fix(expo): needs second factor failing to navigate on expo

[chriscanin]

Description

The fix that I have added is for the "needs second factor":
When signing in with password on a new/unrecognized device, Clerk's Client Trust feature returns needs_second_factor status. Clerk then tries to navigate to the second factor UI by calling its internal navigate() function.
The problem: navigate() in packages/clerk-js/src/core/clerk.ts does this:
let toURL = new URL(to, window.location.href);
In React Native:

• window exists (so inBrowser() returns true)
• window.location is undefined
  Result: Crash with "Cannot read property 'href' of undefined"
  We now check for the window location, and if it cant be found, we will replace the navigation with a router.push / router.replace because in React Native, there's no window.location, the router is the only way to navigate. The fix checks: if window.location is undefined, use the custom router. If no custom router was provided either, warn and bail out gracefully instead of crashing.

MOBILE-392: Evan Bacon - Expo SDK issues

Checklist

• pnpm test runs as expected.
• pnpm build runs as expected.
• (If applicable) JSDoc comments have been added or updated for any package exports
• (If applicable) Documentation has been updated

Type of change

• 🐛 Bug fix
• 🌟 New feature
• 🔨 Breaking change
• 📖 Refactoring / dependency upgrade / documentation
• other:

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed navigation handling in React Native environments where standard browser location APIs are unavailable, ensuring proper routing through custom router fallbacks and maintaining compatibility across all supported platforms.

_{✏️ Tip: You can customize this high-level summary in your review settings.}

[changeset-bot]

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 6015884

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 3 packages

Name	Type
@clerk/clerk-js	Patch
@clerk/chrome-extension	Patch
@clerk/expo	Patch

Not sure what this means? Click here to learn what changesets are.

Click here if you're a maintainer who wants to add another changeset to this PR

[vercel]

The latest updates on your projects. Learn more about Vercel for GitHub.

Project	Deployment	Review	Updated (UTC)
clerk-js-sandbox	Ready	Preview, Comment	Jan 23, 2026 6:50pm

[pkg-pr-new]

Open in StackBlitz

@clerk/agent-toolkit

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/agent-toolkit@7665

@clerk/astro

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/astro@7665

@clerk/backend

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/backend@7665

@clerk/chrome-extension

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/chrome-extension@7665

@clerk/clerk-js

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/clerk-js@7665

@clerk/dev-cli

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/dev-cli@7665

@clerk/expo

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/expo@7665

@clerk/expo-passkeys

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/expo-passkeys@7665

@clerk/express

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/express@7665

@clerk/fastify

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/fastify@7665

@clerk/localizations

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/localizations@7665

@clerk/nextjs

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/nextjs@7665

@clerk/nuxt

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/nuxt@7665

@clerk/react

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/react@7665

@clerk/react-router

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/react-router@7665

@clerk/shared

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/shared@7665

@clerk/tanstack-react-start

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/tanstack-react-start@7665

@clerk/testing

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/testing@7665

@clerk/ui

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/ui@7665

@clerk/upgrade

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/upgrade@7665

@clerk/vue

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@clerk/vue@7665

commit: 6015884

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This change adds React Native compatibility to the Clerk navigation system. A changeset entry documents the patch release, while the core implementation in packages/clerk-js/src/core/clerk.ts adds conditional navigation logic. When the standard window.location object is unavailable—as in React Native environments—the code now checks for a custom router and uses routerReplace or routerPush methods accordingly. If no custom router is available, a development-time warning is emitted. The existing web-based navigation pathway using window.location remains unchanged for standard browser environments.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Linked Issues check	⚠️ Warning	The PR directly addresses a crash during React Native navigation with missing window.location, which partially relates to MOBILE-392 React Native incompatibilities but does not resolve all listed objectives.	Address remaining issues from MOBILE-392: verification email sending and password sign-in failures for manually added users, or clarify if this PR tackles only navigation crashes.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	All changes are directly scoped to fixing React Native navigation when window.location is unavailable, with no unrelated modifications detected.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title mentions Expo and second factor navigation, which aligns with the main change (handling missing window.location in React Native navigation), but is somewhat vague about the specific fix being a React Native window.location check.

_{✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.}

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands and usage tips.}