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Zustand

Zustand is a "bearbones" state management solution (hence the cute bear mascot). Its a relatively simple and unopinionated option to manage application state, with a hooks-based API for easy use in a React app.

This guide will show you how to migrate a MobX-State-Tree project (Ignite's default) to Zustand, using a new Ignite project as an example:

npx ignite-cli new ZustandApp --yes

If you are converting an existing project these steps still apply, but you may also need to migrate other related functionality.

Check out the Final Source Code or follow along below!

Convert MobX-State-Tree Models to Zustand​

Our Ignite Demo App includes a few MobX-State-Tree models inside app/models. Before we remove those, let's convert them to Zustand!

First, add zustand:

yarn add zustand

Create a directory for our new Zustand store files:

mkdir app/store
note

If you Ignited a demo-free project npx ignite-cli new ZustandApp --yes --removeDemo or if you don't have any existing models to convert and you're already familiar with Zustand, feel free to skip this section.

AuthenticationStore

For reference, here's the original AuthenticationStore with MobX-State-Tree:
/app/models/AuthenticationStore.ts
import { Instance, SnapshotOut, types } from "mobx-state-tree";

export const AuthenticationStoreModel = types
  .model("AuthenticationStore")
  .props({
    authToken: types.maybe(types.string),
    authEmail: "",
  })
  .views((store) => ({
    get isAuthenticated() {
      return !!store.authToken;
    },
    get validationError() {
      if (store.authEmail.length === 0) return "can't be blank";
      if (store.authEmail.length < 6) return "must be at least 6 characters";
      if (!/^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/.test(store.authEmail)) return "must be a valid email address";
      return "";
    },
  }))
  .actions((store) => ({
    setAuthToken(value?: string) {
      store.authToken = value;
    },
    setAuthEmail(value: string) {
      store.authEmail = value.replace(/ /g, "");
    },
    logout() {
      store.authToken = undefined;
      store.authEmail = "";
    },
  }));

export interface AuthenticationStore extends Instance<typeof AuthenticationStoreModel> {}
export interface AuthenticationStoreSnapshot extends SnapshotOut<typeof AuthenticationStoreModel> {}

MobX-State-Tree models declare the data type, initial values, derived values, and actions all in one. Zustand takes a "barebones" approach and defines a store as a basic state object with data and actions co-located.

Create a new file app/store/AuthenticationStore.ts and convert the model to Zustand to look like this:

/app/store/AuthenticationStore.ts
import { StateCreator } from "zustand";
import { RootStore } from "./RootStore";

// Typescript interface for this store slice
export interface AuthenticationStore {
  authToken?: string;
  authEmail: string;
  setAuthToken: (value?: string) => void;
  setAuthEmail: (value: string) => void;
  logout: () => void;
}

// create our store slice with default data and actions
export const createAuthenticationSlice: StateCreator<RootStore, [], [], AuthenticationStore> = (set) => ({
  authToken: undefined,
  authEmail: "",
  setAuthToken: (value) => set({ authToken: value }),
  setAuthEmail: (value) => set({ authEmail: value.replace(/ /g, "") }),
  logout: () => set({ authToken: undefined, authEmail: "" }),
});

// a selector can be used to grab the full AuthenticationStore
export const authenticationStoreSelector = (state: RootStore) => ({
  authToken: state.authToken,
  authEmail: state.authEmail,
  isAuthenticated: isAuthenticatedSelector(state),
  setAuthToken: state.setAuthToken,
  setAuthEmail: state.setAuthEmail,
  logout: state.logout,
});

// selectors can also be used for derived values
export const isAuthenticatedSelector = (state: RootStore) => !!state.authToken;

export const validationErrorSelector = (state: RootStore) => {
  if (state.authEmail.length === 0) return "can't be blank";
  if (state.authEmail.length < 6) return "must be at least 6 characters";
  if (!/^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/.test(state.authEmail)) return "must be a valid email address";
  return "";
};

A few things to note:

  • We're using the slices pattern to create AuthenticationStore as a slice of the overall state.
  • Zustand doesn't validate data, so we need to explicitly define the Typescript interface AuthenticationStore.
  • We've created several selectors for our derived values. These can be chained together, or used directly in a component via useStore(mySelector). You'll see how these are used in components later.
  • Zustand is very non-opinionated, so there are many different ways to achieve this! Keep this in mind if your app has different use cases, or if you'd like to experiment with alternative strategies for creating your stores.

