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doctor and setup

doctor reports what your project still needs and changes nothing. setup applies the parts that are identical in every project. Neither runs on install, and the reason is worth reading before you wonder why.

Bare React Native: two commands, then a short manual remainder.

npx react-native-intune doctor   # reports what is missing, changes nothing
npx react-native-intune setup    # applies what can be applied, shows a diff first

setup handles the parts that are identical in every project: the Gradle plugin, broker <queries>, keychain groups, Xcode build settings, the configurator build phase. It cannot do three things, because they depend on your project or your signing key, and it will tell you so and exit non-zero:

  • changing your Application class's superclass to MAMApplication
  • the BrowserTabActivity redirect, which needs your keystore's signature hash
  • registering the auth callback inside your onMAMCreate

setup never runs on install, is idempotent, and refuses to touch a dirty git tree without --force. The full manual reference is below — read it even if you use setup, because three of these steps fail silently when missed.

Why setup never runs on install​

These files live in your git repository. A script that edits them on install fights your own changes, re-applies itself on every version bump, and produces "why did my project change" reports — which is why mature libraries abandoned install-time patching. setup is an explicit command, it prints a diff and asks, and it refuses to touch a dirty git tree without --force so you always have a clean revert.

Expo is the exception, and for a specific reason: a config plugin runs during expo prebuild, against files prebuild has just generated. There is nothing of yours to overwrite and nothing to re-apply later. See Expo.

What doctor checks​

Fourteen checks across both platforms, each carrying a severity that is a risk model rather than a politeness scale:

  • silent — omitting it builds, runs, and looks correct while leaving the app unprotected. For software bought for security reasons this is the worst available outcome, because everyone involved believes protection is in place.
  • loud — the build breaks, or the first sign-in fails. Costs an hour, not a breach.
  • advisory — worth knowing, not blocking. Advisories never affect the exit code: a tool whose non-zero exit can mean "nothing important" teaches people to ignore it.

A check that cannot see what it needs reports unknown rather than guessing. A green result it did not earn is the one outcome the tool must never produce.

npx react-native-intune doctor --json     # machine-readable, for CI

Exit code is 1 when anything blocking is missing or wrong, 0 otherwise.

warning

doctor cannot check the parts that live outside your project: that the account is licensed for Intune, that an App Protection Policy targets this app, and that a broker is installed on the device. Enrollment needs all three.