--- name: capacitor-aedc132cc9c2 description: >- Capacitor is a runtime that packages a web app as a native iOS and Android app and exposes native device APIs to JavaScript. Use when someone asks to "convert my website to a mobile app", "Capacitor", "web to native app", "access camera from JavaScript", "deploy web app to App Store", "hybrid mobile app", or "Ionic Capacitor". Covers native API access, plugin system, web-to-native bridge, and app store deployment. license: Apache-2.0 compatibility: "Capacitor 8: Node.js 22+, any web framework (React, Vue, Angular, Svelte). iOS builds need macOS with Xcode 26+; Android builds need Android Studio 2025.2.1+." metadata: author: terminal-skills version: "1.1.0" category: development repository: https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor tags: "mobile, capacitor, hybrid, native, ios" --- # Capacitor ## Overview Capacitor wraps your web app in a native container and gives it access to native device APIs — camera, file system, push notifications, biometrics, geolocation, and more. Your existing React/Vue/Angular/Svelte app becomes an iOS and Android app without rewriting in Swift or Kotlin. Built by the Ionic team, it's the modern replacement for Cordova/PhoneGap. This skill targets Capacitor 8 (iOS 15+, Android 7 / API 24+). ## When to Use - Have a web app and want native iOS/Android versions - Need native device features (camera, push notifications, biometrics) - Want one codebase for web + iOS + Android - Converting a PWA to a native app for App Store distribution - Team knows web tech but not Swift/Kotlin ## Instructions ### Setup The web project needs a `package.json` and a build output directory (`dist`, `build`, `www`) whose `index.html` has a `` tag. ```bash npm install @capacitor/core npm install -D @capacitor/cli npx cap init "Trailhead" dev.fernhill.trailhead --web-dir dist # Add platforms npm install @capacitor/ios @capacitor/android npx cap add ios # Swift Package Manager project (default since Capacitor 8) npx cap add android ``` `cap init` writes `capacitor.config.ts` (or `.json` when TypeScript is not installed) with the first three keys; plugin settings are added by hand. With TypeScript 7 the CLI loads the `.ts` config through Node's ES-module loader, so `package.json` needs `"type": "module"` (Vite templates have it); without it every `cap` command stops with `Parsing capacitor.config.ts failed`: ```typescript // capacitor.config.ts import type { CapacitorConfig } from "@capacitor/cli"; const config: CapacitorConfig = { appId: "dev.fernhill.trailhead", appName: "Trailhead", webDir: "dist", plugins: { PushNotifications: { presentationOptions: ["badge", "sound", "alert"] }, }, }; export default config; ``` ### Build and Run ```bash # Build your web app first npm run build # Copy web assets to native projects and update native dependencies npx cap sync # Open in native IDE npx cap open ios # Opens Xcode npx cap open android # Opens Android Studio # Or run directly (run = sync + build + deploy) npx cap run ios --list # available simulators and devices npx cap run ios --target-name "iPhone 17" # or --target with an id from --list npx cap run android # Live reload from a running dev server (e.g. Vite on port 5173) npx cap run android --live-reload --port 5173 # Signed release build from the terminal npx cap build android --androidreleasetype AAB \ --keystorepath release.keystore --keystorepass "$ANDROID_KEYSTORE_PASSWORD" \ --keystorealias upload --keystorealiaspass "$ANDROID_KEY_PASSWORD" ``` ### Native Plugins ```bash # Install plugins npm install @capacitor/camera @capacitor/filesystem @capacitor/push-notifications npm install @capacitor/haptics @capacitor/share @capacitor/browser npx cap sync ``` ```typescript // src/native/camera.ts — Access the device camera (@capacitor/camera 8.1+) import { Camera, CameraDirection, MediaTypeSelection } from "@capacitor/camera"; export async function takePhoto(): Promise { const photo = await Camera.takePhoto({ quality: 80, cameraDirection: CameraDirection.Rear, saveToGallery: false, }); return photo.webPath; // Path to display in an element } export async function pickFromGallery(): Promise { const { results } = await Camera.chooseFromGallery({ mediaType: MediaTypeSelection.Photo, allowMultipleSelection: true, limit: 5, }); return results.flatMap((item) => (item.webPath ? [item.webPath] : [])); } ``` `Camera.getPhoto()` and `Camera.pickImages()` still work but are deprecated since plugin version 8.1; new code should use `takePhoto` and `chooseFromGallery`. ```typescript // src/native/notifications.ts — Push notifications (iOS and Android only) import { PushNotifications } from "@capacitor/push-notifications"; export async function registerPush(sendTokenToServer: (token: string) => Promise) { // Attach listeners before register() so the first event is not missed await PushNotifications.addListener("registration", (token) => { void sendTokenToServer(token.value); // FCM token on Android, APNs token on iOS }); await PushNotifications.addListener("registrationError", (err) => { console.error("Push registration failed:", err.error); }); await PushNotifications.addListener("pushNotificationReceived", (notification) => { console.log("Received:", notification.title, notification.body); }); let status = await PushNotifications.checkPermissions(); if (status.receive === "prompt") status = await PushNotifications.requestPermissions(); if (status.receive !