native-data-fetching

Expo Networking

You MUST use this skill for ANY networking work including API requests, data fetching, caching, or network debugging.

References

Consult these resources as needed:

references/
  expo-router-loaders.md   Route-level data loading with Expo Router loaders (web, SDK 55+)

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Implementing API requests
• Setting up data fetching (React Query, SWR)
• Using Expo Router data loaders (useLoaderData, web SDK 55+)
• Debugging network failures
• Implementing caching strategies
• Handling offline scenarios
• Authentication/token management
• Configuring API URLs and environment variables

Preferences

• Avoid axios, prefer expo/fetch

Common Issues & Solutions

1. Basic Fetch Usage

Simple GET request:

const fetchUser = async (userId: string) => {
  const response = await fetch(`https://api.example.com/users/${userId}`);

  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error(`HTTP error! status: ${response.status}`);
  }

  return response.json();
};

POST request with body:

const createUser = async (userData: UserData) => {
  const response = await fetch("https://api.example.com/users", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(userData),
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.json();
    throw new Error(error.message);
  }

  return response.json();
};

2. React Query (TanStack Query)

Setup:

// app/_layout.tsx
import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from "@tanstack/react-query";

const queryClient = new QueryClient({
  defaultOptions: {
    queries: {
      staleTime: 1000 * 60 * 5, // 5 minutes
      retry: 2,
    },
  },
});

export default function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <QueryClientProvider client={queryClient}>
      <Stack />
    </QueryClientProvider>
  );
}

Fetching data:

import { useQuery } from "@tanstack/react-query";

function UserProfile({ userId }: { userId: string }) {
  const { data, isLoading, error, refetch } = useQuery({
    queryKey: ["user", userId],
    queryFn: () => fetchUser(userId),
  });

  if (isLoading) return <Loading />;
  if (error) return <Error message={error.message} />;

  return <Profile user={data} />;
}

Mutations:

import { useMutation, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";

function CreateUserForm() {
  const queryClient = useQueryClient();

  const mutation = useMutation({
    mutationFn: createUser,
    onSuccess: () => {
      // Invalidate and refetch
      queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ["users"] });
    },
  });

  const handleSubmit = (data: UserData) => {
    mutation.mutate(data);
  };

  return <Form onSubmit={handleSubmit} isLoading={mutation.isPending} />;
}

3. Error Handling

Comprehensive error handling:

class ApiError extends Error {
  constructor(message: string, public status: number, public code?: string) {
    super(message);
    this.name = "ApiError";
  }
}

const fetchWithErrorHandling = async (url: string, options?: RequestInit) => {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(url, options);

    if (!response.ok) {
      const error = await response.json().catch(() => ({}));
      throw new ApiError(
        error.message || "Request failed",
        response.status,
        error.code
      );
    }

    return response.json();
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof ApiError) {
      throw error;
    }
    // Network error (no internet, timeout, etc.)
    throw new ApiError("Network error", 0, "NETWORK_ERROR");
  }
};

Retry logic:

const fetchWithRetry = async (
  url: string,
  options?: RequestInit,
  retries = 3
) => {
  for (let i = 0; i < retries; i++) {
    try {
      return await fetchWithErrorHandling(url, options);
    } catch (error) {
      if (i === retries - 1) throw error;
      // Exponential backoff
      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, Math.pow(2, i) * 1000));
    }
  }
};

4. Authentication

Token management:

import * as SecureStore from "expo-secure-store";

const TOKEN_KEY = "auth_token";

export const auth = {
  getToken: () => SecureStore.getItemAsync(TOKEN_KEY),
  setToken: (token: string) => SecureStore.setItemAsync(TOKEN_KEY, token),
  removeToken: () => SecureStore.deleteItemAsync(TOKEN_KEY),
};

// Authenticated fetch wrapper
const authFetch = async (url: string, options: RequestInit = {}) => {
  const token = await auth.getToken();

  return fetch(url, {
    ...options,
    headers: {
      ...options.headers,
      Authorization: token ? `Bearer ${token}` : "",
    },
  });
};

Token refresh:

let isRefreshing = false;
let refreshPromise: Promise<string> | null = null;

const getValidToken = async (): Promise<string> => {
  const token = await auth.getToken();

  if (!token || isTokenExpired(token)) {
    if (!isRefreshing) {
      isRefreshing = true;
      refreshPromise = refreshToken().finally(() => {
        isRefreshing = false;
        refreshPromise = null;
      });
    }
    return refreshPromise!;
  }

  return token;
};

5. Offline Support

Check network status:

import NetInfo from "@react-native-community/netinfo";

// Hook for network status
function useNetworkStatus() {
  const [isOnline, setIsOnline] = useState(true);

  useEffect(() => {
    return NetInfo.addEventListener((state) => {
      setIsOnline(state.isConnected ?? true);
    });
  }, []);

  return isOnline;
}

Offline-first with React Query:

import { onlineManager } from "@tanstack/react-query";
import NetInfo from "@react-native-community/netinfo";

// Sync React Query with network status
onlineManager.setEventListener((setOnline) => {
  return NetInfo.addEventListener((state) => {
    setOnline(state.isConnected ?? true);
  });
});

// Queries will pause when offline and resume when online

6. Environment Variables

Using environment variables for API configuration:

Expo supports environment variables with the EXPO_PUBLIC_ prefix. These are inlined at build time and available in your JavaScript code.

// .env
EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://api.example.com
EXPO_PUBLIC_API_VERSION=v1

// Usage in code
const API_URL = process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL;

const fetchUsers = async () => {
  const response = await fetch(`${API_URL}/users`);
  return response.json();
};

Environment-specific configuration:

// .env.development
EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://localhost:3000

// .env.production
EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://api.production.com

Creating an API client with environment config:

// api/client.ts
const BASE_URL = process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL;

if (!BASE_URL) {
  throw new Error("EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL is not defined");
}

export const apiClient = {
  get: async <T,>(path: string): Promise<T> => {
    const response = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}${path}`);
    if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
    return response.json();
  },

  post: async <T,>(path: string, body: unknown): Promise<T> => {
    const response = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}${path}`, {
      method: "POST",
      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
      body: JSON.stringify(body),
    });
    if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
    return response.json();
  },
};

Important notes:

• Only variables prefixed with EXPO_PUBLIC_ are exposed to the client bundle
• Never put secrets (API keys with write access, database passwords) in EXPO_PUBLIC_ variables—they're visible in the built app
• Environment variables are inlined at build time, not runtime
• Restart the dev server after changing .env files
• For server-side secrets in API routes, use variables without the EXPO_PUBLIC_ prefix

TypeScript support:

// types/env.d.ts
declare global {
  nam