Haul

Abstract

1. Introduction

We're actively working on a Haul successor, which would provide long awaited features like Hot Module Replacement + React Refresh and better feature-parity with Metro. The version 1.0.0 is already released!

Haul is a drop-in replacement for react-native CLI built on open tools like Webpack. It can act as a development server or bundle your React Native app for production.

A command line tool for developing React Native apps

2. Objective

Haul is a command line tool for developing React Native apps, powered by Webpack

This project demonstrates how TypeScript, React Native can be applied to a real-world Mobile App Development problem.

3. Key Features / Modules

• Replaces React Native packager to bundle your app
• Access to full webpack ecosystem, using additional loaders and plugins is simple
• Doesn't need watchman, symlinks work nicely
• Helpful and easy to understand error messages

4. Technology Stack

5. System Requirements

General requirements for this technology stack — check the README for exact versions.

• Node.js (LTS) and npm / yarn / pnpm
• VS Code or any code editor
• Git (to clone the repository)

6. Installation & Setup

git clone https://github.com/callstack/haul.git
cd haul

yarn add --dev @haul-bundler/cli

# Traditionalist? No problem:
npm install --save-dev @haul-bundler/cli

yarn haul init
# npm >= 5.2.0 :
npx haul init
# npm < 5.2.0 :
npm install -g npx
npx haul init

yarn haul start
# Or:
npx haul start

react-native run-ios

Full setup instructions are in the project README.

7. Future Enhancements

Suggested extensions you can add to make this your own project.

• Add push notifications with Firebase Cloud Messaging
• Add offline support with local caching
• Publish an internal test build on the Play Store

8. Viva / Review Questions

Common questions examiners ask for projects in this domain.

1. Which framework is used and why (native vs cross-platform)?
2. How is app state managed across screens?
3. Where is the data stored — locally, Firebase or a REST backend?
4. How are permissions (camera, location, storage) handled?
5. How would you publish this app to the Play Store / App Store?

9. Source Code & License

This project is developed by callstack and published on GitHub under the MIT License. Please follow the license terms and credit the original author when you use or modify this code.