Getting started
Installing PixelKit, and the three constraints that catch people out.
npx expo install @pixelkit-labs/sdk @pixelkit-labs/nativeOn-device ML — Gemini Nano, vision, translation — is a separate install, because it adds 19 ML Kit artifacts to your APK:
npx expo install @pixelkit-labs/mlkit| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Quickstart | Install, development build, first hook on a real device |
| Architecture | How the hooks reach the silicon: the native bridge and the HAL layer |
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”You need a development build. npx expo run:android, or an EAS development profile. PixelKit
cannot run in Expo Go: reading a thermal sensor takes native code compiled into the app, and Expo Go
only contains the native code Expo shipped.
Android only. Both Kotlin modules declare platforms: ["android"].
It degrades rather than fails on other hardware. 13 of the 51 hooks are pure Expo and
JavaScript — camera, audio, sensors, location, biometrics, the keystore, cloud Gemini — and work on
any Android device. Another 37 call the Kotlin modules and report unsupported where the silicon is
not there. The last one is useHiLight: Android restricts the camera-bar LEDs to privileged apps,
so it drives them through a local ADB daemon and reports unavailable without one.
If readings come back empty and you are not sure why, npx @pixelkit-labs/cli doctor checks adb,
the device, the development build, the installed packages and AICore, and tells you which case you
are in.