React Navigation

CallstackOfficialPublished by Callstack

Skill
Tool integration
Software development
MIT
No issues found

From the author

Provides React Navigation UI patterns for stacks, tabs, drawers etc. Use when building navigation UIs with React Navigation, configuring headers, bottom sheets or handling safe areas and insets.

— the description by Callstack

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a structured reference for building navigation interfaces in React applications using React Navigation 7. It covers both the modern Static API and the traditional Dynamic API, offering guidance on implementing stacks, tabs, drawers, and sheets. The documentation includes best practices for configuring headers, handling safe areas, and managing navigation state across different platforms.

What it does

Provides patterns for implementing stack, tab, and drawer navigation.
Explains how to configure headers and navigation UI elements.
Offers guidance on handling safe areas and screen insets.
Demonstrates how to integrate icons and custom backgrounds into navigation components.
Supports both Static and Dynamic API styles for navigation configuration.
Includes techniques for programmatic navigation control and scroll-to-top functionality.

When to use it

When building navigation structures for React-based mobile or web applications.
When you need to implement consistent UI patterns like sidebars, bottom tabs, or modals.
When configuring platform-specific navigation behaviors or safe-area insets.
When migrating or setting up navigation in a React Navigation 7 environment.

Advantages

Provides clear API selection guidance for new and existing projects.
Offers standardized patterns for common navigation UI components.
Includes practical code examples for both Static and Dynamic APIs.
Addresses cross-platform layout requirements for web and mobile.

Usage examples

“How do I create a bottom tab navigator in React Navigation 7?”: The skill provides code snippets for both Static and Dynamic APIs, showing how to use createBottomTabNavigator and configure tab icons.
“How can I handle safe areas in my navigation header?”: The skill directs you to the safe-areas reference, explaining how to manage status bar and header insets for a consistent UI.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/callstackincubator/react-navigation/download

Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip react-navigation.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Callstack

Overview

Guide for building navigation UIs with React Navigation.

This skill only applies to React Navigation 7. The API and patterns may not work with different versions.

API Selection

React Navigation offers two API - object-based Static API and component-based Dynamic API.

Existing Apps: Check the current navigation setup and follow the same API style when using the references
New Apps: If the app does not have an existing navigation setup yet, prefer Static API

When to Apply

Reference this skill when:

Building navigation UI patterns such as stacks, tabs, drawers, sheets etc.
Configuring headers and other built-in navigator UI
Handling safe areas and insets in navigation UI

References

File	Description
stacks.md	Stack based navigation
form-sheet.md	Bottom sheet and form sheets
bottom-tabs.md	Cross-platform bottom tabs
native-bottom-tabs.md	Native bottom tabs
material-top-tabs.md	Swipeable Top tabs
drawers.md	Drawer navigation and sidebars
header.md	Configuring headers
safe-areas.md	Safe-area handling

Problem -> Skill Mapping

Problem	Start With
Showing screens and modals in a stack	stacks.md
Showing bottom sheets or form sheets	form-sheet.md
Showing screens in bottom tabs or responsive sidebars with web support	bottom-tabs.md
Showing screens in native tabs on iOS & Android	native-bottom-tabs.md
Showing content in swipeable top tabs	material-top-tabs.md
Using a drawer or sidebar	drawers.md
Configuring the header in bottom tab or drawer navigator	header.md
Handling safe-area such as status bar, header insets, tab bar insets etc.	safe-areas.md

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer851 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.1 KiB
SKILL.md3.3 KiB
agents/openai.yaml268 B
references/bottom-tabs.md12.7 KiB
references/drawers.md12.0 KiB
references/form-sheet.md8.0 KiB
references/header.md6.8 KiB
references/material-top-tabs.md11.5 KiB
references/native-bottom-tabs.md8.7 KiB
references/safe-areas.md3.8 KiB
references/stacks.md11.7 KiB

references/drawers.md

Skill: Drawer Navigator

Description

Use createDrawerNavigator for a navigation drawer or sidebar that switches between app sections. If using a drawer for displaying content instead of navigation, use react-native-drawer-layout instead.

When to Use

Building app sections behind a drawer or sidebar
Showing a permanent sidebar on larger screens and a drawer on smaller screens
Using the drawer as the master pane in a master-detail layout

Prerequisites

Install and configure react-native-gesture-handler, react-native-reanimated, and react-native-worklets for drawer navigator to work on native platforms.

