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react-best-practices skill

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This skill helps optimize React and Next.js performance by applying Vercel best practices across components, pages, and data fetching.

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SKILL.md
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---
name: vercel-react-best-practices
description: React and Next.js performance optimization guidelines from Vercel Engineering. This skill should be used when writing, reviewing, or refactoring React/Next.js code to ensure optimal performance patterns. Triggers on tasks involving React components, Next.js pages, data fetching, bundle optimization, or performance improvements.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: vercel
  version: "1.0.0"
---

# Vercel React Best Practices

Comprehensive performance optimization guide for React and Next.js applications, maintained by Vercel. Contains 57 rules across 8 categories, prioritized by impact to guide automated refactoring and code generation.

## When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:
- Writing new React components or Next.js pages
- Implementing data fetching (client or server-side)
- Reviewing code for performance issues
- Refactoring existing React/Next.js code
- Optimizing bundle size or load times

## Rule Categories by Priority

| Priority | Category | Impact | Prefix |
|----------|----------|--------|--------|
| 1 | Eliminating Waterfalls | CRITICAL | `async-` |
| 2 | Bundle Size Optimization | CRITICAL | `bundle-` |
| 3 | Server-Side Performance | HIGH | `server-` |
| 4 | Client-Side Data Fetching | MEDIUM-HIGH | `client-` |
| 5 | Re-render Optimization | MEDIUM | `rerender-` |
| 6 | Rendering Performance | MEDIUM | `rendering-` |
| 7 | JavaScript Performance | LOW-MEDIUM | `js-` |
| 8 | Advanced Patterns | LOW | `advanced-` |

## Quick Reference

### 1. Eliminating Waterfalls (CRITICAL)

- `async-defer-await` - Move await into branches where actually used
- `async-parallel` - Use Promise.all() for independent operations
- `async-dependencies` - Use better-all for partial dependencies
- `async-api-routes` - Start promises early, await late in API routes
- `async-suspense-boundaries` - Use Suspense to stream content

### 2. Bundle Size Optimization (CRITICAL)

- `bundle-barrel-imports` - Import directly, avoid barrel files
- `bundle-dynamic-imports` - Use next/dynamic for heavy components
- `bundle-defer-third-party` - Load analytics/logging after hydration
- `bundle-conditional` - Load modules only when feature is activated
- `bundle-preload` - Preload on hover/focus for perceived speed

### 3. Server-Side Performance (HIGH)

- `server-auth-actions` - Authenticate server actions like API routes
- `server-cache-react` - Use React.cache() for per-request deduplication
- `server-cache-lru` - Use LRU cache for cross-request caching
- `server-dedup-props` - Avoid duplicate serialization in RSC props
- `server-serialization` - Minimize data passed to client components
- `server-parallel-fetching` - Restructure components to parallelize fetches
- `server-after-nonblocking` - Use after() for non-blocking operations

### 4. Client-Side Data Fetching (MEDIUM-HIGH)

- `client-swr-dedup` - Use SWR for automatic request deduplication
- `client-event-listeners` - Deduplicate global event listeners
- `client-passive-event-listeners` - Use passive listeners for scroll
- `client-localstorage-schema` - Version and minimize localStorage data

### 5. Re-render Optimization (MEDIUM)

- `rerender-defer-reads` - Don't subscribe to state only used in callbacks
- `rerender-memo` - Extract expensive work into memoized components
- `rerender-memo-with-default-value` - Hoist default non-primitive props
- `rerender-dependencies` - Use primitive dependencies in effects
- `rerender-derived-state` - Subscribe to derived booleans, not raw values
- `rerender-derived-state-no-effect` - Derive state during render, not effects
- `rerender-functional-setstate` - Use functional setState for stable callbacks
- `rerender-lazy-state-init` - Pass function to useState for expensive values
- `rerender-simple-expression-in-memo` - Avoid memo for simple primitives
- `rerender-move-effect-to-event` - Put interaction logic in event handlers
- `rerender-transitions` - Use startTransition for non-urgent updates
- `rerender-use-ref-transient-values` - Use refs for transient frequent values

