React State Management
Master modern React state with Redux Toolkit, Zustand, Jotai & React Query
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Master modern React state management with Redux Toolkit, Zustand, Jotai, and React Query. Use when setting up global state, managing server state, or choosing between state management solutions.
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User Prompt
I'm building a medium-sized e-commerce React app with user authentication, shopping cart, and product catalog. Help me choose the best state management approach.
Skill Processing
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Agent Response
Detailed recommendation with pros/cons of each solution, implementation strategy, and code examples tailored to your use case
Quick Start (3 Steps)
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Install
claude-code skill install react-state-management
claude-code skill install react-state-managementConfig
First Trigger
@react-state-management helpCommands
| Command | Description | Required Args |
|---|---|---|
| @react-state-management choosing-the-right-state-solution | Get guidance on selecting between Redux Toolkit, Zustand, or Jotai based on your app's complexity and requirements | None |
| @react-state-management implementing-global-state-with-typescript | Set up fully typed global state management with proper patterns and best practices | None |
| @react-state-management server-state-integration | Combine client state management with React Query for optimal server state handling | None |
Typical Use Cases
Choosing the Right State Solution
Get guidance on selecting between Redux Toolkit, Zustand, or Jotai based on your app's complexity and requirements
Implementing Global State with TypeScript
Set up fully typed global state management with proper patterns and best practices
Server State Integration
Combine client state management with React Query for optimal server state handling
Overview
React State Management
Comprehensive guide to modern React state management patterns, from local component state to global stores and server state synchronization.
When to Use This Skill
- Setting up global state management in a React app
- Choosing between Redux Toolkit, Zustand, or Jotai
- Managing server state with React Query or SWR
- Implementing optimistic updates
- Debugging state-related issues
- Migrating from legacy Redux to modern patterns
Core Concepts
1. State Categories
| Type | Description | Solutions |
|---|---|---|
| Local State | Component-specific, UI state | useState, useReducer |
| Global State | Shared across components | Redux Toolkit, Zustand, Jotai |
| Server State | Remote data, caching | React Query, SWR, RTK Query |
| URL State | Route parameters, search | React Router, nuqs |
| Form State | Input values, validation | React Hook Form, Formik |
2. Selection Criteria
Small app, simple state → Zustand or Jotai
Large app, complex state → Redux Toolkit
Heavy server interaction → React Query + light client state
Atomic/granular updates → Jotai
Quick Start
Zustand (Simplest)
1// store/useStore.ts
2import { create } from 'zustand'
3import { devtools, persist } from 'zustand/middleware'
4
5interface AppState {
6 user: User | null
7 theme: 'light' | 'dark'
8 setUser: (user: User | null) => void
9 toggleTheme: () => void
10}
11
12export const useStore = create<AppState>()(
13 devtools(
14 persist(
15 (set) => ({
16 user: null,
17 theme: 'light',
18 setUser: (user) => set({ user }),
19 toggleTheme: () => set((state) => ({
20 theme: state.theme === 'light' ? 'dark' : 'light'
21 })),
22 }),
23 { name: 'app-storage' }
24 )
25 )
26)
27
28// Usage in component
29function Header() {
30 const { user, theme, toggleTheme } = useStore()
31 return (
32 <header className={theme}>
33 {user?.name}
34 <button onClick={toggleTheme}>Toggle Theme</button>
35 </header>
36 )
37}
Patterns
Pattern 1: Redux Toolkit with TypeScript
1// store/index.ts
2import { configureStore } from "@reduxjs/toolkit";
3import { TypedUseSelectorHook, useDispatch, useSelector } from "react-redux";
4import userReducer from "./slices/userSlice";
5import cartReducer from "./slices/cartSlice";
6
7export const store = configureStore({
8 reducer: {
9 user: userReducer,
10 cart: cartReducer,
11 },
12 middleware: (getDefaultMiddleware) =>
13 getDefaultMiddleware({
14 serializableCheck: {
