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Overview

Buoy puts devtools inside your React Native app. Inspect requests, storage, state and performance on the phone, in Buoy Desktop or from your coding agent.

Start here

The quickest way in is to let your coding agent install it:

Let your coding agent install it
Read the prompt before you paste it
Install Buoy, the in-app devtools for React Native and Expo, in this project. Read the full instructions first: curl -fsSL https://buoy.gg/install.md Read the raw text, not a summary. If curl is unavailable, use any HTTP tool you have. Ask me to paste the document only if nothing can fetch it. Do the install yourself: inspect the repo, run the commands, edit the files. Do not hand me steps you can run. Work out the routine decisions from the repo: package manager, which app to target, where the menu mounts, which Buoy tools match the dependencies already installed. If Buoy is already partly installed, repair and extend it; never add a second mount, provider, or package set. When instructions conflict, follow this order: what I say here, then the document's rules about which packages exist and what needs my permission, then this project's own constraints, then the rest of the document, then your judgment. Ask me before: adding a native dependency, opening a browser or creating an account, changing what a production build does beyond what the document specifies, or anything hard to undo. Do not commit. You are not done when the packages install. Run this project's existing typecheck; add no tooling. Then report what you installed and why, what you skipped and why, every file you changed, what you verified, and the exact steps I take on the device to confirm the menu appears and captures a request.
The prompt asks your agent to inspect the project, choose matching tools and guide setup. Review its edits and verify the connection on your device.Read the setup instructions

To install by hand, follow the Quick Start. It goes from install to your first captured request.

Where it runs

  • In your app. A floating button opens the tools over your app, so QA and support can use them on the device that hit the bug. See FloatingDevTools.
  • On your desktop. Buoy Desktop shows every connected app in one window. It's free with a Buoy account.
  • In your coding agent. The MCP server lets Claude Code, Cursor or Codex read and control the running app. Requires Pro.
  • In a chat inside the app. Ask Buoy (beta) drives the other tools in plain English, on the model endpoint you configure. Requires Pro.

Pick your framework

  • React Native and Expo has the full tool set.
  • Flutter is in beta. It runs in debug builds only, and tool coverage differs from React Native.
  • TV is in beta for Apple TV and Android TV. Nothing renders on the TV screen; the desktop dashboard is the interface.

What you can do

  • Inspect requests, storage, React Query, Redux, Zustand and Jotai state, navigation, console output, image loads and re-renders.
  • Change the running app: edit storage, refetch queries, dispatch actions, restore a Time Machine snapshot, or switch to a test user through Impersonate.
  • Measure FPS, CPU, memory and JavaScript thread time with Bench and JS Top.

Every tool is its own package, so you only install what you use. Installation lists them all.

Some tools need app integration. Impersonation needs your backend to authorize the selected user, and state tools need access to the stores you want to inspect. Buoy doesn't bypass your app's authentication.

For AI agents

  • buoy.gg/install.md holds the install instructions the prompt points to.
  • llms.txt indexes the docs, and llms-full.txt has every page in one file.
  • Add .md to any docs URL to get the page as Markdown.
  • The MCP server gives your agent tools to call against the running app.

Build your own tools

Register any React component as a custom tool, such as a feature-flag panel or an order-state switcher. It appears in the same menu as the built-in tools.

Next steps

Edit on GitHub
Quick Start