React Development

This skill provides guidance for building applications with React, focusing on always using the latest version and modern patterns.

Philosophy: Prefer Server Components by default. Use modern hooks (useActionState, useOptimistic). Leverage the React Compiler for automatic optimization.

Quick Reference

Component Types

Server Components (Default in App Router)

// No directive needed - server by default
async function UserProfile({ userId }: { userId: string }) {
  const user = await db.users.find(userId)

  return (
    <div className="profile">
      <h1>{user.name}</h1>
      <p>{user.email}</p>
    </div>
  )
}

Server Components can:

• Use async/await
• Access databases directly
• Read files from filesystem
• Keep secrets server-side

Server Components cannot:

• Use useState, useEffect
• Add event handlers
• Access browser APIs

Client Components

'use client'

import { useState } from 'react'

export function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0)

  return (
    <button onClick={() => setCount(c => c + 1)}>
      Count: {count}
    </button>
  )
}

Use Client Components when you need:

• Interactivity (onClick, onChange)
• Browser APIs (localStorage, window)
• React hooks (useState, useEffect)

Modern Hooks

useActionState

Handle form actions with loading and error states:

'use client'

import { useActionState } from 'react'

interface FormState {
  error: string | null
  success: boolean
}

async function submitForm(prevState: FormState, formData: FormData): Promise<FormState> {
  const email = formData.get('email') as string

  if (!email.includes('@')) {
    return { error: 'Invalid email', success: false }
  }

  await saveEmail(email)
  return { error: null, success: true }
}

export function EmailForm() {
  const [state, formAction, isPending] = useActionState(submitForm, {
    error: null,
    success: false
  })

  return (
    <form action={formAction}>
      <input
        name="email"
        type="email"
        disabled={isPending}
        placeholder="Enter email"
      />
      <button type="submit" disabled={isPending}>
        {isPending ? 'Submitting...' : 'Submit'}
      </button>

      {state.error && <p className="text-red-500">{state.error}</p>}
      {state.success && <p className="text-green-500">Success!</p>}
    </form>
  )
}

useOptimistic

Provide instant UI feedback while async operations complete:

'use client'

import { useOptimistic, useTransition } from 'react'

interface Message {
  id: string
  text: string
  sending?: boolean
}

export function MessageList({
  messages,
  sendMessage
}: {
  messages: Message[]
  sendMessage: (text: string) => Promise<void>
}) {
  const [optimisticMessages, addOptimisticMessage] = useOptimistic(
    messages,
    (state, newMessage: Message) => [...state, { ...newMessage, sending: true }]
  )

  const [, startTransition] = useTransition()

  async function handleSubmit(formData: FormData) {
    const text = formData.get('text') as string

    // Instantly show the message
    addOptimisticMessage({ id: `temp-${Date.now()}`, text })

    // Then actually send it
    startTransition(async () => {
      await sendMessage(text)
    })
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <ul>
        {optimisticMessages.map(msg => (
          <li
            key={msg.id}
            className={msg.sending ? 'opacity-50' : ''}
          >
            {msg.text}
            {msg.sending && <span className="ml-2">Sending...</span>}
          </li>
        ))}
      </ul>

      <form action={handleSubmit}>
        <input name="text" placeholder="Type a message" />
        <button type="submit">Send</button>
      </form>
    </div>
  )
}

use() Hook

Read promises and context directly in render:

import { use, Suspense } from 'react'

// Reading a promise
function UserName({ userPromise }: { userPromise: Promise<User> }) {
  const user = use(userPromise)
  return <h1>{user.name}</h1>
}

export function UserProfile({ userId }: { userId: string }) {
  const userPromise = fetchUser(userId) // Start fetching

  return (
    <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
      <UserName userPromise={userPromise} />
    </Suspense>
  )
}

// Reading context (replaces useContext)
import { ThemeContext } from './theme'

function ThemedButton() {
  const theme = use(ThemeContext)
  return <button className={theme.buttonClass}>Click me</button>
}

React Compiler

Enable automatic memoization without manual useMemo/useCallback:

// next.config.ts
const nextConfig = {
  experimental: {
    reactCompiler: true
  }
}

Before (manual memoization):

const ExpensiveComponent = memo(function ExpensiveComponent({ data }) {
  const processedData = useMemo(() => expensiveProcess(data), [data])
  const handleClick = useCallback(() => doSomething(data), [data])

  return <div onClick={handleClick}>{processedData}</div>
})

