Build your own App Builder with React Native and InstantDB

An AI-powered app builder that generates React Native applications using natural language prompts. Built with React Native, Expo, InstantDB, and OpenAI, showcasing modern mobile development practices.

Features

• 🤖 AI-Powered Generation: Generate React Native apps from natural language prompts using OpenAI
• 📱 Native Mobile Apps: Build real React Native applications that run on iOS and Android
• 🔄 Real-time Updates: InstantDB provides real-time synchronization of builds and data
• 👤 User Authentication: Secure user authentication and build ownership
• 📝 Build Management: Create, view, and manage multiple app builds
• 🎨 Live Preview: Preview generated apps before deployment
• 🚀 Expo Router: File-based routing with protected routes

Learning Source

This project was built following the excellent tutorial by Simon Grimm:

Build your own App Builder with React Native and InstantDB

Note: This is a personal learning project based on the tutorial above. The original project and tutorial are created by Simon Grimm.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Bun (recommended) or Node.js
• Expo CLI
• InstantDB account
• OpenAI API key

For the best development experience, install:

• Android Studio for Android development
• Xcode (Mac only) for iOS development

InstantDB Setup

1. Create an Organization: First, create an organization in your InstantDB dashboard

2. Get Your Credentials:

   • Platform Personal Access Token: Click on your user avatar in the top-left corner → User Settings → Create a new personal access token

   • Organization Credentials: Go to your newly created organization to find:

     • EXPO_PUBLIC_INSTANT_APP_ID - Your app's ID
     • INSTANT_APP_ADMIN_TOKEN - Admin token for server-side operations
     • INSTANT_ORG_ID - Your organization ID

   • AI API Key: Get your GLM API key from the provider

3. Configure Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the root directory:

EXPO_PUBLIC_INSTANT_APP_ID=your-instant-app-id
INSTANT_APP_ADMIN_TOKEN=your-admin-token
INSTANT_ORG_ID=your-org-id
INSTANT_PLATFORM_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your-platform-token
GLM_API_KEY=your-glm-api-key

4. Authenticate with InstantDB CLI:

   bunx instant-cli login

5. Push Schema to Cloud: Initialize and push your schema to InstantDB:

   bunx instant-cli init

   This will push your instant.schema.ts and other project settings to the cloud.

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd instant-mini

2. Install dependencies

   bun install
   # or npm install

3. Prebuild the native code

   bunx expo prebuild

4. Run the app

   # iOS
   bunx expo run:ios
   
   # Android
   bunx expo run:android

Resources

• InstantDB Documentation
• Expo Router Documentation
• React Native Documentation
• OpenAI API Documentation

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Original Tutorial: Build your own App Builder with React Native and InstantDB by Simon Grimm