[Expo 53] Placement Error: Trying to present paywall without the Superwall config.

[garygcchiu]

Hi, I am trying expo-superwall after previously successfully using @superwall/react-native-superwal@1.4.2. I have everything setup according to the new guide (https://superwall.com/docs/expo/quickstart/present-first-paywall), but am getting the following error when presenting a paywall on iOS Simulator:

ERROR  Placement Error: Trying to present paywall without the Superwall config.

Here is my setup:

package.json:

"expo-superwall": "^0.1.3",
"react-native": "0.79.4",
"expo": "53.0.17",
"expo-build-properties": "0.14.8",

app.config.js:

plugins: {
	[
		"expo-build-properties",
		{
			android: {
				minSdkVersion: 26,
			},
			ios: {
				deploymentTarget: "15.1",
			},
		},
	],
}

New Architecture is enabled.

app/_layout.tsx (root layout):

const SUPERWALL_IOS_PUBLIC_KEY = process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPERWALL_IOS_PUBLIC_KEY;

<SuperwallProvider
	apiKeys={{
		ios: SUPERWALL_IOS_PUBLIC_KEY,
	}}
>
		<Stack>
			<Stack.Screen
				name="index"
				options={{
					headerShown: false,
				}}
			/>
		<Stack.Screen name="+not-found" />
	</Stack>
</SuperwallProvider>

Usage in index.ts:

export const IndexScreen = () => {
	const superwall = useSuperwall();

	// register paywall
	const { registerPlacement, state: placementState } = usePlacement({
		onError: (err) => console.error("Placement Error:", err),
		onPresent: (info) => console.log("Paywall Presented:", info),
		onDismiss: (info, result) =>
			console.log("Paywall Dismissed:", info, "Result:", result),
	});


	async function onPress () {
		await registerPlacement({
			placement: "campaign_trigger",
		});
		console.log("after placement");
	},
}

I have confirmed I have the default campaign_trigger created:

My API key is provided in my .env and it is being read and configured.

 LOG  Cleaning up listeners 1
 LOG  SUPERWALL_IOS_PUBLIC_KEY =  pk_***
 LOG  API KEY LENGTH: 51

The response from useSuperwall() (I've omitted the functions for brevity here):

LOG  superwall =  {
"isConfigured": true, 
"isLoading": false,
"listenersInitialized": true, 
"reset": [Function reset], 
"subscriptionStatus": {"status": "UNKNOWN"}, 
"user": {
    "aliasId": "$SuperwallAlias:<omitted>", 
    "applicationInstalledAt": "2025-07-09T05:07:28.439Z", 
    "seed": 6
  }
}

The placementState:

LOG  placementState  {"error": "Trying to present paywall without the Superwall config.", "status": "error"}

I've rebuilt my app npx expo run:ios and even eas build -e simulator -p ios --local.

Are there any additional debugging instructions I should try? useSuperwall() is returning isConfigured: true, and I can confirm process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPERWALL_IOS_PUBLIC_KEY is present. The starter campaign_trigger is present, too. But I cannot present any paywalls.

[Makisuo]

Hey, thanks for the detailed error repo, could you send me the the aliasId via email @ david@superwall.com or discord. Aswell as superwall projectId. Thanks!

[garygcchiu]

Sent! Thanks for taking a look