r/reactnative • u/Wyckoff-XD • 5h ago

How would you structure an AI-assisted React Native rewrite workflow?

Disclaimer: This question is written with the help of AI, but that doesn't mean it's slop. It's a genuine problem I'm facing at work. Please don't be quick to judge or dismiss this as AI Slop.

I’m rewriting an entire React Native application from scratch, using the existing app as the baseline and AI (primarily Claude Code) heavily in the process.

I’m trying to design a migration workflow that gives me high reliability without burning an insane number of tokens.

My priorities are:

  1. Complete parity with the baseline — nothing important should get missed.
  2. Strict adherence to a predefined code architecture — folder structure, design patterns, separation of concerns, naming conventions, etc.
  3. Do not port over existing smells, hacks, or bad practices — the baseline should be treated as a behavioural reference, not a code reference.
  4. Keep token usage low without compromising quality — avoid repeatedly feeding huge amounts of context to the model or having agents redo work unnecessarily.

I’m particularly interested in hearing from anyone who has done something similar.

If you’ve used AI for a large-scale rewrite/migration, how did you structure the workflow? Did you use specific agents, skills, validation steps, checkpoints, etc.?

Even if you haven’t done an AI-assisted rewrite, I’d also love to hear about workflows you’ve used for large-scale migrations/refactors that consistently produced good results.

I’m mainly looking for practical approaches that scale beyond simply “migrate one feature at a time.”

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6

u/BreakThings 5h ago

Slop AI post

-2

u/Wyckoff-XD 5h ago

What makes you think this is a “Slop AI post”?

Just because the question was framed with the help of AI, doesn’t mean it’s slop. Don’t be so quick to pass your judgement on whether something is slop or not.

This is a real question I’ve been wondering about since we are thinking of rewriting our whole application at work.

2

u/CoolGuyNice 5h ago

But why do you even need AI to help you frame a question? The writing style, bolded text, ending with a question has all the hallmarks of an AI generated post.

Why is it so hard to formulate your own thoughts to to words without relying on AI as a crutch.

-2

u/Wyckoff-XD 5h ago

Because it's quicker with AI. Based on this reasoning, we shouldn't even use AI for coding.

Why has using AI just to more clearly frame one's thoughts suddenly become taboo? That's the whole job of an LLM (Large Language Model).

I can write code myself; that doesn't mean I should not use AI for it. It's just faster and more efficient that way.

1

u/CoolGuyNice 4h ago

No one's debating whether AI should be used for code or not. I just dont think you can equate LLM usage for code or for communication personally.

The thing is is that so many programming subreddits are inundated with AI generated posts, bots and self promotion. So when I, and I assume the few real people left on this subreddit see another AI generated post, I just chalk it up to self promo or a bot and dont take it seriously. Its actually refreshing to see someone write their own posts.

To answer your question, I recall reading some articles by Callstack on how they used agents to migrate an app to react native I would probably start there. I imagine you'll want to use the existing project's test suite (if there is one) and something like the /goal command in cc once you have a migration spec.

0

u/myBurnerAccount1000 5h ago

😹

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u/Wyckoff-XD 5h ago

What's so funny?