15 ignoredActions: ["persist/PERSIST"],
16 },
17 }),
18});
19
20export type RootState = ReturnType<typeof store.getState>;
21export type AppDispatch = typeof store.dispatch;
22
23// Typed hooks
24export const useAppDispatch: () => AppDispatch = useDispatch;
25export const useAppSelector: TypedUseSelectorHook<RootState> = useSelector;
1// store/slices/userSlice.ts
2import { createSlice, createAsyncThunk, PayloadAction } from "@reduxjs/toolkit";
3
4interface User {
5 id: string;
6 email: string;
7 name: string;
8}
9
10interface UserState {
11 current: User | null;
12 status: "idle" | "loading" | "succeeded" | "failed";
13 error: string | null;
14}
15
16const initialState: UserState = {
17 current: null,
18 status: "idle",
19 error: null,
20};
21
22export const fetchUser = createAsyncThunk(
23 "user/fetchUser",
24 async (userId: string, { rejectWithValue }) => {
25 try {
26 const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${userId}`);
27 if (!response.ok) throw new Error("Failed to fetch user");
28 return await response.json();
29 } catch (error) {
30 return rejectWithValue((error as Error).message);
31 }
32 },
33);
34
35const userSlice = createSlice({
36 name: "user",
37 initialState,
38 reducers: {
39 setUser: (state, action: PayloadAction<User>) => {
40 state.current = action.payload;
41 state.status = "succeeded";
42 },
43 clearUser: (state) => {
44 state.current = null;
45 state.status = "idle";
46 },
47 },
48 extraReducers: (builder) => {
49 builder
50 .addCase(fetchUser.pending, (state) => {
51 state.status = "loading";
52 state.error = null;
53 })
54 .addCase(fetchUser.fulfilled, (state, action) => {
55 state.status = "succeeded";
56 state.current = action.payload;
57 })
58 .addCase(fetchUser.rejected, (state, action) => {
59 state.status = "failed";
60 state.error = action.payload as string;
61 });
62 },
63});
64
65export const { setUser, clearUser } = userSlice.actions;
66export default userSlice.reducer;
Pattern 2: Zustand with Slices (Scalable)
1// store/slices/createUserSlice.ts
2import { StateCreator } from "zustand";
3
4export interface UserSlice {
5 user: User | null;
6 isAuthenticated: boolean;
7 login: (credentials: Credentials) => Promise<void>;
8 logout: () => void;
9}
10
11export const createUserSlice: StateCreator<
12 UserSlice & CartSlice, // Combined store type
13 [],
14 [],
15 UserSlice
16> = (set, get) => ({
17 user: null,
18 isAuthenticated: false,
19 login: async (credentials) => {
20 const user = await authApi.login(credentials);
21 set({ user, isAuthenticated: true });
22 },
23 logout: () => {
24 set({ user: null, isAuthenticated: false });
25 // Can access other slices
26 // get().clearCart()
27 },
28});
29
30// store/index.ts
31import { create } from "zustand";
32import { createUserSlice, UserSlice } from "./slices/createUserSlice";
33import { createCartSlice, CartSlice } from "./slices/createCartSlice";
34
35type StoreState = UserSlice & CartSlice;
36
37export const useStore = create<StoreState>()((...args) => ({
38 ...createUserSlice(...args),
39 ...createCartSlice(...args),
40}));
41
42// Selective subscriptions (prevents unnecessary re-renders)
43export const useUser = () => useStore((state) => state.user);
44export const useCart = () => useStore((state) => state.cart);
Pattern 3: Jotai for Atomic State
1// atoms/userAtoms.ts
2import { atom } from 'jotai'
3import { atomWithStorage } from 'jotai/utils'
4
5// Basic atom
6export const userAtom = atom<User | null>(null)
7
8// Derived atom (computed)
9export const isAuthenticatedAtom = atom((get) => get(userAtom) !== null)
10
11// Atom with localStorage persistence
12export const themeAtom = atomWithStorage<'light' | 'dark'>('theme', 'light')
13
14// Async atom
15export const userProfileAtom = atom(async (get) => {
16 const user = get(userAtom)
17 if (!user) return null
18 const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${user.id}/profile`)
19 return response.json()
20})
21
22// Write-only atom (action)
23export const logoutAtom = atom(null, (get, set) => {
24 set(userAtom, null)
25 set(cartAtom, [])
26 localStorage.removeItem('token')
27})
28
29// Usage
30function Profile() {
31 const [user] = useAtom(userAtom)
32 const [, logout] = useAtom(logoutAtom)
33 const [profile] = useAtom(userProfileAtom) // Suspense-enabled
34
35 return (
36 <Suspense fallback={<Skeleton />}>
