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Cathy Lai
Cathy Lai

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Upgrading Expo to 54 - and making Cursor give the latest instructions

#reactnative #tooling #tutorial

TL;DR (commands) 

# In your project root
npm install expo@^54.0.0
npx expo install --fix
npx expo-doctor
npx expo start -c
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Why the old approach didn’t work

  • The local CLI no longer supports older commands like expo upgrade and expo doctor --fix-dependencies.
  • The modern flow uses npm install expo@^54, expo install --fix to align peer deps, and expo-doctor for checks.

Making Cursor check the latest upgrade info

Enable web browsing in Cursor so it can consult the official docs:
Open Cursor Settings > Chat (or Features) and turn on the option to use the internet/browse the web.
In chat, explicitly ask to search the web, e.g., “Search the web for: Expo SDK 54 upgrade guide” so it cites sources.
When versions matter, include the target SDK in your prompt: “Upgrade from Expo SDK 53 to 54 — use the latest official commands.”

Step-by-step

  1. Install SDK 54 core package 
   npm install expo@^54.0.0
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  1. Align dependencies to SDK 54 
   npx expo install --fix
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  1. Verify and follow any suggestions 
   npx expo-doctor
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  • Use Node 18/20 if possible. If you switch Node versions, reinstall deps (delete node_modules + your lockfile, then npm i).
  1. Start fresh 
   npx expo start -c
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  • Open in the latest Expo Go (which supports SDK 54).

If you don't have nvm: 

brew install nvm
mkdir -p ~/.nvm
echo 'export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo '[ -s "/opt/homebrew/opt/nvm/nvm.sh" ] && . "/opt/homebrew/opt/nvm/nvm.sh"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

# Install and use Node 20
nvm install 20
nvm use 20

node -v
npm -v
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References

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