Installation

Check the requirements first, then install the package with npm install @januaryai/react-native or yarn add @januaryai/react-native and follow the React Native or the Expo steps below.

The package brings the January iOS and Android SDK versions it was tested with (pinned versions). Don't add January or ai.january:january-sdk-android to your app yourself.

React Native

iOS

npx pod-install
npx react-native run-ios

Android

Enable core library desugaring in android/app/build.gradle. The January Android SDK uses java.time, and every app that depends on it must enable desugaring, whatever its minSdkVersion:

android {
    compileOptions {
        coreLibraryDesugaringEnabled true
    }
}

dependencies {
    coreLibraryDesugaring "com.android.tools:desugar_jdk_libs:2.1.5"
}

Then rebuild:

npx react-native run-android

React Native 0.83 projects set minSdkVersion = 24 in android/build.gradle, the SDK's minimum; if yours is lower, raise it to 24. Build with JDK 17–21.

Expo

The SDK has native code, so it runs in a development build (Expo SDK 55 or later), not in Expo Go.

1. Install the package:

   npx expo install @januaryai/react-native

2. Add "@januaryai/react-native" to expo.plugins in app.json. The plugin enables core library desugaring, which every Android build needs.

   { "expo": { "plugins": ["@januaryai/react-native"] } }

3. Regenerate the native projects and build:

   npx expo prebuild --clean
   npx expo run:ios    # or: npx expo run:android

Config plugins run only during prebuild. If you commit ios/ and android/ and don't run prebuild, follow the React Native steps instead. Expo SDK 55 sets minSdkVersion to 24 by default; don't lower it with expo-build-properties.

Rebuild the development build whenever you install or upgrade the SDK.

Confirm linking

import { getNativeModuleVersion } from '@januaryai/react-native';

console.log(getNativeModuleVersion()); // "0.3.0" when linked, null when not

null means the running binary lacks the native module. Run npx pod-install (React Native) or npx expo prebuild --clean (Expo), then rebuild the app. Restarting Metro is not enough.

Next: Backend token endpoint.