fix(ios): load RCTDefines.h first in React umbrella + drop submodule wildcard so RCT_* macros stay visible

[wneel]

Summary:

When RCT_USE_PREBUILT_RNCORE=1 (the 0.84+ default) and a consumer pod builds under use_frameworks!, RCT macros like RCT_EXTERN, RCT_EXTERN_C_BEGIN, RCT_EXPORT_METHOD, RCT_REMAP_METHOD fail to propagate.

The .m files using these macros hit cascading parse errors like :

• unknown type name 'RCT_EXTERN_C_BEGIN' in <React/RCTBridgeModule.h> line 51,
• unknown type name 'RCT_EXTERN' in <React/RCTEventDispatcherProtocol.h> line 17,
• and type specifier missing, defaults to 'int' on every RCT_EXPORT_METHOD(...) call site.

Root cause is in two places in packages/react-native/scripts/ios-prebuild/templates/:

1. React-umbrella.h orders RCTBridgeConstants.h (line 56) before RCTDefines.h (line 84). RCTBridgeConstants.h uses RCT_EXTERN at its first declaration but the macro is only defined later in RCTDefines.h. When the umbrella is loaded as a single parse context, the RCT_EXTERN use is unresolvable.

2. module.modulemap declares module * { export * } inside both framework module blocks, which creates an inferred submodule per header. That isolates macro #defines into per-header parse scopes. Even fixing the umbrella order, sibling submodules don't share macros: macros defined in the RCTDefines.h submodule are invisible to the RCTBridgeConstants.h submodule, and to consumers of the React module.

This PR fixes both:

• Move #import <React/RCTDefines.h> to the very top of the umbrella (right after the prologue and before any other <React/...> import), with a comment explaining why ordering matters.
• Remove the module * { export * } wildcard from both framework module blocks in the modulemap. The umbrella header alone is sufficient to declare the module's contents, and dropping the wildcard means the whole module shares one parse context where macros propagate.

The combination of use_frameworks! + prebuilt RNCore is the path of least resistance today: use_frameworks! is the Expo default and is required by firebase-ios-sdk for its Swift bridges. Prebuilt RNCore is the 0.84+ default. The colliding defaults break native-module ecosystems like react-native-firebase that consume the RCT macros. Producer-side fix is in flight at invertase/react-native-firebase#9024; this PR closes the consumer side.

Changelog:

[IOS] [FIXED] - Load RCTDefines.h first in the prebuilt React umbrella and drop the module * submodule wildcard so RCT_* macros propagate to consumer pods under use_frameworks!.

Test Plan:

Reproduced on RN 0.85.3 (latest stable at time of writing) on macOS 26.3.1 / Xcode 26.5 / iOS 26.5 Simulator (iPhone 17 Pro).

Reproducer setup

Fork of mikehardy/rnfbdemo with these adjustments in make-demo.sh:

• RN_VER=0.85.3
• RNFB_VER=24.0.0
• FB_IOS_VER=12.10.0
• Remove @react-native-firebase/dynamic-links from the bulk yarn add (deprecated and removed in RNFB 24.x).

Default Podfile mods produced by make-demo.sh are preserved: use_frameworks! :linkage => :static + $RNFirebaseAsStaticFramework = true. No RCT_USE_PREBUILT_RNCORE override (stays at the 1 default).

Public reproducer: https://github.com/wneel/rnfbdemo (see its REPRO.md for the two-stage flow).

The reproducer also has invertase/react-native-firebase#9024 (producer-side podspec fixes) applied as an overlay. Without those, the build fails earlier at -Wnon-modular-include-in-framework-module. With them applied, the build progresses to the consumer side and surfaces the macro propagation bug this PR fixes.

Before this PR

Same reproducer config. iOS build fails on consumer pods (RNFBAuth, RNFBStorage, RNFBMessaging) with:

.../Pods/Headers/Public/React-Core/React/RCTEventDispatcherProtocol.h:17:1: error: unknown type name 'RCT_EXTERN'
.../Pods/Headers/Public/React-Core/React/RCTEventDispatcherProtocol.h:17:27: error: expected ';' after top level declarator
.../node_modules/@react-native-firebase/messaging/ios/RNFBMessaging/RNFBMessaging+AppDelegate.h:26:21: error: declaration of 'RCTPromiseRejectBlock' must be imported from module 'RNFBApp.RNFBAppModule' before it is required

After this PR

Same reproducer config builds cleanly: pod install clean, xcodebuild Debug build produces the app, zero RCT_EXTERN macro errors anywhere in the log.

Verified by editing packages/react-native/scripts/ios-prebuild/templates/React-umbrella.h and packages/react-native/scripts/ios-prebuild/templates/module.modulemap in place (the diff in this PR), regenerating the prebuilt React.xcframework artifact, and re-running the reproducer.

Output of npx @react-native-community/cli info from the reproducer environment:

System:
  OS: macOS 26.3.1
  CPU: (10) arm64 Apple M2 Pro
  Memory: 466.16 MB / 16.00 GB
  Shell:
    version: "5.9"
    path: /bin/zsh
Binaries:
  Node:
    version: 22.14.0
    path: /usr/local/bin/node
  Yarn:
    version: 3.6.4
    path: /usr/local/bin/yarn
  npm:
    version: 11.12.1
    path: /usr/local/bin/npm
  Watchman:
    version: 2026.05.11.00
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/watchman
Managers:
  CocoaPods:
    version: 1.16.2
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/pod
SDKs:
  iOS SDK:
    Platforms:
      - DriverKit 25.5
      - iOS 26.5
      - macOS 26.5
      - tvOS 26.5
      - visionOS 26.5
      - watchOS 26.5
IDEs:
  Xcode:
    version: 26.5/17F42
    path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
  Java:
    version: 21.0.9
    path: /usr/bin/javac

Cross-references

• react-native-firebase producer-side fix in flight: fix(ios): wire add_rncore_dependency + allow non-modular includes for RN 0.84+ prebuilt RNCore (#8883) invertase/react-native-firebase#9024
• react-native-firebase .m import hygiene follow-up: fix(ios): import RCTBridgeModule.h directly in .m files using RCT_EXPORT_* macros invertase/react-native-firebase#9026
• Original RNFB user-facing issue: [🐛] compile errors with react-native CLI + pre-compiled iOS distribution default on RN 0.84 - workaround - disable pre-compiled react-native or use Podfile preinstall hook invertase/react-native-firebase#8883

[cipolleschi]

Thanks for fixing this

[meta-codesync]

@cipolleschi has imported this pull request. If you are a Meta employee, you can view this in D105582598.

[wneel]

Thanks for the quick review and import! Happy this one lands cleanly :)

[cortinico]

Review automatically exported from Phabricator review in Meta.

[meta-codesync]

@cipolleschi merged this pull request in 90c303f.

[react-native-bot]

This pull request was successfully merged by @wneel in 90c303f

^{When will my fix make it into a release? | How to file a pick request?}

[react-native-bot]

This pull request was successfully merged by @wneel in ff2562e

^{When will my fix make it into a release? | How to file a pick request?}