37 <ProfileContent profile={profile} onLogout={logout} />
38 </Suspense>
39 )
40}
Pattern 4: React Query for Server State
1// hooks/useUsers.ts
2import { useQuery, useMutation, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
3
4// Query keys factory
5export const userKeys = {
6 all: ["users"] as const,
7 lists: () => [...userKeys.all, "list"] as const,
8 list: (filters: UserFilters) => [...userKeys.lists(), filters] as const,
9 details: () => [...userKeys.all, "detail"] as const,
10 detail: (id: string) => [...userKeys.details(), id] as const,
11};
12
13// Fetch hook
14export function useUsers(filters: UserFilters) {
15 return useQuery({
16 queryKey: userKeys.list(filters),
17 queryFn: () => fetchUsers(filters),
18 staleTime: 5 * 60 * 1000, // 5 minutes
19 gcTime: 30 * 60 * 1000, // 30 minutes (formerly cacheTime)
20 });
21}
22
23// Single user hook
24export function useUser(id: string) {
25 return useQuery({
26 queryKey: userKeys.detail(id),
27 queryFn: () => fetchUser(id),
28 enabled: !!id, // Don't fetch if no id
29 });
30}
31
32// Mutation with optimistic update
33export function useUpdateUser() {
34 const queryClient = useQueryClient();
35
36 return useMutation({
37 mutationFn: updateUser,
38 onMutate: async (newUser) => {
39 // Cancel outgoing refetches
40 await queryClient.cancelQueries({
41 queryKey: userKeys.detail(newUser.id),
42 });
43
44 // Snapshot previous value
45 const previousUser = queryClient.getQueryData(
46 userKeys.detail(newUser.id),
47 );
48
49 // Optimistically update
50 queryClient.setQueryData(userKeys.detail(newUser.id), newUser);
51
52 return { previousUser };
53 },
54 onError: (err, newUser, context) => {
55 // Rollback on error
56 queryClient.setQueryData(
57 userKeys.detail(newUser.id),
58 context?.previousUser,
59 );
60 },
61 onSettled: (data, error, variables) => {
62 // Refetch after mutation
63 queryClient.invalidateQueries({
64 queryKey: userKeys.detail(variables.id),
65 });
66 },
67 });
68}
Pattern 5: Combining Client + Server State
1// Zustand for client state
2const useUIStore = create<UIState>((set) => ({
3 sidebarOpen: true,
4 modal: null,
5 toggleSidebar: () => set((s) => ({ sidebarOpen: !s.sidebarOpen })),
6 openModal: (modal) => set({ modal }),
7 closeModal: () => set({ modal: null }),
8}))
9
10// React Query for server state
11function Dashboard() {
12 const { sidebarOpen, toggleSidebar } = useUIStore()
13 const { data: users, isLoading } = useUsers({ active: true })
14 const { data: stats } = useStats()
15
16 if (isLoading) return <DashboardSkeleton />
17
18 return (
19 <div className={sidebarOpen ? 'with-sidebar' : ''}>
20 <Sidebar open={sidebarOpen} onToggle={toggleSidebar} />
21 <main>
22 <StatsCards stats={stats} />
23 <UserTable users={users} />
24 </main>
25 </div>
26 )
27}
Best Practices
Do’s
- Colocate state - Keep state as close to where it’s used as possible
- Use selectors - Prevent unnecessary re-renders with selective subscriptions
- Normalize data - Flatten nested structures for easier updates
- Type everything - Full TypeScript coverage prevents runtime errors
- Separate concerns - Server state (React Query) vs client state (Zustand)
Don’ts
- Don’t over-globalize - Not everything needs to be in global state
- Don’t duplicate server state - Let React Query manage it
- Don’t mutate directly - Always use immutable updates
- Don’t store derived data - Compute it instead
- Don’t mix paradigms - Pick one primary solution per category
Migration Guides
From Legacy Redux to RTK
1// Before (legacy Redux)
2const ADD_TODO = "ADD_TODO";
3const addTodo = (text) => ({ type: ADD_TODO, payload: text });
4function todosReducer(state = [], action) {
5 switch (action.type) {
6 case ADD_TODO:
7 return [...state, { text: action.payload, completed: false }];
8 default:
9 return state;
10 }
11}
12
13// After (Redux Toolkit)
14const todosSlice = createSlice({
15 name: "todos",
16 initialState: [],
17 reducers: {
18 addTodo: (state, action: PayloadAction<string>) => {
19 // Immer allows "mutations"
20 state.push({ text: action.payload, completed: false });
21 },
22 },
23});
Resources
What Users Are Saying
Real feedback from the community
Environment Matrix
Dependencies
Framework Support
Context Window
Security & Privacy
Information
- Author
- wshobson
- Updated
- 2026-01-30
- Category
- full-stack
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