diff --git a/js/app/README.md b/js/app/README.md
index 330af035f..88bba8c7f 100644
--- a/js/app/README.md
+++ b/js/app/README.md
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ without replaying successfully loaded scripts. Styles come from design tokens
 at build time; no React, theme provider, fonts, or app modules load to show it.
 Development Metro and installed iOS/Android entrypoints are unchanged.
 
+The bootstrap build uses the project's installed TypeScript compiler to read
+design tokens. It does not require Node's optional native TypeScript support or
+`--experimental-strip-types`; the existing Node 22 requirement is unchanged.
+
 This reduces **bytes required for the first loading UI**, not the bytes required
 for a usable Home screen. The app still downloads automatically after that first
 paint; route-level chunks remain deferred until opened.
diff --git a/js/app/package.json b/js/app/package.json
index 39e740ed8..d00a1daf1 100644
--- a/js/app/package.json
+++ b/js/app/package.json
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
     "brand": "pnpm --filter @streamplace/brand generate",
     "build": "pnpm run build:web && pnpm run prebuild",
     "build:web": "pnpm run brand && node scripts/generate-build-info.js && pnpm run export && node exportClientExpoConfig.js > dist/expoConfig.json",
-    "export": "(expo export --dump-sourcemap || expo export --dump-sourcemap) && node --experimental-strip-types scripts/bootstrap-web.mjs",
-    "analyze:web": "pnpm run brand && EXPO_ATLAS=true expo export --platform web --output-dir .expo/atlas-web --dump-sourcemap && node --experimental-strip-types scripts/bootstrap-web.mjs .expo/atlas-web && expo-atlas --no-open",
+    "export": "(expo export --dump-sourcemap || expo export --dump-sourcemap) && node scripts/bootstrap-web.mjs",
+    "analyze:web": "pnpm run brand && EXPO_ATLAS=true expo export --platform web --output-dir .expo/atlas-web --dump-sourcemap && node scripts/bootstrap-web.mjs .expo/atlas-web && expo-atlas --no-open",
     "check": "pnpm --filter @streamplace/i18n compile && bash -c 'set -euo pipefail;export OUT=$(mktemp -d); npx tsc -p . --outDir $OUT; rm -rf $OUT'",
     "prebuild": "pnpm run brand && EXPO_NO_GIT_STATUS=1 expo prebuild --clean && sed -i.bak 's/org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx2048m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m/org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx4096m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=1024m/' android/gradle.properties && pnpm run find-node",
     "prepare": "which pod && pnpm run prepare-ios || echo 'not a mac, not installing pods' && mkdir -p ./public && cp -r ../i18n/public/locales ./public/",
diff --git a/js/app/scripts/bootstrap-web.mjs b/js/app/scripts/bootstrap-web.mjs
index 1b30f008b..a1fbf63f8 100644
--- a/js/app/scripts/bootstrap-web.mjs
+++ b/js/app/scripts/bootstrap-web.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,18 @@
 import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
 import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import path from "node:path";
-import {
+import ts from "typescript";
+
+// Tokens have only type imports. Compile them with the project's TypeScript
+// dependency so this works even when Node was built without type stripping.
+const { outputText } = ts.transpileModule(
+  await readFile(
+    new URL("../../components/src/lib/theme/tokens.ts", import.meta.url),
+    "utf8",
+  ),
+  { compilerOptions: { module: ts.ModuleKind.ESNext } },
+);
+const {
   borderRadius,
   motion,
   spacing,
@@ -9,7 +20,9 @@ import {
   textAlphas,
   touchTargets,
   typeScale,
-} from "../../components/src/lib/theme/tokens.ts";
+} = await import(
+  `data:text/javascript;base64,${Buffer.from(outputText).toString("base64")}`
+);
 
 // Expo's shared chunk is eager even when every app screen is lazy. Keep its
 // generated bundles intact, but let a tiny bootloader start them after paint.