useAsyncEffect

About

A version of useEffect that accepts an async function and provides safe handling of asynchronous operations in React components. This hook solves the common problem of race conditions and memory leaks that occur when using async functions directly inside useEffect.

The standard useEffect hook only works with synchronous effect functions. While you can run async functions inside useEffect, this approach has several gotchas involving React state manipulation, race conditions, and cleanup. useAsyncEffect provides a safer alternative with built-in race condition prevention and proper cleanup handling.

Examples

Basic async data fetching

import { useAsyncEffect } from "rooks";
import { useState } from "react";
 
export default function UserProfile({ userId }) {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
 
  useAsyncEffect(
    async (shouldContinueEffect) => {
      setLoading(true);
      
      try {
        const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${userId}`);
        const userData = await response.json();
        
        // Only update state if the effect hasn't been cancelled
        if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
          setUser(userData);
          setLoading(false);
        }
      } catch (error) {
        if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
          console.error("Failed to fetch user:", error);
          setLoading(false);
        }
      }
    },
    [userId] // Re-run when userId changes
  );
 
  if (loading) return <div>Loading...</div>;
  if (!user) return <div>User not found</div>;
 
  return (
    <div>
      <h2>{user.name}</h2>
      <p>{user.email}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

Preventing race conditions with multiple async calls

import { useAsyncEffect } from "rooks";
import { useState } from "react";
 
export default function SearchResults({ query }) {
  const [results, setResults] = useState([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false);
 
  useAsyncEffect(
    async (shouldContinueEffect) => {
      if (!query.trim()) {
        setResults([]);
        return;
      }
 
      setLoading(true);
 
      // First API call
      const searchResponse = await fetch(`/api/search?q=${query}`);
      const searchData = await searchResponse.json();
      
      // Check if we should continue before making the second call
      if (!shouldContinueEffect()) return;
 
      // Second API call to get detailed information
      const detailsPromises = searchData.results.map(item =>
        fetch(`/api/details/${item.id}`).then(res => res.json())
      );
      
      const detailedResults = await Promise.all(detailsPromises);
      
      // Final check before updating state
      if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
        setResults(detailedResults);
        setLoading(false);
      }
    },
    [query]
  );
 
  return (
    <div>
      {loading && <div>Searching...</div>}
      <div>
        {results.map(result => (
          <div key={result.id}>
            <h3>{result.title}</h3>
            <p>{result.description}</p>
          </div>
        ))}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Using cleanup function for resource management

import { useAsyncEffect } from "rooks";
import { useState } from "react";
 
export default function DataStream({ endpoint }) {
  const [data, setData] = useState([]);
  const [status, setStatus] = useState('disconnected');
 
  useAsyncEffect(
    async (shouldContinueEffect) => {
      // Create WebSocket connection
      const ws = new WebSocket(endpoint);
      setStatus('connecting');
 
      return new Promise((resolve) => {
        ws.onopen = () => {
          if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
            setStatus('connected');
          }
        };
 
        ws.onmessage = (event) => {
          if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
            const newData = JSON.parse(event.data);
            setData(prev => [...prev, newData]);
          }
        };
 
        ws.onclose = () => {
          if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
            setStatus('disconnected');
          }
          resolve(ws); // Return the WebSocket for cleanup
        };
 
        ws.onerror = (error) => {
          if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
            console.error('WebSocket error:', error);
            setStatus('error');
          }
          resolve(ws);
        };
      });
    },
    [endpoint],
    (webSocket) => {
      // Cleanup function: close the WebSocket connection
      if (webSocket && webSocket.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN) {
        webSocket.close();
      }
      setStatus('disconnected');
    }
  );
 
  return (
    <div>
      <div>Status: {status}</div>
      <div>
        {data.map((item, index) => (
          <div key={index}>{JSON.stringify(item)}</div>
        ))}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Advanced example with error handling and conditional execution

import { useAsyncEffect } from "rooks";
import { useState } from "react";
 