### 6. Rendering Performance (MEDIUM)

- `rendering-animate-svg-wrapper` - Animate div wrapper, not SVG element
- `rendering-content-visibility` - Use content-visibility for long lists
- `rendering-hoist-jsx` - Extract static JSX outside components
- `rendering-svg-precision` - Reduce SVG coordinate precision
- `rendering-hydration-no-flicker` - Use inline script for client-only data
- `rendering-hydration-suppress-warning` - Suppress expected mismatches
- `rendering-activity` - Use Activity component for show/hide
- `rendering-conditional-render` - Use ternary, not && for conditionals
- `rendering-usetransition-loading` - Prefer useTransition for loading state

### 7. JavaScript Performance (LOW-MEDIUM)

- `js-batch-dom-css` - Group CSS changes via classes or cssText
- `js-index-maps` - Build Map for repeated lookups
- `js-cache-property-access` - Cache object properties in loops
- `js-cache-function-results` - Cache function results in module-level Map
- `js-cache-storage` - Cache localStorage/sessionStorage reads
- `js-combine-iterations` - Combine multiple filter/map into one loop
- `js-length-check-first` - Check array length before expensive comparison
- `js-early-exit` - Return early from functions
- `js-hoist-regexp` - Hoist RegExp creation outside loops
- `js-min-max-loop` - Use loop for min/max instead of sort
- `js-set-map-lookups` - Use Set/Map for O(1) lookups
- `js-tosorted-immutable` - Use toSorted() for immutability

### 8. Advanced Patterns (LOW)

- `advanced-event-handler-refs` - Store event handlers in refs
- `advanced-init-once` - Initialize app once per app load
- `advanced-use-latest` - useLatest for stable callback refs

## How to Use

Read individual rule files for detailed explanations and code examples:

```
rules/async-parallel.md
rules/bundle-barrel-imports.md
```

Each rule file contains:
- Brief explanation of why it matters
- Incorrect code example with explanation
- Correct code example with explanation
- Additional context and references

## Full Compiled Document

For the complete guide with all rules expanded: `AGENTS.md`

Overview

This skill provides Vercel Engineering's React and Next.js performance optimization guidelines to apply when writing, reviewing, or refactoring frontend code. It prioritizes 57 actionable rules across categories like eliminating waterfalls, bundle size, server performance, and re-rendering. Use it to enforce high-impact patterns that reduce load time, server cost, and runtime work.

How this skill works

The skill inspects tasks related to React components, Next.js pages, data fetching, and bundle behavior and matches them to prioritized rules (async-, bundle-, server-, client-, rerender-, rendering-, js-, advanced-). For each matched rule it recommends concrete changes: code patterns to avoid, preferred replacements, and where to apply them (server vs client, build vs runtime). It emphasizes high-impact fixes first (waterfalls and bundle size) and includes examples and migration guidance.

When to use it

  • Writing new React components or Next.js pages
  • Implementing or changing data fetching (client or server)
  • Reviewing pull requests for performance regressions
  • Refactoring code to reduce bundle size or server cost
  • Improving perceived or actual load times

Best practices

  • Eliminate waterfall fetches: start promises early and await only when needed; parallelize independent requests with Promise.all.
  • Optimize bundle surface: import modules directly, defer heavy or third-party code with dynamic imports, and conditionally load features.
  • Limit client payloads: serialize minimal data to client components and cache server-side results where appropriate.
  • Avoid unnecessary re-renders: memoize expensive subtrees, hoist stable defaults, and derive booleans during render rather than effects.
  • Prefer non-blocking server patterns: use React.cache, LRU caches for cross-request reuse, and after()-style non-blocking work for background tasks.

Example use cases

  • Refactor a page that makes sequential API calls into parallel fetches to cut TTFB.
  • Replace a large analytics bundle with a deferred dynamic import that loads post-hydration.
  • Convert frequently re-rendering list items into memoized components and use content-visibility for long lists.
  • Move authentication and heavy serialization to server actions and serialize only minimal props to the client.
  • Add SWR deduplication to client-side hooks to avoid duplicate network requests during rapid interactions.

FAQ

Which rules should I apply first?

Start with CRITICAL categories: eliminating waterfalls and bundle size optimization, then address high-impact server-side rules before client and UI micro-optimizations.

Are these rules prescriptive for all apps?

They are prioritized guidelines. Apply high-impact rules broadly, but adapt lower-priority and advanced patterns to your app’s constraints and team trade-offs.