs so type: build jobs wait for the custom quality job.

Alternatives

FAQs

npx turbo run test --filter=mobile
# or all packages:
npx turbo run test

Related

• Linting Basics - eslint-config-expo and the rules expo lint enforces
• Prettier & Import Sorting - format:check script and .prettierignore
• TypeScript Strict Mode - what typecheck validates
• Monorepo with Turborepo - turbo run lint typecheck across workspaces
• Project Setup Basics - default scripts scaffolded with SDK 57
• EAS Workflows - full workflow catalog beyond quality gates

Stack versions: This page was written for Expo SDK 57 (expo ~57.0.4), React Native 0.86.0, and React 19.2.3. 383k393a3c3q3e393a3o1r3e3k3x383c3e3k221w1u3x1v1t1v1z1t20