React Async Patterns

Problem Statement

Async bugs in React are insidious because they often work in development but fail under load or in edge cases. The most common issues: missing await on async functions, race conditions between state updates, and assuming operations complete in order.

Pattern: Floating Promise Detection

Problem: Calling an async function without await causes it to run in the background. If subsequent code depends on its completion, you get a race condition.

// Before (buggy) - saveData is async but not awaited
saveData(item);              // Fire and forget ❌
await processData(item);     // Runs before save completes

// After (fixed)
await saveData(item);        // Wait for state update ✅
await processData(item);     // Now runs in correct order

Why it's subtle: Both functions might have async in their signature, but only one was awaited. The code "looks right" at a glance.

Detection:

# Find potential floating promises - async calls without await
grep -rn "^\s*[a-zA-Z]*\s*(" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" | \
  grep -v "await\|return\|const\|let\|if\|else\|=>"

Prevention:

1. ESLint rule @typescript-eslint/no-floating-promises - catches this at lint time
2. Code review trigger: Any line calling a function that might be async without await, return, or assignment

Pattern: Post-Condition Validation

Problem: Assuming an async call succeeded without verifying. The call might return early, throw silently, or fail to update state.

// Before (buggy) - assumed load worked
await loadData(id);
// Proceeded blindly with next steps...

// After (defensive)
await loadData(id);
const loaded = useStore.getState().data;
if (Object.keys(loaded).length === 0) {
  throw new Error(
    `Failed to load data for ${id} - cannot proceed`
  );
}

Principle: Treat every async call as potentially failed until proven otherwise.

When to validate:

• After loading data that subsequent operations depend on
• After state updates that must complete before continuing
• Before irreversible operations (submissions, deletions)

Pattern template:

await someAsyncOperation();
const result = getRelevantState();
if (!isValid(result)) {
  throw new Error(`[${functionName}] Post-condition failed: ${diagnosticContext}`);
}

Pattern: Async Function Identification

Problem: Not all async functions look async. Zustand actions, callbacks, and promise-returning functions may not have obvious async keywords.

Hidden async patterns:

// Obvious async
async function fetchData() { ... }

// Less obvious - returns Promise
function fetchData(): Promise<Data> { ... }

// Hidden - Zustand action that's actually async
const useStore = create((set, get) => ({
  // This looks sync but calls async internally
  enableFeature: (id: string) => {
    someAsyncSetup().then(() => {  // ← Hidden async!
      set({ features: [...get().features, id] });
    });
  },
}));

// Proper async Zustand action
const useStore = create((set, get) => ({
  enableFeature: async (id: string) => {
    await someAsyncSetup();
    set({ features: [...get().features, id] });
  },
}));

Detection: Check function signatures and implementations:

# Find functions returning Promise
grep -rn "): Promise<" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx"

# Find .then() chains that might need await
grep -rn "\.then(" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx"

Pattern: Sequential vs Parallel Async

Problem: Running async operations sequentially when they could be parallel (slow), or parallel when they must be sequential (race condition).

// Sequential - correct when order matters
await stepOne();
await stepTwo();
await stepThree();

// Parallel - correct when operations are independent
const [user, settings, history] = await Promise.all([
  fetchUser(id),
  fetchSettings(id),
  fetchHistory(id),
]);

// WRONG - parallel when order matters
await Promise.all([
  stepOne(),   // These have dependencies!
  stepTwo(),
]);

Decision framework:

Pattern: Async in useEffect

Problem: useEffect callbacks can't be async directly. Common mistakes with cleanup and race conditions.

// WRONG - useEffect can't be async
useEffect(async () => {
  const data = await fetchData();
  setData(data);
}, []);

// CORRECT - async function inside
useEffect(() => {
  async function load() {
    const data = await fetchData();
    setData(data);
  }
  load();
}, []);

// BETTER - with cleanup for race conditions
useEffect(() => {
  let cancelled = false;

  async function load() {
    const data = await fetchData();
    if (!cancelled) {
      setData(data);
    }
  }
  load();

  return () => {
    cancelled = true;
  };
}, [dependency]);

// BEST - use AbortController for fetch
useEffect(() => {
  const controller = new AbortController();

  async function load() {
    try {
      const response = await fetch(url, { signal: controller.signal });
      const data = await response.json();
      setData(data);
    } catch (error) {
      if (error.name !== 'AbortError') {
        setError(error);
      }
    }
  }
  load();

  return () => controller.abort();
}, [url]);

Pattern: React Query / TanStack Query

Problem: Manual async state management is error-prone. Use a library.

import { useQuery, useMutation, useQueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';

// Fetching data
function UserProfile({ userId }) {
  const { data, isLoading, error } = useQuery({
    queryKey: ['user', userId],
    queryFn: () => fetchUser(userId),
  });

  if (isLoading) return <Spinner />;
  if (error) return <Error error={error} />;
  return <Profile user={data} />;
}

// Mutations with cache invalidation
function UpdateUser() {
  const queryClient = useQueryClient();

  const mutation = useMutation({
    mutationFn: updateUser,
    onSuccess: () => {
      queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['user'] });
    },
  });

  return (
    <button onClick={() => mutation.mutate(userData)}>
      Save
    </button>
  );
}

ESLint Configuration

Add these rules to catch async issues at lint time:

{
  "rules": {
    "@typescript-eslint/no-floating-promises": "error",
    "@typescript-eslint/require-await": "warn",
    "@typescript-eslint/await-thenable": "error",
    "@typescript-eslint/no-misused-promises": "error"
  }
}

Required: @typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin and proper TypeScript configuration.

Code Review Checklist

When reviewing async code, check:

• Every async function call is either awaited, returned, or explicitly fire-and-forget with comment
• Operations that depend on each other are sequenced with await
• Post-conditions validated after critical async operations
• useEffect with async uses the inner function pattern
• Race conditions considered when component could unmount during async
• Error handling exists for async failures
• AbortController used for fetch calls that should be cancellable

Quick Debugging

When async timing issues occur:

// Add timestamps to trace execution order
console.log(`[${Date.now()}] Starting step 1`);
await stepOne();
console.log(`[${Date.now()}] Finished step 1`);
console.log(`[${Date.now()}] Starting step 2`);
await stepTwo();
console.log(`[${Date.now()}] Finished step 2`);

Look for:

• Operations finishing out of expected order
• Operations starting before previous ones complete
• Suspiciously fast "completions" (might not have awaited)