EpisodeStore

Follow the same pattern to convert app/models/EpisodeStore.ts

Original MobX-State-Tree EpisodeStore for reference:
/app/models/EpisodeStore.ts
import { Instance, SnapshotOut, types } from "mobx-state-tree";
import { api } from "../services/api";
import { Episode, EpisodeModel } from "./Episode";
import { withSetPropAction } from "./helpers/withSetPropAction";

export const EpisodeStoreModel = types
  .model("EpisodeStore")
  .props({
    episodes: types.array(EpisodeModel),
    favorites: types.array(types.reference(EpisodeModel)),
    favoritesOnly: false,
  })
  .actions(withSetPropAction)
  .actions((store) => ({
    async fetchEpisodes() {
      const response = await api.getEpisodes();
      if (response.kind === "ok") {
        store.setProp("episodes", response.episodes);
      } else {
        console.error(`Error fetching episodes: ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);
      }
    },
    addFavorite(episode: Episode) {
      store.favorites.push(episode);
    },
    removeFavorite(episode: Episode) {
      store.favorites.remove(episode);
    },
  }))
  .views((store) => ({
    get episodesForList() {
      return store.favoritesOnly ? store.favorites : store.episodes;
    },

    hasFavorite(episode: Episode) {
      return store.favorites.includes(episode);
    },
  }))
  .actions((store) => ({
    toggleFavorite(episode: Episode) {
      if (store.hasFavorite(episode)) {
        store.removeFavorite(episode);
      } else {
        store.addFavorite(episode);
      }
    },
  }));

export interface EpisodeStore extends Instance<typeof EpisodeStoreModel> {}
export interface EpisodeStoreSnapshot extends SnapshotOut<typeof EpisodeStoreModel> {}
Converted EpisodeStore using Zustand:
/app/store/EpisodeStore.ts
import { api } from "../services/api";
import { Episode } from "./Episode";
import { StateCreator } from "zustand";
import { RootStore } from "./RootStore";

export interface EpisodeStore {
  episodes: Episode[];
  favorites: string[];
  favoritesOnly: boolean;

  fetchEpisodes: () => Promise<void>;
  addFavorite: (episode: Episode) => void;
  removeFavorite: (episode: Episode) => void;
  toggleFavorite: (episode: Episode) => void;
  setFavoritesOnly: (value: boolean) => void;
}

export const createEpisodeSlice: StateCreator<RootStore, [], [], EpisodeStore> = (set, get) => ({
  episodes: [],
  favorites: [],
  favoritesOnly: false,

  // Zustand supports async actions
  fetchEpisodes: async () => {
    const response = await api.getEpisodes();
    if (response.kind === "ok") {
      set({ episodes: response.episodes });
    } else {
      console.error(`Error fetching episodes: ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);
    }
  },
  addFavorite: (episode) => set((state) => ({ favorites: [...state.favorites, episode.guid] })),
  removeFavorite: (episode) => set((state) => ({ favorites: state.favorites.filter((guid) => guid !== episode.guid) })),
  toggleFavorite: (episode) => {
    // get() can be used within actions
    if (get().favorites.includes(episode.guid)) {
      get().removeFavorite(episode);
    } else {
      get().addFavorite(episode);
    }
  },
  setFavoritesOnly: (value: boolean) => set({ favoritesOnly: value }),
});

export const episodeStoreSelector = (state: RootStore) => ({
  episodes: state.episodes,
  favorites: state.favorites,
  favoritesOnly: state.favoritesOnly,

  // derived values can be included in selectors like this
  episodesForList: getEpisodesForList(state),

  fetchEpisodes: state.fetchEpisodes,
  addFavorite: state.addFavorite,
  removeFavorite: state.removeFavorite,
  toggleFavorite: state.toggleFavorite,
  setFavoritesOnly: state.setFavoritesOnly,

