android: property "compileSdkVersion" cannot be found or does not have a numeric value.

[giovanni-caiazzo]

Hi! I'm using the plugin for react-native-nfc-manager and this is my plugin config:

[
     "react-native-nfc-manager",
     {
          "nfcPermission": "The app needs to be able to read NFC tags so that it can start or end employees' turns",
          "includeNdefEntitlement": false
     }
],

If I'm using the plugin, when running npx expo prebuild I get the warning android: withBuildScriptExtVersion: Cannot set minimum buildscript.ext.compileSdkVersion version because the property "compileSdkVersion" cannot be found or does not have a numeric value..

If I remove the plugin, the warning is gone... However I need the plugin.

Is it possible to fix this annoying warning? It doesn't seem like it is making something break, but it would be nice to fix it.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has been open 30 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 5 days.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue was closed because it has been stalled for 5 days with no activity.

[chriswheeler]

We are also seeing this warning with Expo 52.0.33 react-native-nfc-manager 3.16 and "react-native-nfc-manager" added to 'plugins'

[superyarik]

We are also seeing this warning with Expo 53.0.22 react-native-nfc-manager 3.16.3 and "react-native-nfc-manager" added to 'plugins'

[trentrand]

The plugin uses AndroidConfig.Version.withBuildScriptExtMinimumVersion which crashes when compileSdkVersion doesn't exist. This is a known issue in Expo with a TODO acknowledging it should handle missing properties.

Option 1: Wrap in try-catch

try {
  config = AndroidConfig.Version.withBuildScriptExtMinimumVersion(config, {
    name: 'compileSdkVersion',
    minVersion: 31,
  });
} catch {
  // Silently continue - expo-build-properties handles the SDK version
}

Option 2: Use withProjectBuildGradle directly

const { withProjectBuildGradle } = require('@expo/config-plugins');

// Replace the problematic section with:
config = withProjectBuildGradle(config, (config) => {
  if (config.modResults.language === 'groovy') {
    const contents = config.modResults.contents;
    const match = contents.match(/compileSdkVersion\s*=\s*(\d+)/);
    
    if (match && parseInt(match[1]) < 31) {
      config.modResults.contents = contents.replace(
        /compileSdkVersion\s*=\s*\d+/, 
        'compileSdkVersion = 31'
      );
    }
  }
  return config;
});

Option 3: Require explicit configuration (recommended)

Instead of silently modifying SDK versions, throw a clear error requiring users to configure expo-build-properties with android.compileSdkVersion >= 31. This follows modern Expo patterns where apps explicitly declare their build configuration rather than libraries modifying it silently.

After patching: npx expo prebuild --clean should no longer warn.

[trentrand]

@whitedogg13 can you reopen this issue?

[whitedogg13]

@trentrand sure, I will reopen it and welcome to make a PR when you find the solution!

[wcastand]

expo 54 use version 36 so i think it's overkill to overwrite the value in the plugin. checking it's high enough and throw if not seems like the best approach.