Skip to main content

Getting Started

Getting started should take you from a fresh install to the first working handler setup. If you are adding React Native exception handling for the first time, this is the right entry point before you layer on Sentry, Crashlytics, or custom recovery behavior. It also highlights the release-mode checks worth doing before you treat the setup as complete.

What problem this solves​

In React Native, uncaught failures do not all behave the same way:

  • JavaScript exceptions can often be reported and surfaced before the app exits.
  • Native crashes are more severe and follow platform-specific rules.
  • Debug-mode behavior does not fully represent release-build behavior.

This package gives you one place to register handlers, send events to tools like Sentry or Crashlytics, and document what your app should do when a fatal error occurs.

Install the package​

If you have not installed the dependency yet:

npm install react-native-global-exception-handler
cd ios && pod install

For the full platform-specific checklist, use Installation.

Quick setup​

Register the handlers as early as possible in your app entry point:

import {
  setJSExceptionHandler,
  setNativeExceptionHandler,
} from 'react-native-global-exception-handler';

setJSExceptionHandler((error, isFatal) => {
  console.log('JS Exception:', error, isFatal);
  // forward to Sentry, Crashlytics, or your own backend
}, true);

setNativeExceptionHandler((errorString) => {
  console.log('Native Exception:', errorString);
  // forward to your monitoring service
}, {
  forceAppToQuit: true,
  callPreviouslyDefinedHandler: false,
});

What you get after setup​

  • JavaScript exception handling through setJSExceptionHandler
  • Native crash handling through setNativeExceptionHandler
  • Built-in crash simulation utilities for QA
  • TypeScript-friendly types for handler functions and options
  1. Read Installation for the platform checklist.
  2. Move to Basic Usage for a more complete setup example.
  3. Review Native Crash Handling before shipping release builds.
  4. If you are replacing the older package, use the Migration Guide.

Want monitoring examples?​

Use these guides when you are ready to wire reporting into your app:

Next actions​