fix(expo): prevent session loss on Expo JS reload

[souyahia]

Summary

Fixes a bug where pressing R (JS reload) in Expo during development causes the user's session to be lost, forcing them to log in again. Killing and reopening the app preserves the session correctly.

Root cause

NativeSessionSync calls ClerkExpo.signOut() whenever isSignedIn is falsy, without checking whether Clerk has finished loading:

const { isSignedIn } = useAuth();

useEffect(() => {
  if (!isSignedIn) {           // true when isSignedIn is `undefined` (loading)
    ClerkExpo?.signOut();       // revokes the session!
  }
}, [isSignedIn, ...]);

On a JS reload (pressing R in Expo):

1. All JS module state is reset, but native modules persist
2. NativeSessionSync mounts, useAuth() returns isSignedIn: undefined (loading)
3. !undefined === true, so it enters the signed-out branch
4. ClerkExpo.signOut() is called on the native module, which is still configured from the previous session
5. The native signOut() calls Clerk.shared.auth.signOut(sessionId:) (revoking the session server-side) and Clerk.clearAllKeychainItems() (deleting the JWT from the keychain)
6. When Clerk JS finishes loading, the token is gone and the session is invalid

On a full app restart (kill + reopen), the native module's factory is uninitialized (the process died), so signOut() rejects with E_NOT_INITIALIZED and the session is preserved correctly.

Fix

Added an isLoaded guard so ClerkExpo.signOut() is only called when Clerk has fully loaded and confirmed the user is actually signed out, not during the initial loading phase.

const { isSignedIn, isLoaded } = useAuth();

useEffect(() => {
  if (!isSignedIn) {
    if (isLoaded) {             // only sign out when we're sure
      ClerkExpo?.signOut();
    }
  }
}, [isSignedIn, isLoaded, ...]);

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[changeset-bot]

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: adda444

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package

Name	Type
@clerk/expo	Patch

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[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Repository YAML (base), Organization UI (inherited)

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 558b1c8e-7ad1-47d7-a8b5-ccf7a83ded2f

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 7680859 and adda444.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• .changeset/fix-native-session-sync-reload.md
• packages/expo/src/provider/ClerkProvider.tsx

---

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR introduces a changeset and updates the ClerkProvider component in the Expo package to fix premature sign-out calls during JavaScript reloads. The NativeSessionSync now reads the isLoaded flag from useAuth and only executes native signOut() after Clerk has completed loading its auth state, preventing sign-out invocations during initial renders where isSignedIn may still be undefined.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Possibly related issues

• @clerk/expo v3: Session not restored on Metro JS reload on Android despite valid JWT in tokenCache #8265: Directly addresses the same problem of preventing premature sign-out in NativeSessionSync during Metro JavaScript reloads by gating the behavior based on auth loading state completion.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely summarizes the main change: fixing session loss on Expo JS reload, which directly corresponds to the primary objective of the changeset.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description is comprehensive and directly related to the changeset, explaining the root cause, reproduction steps, and the implemented fix in detail.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	Docstring coverage is 100.00% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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