feat(android): drop the MainActivity permission delegate requirement by matinzd · Pull Request #266 · matinzd/react-native-health-connect

matinzd · 2026-08-02T00:11:39Z

Consumers no longer need to call HealthConnectPermissionDelegate.setPermissionDelegate(this) from MainActivity. Permission and exercise route dialogs are launched from a transparent activity this library declares in its own manifest, which merges into the app automatically.

The obvious alternative — building the intent from the contract and using startActivityForResult — does not work: on Android 14+ the permission contract produces a synthetic intent that only an ActivityResultRegistry can service, so it fails with ActivityNotFoundException. Hosting our own ComponentActivity provides that registry.

HealthConnectPermissionDelegate remains as a deprecated no-op so existing MainActivity code keeps compiling. The Expo ReactActivityLifecycleListener that used to register it is removed, along with the setup steps in the README and docs site.

Testing

Verified on an API 36 emulator with the bare example (no setPermissionDelegate anywhere): initialize succeeds, the real Health Connect consent screen appears, granting returns the permission list to JS, and a repeat request works. Manifest merge confirmed in the app's merged manifest.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Permission and exercise route dialogs are now launched from a transparent activity the library declares in its own manifest, so consumers no longer need to call HealthConnectPermissionDelegate.setPermissionDelegate(this). The contracts cannot be launched with a plain startActivityForResult: on Android 14+ the permission contract produces a synthetic intent that only an ActivityResultRegistry can service, so hosting our own ComponentActivity is what makes this work without touching the host activity. HealthConnectPermissionDelegate is kept as a deprecated no-op, and the Expo ReactActivityLifecycleListener that used to register it is removed. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

It existed only to register HealthConnectPermissionDelegate from a ReactActivityLifecycleListener. Permission dialogs no longer need anything registered on the host activity, so the module had nothing left to do. Expo apps now autolink android/ like any other React Native package; the config plugin in app.plugin.js is unaffected. Verified with a local expo prebuild, ./gradlew projects and a debug APK dex check. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

…atinzd/react-native-health-connect into feat/permissions-without-main-activity

They belong to their own PR; only the implementation notes under .claude/plans/ are specific to this change. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

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The new dialog launcher currently has a confirmed race risk around in-flight request guarding (can overwrite the pending request and hang promises) and needs the requested concurrency/validation fixes before it’s safe to merge.

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Pull request overview

Removes the requirement for consumers to wire HealthConnectPermissionDelegate into MainActivity by moving Health Connect permission/exercise-route dialog launching into a library-declared transparent ComponentActivity, and cleans up the old Expo-native-module path and related docs/CI.

Changes:

Introduces HealthConnectPermissionActivity + HealthConnectPermissionLauncher to host Activity Result contracts inside the library (no host MainActivity integration).
Deprecates HealthConnectPermissionDelegate into a no-op; updates HealthConnectManager to use the new launcher and adds new exception codes.
Removes the android-expo/ Expo module + config, and updates README/docs/examples/CI accordingly.

File summaries

File	Description
README.md	Removes `MainActivity` setup instructions; documents the new no-setup behavior and upgrade note.
package.json	Stops publishing `android-expo/` and `expo-module.config.json` artifacts.
expo-module.config.json	Removed (Expo native module config no longer needed).
example/android/app/src/main/java/com/healthconnectexample/MainActivity.kt	Removes now-unnecessary `setPermissionDelegate` call.
example-expo/README.md	Updates Expo example explanation to match “no Expo native module” approach.
docs/docs/get-started.md	Mirrors README updates for “no MainActivity changes” and migration notes.
android/src/main/java/dev/matinzd/healthconnect/utils/ExceptionsUtils.kt	Adds two new exception types + error codes for new failure modes.
android/src/main/java/dev/matinzd/healthconnect/permissions/HealthConnectPermissionLauncher.kt	New launcher that starts the library-owned activity and awaits results.
android/src/main/java/dev/matinzd/healthconnect/permissions/HealthConnectPermissionDelegate.kt	Converts delegate to deprecated no-op for backwards compile compatibility.
android/src/main/java/dev/matinzd/healthconnect/permissions/HealthConnectPermissionActivity.kt	New transparent activity owning the ActivityResultRegistry and contracts.
android/src/main/java/dev/matinzd/healthconnect/HealthConnectManager.kt	Switches permission/route requests to the new launcher; stores provider package name.
android/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml	Declares the new internal transparent activity for manifest-merge into host apps.
android-expo/src/main/java/expo/modules/healthconnect/HealthConnectPermissionReactActivityHandler.kt	Removed (Expo lifecycle registration no longer needed).
android-expo/src/main/java/expo/modules/healthconnect/HealthConnectPackage.kt	Removed (Expo native module removed).
android-expo/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml	Removed (Expo module removed).
android-expo/build.gradle	Removed (Expo module removed).
.github/workflows/ci.yml	Updates CI to validate new Expo/bare linking expectations and that new activity is packaged.
.claude/plans/activity-result-without-main-activity.md	Adds design/verification plan documenting rationale and trade-offs for the new approach.