Basic Example

Static API

import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const AppDrawer = createDrawerNavigator({
  screens: {
    Home: HomeScreen,
    Profile: ProfileScreen,
  },
});

Dynamic API

import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const Drawer = createDrawerNavigator();

function AppDrawer() {
  return (
    <Drawer.Navigator>
      <Drawer.Screen name="Home" component={HomeScreen} />
      <Drawer.Screen name="Profile" component={ProfileScreen} />
    </Drawer.Navigator>
  );
}

Opening and Closing the Drawer

Use navigation.openDrawer(), navigation.closeDrawer(), and navigation.toggleDrawer() inside drawer screens to open or close the drawer programmatically.

import { Button, View } from 'react-native';
import { useNavigation } from '@react-navigation/native';

function HomeScreen() {
  const navigation = useNavigation();

  return (
    <View>
      <Button title="Open drawer" onPress={() => navigation.openDrawer()} />
      <Button title="Close drawer" onPress={() => navigation.closeDrawer()} />
      <Button title="Toggle drawer" onPress={() => navigation.toggleDrawer()} />
    </View>
  );
}

Nesting Drawers

When nesting a drawer inside another drawer, use react-native-drawer-layout for the outer drawer and keep Drawer navigator for the inner navigation drawer.

import * as React from 'react';
import { Text } from 'react-native';
import { Drawer } from 'react-native-drawer-layout';

function App() {
  const [rightDrawerOpen, setRightDrawerOpen] = React.useState(false);

  return (
    <Drawer
      open={rightDrawerOpen}
      onOpen={() => setRightDrawerOpen(true)}
      onClose={() => setRightDrawerOpen(false)}
      drawerPosition="right"
      renderDrawerContent={() => <Text>Right drawer content</Text>}
    >
      <AppDrawer />
    </Drawer>
  );
}

Use React context to expose methods for opening or closing the outer drawer from nested screens.

Common Features

Displaying Icons

Use drawerIcon in screenOptions or per-screen options. drawerActiveTintColor and drawerInactiveTintColor control the color passed to the icon and label.

Static API

import Ionicons from '@expo/vector-icons/Ionicons';
import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const AppDrawer = createDrawerNavigator({
  screenOptions: ({ route }) => ({
    drawerIcon: ({ color, size }) => {
      let iconName;

      switch (route.name) {
        case 'Home':
          iconName = 'home-outline';
          break;
        default:
          iconName = 'person-outline';
          break;
      }

      return <Ionicons name={iconName} size={size} color={color} />;
    },
    drawerActiveTintColor: 'tomato',
    drawerInactiveTintColor: 'gray',
  }),
  screens: {
    Home: HomeScreen,
    Profile: ProfileScreen,
  },
});

Dynamic API

import Ionicons from '@expo/vector-icons/Ionicons';
import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const Drawer = createDrawerNavigator();

function AppDrawer() {
  return (
    <Drawer.Navigator
      screenOptions={({ route }) => ({
        drawerIcon: ({ color, size }) => {
          let iconName;

          switch (route.name) {
            case 'Home':
              iconName = 'home-outline';
              break;
            default:
              iconName = 'person-outline';
              break;
          }

          return <Ionicons name={iconName} size={size} color={color} />;
        },
        drawerActiveTintColor: 'tomato',
        drawerInactiveTintColor: 'gray',
      })}
    >
      <Drawer.Screen name="Home" component={HomeScreen} />
      <Drawer.Screen name="Profile" component={ProfileScreen} />
    </Drawer.Navigator>
  );
}

The drawerIcon option can render any React element. Choose between the icon libraries that best fit the app's design and environment:

@expo/vector-icons if Expo SDK is configured in the app
react-native-vector-icons for an app using React Native Community CLI
<Image> for local images

Custom Drawer Content

Use drawerContent to customize the content of drawer, such as adding a header, footer, or custom actions, or replacing with a custom design.

Use DrawerContentScrollView to automatically adjust insets and DrawerItemList to keep default design. Use the navigation prop passed to the custom drawer content instead of useNavigation.

import {
  createDrawerNavigator,
  DrawerContentScrollView,
  DrawerItem,
  DrawerItemList,
} from '@react-navigation/drawer';

function CustomDrawerContent(props) {
  return (
    <DrawerContentScrollView {...props}>
      <DrawerItemList {...props} />
      <DrawerItem
        label="Help"
        onPress={() => props.navigation.navigate('Help')}
      />
    </DrawerContentScrollView>
  );
}

Replace the content with own element if a different design is needed. Use the state prop to access the list of screens and descriptors to access the options for each screen.

Static API

import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const AppDrawer = createDrawerNavigator({
  drawerContent: (props) => <CustomDrawerContent {...props} />,
  screens: {
    Home: HomeScreen,
    Profile: ProfileScreen,
    Help: HelpScreen,
  },
});

Dynamic API

import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const Drawer = createDrawerNavigator();

function AppDrawer() {
  return (
    <Drawer.Navigator
      drawerContent={(props) => <CustomDrawerContent {...props} />}
    >
      <Drawer.Screen name="Home" component={HomeScreen} />
      <Drawer.Screen name="Profile" component={ProfileScreen} />
      <Drawer.Screen name="Help" component={HelpScreen} />
    </Drawer.Navigator>
  );
}

Types of Drawer

Use drawerType to choose how the drawer behaves.