== "granted") throw new Error("Push permission denied"); await PushNotifications.register(); } ``` ```typescript // src/native/filesystem.ts — File system access import { Directory, Encoding, Filesystem } from "@capacitor/filesystem"; export async function saveFile(data: string, filename: string) { await Filesystem.writeFile({ path: filename, data: data, directory: Directory.Documents, encoding: Encoding.UTF8, // Without an encoding, data must be base64 }); } export async function readFile(filename: string): Promise { const result = await Filesystem.readFile({ path: filename, directory: Directory.Documents, encoding: Encoding.UTF8, }); return result.data as string; } ``` ### Platform Detection ```typescript // src/utils/platform.ts — Adapt behavior per platform import { Capacitor } from "@capacitor/core"; import { Share } from "@capacitor/share"; export const isNative = Capacitor.isNativePlatform(); export const platform = Capacitor.getPlatform(); // 'ios' | 'android' | 'web' export const hasPush = Capacitor.isPluginAvailable("PushNotifications"); // Use the native share sheet when available, fall back to the clipboard export async function shareLink(title: string, url: string) { const { value: canShare } = await Share.canShare(); if (canShare) await Share.share({ title, url }); else await navigator.clipboard.writeText(url); } ``` ## Examples ### Example 1: Convert a React app to mobile **User prompt:** "I have a React web app built with Vite. Make it available on iOS and Android." ```bash npm install @capacitor/core @capacitor/ios @capacitor/android npm install -D @capacitor/cli npx cap init "Trailhead" dev.fernhill.trailhead --web-dir dist npm run build npx cap add android && npx cap add ios npx cap sync npx cap run android ``` `cap add` creates the `android/` and `ios/` folders (commit them), and `cap sync` reports each step (Android part shown; iOS prints the same): ```text ✔ Copying web assets from dist to android/app/src/main/assets/public in 1.36ms ✔ Creating capacitor.config.json in android/app/src/main/assets in 229.50μs ✔ copy android in 3.65ms ✔ Updating Android plugins in 232.46μs ✔ update android in 8.14ms [info] Sync finished in 0.021s ``` The app then installs and opens on the connected emulator or device. `npx cap doctor` lists installed versus latest Capacitor packages when something looks off. ### Example 2: Add camera and file upload **User prompt:** "Add photo capture and file upload to my mobile web app." ```bash npm install @capacitor/camera npx cap sync ``` Add `NSCameraUsageDescription`, `NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription` and `NSPhotoLibraryAddUsageDescription` strings to `ios/App/App/Info.plist`, then upload the captured file: ```typescript import { takePhoto } from "./native/camera"; export async function uploadReceipt(): Promise { const webPath = await takePhoto(); if (!webPath) return; const blob = await (await fetch(webPath)).blob(); const form = new FormData(); form.append("receipt", blob, "receipt.jpg"); await fetch(`${import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL}/receipts`, { method: "POST", body: form }); } ``` On a device the native camera opens and the photo is posted as multipart form data; in a browser the same code falls back to a file input (or the PWA Elements camera UI if installed). ## Guidelines - **`npx cap sync` after every web build and every plugin install** — copies assets and updates native dependencies - **`npx cap run` for testing** — faster than opening IDE each time - **Platform detection** — `Capacitor.isNativePlatform()` for conditional native features - **Not every plugin runs on the web** — Camera, Filesystem and Share have web implementations; Push Notifications does not. Guard with `Capacitor.isPluginAvailable()` - **Live reload for development** — `npx cap run ios --live-reload --host 192.168.1.68 --port 5173`; the dev server must listen on `0.0.0.0` and the device must be on the same network. Never commit a `server.url` entry in the config - **Custom native code** — write Swift/Kotlin plugins when needed - **App Store deployment** — archive in Xcode for iOS; Android Studio or `npx cap build android` for Android. iOS builds require a Mac - **`capacitor.config.ts`** — configure server URL, plugins, app info - **Permissions in native config** — camera, location, etc. need `Info.plist` usage descriptions; on Android the Camera plugin needs no permission unless `saveToGallery` is used - **Push setup is native** — Android needs the Firebase `google-services.json` in `android/app/`; iOS needs the Push Notifications capability and the two `AppDelegate.swift` forwarding methods from the plugin README - **Upgrading** — keep `@capacitor/core`, `cli`, `ios` and `android` on the same version; `npx cap migrate` moves a Capacitor 7 project to 8 (Node 22+, Xcode 26+, iOS 15 deployment target, `minSdkVersion` 24). New iOS projects use Swift Package Manager; pass `--packagemanager CocoaPods` to `cap add ios` to keep CocoaPods - **Not for gaming** — great for content apps, tools, dashboards; use Unity/Flutter for games --- Source attribution: terminal-skills Original project: https://github.com/TerminalSkills/skills/blob/8a9852d489f274538be9bf1c9121aeb403750b1c/skills/capacitor/SKILL.md License: Apache-2.0 License information: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub. ## Upstream license notice Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004 http://www.apache.org/licenses/ TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION 1. Definitions. "License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction, and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document. "Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by the copyright owner that is granting the License. "Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition, "control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity. "You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity exercising permissions granted by this License. "Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications, including but not limited to software source code, documentation source, and configuration files. "Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical transformation or translation of a Source form, including but not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation, and conversions to other media types. "Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work (an example is provided in the Appendix below). "Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of, the Work and Derivative Works thereof. "Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally submitted to the Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted" means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems, and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution." "Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by the Licensor and subsequently incorporated within the Work. 2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form. 3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work, where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s) with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed. 4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You meet the following conditions: (a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or Derivative Works a copy of this License; and (b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices stating that You changed the files; and (c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and attribution notices from the Source form of the Work, excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of the Derivative Works; and (d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained within such NOTICE file, excluding any notices that do not pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or, within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed as modifying the License. You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and may provide additional or different license terms and conditions for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use, reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with the conditions stated in this License. 5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise, any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of this License, without any additional terms or conditions. Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed with Licensor regarding such Contributions. 6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor, except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file. 7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License. 8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor has been advised of the possibility of such damages. 9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer, and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity, or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability. END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS Copyright 2025 Terminal Skills Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. # Mega AI Hub resource metadata Creator / publisher: terminal-skills Original project: https://github.com/TerminalSkills/skills/blob/8a9852d489f274538be9bf1c9121aeb403750b1c/skills/capacitor/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Development & Engineering, Product Management Roles: Mobile Developer, Frontend Developer, Product Manager Specialties: Mobile, API Tools: Npm, Xcode, Android Studio Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source category, role and specialization labels Instruction SHA-256: fc6eeaffc0d8ac7e849a17dc41003ddfdd22c68baa72a3eae8788cbb0697d134