Review details

Suppressed comments (1)

android/src/main/java/dev/matinzd/healthconnect/permissions/HealthConnectPermissionLauncher.kt:58

Clearing requestInFlight and setting the pending request should be coordinated with the same lock used to guard the in-flight check; otherwise concurrent calls can still interleave and overwrite pendingRequest before the activity consumes it.

    return try {
      deferred.await()
    } finally {
      requestInFlight = false
    }

Files reviewed: 18/18 changed files
Comments generated: 2
Review effort level: Lite

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TheRogue76 · 2026-08-02T21:45:54Z

+    when (intent.getStringExtra(EXTRA_REQUEST_TYPE)) {
+      REQUEST_TYPE_PERMISSIONS -> requestPermissions.launch(
+        intent.getStringArrayListExtra(EXTRA_PERMISSIONS)?.toSet() ?: emptySet()
+      )
+
+      REQUEST_TYPE_EXERCISE_ROUTE -> requestExerciseRoute.launch(
+        intent.getStringExtra(EXTRA_RECORD_ID) ?: ""
+      )
+
+      else -> finish()
+    }


I'd go a step further, validate that the record id is not empty before you even get to this step, and bail out (throw out a log.w telling the dev that there was something wrong and gracefully finish)

+  private var requestInFlight = false
+
+  suspend fun requestPermissions(
+    providerPackageName: String, permissions: Set<String>
+  ): Set<String> {
+    val deferred = CompletableDeferred<Set<String>>()
+
+    start(PendingHealthConnectRequest.Permissions(deferred)) {
+      putExtra(
+        HealthConnectPermissionActivity.EXTRA_REQUEST_TYPE,
+        HealthConnectPermissionActivity.REQUEST_TYPE_PERMISSIONS
+      )
+      putExtra(
+        HealthConnectPermissionActivity.EXTRA_PROVIDER_PACKAGE_NAME, providerPackageName
+      )
+      putStringArrayListExtra(
+        HealthConnectPermissionActivity.EXTRA_PERMISSIONS, ArrayList(permissions)
+      )
+    }
+
+    return try {
+      deferred.await()
+    } finally {
+      requestInFlight = false
+    }


TheRogue76 · 2026-08-02T21:37:20Z

oooooh let me take a look

TheRogue76 · 2026-08-02T21:39:35Z

Consumers no longer need to call HealthConnectPermissionDelegate.setPermissionDelegate(this) from MainActivity. Permission and exercise route dialogs are launched from a transparent activity this library declares in its own manifest, which merges into the app automatically.

Ehhhhhh, not sure about this bud. Google has been going on a campaign of "Single activity for android apps" for quite some time now. https://developer.android.com/topic/architecture#app_composition
I'll read the rest of the code

TheRogue76 · 2026-08-02T21:42:42Z

+
+Bare React Native consumers used to be required to edit `MainActivity`:
+
+```kotlin
+HealthConnectPermissionDelegate.setPermissionDelegate(this)
+```
+
+That existed purely because `ComponentActivity.registerForActivityResult` must be called **before
+the activity reaches STARTED**. A native module is constructed far too late to do it itself, so the
+library had to borrow the host's activity. Expo projects sidestepped this with a
+`ReactActivityLifecycleListener` (`android-expo/.../HealthConnectPermissionReactActivityHandler.kt`);
+bare RN has no equivalent hook.


Ah, so it's this conversation again. Ok i at least understand why you want to do it, but again, i am not 100% sure having a separate activity is the right way to go for it. hmmm

What was the consensus from the RN core team on your old PR for adding this to core? too much overhead?

Yep. There wasn't enough bandwidth to move this forward in React Native core at the time.

I think I'll need to start digging into RN core myself and see if I can help get this over the line.

This is how it is done with expo modules:

https://github.com/expo/expo/blob/3c7c43676c5b761058646fdc5c2669d49f21a248/packages/expo-image-picker/android/src/main/java/expo/modules/imagepicker/ImagePickerModule.kt#L100-L112

And how its handled in ModuleRegistry:

https://github.com/expo/expo/blob/3c7c43676c5b761058646fdc5c2669d49f21a248/packages/expo-modules-core/android/src/main/java/expo/modules/kotlin/ModuleRegistry.kt#L132-L136

And the docs:
https://docs.expo.dev/modules/module-api/#registeractivitycontracts

Okay :)

Let's see if this PR lands: react/react-native#57798

TheRogue76

NGL, i would prefer to keep the MainActivity requirement around for the Bare apps. It's better than altering an applications general architecture (as someone who has had to deal with libraries doing sneaky things with their own activity, those usually suck, they sometimes mess up deep links, and they also sometimes mess up other things)

matinzd · 2026-08-03T09:33:26Z

Ehhhhhh, not sure about this bud. Google has been going on a campaign of "Single activity for android apps" for quite some time now. https://developer.android.com/topic/architecture#app_composition
I'll read the rest of the code

Couldn't agree more if there was a way out in bare RN.

matinzd · 2026-08-03T13:37:26Z

Depends on: react/react-native#57798

Let's see if it lands in core.

matinzd and others added 3 commits August 2, 2026 02:11

docs: add CLAUDE.md index and .claude docs

be25ea0

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

matinzd mentioned this pull request Aug 2, 2026

docs: add CLAUDE.md index and .claude/docs notes #267

Merged

matinzd and others added 4 commits August 2, 2026 02:22

docs: record the auto-registering delegate alternative

705086d

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

Merge branch 'feat/permissions-without-main-activity' of github.com:m…

372f969

…atinzd/react-native-health-connect into feat/permissions-without-main-activity

docs: move CLAUDE.md and .claude/docs out of this branch

f4e458b

They belong to their own PR; only the implementation notes under .claude/plans/ are specific to this change. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

Merge branch 'main' into feat/permissions-without-main-activity

5311cdb

matinzd requested review from TheRogue76 and Copilot August 2, 2026 00:29

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Merge branch 'main' into feat/permissions-without-main-activity

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matinzd mentioned this pull request Aug 3, 2026

feat(android): support Activity Result API for native modules react/react-native#57798

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