@bam.tech/react-navigation-visualizer-dev-plugin

A Visualization Tool based on Expo DevTools Plugin for React Navigation.

Installation

Add the package to your project

npx expo install @bam.tech/react-navigation-visualizer-dev-plugin

Usage

Using with react-navigation

Integrate react-navigation with the DevTool hook

import { useNavigationContainerRef } from '@react-navigation/native';
import { useReactNavigationDevTools } from '@bam.tech/react-navigation-visualizer-dev-plugin';

export default function App() {
  const navigationRef = useNavigationContainerRef();
  useReactNavigationDevTools(navigationRef);

  return <NavigationContainer ref={navigationRef}>{/* ... */}</NavigationContainer>;
}

Using with expo-router

When using expo-router, integrate the DevTool in your main _layout.tsx file. You can import useNavigationContainerRef directly from expo-router and pass it to useReactNavigationDevTools:

import { useNavigationContainerRef } from 'expo-router';
import { useReactNavigationDevTools } from '@bam.tech/react-navigation-visualizer-dev-plugin';

export default function RootLayout() {
  const navigationRef = useNavigationContainerRef();
  useReactNavigationDevTools(navigationRef);

  return <Stack />;
}

In this case, expo-router automatically manages the navigation container, so you just need to add the DevTool setup in your layout component.

What to do with this plugin ?

Launch in Metro

In the metro launcher, type Shift+M to open the dev tools menu, and select @bam.tech/react-navigation-visualizer-dev-plugin

The visualization tool is available under the Navigation Tree section

What's in my stack ?

The idea of this plugin is to show your current navigation state, and its evolution during a user's journey through the app.

Three types of elements are represented :

• The stack navigators

  

• The tab navigators

  

• The screens

  

You can see all consecutive navigation states (recorded when the dev plugin is opened), and you can also collapse stacks if needed by clicking them.