---
title: Create your first app
---

import { Terminal } from '~/ui/components/Snippet';
import ImageSpotlight from '~/components/plugins/ImageSpotlight';
import { LinkBase } from '~/ui/components/Text';

In this chapter, let's learn how to create a new Expo project and how to get it running.

## Prerequisites

We'll need the following tools to get started:

- Install [Expo Go](https://expo.dev/client) on a physical device.
- Prepare for development by [installing the required tools](/get-started/installation/#requirements).

This tutorial also assumes that you have a basic knowledge of JavaScript and React. If you have never written React code, go through [the official React tutorial](https://reactjs.org/tutorial/tutorial.html).

## Step 1: Initialize a new Expo app

We will use <LinkBase href="/workflow/glossary-of-terms/#create-expo-app" openInNewTab>`create-expo-app`</LinkBase> to initialize a new Expo app. It is a command line tool that allows to create a new React Native project with the `expo` package installed.

It will create a new project directory and install all the necessary dependencies to get the project up and running locally. Run the following command in your terminal:

<Terminal
  cmd={[
    '# Create a project named StickerSmash',
    '$ npx create-expo-app StickerSmash',
    '',
    '# Navigate to the project directory',
    '$ cd StickerSmash',
  ]}
  cmdCopy="npx create-expo-app StickerSmash && cd StickerSmash"
/>

This command will create a new directory for the project with the name: **StickerSmash**.

Let's also <a href="/static/images/tutorial/sticker-smash-assets.zip" download>download the assets</a> that we will need throughout this tutorial. After downloading the archive, unzip it and replace the existing **assets** directory with it in the project directory. This will override the default assets when the new project is initialized.

Now, let's open the project directory in our favorite code editor or IDE. Throughout this tutorial, we will use VS Code for our examples.

## Step 2: Install dependencies

To run the project on the web, we need to install the following dependencies that will help to run the project on the web:

<Terminal cmd={['$ npx expo install react-dom react-native-web @expo/webpack-config']} />

## Step 3: Run the app on mobile and web

In the project directory, run the following command to start a <LinkBase href="/guides/how-expo-works/#expo-development-server" openInNewTab>development server</LinkBase> from the terminal:

<Terminal cmd={['$ npx expo start']} />

Once the development server is running, the easiest way to launch the app is on a physical device with Expo Go. For more information, see <LinkBase href="/get-started/create-a-new-app/#opening-the-app-on-your-phonetablet" openInNewTab>Open app on a device</LinkBase>.

To see the web app in action, press <kbd>w</kbd> in the terminal. It will open the web app in the default web browser.

Once it is running on all platforms, the project should look like this:

<ImageSpotlight
  alt="App running on an all platforms"
  src="/static/images/tutorial/01-app-running-on-all-platforms.jpg"
  style={{ maxWidth: 720 }}
/>

The text displayed on the app's screen above can be found in the **App.js** file which is at the root of the project's directory. It is the entry point of the project and is executed when the development server starts.

## Up next

We have created a new Expo project and are ready to develop our StickerSmash app. In the next chapter, we'll learn [how to build the app's first screen](/tutorial/build-a-screen).