After (React Compiler handles it):

function ExpensiveComponent({ data }) {
  const processedData = expensiveProcess(data)
  const handleClick = () => doSomething(data)

  return <div onClick={handleClick}>{processedData}</div>
}

Component Patterns

Composition Over Props

// Instead of prop drilling
function Card({ title, subtitle, children, footer }) {
  return (
    <div className="card">
      <h2>{title}</h2>
      <p>{subtitle}</p>
      {children}
      <div>{footer}</div>
    </div>
  )
}

// Use composition
function Card({ children }) {
  return <div className="card">{children}</div>
}

Card.Header = function Header({ children }) {
  return <div className="card-header">{children}</div>
}

Card.Body = function Body({ children }) {
  return <div className="card-body">{children}</div>
}

Card.Footer = function Footer({ children }) {
  return <div className="card-footer">{children}</div>
}

// Usage
<Card>
  <Card.Header>
    <h2>Title</h2>
  </Card.Header>
  <Card.Body>Content here</Card.Body>
  <Card.Footer>
    <button>Action</button>
  </Card.Footer>
</Card>

Render Props

interface MousePosition {
  x: number
  y: number
}

function MouseTracker({
  children
}: {
  children: (position: MousePosition) => React.ReactNode
}) {
  const [position, setPosition] = useState({ x: 0, y: 0 })

  useEffect(() => {
    const handleMove = (e: MouseEvent) => {
      setPosition({ x: e.clientX, y: e.clientY })
    }
    window.addEventListener('mousemove', handleMove)
    return () => window.removeEventListener('mousemove', handleMove)
  }, [])

  return <>{children(position)}</>
}

// Usage
<MouseTracker>
  {({ x, y }) => <div>Mouse: {x}, {y}</div>}
</MouseTracker>

Server/Client Boundary

// Server Component (fetches data)
async function Dashboard() {
  const stats = await fetchStats()
  const activities = await fetchActivities()

  return (
    <div>
      <StatsCards stats={stats} />           {/* Server */}
      <InteractiveChart data={stats} />      {/* Client */}
      <ActivityFeed activities={activities} /> {/* Server */}
      <FilterPanel />                         {/* Client */}
    </div>
  )
}

// Client Component (interactive)
'use client'
function InteractiveChart({ data }) {
  const [range, setRange] = useState('7d')
  // Chart logic...
}

Refs in React 19

Direct Ref Prop (No More forwardRef)

// React 19: Direct ref prop
function Input({ ref, ...props }) {
  return <input ref={ref} {...props} />
}

// Usage
function Form() {
  const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null)

  return <Input ref={inputRef} placeholder="Name" />
}

Cleanup Functions

function Component() {
  const ref = useCallback((node: HTMLDivElement | null) => {
    if (node) {
      // Setup
      const observer = new IntersectionObserver(...)
      observer.observe(node)

      // Cleanup (new in React 19)
      return () => observer.disconnect()
    }
  }, [])

  return <div ref={ref}>Observed</div>
}

Context

Creating Context

import { createContext, use } from 'react'

interface User {
  id: string
  name: string
}

const UserContext = createContext<User | null>(null)

function UserProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  const [user, setUser] = useState<User | null>(null)

  return (
    <UserContext value={user}>
      {children}
    </UserContext>
  )
}

Consuming Context (Modern)

function UserProfile() {
  const user = use(UserContext)

  if (!user) return <div>Please log in</div>

  return <div>Hello, {user.name}</div>
}

Error Boundaries

'use client'

import { Component, type ReactNode } from 'react'

interface Props {
  children: ReactNode
  fallback: ReactNode
}

interface State {
  hasError: boolean
}

class ErrorBoundary extends Component<Props, State> {
  state = { hasError: false }

  static getDerivedStateFromError() {
    return { hasError: true }
  }

  render() {
    if (this.state.hasError) {
      return this.props.fallback
    }
    return this.props.children
  }
}

// Usage
<ErrorBoundary fallback={<div>Something went wrong</div>}>
  <RiskyComponent />
</ErrorBoundary>

Additional Resources

For detailed patterns, see reference files:

• references/hooks.md - Complete hooks reference
• references/server-components.md - RSC patterns and best practices