export default function DataDashboard({ filters, refreshInterval }) {
  const [data, setData] = useState(null);
  const [error, setError] = useState(null);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false);
  const [lastUpdated, setLastUpdated] = useState(null);
 
  useAsyncEffect(
    async (shouldContinueEffect) => {
      setLoading(true);
      setError(null);
 
      try {
        // Fetch initial data
        const response = await fetch('/api/dashboard', {
          method: 'POST',
          headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
          body: JSON.stringify(filters)
        });
 
        if (!response.ok) {
          throw new Error(`HTTP error! status: ${response.status}`);
        }
 
        const initialData = await response.json();
        
        if (!shouldContinueEffect()) return;
 
        setData(initialData);
        setLastUpdated(new Date());
        setLoading(false);
 
        // Set up periodic refresh if refreshInterval is provided
        if (refreshInterval > 0) {
          const intervalId = setInterval(async () => {
            if (!shouldContinueEffect()) {
              clearInterval(intervalId);
              return;
            }
 
            try {
              const refreshResponse = await fetch('/api/dashboard', {
                method: 'POST',
                headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
                body: JSON.stringify(filters)
              });
 
              if (refreshResponse.ok && shouldContinueEffect()) {
                const refreshedData = await refreshResponse.json();
                setData(refreshedData);
                setLastUpdated(new Date());
              }
            } catch (refreshError) {
              if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
                console.warn('Failed to refresh data:', refreshError);
              }
            }
          }, refreshInterval);
 
          // Return the interval ID for cleanup
          return intervalId;
        }
      } catch (err) {
        if (shouldContinueEffect()) {
          setError(err.message);
          setLoading(false);
        }
      }
    },
    [filters, refreshInterval],
    (intervalId) => {
      // Cleanup function: clear the interval if it exists
      if (intervalId) {
        clearInterval(intervalId);
      }
    }
  );
 
  if (loading && !data) return <div>Loading dashboard...</div>;
  if (error) return <div>Error: {error}</div>;
 
  return (
    <div>
      {lastUpdated && (
        <div>Last updated: {lastUpdated.toLocaleTimeString()}</div>
      )}
      {loading && <div>Refreshing...</div>}
      {data && (
        <div>
          <h2>Dashboard Data</h2>
          <pre>{JSON.stringify(data, null, 2)}</pre>
        </div>
      )}
    </div>
  );
}

Arguments

Argument	Type	Description	Default
effect	Function	Async function that receives `shouldContinueEffect` callback	Required
deps	DependencyList	Array of dependencies that trigger effect re-execution	Required
cleanup	Function	Optional cleanup function called with the previous effect result	undefined

Effect Function

The effect function receives a shouldContinueEffect callback that should be used to check if the effect is still valid before updating state or performing side effects. This prevents race conditions and memory leaks.

Effect Function Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
shouldContinueEffect	Function	Returns `true` if the effect is still valid and should continue

Effect Function Return Value

The effect function can optionally return a value that will be passed to the cleanup function when the effect is cleaned up or re-run.

Cleanup Function

The cleanup function is called when:

The component unmounts
The dependencies change and the effect needs to re-run
The component re-renders and the effect is cancelled

Cleanup Function Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
result	Any	The value returned by the previous effect function

Key Features

Race Condition Prevention: The shouldContinueEffect callback prevents state updates from cancelled effects
Memory Leak Prevention: Automatic cleanup when components unmount or dependencies change
Flexible Cleanup: Cleanup function receives the result from the previous effect execution
Error Handling: Errors in async effects are properly propagated
Dependency Tracking: Works just like useEffect with dependency arrays

Common Use Cases

Data Fetching: Safe async data loading with race condition prevention
WebSocket Connections: Managing persistent connections with proper cleanup
Periodic Updates: Setting up intervals or timeouts with automatic cleanup
Complex Async Workflows: Multi-step async operations with conditional execution
Resource Management: Managing any async resources that need cleanup

useAsyncEffect

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