[BRIDGELESS MODE-ON] react-native-config returns undefined for all environment variables across flavors, despite correct app names and Gradle setup

[nakshatrasinghh]

Environment

• React Native: 0.81.4
• React: 19.1.0
• react-native-config: 1.5.9
• Android compileSdk/targetSdk: 36
• Kotlin: 2.1.20
• Using React Native’s new Gradle Plugin (com.facebook.react)
• Auto-linking for react-native-config is disabled — using manual apply from dotenv.gradle

---

Issue Description

I’ve set up three Android product flavors — development, staging, and production — each mapped to its own .env file (.env.development, .env.staging, .env.production). There is no root .env file.

✅ What works:

• App builds and installs successfully for each flavor.
• applicationId and app_name are correctly set per flavor (e.g., “Laundry(Staging)” appears in launcher).
• Build variant is correctly selected via CLI:
  npx react-native run-android --mode=stagingDebug --appIdSuffix=staging

❌ What fails:

• All Config values are undefined at runtime.
• console.log(Config.API_URL) → undefined
• console.log(JSON.stringify(Config, null, 2)) → {} (empty object)
• Happens consistently across all flavors and build types.

---

Relevant Code Snippets

1. android/app/build.gradle (partial, key sections only)

apply plugin: "com.android.application"
apply plugin: "org.jetbrains.kotlin.android"
apply plugin: "com.facebook.react"

project.ext {
  envConfigFiles = [
    developmentDebug: ".env.development",
    developmentRelease: ".env.development",
    stagingDebug: ".env.staging",
    stagingRelease: ".env.staging",
    productionDebug: ".env.production",
    productionRelease: ".env.production"
  ]
}

// Manual linking for react-native-config
apply from: project(':react-native-config').projectDir.getPath() + "/dotenv.gradle"

android {
    namespace "com.laundry"
    compileSdk rootProject.ext.compileSdkVersion

    flavorDimensions "environment"

    productFlavors {
      production {
        dimension 'environment'
        applicationId "com.laundry"
        resValue "string", "app_name", "Laundry"
      }
      staging {
        dimension 'environment'
        applicationId "com.laundry.staging"
        resValue "string", "app_name", "Laundry(Staging)"
      }
      development {
        dimension 'environment'
        applicationId "com.laundry.dev"
        resValue "string", "app_name", "Laundry(Dev)"
      }
    }

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.laundry"
        minSdkVersion rootProject.ext.minSdkVersion
        targetSdkVersion rootProject.ext.targetSdkVersion
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }

    buildTypes {
        debug {
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
            matchingFallbacks = ['debug', 'release']
        }
        release {
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
            minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
        }
    }
}

2. Example .env.staging file (root of project)

API_URL=https://api.staging.laundry.app
APP_ENV=staging
SENTRY_DSN=https://example@sentry.io/12345

(Identical structure for .env.development and .env.production, with different values.)

3. React Native Component (App.tsx)

import React from 'react';
import { StatusBar, Text, useColorScheme } from 'react-native';
import { SafeAreaProvider } from 'react-native-safe-area-context';
import Config from 'react-native-config';

function App() {
  const isDarkMode = useColorScheme() === 'dark';

  // Debug logs
  console.log('*** Full react-native-config Object ***');
  console.log(JSON.stringify(Config, null, 2));
  console.log('**************************************');
  console.log('Config.API_URL (specifically):', Config.API_URL);
  console.log('Config.APP_ENV:', Config.APP_ENV);

  return (
    <SafeAreaProvider>
      <StatusBar barStyle={isDarkMode ? 'light-content' : 'dark-content'} />
      <Text>API: {Config.API_URL || 'NOT FOUND'}</Text>
      <Text>Env: {Config.APP_ENV || 'UNKNOWN'}</Text>
    </SafeAreaProvider>
  );
}

export default App;

4. package.json script

"scripts": {
  "android:staging": "npx react-native run-android --mode=stagingDebug --appIdSuffix=staging",
  "android:dev": "npx react-native run-android --mode=developmentDebug --appIdSuffix=dev"
}

5. android/settings.gradle (react-native-config inclusion)

include ':react-native-config'
project(':react-native-config').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../node_modules/react-native-config/android')

(Auto-linking is disabled for this package — confirmed via react-native.config.js or absence thereof.)

---

What I’ve Tried

• Verified .env files are in project root and contain no syntax errors or BOM.
• Ran ./gradlew clean in android/ and deleted android/app/build before rebuilding.
• Confirmed flavor selection works — app_name and package name change, so Gradle is building the correct variant.
• Checked BuildConfig.java in android/app/build/generated/.../stagingDebug/.../BuildConfig.java — no env vars appear there.
• Checked res/values/generated.xml — no string resources from .env files are generated.
• Tried downgrading react-native-config to 1.4.11 — same behavior.
• Searched generated code — no trace of injected variables.

---

Expected Behavior

When running yarn android:staging, the app should read from .env.staging and Config.API_URL should return https://api.staging.laundry.app.

---

Request for Help

Is react-native-config v1.5.9 compatible with React Native 0.81.4’s new architecture and Gradle plugin? If not, is there a known workaround or fork that supports it?

If it should work — what’s the best way to debug whether dotenv.gradle is executing and generating resources correctly? Are there specific tasks I should inspect or logs I can enable?

Any guidance on aligning flavor+buildType combinations with the env file mapping under the new plugin would be extremely helpful.

[hamzadar2013]

@nakshatrasinghh can i check your repo or run on my device to debug the issue?

[angm213]

Autolinking doesn't work for some reason, I didn't spend too much time focusing on it, but It will work if you link it manually (at least on android).
create a new file in root: react-native.config.js:
module.exports = { dependencies: { 'react-native-config': { platforms: { android: null, // disable autolinking for Android }, }, }, };
Then proceed with manual autolinking from the docs, then modify your android/app/src/main/java/com/yourpackage/MainApplication.kt to add the following:

import com.lugg.RNCConfig.RNCConfigPackage

//Add the package:
val packages = PackageList(this).packages.toMutableList()
packages.add(ReactNativeConfigPackage())
return packages

This should fix it on android.

[tmKnight01]

same issue , have any resolution?

[tmKnight01]

i solved this problem, This is a slot that has existed since the package was released. please refer to #702

I guess it is not the real applicationId of your project ，please solve this problem according to the issue given above.

[tmKnight01]

Also I used 1.5.6 instead of 1.5.9

[itsnyx]

I also have same issue config file is empty any solution?

it works ok on debug builds but not in the release version also i get this warning when building

The NODE_ENV environment variable is required but was not specified. Ensure the project is bundled with Expo CLI or NODE_ENV is set. Using only .env.local and .env
env: load .env.local .env

i also get this

Configure project :app
Reading env from: .env.production

this issue happened to me after upgrading to react native 0.81.4 new arch