---
title: React Native
description: Get started with CopilotKit in React Native.
icon: "lucide/Smartphone"
hideTOC: true
---
`@copilotkit/react-native` provides a lightweight, headless wrapper around CopilotKit's React hooks for React Native apps. You build the UI — CopilotKit handles the agent communication.

## Prerequisites

- A CopilotKit runtime endpoint (self-hosted or cloud)
- React Native 0.70+ (bare CLI or Expo)
- Node.js 20+

## Getting started

<Steps>
    <Step>
        ### Create your React Native app

        If you don't have one already:

        ```bash
        npx @react-native-community/cli@latest init MyCopilotApp
        cd MyCopilotApp
        ```
    </Step>
    <Step>
        ### Install CopilotKit

        <Tabs groupId="package-manager" items={['npm', 'pnpm', 'yarn']}>
            <Tab value="npm">
                ```bash
                npm install @copilotkit/react-native
                ```
            </Tab>
            <Tab value="pnpm">
                ```bash
                pnpm add @copilotkit/react-native
                ```
            </Tab>
            <Tab value="yarn">
                ```bash
                yarn add @copilotkit/react-native
                ```
            </Tab>
        </Tabs>
    </Step>
    <Step>
        ### Add polyfills

        React Native's JS runtime (Hermes) lacks several Web APIs that CopilotKit depends on. Import the polyfills **before any other code** in your entry point:

        ```js title="index.js"
        import "@copilotkit/react-native/polyfills"; // [!code highlight]

        import { AppRegistry } from "react-native";
        import App from "./App";
        import { name as appName } from "./app.json";

        AppRegistry.registerComponent(appName, () => App);
        ```

        <Callout type="info" title="Granular polyfills">
          If you already polyfill some of these APIs (e.g. `ReadableStream`), you can import only what you need instead:

          ```js
          import "@copilotkit/react-native/polyfills/streams";
          import "@copilotkit/react-native/polyfills/encoding";
          import "@copilotkit/react-native/polyfills/crypto";
          import "@copilotkit/react-native/polyfills/dom";
          import "@copilotkit/react-native/polyfills/location";
          ```
        </Callout>
    </Step>
    <Step>
        ### Wrap your app with CopilotKitProvider

        ```tsx title="App.tsx"
        import { CopilotKitProvider } from "@copilotkit/react-native"; // [!code highlight]
        import { SafeAreaProvider } from "react-native-safe-area-context";
        import { ChatScreen } from "./src/ChatScreen";

        export default function App() {
          return (
            <SafeAreaProvider>
              {/* [!code highlight:3] */}
              <CopilotKitProvider runtimeUrl="https://your-server/api/copilotkit">
                <ChatScreen />
              </CopilotKitProvider>
            </SafeAreaProvider>
          );
        }
        ```
    </Step>
    <Step>
        ### Build your chat UI

        Hooks from the web SDK work identically in React Native. Here's a minimal chat screen using `useAgent` and `useCopilotKit`:

        ```tsx title="src/ChatScreen.tsx"
        import { useCallback, useRef, useState } from "react";
        import {
          FlatList,
          KeyboardAvoidingView,
          Platform,
          Text,
          TextInput,
          TouchableOpacity,
          View,
        } from "react-native";
        import { useAgent, useCopilotKit } from "@copilotkit/react-native"; // [!code highlight]

        export function ChatScreen() {
          const [inputText, setInputText] = useState("");
          const flatListRef = useRef<FlatList>(null);

          const { copilotkit } = useCopilotKit(); // [!code highlight:2]
          const { agent } = useAgent({ agentId: "default" });

          const messages = agent?.messages ?? [];
          const isLoading = agent?.isRunning ?? false;

          const handleSend = useCallback(async () => {
            const text = inputText.trim();
            if (!text || isLoading || !agent) return;

            setInputText("");
            agent.addMessage({ // [!code highlight:5]
              id: `user-${Date.now()}`,
              role: "user",
              content: text,
            });
            await copilotkit.runAgent({ agent }); // [!code highlight]
          }, [inputText, isLoading, agent, copilotkit]);

          return (
            <KeyboardAvoidingView
              style={{ flex: 1 }}
              behavior={Platform.OS === "ios" ? "padding" : "height"}
            >
              <FlatList
                ref={flatListRef}
                data={messages.filter(
                  (m) => m.role === "user" || (m.role === "assistant" && m.content),
                )}
                renderItem={({ item }) => (
                  <View style={{ padding: 12, maxWidth: "80%" }}>
                    <Text>{item.content}</Text>
                  </View>
                )}
                keyExtractor={(item, i) => item.id ?? String(i)}
                onContentSizeChange={() =>
                  flatListRef.current?.scrollToEnd({ animated: true })
                }
              />
              <View style={{ flexDirection: "row", padding: 8 }}>
                <TextInput
                  style={{ flex: 1, borderWidth: 1, borderRadius: 8, padding: 8 }}
                  value={inputText}
                  onChangeText={setInputText}
                  placeholder="Type a message..."
                />
                <TouchableOpacity onPress={handleSend} style={{ padding: 8 }}>
                  <Text>Send</Text>
                </TouchableOpacity>
              </View>
            </KeyboardAvoidingView>
          );
        }
        ```

        <Callout type="info" title="Headless by design">
          `@copilotkit/react-native` is headless — it provides hooks, not UI components. You have full control over your chat interface using standard React Native components.
        </Callout>
    </Step>
    <Step>
        ### Run the app

        <Tabs groupId="platform" items={['iOS', 'Android']}>
            <Tab value="iOS">
                ```bash
                npx react-native run-ios
                ```
            </Tab>
            <Tab value="Android">
                ```bash
                npx react-native run-android
                ```
            </Tab>
        </Tabs>
    </Step>
    <Step>
        ### Start chatting!

        Your React Native app is now connected to CopilotKit. Hooks from the web SDK work identically:

        - `useAgent` — connect to an agent and manage messages
        - `useFrontendTool` — let the agent call functions in your app
        - `useHumanInTheLoop` — add approval flows for agent actions
        - `useCopilotKit` — access the CopilotKit instance directly

        <Accordions className="mb-4">
            <Accordion title="Troubleshooting">
                - **Metro can't resolve modules**: Clear the cache with `npx react-native start --reset-cache`
                - **Streaming not working**: Make sure polyfills are imported before any CopilotKit code in your entry point
                - **Existing polyfill conflicts**: Use the granular imports instead of the barrel `polyfills` import
                - Make sure the runtime endpoint URL is reachable from your device/emulator (use your machine's IP, not `localhost`, for physical devices)
            </Accordion>
        </Accordions>
    </Step>
</Steps>

## What's included

| Export | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `CopilotKitProvider` | Lightweight provider — no DOM, CSS, or web framework deps |
| `useAgent`, `useFrontendTool`, etc. | Re-exported hooks from `@copilotkit/react-core` |
| `@copilotkit/react-native/polyfills` | ReadableStream, TextEncoder, crypto, DOMException, location |

## Known limitations

- **No pre-built UI components** — you build the chat interface with React Native components
- **Markdown rendering** — assistant messages with markdown render as plain text; bring your own renderer (e.g. `react-native-markdown-display`)
- **Voice** — `@copilotkit/voice` has not been adapted for React Native yet