  // we can also include helper functions that have access to state
  hasFavorite: (episode: Episode) => {
    return state.favorites.includes(episode.guid);
  },
});

export const getEpisodesForList = (store: EpisodeStore) => {
  return store.favoritesOnly ? store.episodes.filter((a) => store.favorites.includes(a.guid)) : store.episodes;
};

Episode

So far, AuthenticationStore and EpisodeStore converted cleanly into Zustand store slices. But we also have app/models/Episode.ts, which is less of a data store and more of a basic data model. We don't need a Zustand slice for Episode, and Zustand is not opinionated about how data models are defined, so let's convert this into a set of Typescript types to define the data model and a few basic util functions for the derived values.

  • Another very popular method is to use Zod, which also enables data validation at runtime for better safety.
Original MobX-State-Tree Episode.ts file for reference:
/app/models/Episode.ts
import { Instance, SnapshotIn, SnapshotOut, types } from "mobx-state-tree";
import { withSetPropAction } from "./helpers/withSetPropAction";
import { formatDate } from "../utils/formatDate";
import { translate } from "../i18n";

interface Enclosure {
  link: string;
  type: string;
  length: number;
  duration: number;
  rating: { scheme: string; value: string };
}

/**
 * This represents an episode of React Native Radio.
 */
export const EpisodeModel = types
  .model("Episode")
  .props({
    guid: types.identifier,
    title: "",
    pubDate: "", // Ex: 2022-08-12 21:05:36
    link: "",
    author: "",
    thumbnail: "",
    description: "",
    content: "",
    enclosure: types.frozen<Enclosure>(),
    categories: types.array(types.string),
  })
  .actions(withSetPropAction)
  .views((episode) => ({
    get parsedTitleAndSubtitle() {
      const defaultValue = { title: episode.title?.trim(), subtitle: "" };

      if (!defaultValue.title) return defaultValue;

      const titleMatches = defaultValue.title.match(/^(RNR.*\d)(?: - )(.*$)/);

      if (!titleMatches || titleMatches.length !== 3) return defaultValue;

      return { title: titleMatches[1], subtitle: titleMatches[2] };
    },
    get datePublished() {
      try {
        const formatted = formatDate(episode.pubDate);
        return {
          textLabel: formatted,
          accessibilityLabel: translate("demoPodcastListScreen.accessibility.publishLabel", {
            date: formatted,
          }),
        };
      } catch (error) {
        return { textLabel: "", accessibilityLabel: "" };
      }
    },
    get duration() {
      const seconds = Number(episode.enclosure.duration);
      const h = Math.floor(seconds / 3600);
      const m = Math.floor((seconds % 3600) / 60);
      const s = Math.floor((seconds % 3600) % 60);

      const hDisplay = h > 0 ? `${h}:` : "";
      const mDisplay = m > 0 ? `${m}:` : "";
      const sDisplay = s > 0 ? s : "";
      return {
        textLabel: hDisplay + mDisplay + sDisplay,
        accessibilityLabel: translate("demoPodcastListScreen.accessibility.durationLabel", {
          hours: h,
          minutes: m,
          seconds: s,
        }),
      };
    },
  }));

export interface Episode extends Instance<typeof EpisodeModel> {}
export interface EpisodeSnapshotOut extends SnapshotOut<typeof EpisodeModel> {}
export interface EpisodeSnapshotIn extends SnapshotIn<typeof EpisodeModel> {}