Choose between front, back, and slide on smaller screens. Use permanent for a sidebar on larger screens. Use useWindowDimensions to conditionally set the type based on screen width for responsive layouts.

Static API

import { useWindowDimensions } from 'react-native';
import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const AppDrawer = createDrawerNavigator({
  screens: {
    Home: HomeScreen,
    Profile: ProfileScreen,
  },
}).with(({ Navigator }) => {
  const { width } = useWindowDimensions();

  return (
    <Navigator
      screenOptions={{
        drawerType: width >= 768 ? 'permanent' : 'front',
      }}
    />
  );
});

Dynamic API

import { useWindowDimensions } from 'react-native';
import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const Drawer = createDrawerNavigator();

function AppDrawer() {
  const { width } = useWindowDimensions();

  return (
    <Drawer.Navigator
      screenOptions={{
        drawerType: width >= 768 ? 'permanent' : 'front',
      }}
    >
      <Drawer.Screen name="Home" component={HomeScreen} />
      <Drawer.Screen name="Profile" component={ProfileScreen} />
    </Drawer.Navigator>
  );
}

Drawer Position

Use drawerPosition to place the drawer on the left or right side. The default is left in LTR languages and right in RTL languages.

Static API

import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const AppDrawer = createDrawerNavigator({
  screenOptions: {
    drawerPosition: 'right',
  },
  screens: {
    Home: HomeScreen,
    Profile: ProfileScreen,
  },
});

Dynamic API

import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const Drawer = createDrawerNavigator();

function AppDrawer() {
  return (
    <Drawer.Navigator
      screenOptions={{
        drawerPosition: 'right',
      }}
    >
      <Drawer.Screen name="Home" component={HomeScreen} />
      <Drawer.Screen name="Profile" component={ProfileScreen} />
    </Drawer.Navigator>
  );
}

Master Detail Layout

Combine defaultStatus: 'open' with drawerType: 'back' when the drawer should start open and behave like the master pane behind the detail screen.

Static API

import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const AppDrawer = createDrawerNavigator({
  defaultStatus: 'open',
  screenOptions: {
    drawerType: 'back',
    drawerStyle: { width: '100%' },
    overlayColor: 'transparent',
  },
  screens: {
    Inbox: InboxScreen,
    Message: MessageScreen,
  },
});

Dynamic API

import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const Drawer = createDrawerNavigator();

function AppDrawer() {
  return (
    <Drawer.Navigator
      defaultStatus="open"
      screenOptions={{
        drawerType: 'back',
        drawerStyle: { width: '100%' },
        overlayColor: 'transparent',
      }}
    >
      <Drawer.Screen name="Inbox" component={InboxScreen} />
      <Drawer.Screen name="Message" component={MessageScreen} />
    </Drawer.Navigator>
  );
}

With defaultStatus: 'open', the drawer's default state is open. So if drawer is closed, the back button will open it.

Customizing Header

Drawer screens show a header by default. Use header.md for common customization patterns.

A custom header can be shown with the header option if a custom design is needed.

Static API

import { getHeaderTitle } from '@react-navigation/elements';
import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const AppDrawer = createDrawerNavigator({
  screens: {
    Home: {
      screen: HomeScreen,
      options: {
        headerStyle: {
          height: 80,
        },
        header: ({ route, options }) => {
          const title = getHeaderTitle(options, route.name);

          return <MyHeader title={title} style={options.headerStyle} />;
        },
      },
    },
  },
});

Dynamic API

import { getHeaderTitle } from '@react-navigation/elements';
import { createDrawerNavigator } from '@react-navigation/drawer';

const Drawer = createDrawerNavigator();

function AppDrawer() {
  return (
    <Drawer.Navigator>
      <Drawer.Screen
        name="Home"
        component={HomeScreen}
        options={{
          headerStyle: {
            height: 80,
          },
          header: ({ route, options }) => {
            const title = getHeaderTitle(options, route.name);

            return <MyHeader title={title} style={options.headerStyle} />;
          },
        }}
      />
    </Drawer.Navigator>
  );
}

Set headerShown: false to hide the header.
If a custom header uses a non-default height, set headerStyle: { height: ... } explicitly to avoid measurement glitches.

Notes

Swipe gestures and gesture-handler customization are not supported on web.
If a drawer is nested under a stack or tab navigator, it renders below that parent navigator's header or tab bar.

Canonical Docs

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Published by

Callstack

Publisher

Callstack (Official)

Source

callstackincubator/agent-skills · skills/react-navigation · commit 59e9d17

Licence

MIT License (redistribution allowed)

LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)

Synced

2026-11-09

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Callstack or Callstack.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download react-navigation.zip

From the author

AutoGineer summary

What it does

When to use it

Advantages

Usage examples

Install

Documentation by Callstack