_section: React Native (and ilk) @<cookbook-reactnative>

The [[link-react-native]] framework has become quite popular and
has many popular forks, such as [[link-expo]].

React Native is based on [[link-javascriptcore]] (part of WebKit) and
does not use Node.js or the common Web and DOM APIs. As such,
there are many operations missing that a normal web environment
or Node.js instance would provide.

For this reason, there is a [[link-npm-ethersproject-shims]] module
provided to fill in the holes.


_subsection: Installing @<cookbook-reactnative-shims>

To use ethers in React Native, you must either provide shims for the needed
missing functionality, or use the ethers.js shim.

It is **HIGHLY RECOMMENDED** you check out the [security section](cookbook-reactnative-security>
below for instructions on installing packages which can affect the security
of your application.

After installing packages, you may need to restart your packager and company.

_code: Installing @lang<shell>

/home/ricmoo/my-react-project> npm install @ethersproject/shims --save

_code: Importing @lang<script>

// Pull in the shims (BEFORE importing ethers)
import "@ethersproject/shims"

// Import the ethers library
import { ethers } from "ethers";


_subsection: Security @<cookbook-reactnative-security>

The React Native environment does not contain a secure random source, which
is used when computing random private keys. This could result in private
keys that others could possibly guess, allowing funds to be stolen and assets
manipulated.

For this reason, it is **HIGHLY RECOMMENDED** to also install the
[[link-npm-react-native-get-random-values]], which **must** be included
before the shims. If it worked correctly you should not receive any
warning in the console regarding missing secure random sources.

_code: Importing with Secure Random Sources @lang<script>

// Import the crypto getRandomValues shim (**BEFORE** the shims)
import "react-native-get-random-values"

// Import the the ethers shims (**BEFORE** ethers)
import "@ethersproject/shims"

// Import the ethers library
import { ethers } from "ethers";