react-frontend-expert

React Frontend Expert

When to Use

Activate this skill when:

• Creating or modifying React components (functional components only)
• Writing custom hooks (useXxx)
• Building pages with routing
• Implementing data fetching with TanStack Query
• Handling forms with validation
• Setting up project structure for a React/TypeScript application

Do NOT use this skill for:

• Writing component or hook tests (use react-testing-patterns)
• E2E browser testing (use e2e-testing)
• API contract design (use api-design-patterns)
• Backend implementation (use python-backend-expert)
• Deployment or CI/CD (use deployment-pipeline)

Instructions

Project Structure

src/
├── api/                  # API client functions and query options
│   ├── client.ts         # Axios/fetch instance with interceptors
│   ├── users.ts          # User API functions + query options
│   └── posts.ts
├── components/           # Shared, reusable UI components
│   ├── Button.tsx
│   ├── Modal.tsx
│   ├── Table/
│   │   ├── Table.tsx
│   │   └── TablePagination.tsx
│   └── Form/
│       ├── Input.tsx
│       └── Select.tsx
├── features/             # Domain-specific feature components
│   ├── users/
│   │   ├── UserList.tsx
│   │   └── UserProfile.tsx
│   └── posts/
│       └── PostEditor.tsx
├── hooks/                # Custom hooks
│   ├── useAuth.ts
│   ├── useDebounce.ts
│   └── usePagination.ts
├── layouts/              # Layout components
│   ├── MainLayout.tsx
│   └── AuthLayout.tsx
├── pages/                # Route-level page components
│   ├── HomePage.tsx
│   ├── LoginPage.tsx
│   └── users/
│       ├── UserListPage.tsx
│       └── UserDetailPage.tsx
├── types/                # Shared TypeScript types
│   ├── api.ts            # API response types
│   └── user.ts
├── App.tsx               # Root component with providers and router
└── main.tsx              # Entry point

Component Structure

Functional Components Only

interface UserCardProps {
  user: User;
  onEdit: (userId: number) => void;
  showEmail?: boolean;
}

export function UserCard({ user, onEdit, showEmail = false }: UserCardProps) {
  return (
    <article className="user-card">
      <h3>{user.displayName}</h3>
      {showEmail && <p>{user.email}</p>}
      <button type="button" onClick={() => onEdit(user.id)}>
        Edit
      </button>
    </article>
  );
}

Component rules:

• Named exports for shared components: export function Button
• Default exports for page components: export default function UserListPage
• Props interface named {Component}Props
• Destructure props in function signature
• Keep components under 200 lines — extract sub-components or hooks when larger
• Use children and composition over deep prop drilling
• Never use React.FC — use plain function syntax

Component File Organization

For complex components, co-locate related files:

UserProfile/
├── UserProfile.tsx       # Main component
├── UserProfile.css       # Styles (or .module.css)
├── UserAvatar.tsx        # Sub-component
└── index.ts              # Re-export: export { UserProfile } from './UserProfile'

Hooks Rules and Custom Hooks

Rules of Hooks

1. Only call hooks at the top level — never inside loops, conditions, or nested functions
2. Only call hooks from React function components or custom hooks
3. Custom hooks must start with use

Custom Hook Patterns

useDebounce:

export function useDebounce<T>(value: T, delayMs: number): T {
  const [debouncedValue, setDebouncedValue] = useState(value);

  useEffect(() => {
    const timer = setTimeout(() => setDebouncedValue(value), delayMs);
    return () => clearTimeout(timer);
  }, [value, delayMs]);

  return debouncedValue;
}

useAuth:

interface AuthContext {
  user: User | null;
  isAuthenticated: boolean;
  login: (credentials: LoginCredentials) => Promise<void>;
  logout: () => void;
}

const AuthContext = createContext<AuthContext | null>(null);

export function useAuth(): AuthContext {
  const context = useContext(AuthContext);
  if (!context) {
    throw new Error("useAuth must be used within AuthProvider");
  }
  return context;
}

usePagination:

interface PaginationState {
  cursor: string | null;
  hasMore: boolean;
  goToNext: (nextCursor: string) => void;
  reset: () => void;
}

export function usePagination(): PaginationState {
  const [cursor, setCursor] = useState<string | null>(null);
  const [hasMore, setHasMore] = useState(true);

  return {
    cursor,
    hasMore,
    goToNext: (nextCursor: string) => {
      setCursor(nextCursor);
    },
    reset: () => {
      setCursor(null);
      setHasMore(true);
    },
  };
}

When to extract a custom hook:

• Logic is reused across 2+ components
• Component has complex state management (>3 useState calls)
• Side effects need encapsulation (subscriptions, timers)
• Data fetching logic can be shared

Data Fetching with TanStack Query

Query Options Factory (Recommended)

Centralize query key and function definitions to prevent key collisions:

// api/users.ts
import { queryOptions } from "@tanstack/react-query";

export const userQueries = {
  all: () =>
    queryOptions({
      queryKey: ["users"],
      queryFn: () => apiClient.get<UserListResponse>("/users"),
    }),

  detail: (userId: number) =>
    queryOptions({
      queryKey: ["users", userId],
      queryFn: () => apiClient.get<UserResponse>(`/users/${userId}`),
    }),

  search: (query: string) =>
    queryOptions({
      queryKey: ["users", "search", query],
      queryFn: () => apiClient.get<UserListResponse>(`/users?q=${query}`),
      enabled: query.length > 0,
    }),
};

