mob_new

Project generator for the Mob mobile framework. Installs a global mix mob.new command.

Installation

mob_new is a Mix archive — install it globally, not as a project dependency:

mix archive.install hex mob_new

Usage

mix mob.new my_app
cd my_app
mix mob.install    # first-run setup: local paths, download OTP runtime

The generated project ships the Mob logo as its launcher icon (Android res/mipmap-*/ic_launcher.png, iOS ios/Assets.xcassets/AppIcon.appiconset), so the first native build needs no extra step. To replace it, add {:image, "~> 0.54"} to your deps and run mix mob.icon --source my_logo.png (add --adaptive for an Android adaptive icon).

mob.exs is project configuration — activated plugins, plugin trust, styles — and is meant to be committed. A clone without it activates no plugins, so the native build leaves their NIFs out. Machine-specific overrides go in mob.local.exs, which the generated .gitignore excludes and mob.exs imports when present.

Options

Option	Description
--ios	Generate iOS boilerplate only (skip android/)
--android	Generate Android boilerplate only (skip ios/)
--liveview	Wrap a Phoenix LiveView app in a Mob WebView (combines with --ios / --android)
--no-install	Skip mix deps.get after generation
--deliver	Wire the app for mob_deliver (signed OTA + just-in-time screens) — see below. Native only; rejected with --liveview
--dest DIR	Create the project in DIR (default: current directory)
--local	Use path: deps pointing to local mob/mob_dev repos — see below
--no-ios	Alias for --android (skip iOS boilerplate)
--no-android	Alias for --ios (skip Android boilerplate)

mix mob.install, mix mob.deploy, and mix mob.doctor detect the project's platform set from on-disk layout, so a single-platform project skips the absent platform's setup automatically (no Android OTP download, no iOS toolchain check, etc.).

Signed OTA and just-in-time screens (--deliver)

mix mob.new my_app --deliver adds :mob_deliver (and, dev-only, :mob_deliver_server for its publish task), activates the plugin in mob.exs, and boots through MobDeliver.root_screen/1. It also generates:

• mob_deliver_signing.key: a fresh Ed25519 publish key (mode 0600, gitignored; keep it as a CI secret). Its public half is in config/config.exs as :trusted_publish_key, next to app, channel, store_url, and the endpoint you point at your server. The update gate reads the app's version from the binary (Mob.Device.app_version/0).
• mobile/my_app/welcome_screen.ex: an example expansion screen, opened from the home screen. mobile/ is not in elixirc_paths, so it is never compiled into the app binary. The installed app fetches each screen the first time it is opened. Screens in lib/my_app/ ship in the binary as usual.

Publish, then serve the output directory with MobDeliverServer.Plug (storage: {MobDeliverServer.Storage.FS, root: "mob_deliver_publish"}):

mix mob_deliver.publish --app com.example.my_app \
  --key-file mob_deliver_signing.key --out mob_deliver_publish

The output stays outside priv/ on purpose: mob_dev copies priv/ into the native bundle.

Local development mode (--local)

This flag is for Mob framework contributors and library authors testing unpublished changes. It is not intended for app developers — use the standard mix mob.new my_app instead.

Installing the local mob_new archive

When working on mob_new itself, build and force-install the archive to pick up your changes:

cd ~/code/mob_new && mix archive.build && mix archive.install $(ls mob_new-*.ez | tail -1) --force

Verify it's active:

mix archive        # mob_new should appear with the updated version
mix mob.new --help

If you are working on Mob itself and want to test your changes end-to-end before publishing to Hex, pass --local to generate a project that depends on your local checkouts instead of the published packages:

mix mob.new my_app --local

This generates mix.exs with path: deps:

{:mob,     path: "/path/to/mob"},
{:mob_dev, path: "/path/to/mob_dev", only: :dev, runtime: false}

It also writes your local mob_dir to mob.local.exs (gitignored) so mix mob.install skips the path configuration prompts and proceeds straight to OTP download.

Path resolution (in order):

1. MOB_DIR / MOB_DEV_DIR environment variables
2. ./mob / ./mob_dev in the current directory (e.g. running from ~/code)
3. ../mob / ../mob_dev relative to the current directory

# If mob and mob_dev live alongside each other in ~/code:
cd ~/code
mix mob.new my_app --local   # auto-detects ~/code/mob and ~/code/mob_dev

# Or set explicitly from anywhere:
MOB_DIR=~/code/mob MOB_DEV_DIR=~/code/mob_dev mix mob.new my_app --local

What gets generated

my_app/
├── mix.exs
├── lib/
│   └── my_app/
│       ├── app.ex           # Mob.App entry point
│       └── home_screen.ex   # starter screen
├── android/
│   ├── build.gradle
│   └── app/
│       └── src/main/
│           ├── AndroidManifest.xml
│           └── java/com/mob/my_app/MainActivity.java
└── ios/
    ├── beam_main.m
    └── Info.plist

Next steps after generation

First deploy (builds the native app and installs it):

mix mob.deploy --native

Day-to-day (hot-pushes changed BEAMs, no native rebuild):

mix mob.deploy        # push + restart
mix mob.watch         # auto-push on file save
mix mob.connect       # open IEx connected to the running device node

Documentation

Full guide at hexdocs.pm/mob, including Getting Started, screen lifecycle, components, navigation, and live debugging.

Development

Clone, then run once:

mix setup

That fetches deps and activates the repo's git hooks (.githooks/pre-push): mix format --check, mix credo --strict (incl. ExSlop), and mix compile --warnings-as-errors run on every push, plus the full test suite when mix.exs changes — the same gate CI enforces before publishing.