RCT-Folly dependency error with React Native 0.81+ when New Architecture is enabled

[saseungmin]

Environment

• React Native: 0.81.5
• Expo: 54.0.20
• iOS Deployment Target: 15.5
• New Architecture: Enabled (newArchEnabled: true)
• Package versions:
  • react-native-agora: 4.5.3
  • react-native-agora-chat: 1.3.4

Description

When running pod install with New Architecture enabled in React Native 0.81+, the following error occurs:

[!] Unable to find a specification for `RCT-Folly` depended upon by `react-native-chat-sdk`

You have either:
 * mistyped the name or version.
 * not added the source repo that hosts the Podspec to your Podfile.

Root Cause

Starting from React Native 0.80, Meta introduced prebuilt iOS dependencies via ReactNativeDependencies.xcframework, which bundles third-party libraries including Folly, Glog, and DoubleConversion.

When RCT_USE_RN_DEP=1 is set (automatically enabled with New Architecture), Folly is no longer available as a separate CocoaPods pod (RCT-Folly). Instead, it's included in the prebuilt framework.

Reference: React Native 0.80 Blog - Prebuilt iOS Dependencies

Affected Code

Both react-native-agora.podspec and react-native-chat-sdk.podspec

declare RCT-Folly as a dependency when New Architecture is enabled:

if ENV['RCT_NEW_ARCH_ENABLED'] == '1' then
  s.dependency "React-Codegen"
  s.dependency "RCT-Folly"  # ❌ Not available
  s.dependency "RCTRequired"
  s.dependency "RCTTypeSafety"
  s.dependency "ReactCommon/turbomodule/core"
end

Workaround

Remove or comment out the RCT-Folly dependency since it's already included in ReactNativeDependencies.xcframework:

if ENV['RCT_NEW_ARCH_ENABLED'] == '1' then
  s.dependency "React-Codegen"
  # s.dependency "RCT-Folly"  # Already included in ReactNativeDependencies.xcframework
  s.dependency "RCTRequired"
  s.dependency "RCTTypeSafety"
  s.dependency "ReactCommon/turbomodule/core"
end

Suggested Fix

Update the podspec files to be compatible with React Native 0.80+ by removing the explicit RCT-Folly dependency when using prebuilt dependencies. The Folly headers and libraries are already available through ReactNativeDependencies.xcframework.

Additional Context

This issue affects any library that explicitly depends on RCT-Folly when:

1. React Native 0.80+ is used
2. New Architecture is enabled
3. RCT_USE_RN_DEP=1 is set (default with New Architecture)