How do I set up a self-hosted GitHub Actions runner on Mac for Expo?

Install via GitHub docs: Add repo secret RUNNER_TOKEN, run config.sh on your Mac. Label it 'self-hosted'. Done—your M1/M2/M3 beast builds.

What's the best free way to distribute Expo iOS builds to testers?

DeployGate. Sign up, grab API key, add workflow upload step. Testers hit your-app.dgate.io—installs OTA-style. No reviews.

Why do Expo builds fail on 'Embed Pods Frameworks' in CI?

Stale caches, dep drifts, keychain locks. Nuke DerivedData, pin packages, unlock keychain. Always.

⚙️ DevOps & Platform Eng

11 Brutal Fails Before My Expo CI/CD Pipeline Finally Delivered: A VibeCoder's Odyssey

Midnight. MacBook fan whirring like a jet engine. Eleventh Expo build failure in a row. Then—bliss. Testers' phones light up with my CRM app, zero bucks spent.

theAIcatchup Apr 10, 2026 4 min read

MacBook Air screen glowing with successful Expo iOS build in GitHub Actions workflow

⚡ Key Takeaways

11 failures forged a zero-cost Expo CI/CD beast—persistence wins. 𝕏
Self-hosted GitHub runners on Mac unlock unlimited iOS deploys. 𝕏
Pin deps, nuke caches, unlock keychains: VibeCoder deployment gospel. 𝕏

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theAIcatchup

Ship faster. Build smarter.

#CI/CD pipeline #DeployGate #Expo #GitHub Actions #React Native #VibeCoder

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