Using Queries in Components

export function UserDetailPage({ userId }: { userId: number }) {
  const { data: user, isPending, isError, error } = useQuery(
    userQueries.detail(userId)
  );

  if (isPending) return <Spinner />;
  if (isError) return <ErrorMessage error={error} />;

  return <UserProfile user={user} />;
}

Mutations with Cache Invalidation

export function useCreateUser() {
  const queryClient = useQueryClient();

  return useMutation({
    mutationFn: (data: UserCreate) =>
      apiClient.post<UserResponse>("/users", data),
    onSuccess: () => {
      queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ["users"] });
    },
  });
}

TanStack Query rules:

• Set staleTime > 0 (default 0 is too aggressive): staleTime: 5 * 60 * 1000 (5 min)
• Use invalidateQueries() after mutations — never manual refetch()
• Handle all states: isPending, isError, data
• Use queryOptions() factory — prevents key typos and duplication
• Use enabled to prevent queries from running with incomplete parameters

TypeScript Conventions

// Use `interface` for object shapes (components props, API responses)
interface User {
  id: number;
  email: string;
  displayName: string;
  role: "admin" | "editor" | "member";
}

// Use `type` for unions, intersections, and computed types
type UserRole = User["role"];
type CreateOrUpdate = UserCreate | UserUpdate;

// Discriminated unions for state machines
type AsyncState<T> =
  | { status: "idle" }
  | { status: "loading" }
  | { status: "success"; data: T }
  | { status: "error"; error: Error };

TypeScript rules:

• Enable strict: true in tsconfig.json — no exceptions
• Never use any — use unknown for truly unknown types
• Use as const for literal object types
• Prefer interface for extensible types, type for everything else
• Use generics for reusable utility types and hooks
• Export types from types/ directory for shared use

Form Handling

import { useForm } from "react-hook-form";
import { zodResolver } from "@hookform/resolvers/zod";
import { z } from "zod";

const userSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email("Invalid email"),
  displayName: z.string().min(1, "Required").max(100),
  role: z.enum(["admin", "editor", "member"]),
});

type UserFormData = z.infer<typeof userSchema>;

export function UserForm({ onSubmit }: { onSubmit: (data: UserFormData) => void }) {
  const {
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors, isSubmitting },
  } = useForm<UserFormData>({
    resolver: zodResolver(userSchema),
  });

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit(onSubmit)} noValidate>
      <label htmlFor="email">Email</label>
      <input id="email" type="email" {...register("email")} aria-invalid={!!errors.email} />
      {errors.email && <span role="alert">{errors.email.message}</span>}

      <label htmlFor="displayName">Name</label>
      <input id="displayName" {...register("displayName")} aria-invalid={!!errors.displayName} />
      {errors.displayName && <span role="alert">{errors.displayName.message}</span>}

      <button type="submit" disabled={isSubmitting}>Save</button>
    </form>
  );
}

Accessibility Requirements

Every component must meet WCAG 2.1 AA:

1. Semantic HTML first: Use <button>, <nav>, <main>, <article> — not <div onClick>
2. Labels: Every form input has a <label> with matching htmlFor/id
3. ARIA only when needed: aria-label for icon-only buttons, aria-live for dynamic updates, role="alert" for errors
4. Keyboard navigation: All interactive elements reachable via Tab, activatable via Enter/Space
5. Focus management: Set focus to main content on route change, trap focus in modals
6. Color contrast: Minimum 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text
7. Alt text: All <img> tags have descriptive alt (or alt="" for decorative images)

Examples

User List Page with Search and Pagination

export default function UserListPage() {
  const [search, setSearch] = useState("");
  const debouncedSearch = useDebounce(search, 300);
  const pagination = usePagination();

  const { data, isPending } = useQuery(
    userQueries.list({ q: debouncedSearch, cursor: pagination.cursor })
  );

  return (
    <main>
      <h1>Users</h1>
      <input
        type="search"
        value={search}
        onChange={(e) => { setSearch(e.target.value); pagination.reset(); }}
        placeholder="Search users..."
        aria-label="Search users"
      />
      {isPending ? <Spinner /> : (
        <>
          <UserTable users={data.items} />
          {data.hasMore && (
            <button onClick={() => pagination.goToNext(data.nextCursor)}>
              Load more
            </button>
          )}
        </>
      )}
    </main>
  );
}

Edge Cases

• Stale closures in hooks: When using callbacks that reference state, use useRef for mutable values that change frequently, or include dependencies in useCallback/useEffect arrays.

• TanStack Query key collisions: Structure keys hierarchically: ["users"] for list, ["users", id] for detail, ["users", { q, page }] for filtered list. Use queryOptions() factory to centralize key definitions.

• Infinite re-renders: Common causes: missing dependency arrays, creating new objects/arrays in render (wrap in useMemo), state updates in useEffect without proper conditions.

• Hydration mismatches: Avoid rendering content that depends on browser-only APIs (window, localStorage) during initial render. Use useEffect or check typeof window !== "undefined".

• Memory leaks: Cancel async operations in useEffect cleanup. TanStack Query handles this automatically for queries.

See references/component-templates.md for annotated component templates. See references/tanstack-query-patterns.md for CRUD query patterns.