client-state-management

Client-Side State Management

Decision: Library Selection

Need	Use	Why
Simple shared state, <5 consumers	Context API	Zero dependencies, built-in
Medium complexity, performance matters	Zustand	1.5kb, no boilerplate, auto re-render optimization
Large app, strict patterns needed	Redux Toolkit	DevTools, middleware ecosystem, time-travel
Fine-grained reactivity, atoms	Jotai	Bottom-up, minimal re-renders, composable
Server state (fetching/caching)	React Query or SWR	Deduplication, background refresh, cache

Decision: Global vs Local State

Keep Local (useState/useReducer):

• Form input values before submission
• UI state (open/closed, hover, focus)
• Component-specific loading/error states

Promote to Global:

• User session/auth
• Theme/locale preferences
• Data shared across 3+ unrelated components
• State that must survive navigation

State Normalization

Flatten nested data to avoid update complexity:

// Bad: nested
{ posts: [{ id: 1, author: { id: 1, name: 'Jo' }, comments: [...] }] }

// Good: normalized
{
  posts: { byId: { 1: { id: 1, authorId: 1, commentIds: [1,2] } }, allIds: [1] },
  users: { byId: { 1: { id: 1, name: 'Jo' } } },
  comments: { byId: { 1: {...}, 2: {...} } }
}

Optimistic Updates Pattern

Update UI immediately, rollback on error:

// React Query
useMutation({
  mutationFn: updateTodo,
  onMutate: async (newTodo) => {
    await queryClient.cancelQueries({ queryKey: ['todos'] })
    const previous = queryClient.getQueryData(['todos'])
    queryClient.setQueryData(['todos'], old => [...old, newTodo])
    return { previous }
  },
  onError: (err, newTodo, context) => {
    queryClient.setQueryData(['todos'], context.previous)
  },
  onSettled: () => queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['todos'] })
})

State Persistence

// Zustand with persist middleware
import { create } from 'zustand'
import { persist, createJSONStorage } from 'zustand/middleware'

const useStore = create(
  persist(
    (set) => ({ theme: 'light', setTheme: (t) => set({ theme: t }) }),
    {
      name: 'app-settings',
      storage: createJSONStorage(() => localStorage), // or sessionStorage
      partialize: (state) => ({ theme: state.theme }) // persist only specific keys
    }
  )
)

Performance: Selector Patterns

Prevent unnecessary re-renders by selecting only needed state:

// Zustand - component only re-renders when `count` changes
const count = useStore((state) => state.count)

// Jotai - selectAtom for derived slices
const nameAtom = selectAtom(userAtom, (user) => user.name)

// React Query - select option
useQuery({
  queryKey: ['user'],
  queryFn: fetchUser,
  select: (data) => data.name // component only gets name
})

Reference Files

• zustand-patterns.md: Store setup, middleware composition, TypeScript patterns
• server-state.md: React Query/SWR configuration, caching strategies, mutation patterns
• context-patterns.md: Context setup, optimization techniques

Performance Checklist

• Selectors return minimal data needed
• Memoize selectors with expensive computations
• Split stores by domain (don't put everything in one store)
• Use shallow comparison for object selections in Zustand
• Set appropriate staleTime/cacheTime for server state
• Avoid storing derived state (compute from source)