Updated Episode.ts model using Typescript types and util functions

/app/store/Episode.ts
import { formatDate } from "../utils/formatDate";
import { translate } from "../i18n";

interface Enclosure {
  link: string;
  type: string;
  length: number;
  duration: number;
  rating: { scheme: string; value: string };
}

export type Episode = {
  guid: string;
  title: string;
  pubDate: string;
  link: string;
  author: string;
  thumbnail: string;
  description: string;
  content: string;
  enclosure: Enclosure;
  categories: string[];
};

export const getParsedTitleAndSubtitle = (episode: Episode) => {
  const defaultValue = { title: episode.title?.trim(), subtitle: "" };

  if (!defaultValue.title) return defaultValue;

  const titleMatches = defaultValue.title.match(/^(RNR.*\d)(?: - )(.*$)/);

  if (!titleMatches || titleMatches.length !== 3) return defaultValue;

  return { title: titleMatches[1], subtitle: titleMatches[2] };
};

export const getDatePublished = (episode: Episode) => {
  try {
    const formatted = formatDate(episode.pubDate);
    return {
      textLabel: formatted,
      accessibilityLabel: translate("demoPodcastListScreen.accessibility.publishLabel", {
        date: formatted,
      }),
    };
  } catch (error) {
    return { textLabel: "", accessibilityLabel: "" };
  }
};

export const getDuration = (episode: Episode) => {
  const seconds = Number(episode.enclosure.duration);
  const h = Math.floor(seconds / 3600);
  const m = Math.floor((seconds % 3600) / 60);
  const s = Math.floor((seconds % 3600) % 60);

  const hDisplay = h > 0 ? `${h}:` : "";
  const mDisplay = m > 0 ? `${m}:` : "";
  const sDisplay = s > 0 ? s : "";
  return {
    textLabel: hDisplay + mDisplay + sDisplay,
    accessibilityLabel: translate("demoPodcastListScreen.accessibility.durationLabel", {
      hours: h,
      minutes: m,
      seconds: s,
    }),
  };
};

Remove MobX-State-Tree​

Now that our models have been converted, follow our recipe to Remove MobX-State-Tree entirely from your project.

Create Store​

Let's create our main Zustand store. Create a new file app/store/RootStore.ts:

/app/store/RootStore.ts
import { create } from "zustand";
import { useShallow } from "zustand/react/shallow";
import { AuthenticationStore, authenticationStoreSelector, createAuthenticationSlice } from "./AuthenticationStore";
import { EpisodeStore, createEpisodeSlice, episodeStoreSelector } from "./EpisodeStore";

export interface RootStore extends AuthenticationStore, EpisodeStore {}

export const useStore = create<RootStore>()((...a) => ({
  ...createAuthenticationSlice(...a),
  ...createEpisodeSlice(...a),
  // add your state slices here
}));

// optional: custom hooks can be used to pick pieces from state
// useShallow is used to help prevent unnecessary rerenders
export const useAuthenticationStore = () => useStore(useShallow(authenticationStoreSelector));
export const useEpisodeStore = () => useStore(useShallow(episodeStoreSelector));
  • We're combining AuthenticationStore and EpisodeStore into one Zustand store for simplicity. Again, Zustand is very non-opinionated so you can modify this structure if desired.
  • useAuthenticationStore and useEpisodeStore are exported as custom hooks to make it easier to select common pieces of state. Feel free to create additional custom hooks for reusable lookup patterns and prevent unnecessary re-renders Read more about this.

Create store/index.ts file to export our hooks and selectors for easy use across our app:

/app/store/index.ts
export * from "./RootStore";
export * from "./AuthenticationStore";
export * from "./EpisodeStore";
export * from "./Episode";

Use Zustand in Components​

Zustand's hooks-based API makes it easy to pull data into components.

In the Ignite Demo App, we'll update the following components to use our exported Zustand hooks and selectors:

/app/navigators/AppNavigator.tsx
import { useStore, isAuthenticatedSelector } from "app/store";

const AppStack = () => {

  // use a selector to pick only that value
  const isAuthenticated = useStore(isAuthenticatedSelector)

  return (
    <Stack.Navigator
    ...
/app/screens/LoginScreen.tsx
// pick several values & actions from the AuthenticationStore
const { authEmail, setAuthEmail, setAuthToken } = useAuthenticationStore();
// we can also use multiple hooks
const validationError = useStore(validationErrorSelector);

Several changes are needed here. We'll use useEpisodeStore to select all the data and actions we need from EpisodeStore:

