Quick start · Expo integration · CI · MCP · Costs · Security
Ship JavaScript fixes to your Expo app in minutes, without a store review, on infrastructure you own.
flare-ota is a complete update server for the standard expo-updates client: no fork, no
custom native SDK, no EAS Update. It runs as a single Cloudflare Worker on your account, where
the free tier covers a small app and $5/month covers a large one.
|
Own the pipeline Bundles, devices and keys stay in your Cloudflare account. Deploy with Cloudflare's |
Release like a pro team Progressive rollouts, pause, one-command rollback, promote staging → production, and signed preview links to test one release on one phone. |
Secure by default Signed manifests, scoped hashed tokens, a dashboard behind Cloudflare Access whose JWT the Worker verifies itself, an audit log, and WAF rules. |
| Capability | What you get |
|---|---|
| Expo Updates protocol v1 | Works with expo-updates as shipped. Code signing required, fingerprint runtime versions. |
| Channels & branches | Point production and staging at any branch; promote a tested release in one call. |
| Progressive rollouts | Deterministic per-device buckets, rollouts only grow, pause stops new devices. |
| Rollback | Back to the previous bundle, or to the JS embedded in the binary. Failed launches are never re-offered. |
| Preview links | Signed, expiring, revocable QR code that pins one device to a release, outside the rollout. |
| Adoption metrics | Served, running and failed per release and platform, against the eligible fleet. |
| CLI | publish, rollout, pause, rollback, promote, preview, metrics, doctor, all with --json. |
| MCP server | Remote (Streamable HTTP) and local (stdio). Agents see only the tools their token allows. |
| Edge-cached assets | Content-addressed, verified by SHA-256 on upload, immutable cache, daily garbage collection. |
| Guided setup | One rerunnable command: signing key, Access, D1, R2, deploy, first token, WAF, health check. |
You need a Cloudflare account with a domain on it, Node 24.22+ and pnpm.
1. Deploy the server (guided, rerunnable)
npx flare-ota setup # one server per app: add --app <name> for a second oneIt fetches the server source into ~/.flare-ota/server, installs it, logs you in to Cloudflare and
runs the guided setup. Prefer a clone? pnpm install && pnpm server:setup --stage production in it
does the same.
2. Connect your Expo app
npx expo install expo-updates && npm i flare-ota
cp ~/.flare-ota/flare-ota/certificate.pem certs/certificate.pem # printed by setup
FLARE_OTA_URL=https://ota.example.com npx flare-ota init --channel productionThen build a release binary once: the update URL and certificate are native settings.
3. Ship
export FLARE_OTA_URL=https://ota.example.com FLARE_OTA_TOKEN=fota_…
npx flare-ota doctor # config, server, token, signature
npx flare-ota publish --branch production -m "Fix checkout" --rollout 10
npx flare-ota rollout <groupId> 100 # all devices
npx flare-ota rollback --branch production # changed your mindpublish checks before it builds anything: app config, token scope, which channel serves the branch,
and that the server's signing key matches the certificate in your app. Then it shows each step, uploads
only what the server doesn't have, and ends with the reach, the dashboard link and what to run next.
New release? npm i flare-ota@latest, then npx flare-ota upgrade redeploys your server to
match, with no question asked. Full walkthrough in docs/quick-start.md.
claude mcp add --transport http flare-ota https://ota.example.com/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $FLARE_OTA_TOKEN""How is today's release doing on Android?" · "Raise it to 50%." · "Roll production back."
Give the agent a read token to look around, admin to let it act. Every action lands in the audit log. See docs/mcp.md, or install the Claude skill so Claude can set flare-ota up for an app end to end.
| flare-ota | EAS Update | |
|---|---|---|
| Client | standard expo-updates |
standard expo-updates |
| Runs on | your Cloudflare account | Expo's infrastructure |
| Bundles and device data | your account | Expo's servers |
| Pricing | Cloudflare usage: free tier, then Workers Paid ($5/mo) | Expo plans |
| Server code | open source (MIT) | hosted service |
EAS Update is the zero-ops choice and integrates with EAS Build. flare-ota is for teams that want the update path in their own account, open code, and costs that track Cloudflare's.
| Guide | Covers |
|---|---|
| Quick start | Deploy the server, connect an app, publish, roll back |
| Expo app integration | app.json, certificates, staging builds, preview links, gotchas |
| CI | Publish from GitHub Actions; deploy the server with a scoped token |
| MCP | Remote and local MCP, the tool list and scopes |
| Costs and limits | Free tier vs Workers Paid, what each request costs |
| Security | Threat model and protections |
| Example app | Minimal Expo app to try publish → update → rollback → preview |
Want to see the dashboard without deploying? pnpm --filter @flare-ota/server demo serves it on
localhost:8799 with sample data.
Beta. Validated end to end on an iOS release build (Expo SDK 58) against a real deployment:
signed publish → update, rollback to the previous bundle, rollback to the embedded bundle, and a
preview link pinning one device to a paused 1% canary. Not yet exercised on a device: Android and
exitPreview(). Cloudflare's cf CLI and its cloudflare.config.ts format are in open beta.
Planned: delta patches (bsdiff), OAuth for the remote MCP server.
Built from the designs of focux/open-ota (Cloudflare-native protocol server) and dnlsilva/open-ota (MCP, preview links, metrics). A few functions are adapted from focux/open-ota under its MIT license; see NOTICE.md.