create-expo-app Templates

create-expo-app ships five first-party templates - each pins Expo SDK 57 when you pass @sdk-57. Picking the wrong starter costs days of migration; this page maps each template to the product shape it fits.

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

# Team default - multi-screen app with Expo Router + TypeScript
npx create-expo-app@latest ShopApp --template default@sdk-57 --yes
 
# Tab-first navigation starter (similar scope to default)
npx create-expo-app@latest ShopApp --template tabs@sdk-57 --yes
 
# Minimal spike - no router, TypeScript enabled
npx create-expo-app@latest Spike --template blank-typescript@sdk-57 --yes
 
# Native dirs on day one - runs prebuild during scaffold
npx create-expo-app@latest NativeDay1 --template bare-minimum@sdk-57 --yes
 
cd ShopApp && npx expo-doctor

When to reach for this:

• Choosing a starter before the first production commit - template swaps are painful once navigation and native dirs grow roots.
• Standardizing template choice across squads so every new repo boots the same scripts and folder layout.
• Deciding whether you need bare-minimum now or can stay managed and run npx expo prebuild later.
• Auditing an accidental SDK 54 scaffold - compare package.json against the template you intended.

Working Example

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# scripts/new-expo-app.sh - org template picker with SDK 57 verification
set -euo pipefail
 
APP_NAME="${1:?Usage: ./new-expo-app.sh <AppName> [default|tabs|blank-typescript|bare-minimum]}"
KIND="${2:-default}"
 
case "$KIND" in
  default|tabs|blank-typescript|bare-minimum) TEMPLATE="${KIND}@sdk-57" ;;
  *) echo "Unknown template: $KIND" >&2; exit 1 ;;
esac
 
npx create-expo-app@latest "$APP_NAME" --template "$TEMPLATE" --yes
cd "$APP_NAME"
 
# Fail fast if the scaffold drifted from SDK 57
EXPO_VER="$(node -p "require('./package.json').dependencies.expo")"
RN_VER="$(node -p "require('./package.json').dependencies['react-native']")"
test "$EXPO_VER" = "~57.0.4" || { echo "Expected expo ~57.0.4, got $EXPO_VER" >&2; exit 1; }
test "$RN_VER" = "0.86.0" || { echo "Expected react-native 0.86.0, got $RN_VER" >&2; exit 1; }
 
npx expo-doctor
npx tsc --noEmit
 
echo "✅ $APP_NAME scaffolded with $TEMPLATE"

After default@sdk-57, expect this layout:

ShopApp/
├── app/
│   ├── _layout.tsx          # Expo Router root layout
│   ├── (tabs)/
│   │   ├── _layout.tsx      # Tab navigator
│   │   ├── index.tsx
│   │   └── explore.tsx
│   └── +not-found.tsx
├── assets/
├── app.json
├── package.json             # expo ~57.0.4, react-native 0.86.0, react 19.2.3
└── tsconfig.json

What this demonstrates:

• A single script encodes org policy - engineers pass default, tabs, blank-typescript, or bare-minimum; the @sdk-57 suffix is never optional.
• Post-scaffold version assertions catch SDK drift before feature work starts.
• expo-doctor and tsc --noEmit as mandatory gates after every template choice.
• default@sdk-57 ships file-based routing under app/ - the layout you extend for production navigation.

Deep Dive

How It Works

• create-expo-app copies a versioned template from the Expo monorepo, writes package.json, installs dependencies, and generates starter source.
• The @sdk-57 suffix pins the template's dependency graph - expo resolves to ~57.0.4 with matching react-native 0.86.0 and react 19.2.3.
• default and tabs both enable Expo Router and TypeScript; they differ in starter navigation structure, not SDK capabilities.
• blank / blank-typescript ship a single App.tsx entry - no app/ directory, no router - you add navigation manually.
• bare-minimum runs npx expo prebuild during setup, generating android/ and ios/ immediately.

Template Comparison

# Side-by-side comparison - scaffold into /tmp, inspect, delete
npx create-expo-app@latest /tmp/compare-default --template default@sdk-57 --yes
npx create-expo-app@latest /tmp/compare-blank --template blank-typescript@sdk-57 --yes
ls /tmp/compare-default/app        # Router present
ls /tmp/compare-blank/app 2>/dev/null || echo "blank: no app/ directory"

Decision Flow

What Each Template Omits

TypeScript Notes

// blank-typescript@sdk-57 entry - no Router, single root component
import { StatusBar } from "expo-status-bar";
import { StyleSheet, Text, View } from "react-native";
 
export default function App() {
  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <Text>Blank TypeScript starter on SDK 57.</Text>
      <StatusBar style="auto" />
    </View>
  );
}
 
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: { flex: 1, alignItems: "center", justifyContent: "center" },
});

// default@sdk-57 - route files live under app/, not App.tsx
// app/(tabs)/index.tsx
import { StyleSheet, Text, View } from "react-native";
 
export default function HomeScreen() {
  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <Text>Home tab - Expo Router file route.</Text>
    </View>
  );
}
 
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: { flex: 1, alignItems: "center", justifyContent: "center" },
});

Prefer default@sdk-57 when the app will have more than one screen - retrofitting Expo Router into blank-typescript is doable but wastes the first sprint.

Gotchas

• Scaffolding without @sdk-57 - During the SDK 57 transition, bare create-expo-app@latest may create SDK 54 for Expo Go on physical devices. Fix: Pass --template default@sdk-57 (or your chosen template with the suffix) for new production work.
• Treating tabs and default as fundamentally different - Both ship Expo Router and TypeScript with similar file counts. Teams waste time debating them. Fix: Pick one org-wide; the difference is starter layout, not capability.
• Choosing bare-minimum for "just in case" - Prebuild commits android/ and ios/, increasing merge conflict surface and slowing managed upgrades. Fix: Start default@sdk-57; run npx expo prebuild when native dirs are actually required.
• Staying on blank when the app grows past one screen - Engineers bolt React Navigation into App.tsx and end up with a non-standard tree. Fix: Migrate to Expo Router early or start with default@sdk-57.
• Assuming templates include state management or API layers - No template ships Redux, TanStack Query, or feature folders. Fix: Add architecture after scaffold; see Folder Structure for Features.
• Mixing template entry styles - default uses app/_layout.tsx; blank-typescript uses App.tsx. Copy-pasting route code between them without restructuring fails. Fix: Match imports and entry points to the template you chose.
• Skipping expo-doctor after template selection - Template metadata can resolve incompatible native module peers. Fix: Run npx expo-doctor before the first feature PR.

Alternatives

FAQs

node -p "require('./package.json').dependencies.expo"
node -p "require('./package.json').dependencies['react-native']"
npx expo-doctor

npx create-expo-app@latest apps/mobile --template default@sdk-57 --yes

Related

• Project Setup Basics - standard app layout, scripts, and first-run verification after scaffold
• create-expo-app Quickstart - full scaffold workflow, flags, and SDK pin checklist
• Folder Structure for Features - where feature code lives after you pick a template
• Monorepo with Turborepo - scaffold apps/mobile with default@sdk-57 inside a workspace
• Expo Go vs Development Builds - how template SDK choice affects local run targets
• Component Patterns Basics - container/presenter splits inside the template's app/ routes

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