callstack / callstack/agent-device
iOS Metro hint doesn't reach expo-dev-client apps (writes bare-RN RCT_jsLocation only)
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Descrizione
## Summary
On iOS, agent-device's Metro/dev-server runtime hint (`open --metro-host/--metro-port`, `metro reload`, `metro prepare`) does **not** point an **expo-dev-client** app at the chosen Metro server. It writes bare-React-Native's `RCT_jsLocation` preference, which an expo-dev-client ignores — so the app keeps loading from its own dev-server URL (or embedded bundle) instead of the requested port.
This is the iOS analogue of the Android `debug_http_host`-wrong-file bug fixed in #1242: the *intent* is right, but the *mechanism* targets bare-RN while the app framework (expo-dev-client) reads a different source.
## Root cause
`applyIosSimulatorRuntimeHints` in `src/daemon/runtime-hints.ts` sets `RCT_jsLocation` (+ `RCT_packager_scheme`) in the app's NSUserDefaults via `simctl`. Bare RN's `RCTBundleURLProvider` reads `RCT_jsLocation`, so this works for bare-RN debug apps. But an **expo-dev-client** resolves its dev-server from its own launcher state / the `exp+://expo-development-client/?url=` deep-link, not `RCT_jsLocation` — so the hint is silently a no-op.
## Evidence (verified live, iPhone 17 Pro simulator)
- After `open com.callstack.agentdevicelab --metro-host 127.0.0.1 --metro-port 8085`, `defaults read com.callstack.agentdevicelab RCT_jsLocation` returned `127.0.0.1:8085` — the hint **was written correctly**.
- The app nonetheless did **not** request a bundle from Metro on 8085 (Metro logged only "Waiting on http://localhost:8085"); it kept running its own bundle.
- The dev build **does** register the `exp+agent-device-test-app` URL scheme (the expo-dev-client launcher handler), confirming it is an expo-dev-client and that the `exp+…://expo-development-client/?url=` path is the intended mechanism.
## Suggested fix direction
Detect an expo-dev-client target (it registers an `exp+` `CFBundleURLScheme` in `Info.plist`) and, for those, point Metro via the expo mechanism instead of `RCT_jsLocation`:
- Launch/redirect via `xcrun simctl openurl "exp+://expo-development-client/?url="`.
- agent-device already computes the correct expo bundle URL via `metro prepare --kind expo` (`.expo/.virtual-metro-entry.bundle`), so the pointing side is the gap.
## Important caveat (separate limitation)
An **embed-first** dev build — one shipped with a baked `main.jsbundle` and configured to launch straight into the embedded bundle rather than the dev-launcher — runs the embedded bundle regardless of any metro hint or deep-link. That case genuinely requires a native rebuild (`expo run:ios`) and is **not** solvable by the fix above; only launcher-style expo-dev-clients benefit.
## Context
Surfaced while capturing live over-filtering evidence for the replay-divergence chrome filter (PR #1233). Related: #1242 (the Android `debug_http_host` counterpart).
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Direzione di ricerca
Inizia in src/daemon/runtime-hints.ts, all’interno di applyIosSimulatorRuntimeHints, e segui le scritture simctl esistenti per RCT_jsLocation e RCT_packager_scheme. Confronta gli schemi URL dell’app di destinazione con il deep link di expo-dev-client descritto nell’issue, quindi verifica con simctl e Metro che i target in stile launcher richiedano l’host e la porta selezionati, mentre le build embed-first rimangano invariate.
Scritto dal modello di indicizzazione a partire dal testo della issue.
Valutazione
- Stack tecnologico
- ios, react-native, typescript
- Ambito
- cli, mobile-dev
- Tipo di issue
- Bug
- Difficoltà
- 4/5
- Tempo stimato
- 3-5 giorni
- Stato di attività
- Tranquilla
- Chiarezza
- Abbastanza chiara
- Idoneità per principianti
- 55/100