Create React App is not a framework, it is more similar to a scaffolding system that sets up a group of tools and processes. You can upgrade React normally with

Create React App is not a framework, it is more similar to a scaffolding system that sets up a group of tools and processes. You can upgrade React normally without issue. The equivalent to what you suggest would be to autogenerate some files with a tool, modify the location and structure or those by hand and then expect the tool to be able to modify then again seamlessly.