/app/screens/DemoPodcastListScreen.tsx
import {
  useEpisodeStore,
  Episode,
  getDatePublished,
  getDuration,
  getParsedTitleAndSubtitle,
} from "app/store"

...

const episodeStore = useEpisodeStore();
useEffect(() => {
      ;(async function load() {
        setIsLoading(true)
        await episodeStore.fetchEpisodes()
        setIsLoading(false)
      })()
--    }, [episodeStore])
++    }, [])

<Switch
  value={episodeStore.favoritesOnly}
  onValueChange={() =>
--  episodeStore.setProp("favoritesOnly", !episodeStore.favoritesOnly)
++  episodeStore.setFavoritesOnly(!episodeStore.favoritesOnly)
  }

We also need to update how we get derived values from Episode now that we're working with a plain object in Zustand without custom getters. Instead of episode.duration we can use our util function getDuration. Add these lines to the render function of EpisodeCard, and replace a few spots those values are used.

const datePublished = getDatePublished(episode);
const duration = getDuration(episode);
const parsedTitleAndSubtitle = getParsedTitleAndSubtitle(episode);
 <Text
  style={themed($metadataText)}
  size="xxs"
--accessibilityLabel={episode.datePublished.accessibilityLabel}
++accessibilityLabel={datePublished.accessibilityLabel}
>
--{episode.datePublished.textLabel}
++{datePublished.textLabel}
</Text>

A few additional updates to make in Ignite's Demo App:

/app/screens/WelcomeScreen.tsx
++import { useStore } from "app/store"

--const {
--  authenticationStore: { logout },
--} = useStores()
++const logout = useStore((state) => state.logout)
/app/screens/DemoDebugScreen.tsx
++import { useStore } from "app/store"

--const {
--  authenticationStore: { logout },
--} = useStores()
++const logout = useStore((state) => state.logout)
/app/services/api/api.ts
+import { Episode } from "app/store/Episode";

-const episodes: EpisodeSnapshotIn[] =
+const episodes: Episode[] =

Persist Zustand Store​

Zustand ships with persistence middlware. Let's hook it up!

Update RootStore to look like this:

/app/store/RootStore.ts
import { create } from "zustand";
import { useShallow } from "zustand/react/shallow";
import { persist, createJSONStorage } from "zustand/middleware";

import { AuthenticationStore, authenticationStoreSelector, createAuthenticationSlice } from "./AuthenticationStore";
import { EpisodeStore, createEpisodeSlice, episodeStoreSelector } from "./EpisodeStore";
import AsyncStorage from "@react-native-async-storage/async-storage";

export interface RootStore extends AuthenticationStore, EpisodeStore {
  _hasHydrated: boolean;
  setHasHydrated: (state: boolean) => void;
}

export const useStore = create<RootStore>()(
  persist(
    (...a) => ({
      ...createAuthenticationSlice(...a),
      ...createEpisodeSlice(...a),
      // add your state slices here

      _hasHydrated: false,
      setHasHydrated: (state) => {
        const set = a[0];
        set({
          _hasHydrated: state,
        });
      },
    }),
    {
      name: "zustand-app",
      storage: createJSONStorage(() => AsyncStorage),
      onRehydrateStorage: () => (state) => {
        state?.setHasHydrated(true);
      },
    }
  )
);

export const useAuthenticationStore = () => useStore(useShallow(authenticationStoreSelector));
export const useEpisodeStore = () => useStore(useShallow(episodeStoreSelector));

We added the persist middleware and created _hasHydrated property & action to track AsyncStorage hydration. This will automatically persist and hydrate your Zustand store! We just need to handle the loading state during initial hydration:

/app/app.tsx
+import { useStore } from "./store"

...

const [areFontsLoaded, fontLoadError] = useFonts(customFontsToLoad)

-const { rehydrated } = useInitialRootStore(() => {
-   setTimeout(hideSplashScreen, 500)
-})


+const rehydrated = useStore((state) => state._hasHydrated)
+useEffect(() => {
+  if (rehydrated) {
+    setTimeout(hideSplashScreen, 500)
+  }
+}, [rehydrated])

And we're all set!

Full Source Code

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