fix(expo): seed Clerk activity ref on cold-start to fix MissingActivity (MOBILE-485) (#8485)

Author: chriscanin

.changeset/expo-mobile-485-cold-start-activity.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@clerk/expo": patch
+---
+
+Fix `MissingActivity` error on cold-start Google sign-in / passkey flows. Previously, the first tap on "Sign in with Google" in `<AuthView />` failed with `Clerk error: Google sign-in cannot start: Credential Manager requires an active Activity context.` — the workaround was to background and foreground the app once before signing in.
+
+The Android bridge now calls `Clerk.attachActivity()` (added in clerk-android 1.0.16) at SDK initialization and on AuthView/UserProfile mount, so the current Activity is registered with the underlying SDK before any Credential Manager call. No app-side changes required; the fix is transparent on rebuild.

packages/expo/android/build.gradle

@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ ext {
   credentialsVersion = "1.3.0"
   googleIdVersion = "1.1.1"
   kotlinxCoroutinesVersion = "1.7.3"
-  clerkAndroidApiVersion = "1.0.13"
-  clerkAndroidUiVersion = "1.0.13"
+  clerkAndroidApiVersion = "1.0.16"
+  clerkAndroidUiVersion = "1.0.16"
   composeVersion = "1.7.0"
   activityComposeVersion = "1.9.0"
   lifecycleVersion = "2.8.0"
@@ -117,6 +117,16 @@ dependencies {
     exclude group: 'com.squareup.okhttp3', module: 'okhttp'
     exclude group: 'com.squareup.okhttp3', module: 'okhttp-urlconnection'
   }
+  // clerk-android-telemetry has a transitive dep on the last released
+  // clerk-android-api. Pinning the api explicitly here keeps consumers
+  // compiling against the same version we ship the UI from.
+  implementation("com.clerk:clerk-android-api:$clerkAndroidApiVersion") {
+    exclude group: 'org.jetbrains.kotlin', module: 'kotlin-stdlib'
+    exclude group: 'org.jetbrains.kotlin', module: 'kotlin-stdlib-jdk7'
+    exclude group: 'org.jetbrains.kotlin', module: 'kotlin-stdlib-jdk8'
+    exclude group: 'com.squareup.okhttp3', module: 'okhttp'
+    exclude group: 'com.squareup.okhttp3', module: 'okhttp-urlconnection'
+  }
 
   // Jetpack Compose for wrapping Clerk views
   implementation "androidx.compose.ui:ui:$composeVersion"

packages/expo/android/src/main/java/expo/modules/clerk/ClerkAuthExpoView.kt

@@ -44,7 +44,14 @@ class ClerkAuthNativeView(context: Context) : FrameLayout(context) {
   var mode: String = "signInOrUp"
   var isDismissable: Boolean = true
 
-  private val activity: ComponentActivity? = findActivity(context)
+  private val activity: ComponentActivity? = findActivity(context).also {
+    // At cold start, ClerkExpoModule.configure() may run before React's
+    // host-resume sync — meaning getCurrentActivity() returns null there.
+    // This view's construction is a reliable second hook: we know the Activity
+    // is available (we just walked the context to find it) and we're about to
+    // render Google sign-in / passkey buttons that need it.
+    if (it != null) Clerk.attachActivity(it)
+  }
 
   // Per-view ViewModelStoreOwner so the AuthView's ViewModels (including its
   // navigation state) are scoped to THIS view instance, not the activity.

packages/expo/android/src/main/java/expo/modules/clerk/ClerkExpoModule.kt

@@ -85,6 +85,16 @@ class ClerkExpoModule(reactContext: ReactApplicationContext) :
                     }
 
                     Clerk.initialize(reactApplicationContext, pubKey)
+                    // clerk-android registers ActivityLifecycleCallbacks during
+                    // initialize(), but in React Native MainActivity has already passed
+                    // onResume() by the time <ClerkProvider> mounts and we reach this
+                    // line, so the callbacks miss the initial activity. Without seeding,
+                    // the first Credential Manager call (Google sign-in / passkeys)
+                    // fails with MissingActivity until the user backgrounds and
+                    // foregrounds the app. getCurrentActivity() can be null here on
+                    // cold start before React's host-resume sync — AuthView and
+                    // UserProfile also call attachActivity() on mount as a backstop.
+                    getCurrentActivity()?.let { Clerk.attachActivity(it) }
                     // Theme loading is centralized here. ClerkViewFactory.configure()
                     // and ClerkUserProfileActivity.onCreate() only call Clerk.initialize()
                     // when Clerk is not yet initialized, so by the time they run