@preact-signals/safe-react

This is community driven preact/signals integration for React, based on official @preact/signals-react integration, since it's patching react - there are a lot of problems in different environments and bundlers. This package tries to solve this problem by this steps:

• no runtime react internals patching
• uses babel/swc plugin to subscribe your components to signals (based on official @preact/signals-react-transform).
• if environment doesn't support babel/swc plugin - exports HOC to subscribe your components to signals
• achieves the same features by bundler aliasing for react

Signals

Signals is a performant state management library with two primary goals:

1. Make it as easy as possible to write business logic for small up to complex apps. No matter how complex your logic is, your app updates should stay fast without you needing to think about it. Signals automatically optimize state updates behind the scenes to trigger the fewest updates necessary. They are lazy by default and automatically skip signals that no one listens to.
2. Integrate into frameworks as if they were native built-in primitives. You don't need any selectors, wrapper functions, or anything else. Signals can be accessed directly and your component will automatically re-render when the signal's value changes.

Read the announcement post to learn more about which problems signals solves and how it came to be.

There are two ways of tracking signals:

• automatic - using swc/babel plugin to subscribe your components to signals (based on official @preact/signals-react-transform).
• manual - manual adding tracking to your components with HOC

Table of Contents

• React Integration

  • Tracking
  • Hooks
  • Optimization: Put signal into JSX
  • Prop signal unwrapping

• Installation

  • automatic
    • Next.js
    • Vite swc
    • Vite babel
    • react-native
  • Manual (webpack, remix, etc)

• Guide / API

  • signal(initialValue)
    • signal.peek()
  • computed(fn)
  • effect(fn)
  • batch(fn)
  • untracked(fn)

• How it works

• Troubleshooting

• License

SWC plugin compatibility table

next	@preact-signals/safe-react	@swc/core
^14.0.0	0.7.0	-
15.0.3	~0.8.0	1.8.0-1.9.2

React Integration features

Note: please open an issue here if in some scenario you have problems with this integration.

Tracking

The React adapter allows you to access signals directly inside your components and will automatically subscribe to them.

1import { signal } from "@preact-signals/safe-react";
2
3const count = signal(0);
4
5function CounterValue() {
6  // Whenever the `count` signal is updated, we'll
7  // re-render this component automatically for you
8  return <p>Value: {count.value}</p>;
9}

Hooks

If you need to instantiate new signals inside your components, you can use the useSignal or useComputed hook.

1import { useSignal, useComputed } from "@preact-signals/safe-react";
2
3function Counter() {
4  const count = useSignal(0);
5  const double = useComputed(() => count.value * 2);
6
7  return (
8    <button onClick={() => count.value++}>
9      Value: {count.value}, value x 2 = {double.value}
10    </button>
11  );
12}

Optimization: Put signal into JSX

The React adapter ships with several optimizations it can apply out of the box to minimize virtual-dom diffing. If you pass a signal directly into JSX, it will behave as component which renders value of signal.

1import { signal } from "@preact-signals/safe-react";
2
3const count = signal(0);
4
5// Unoptimized: Will trigger the surrounding
6// component to re-render
7function Counter() {
8  return <p>Value: {count.value}</p>;
9}
10
11// Optimized: Will diff only value of signal
12function Counter() {
13  return (
14    <p>
15      <>Value: {count}</>
16    </p>
17  );
18}

Prop signal unwrapping

If you pass a signal as a prop to a component, it will automatically unwrap it for you. This means you can pass signals directly to DOM elements and they will be bound to the DOM node.

1import { signal } from "@preact-signals/safe-react";
2
3const count = signal(0);
4
5// data-count={count} will be unwrapped and equal to data-count={count.value}
6const Counter = () => <div data-count={count}>Value: {count.value}</div>;

Comparison table:

Feature	@preact/signals-react	@preact-signals/safe-react (automatic)	@preact-signals/safe-react (manual)
Monkey patch free	✅ (after 2.0.0 with babel plugin)	✅	✅
Tracking type	automatic	automatic	manual with HOC
Hooks	✅	✅	✅
Prop unwrapping	❌ (removed in 2.0.0)	✅(deprecated)	❌
Put signal into JSX	✅	✅	✅

Alterations from @preact/signals-react

Ignoring updates while rendering same component in render. Since this behavior causes double or infinite rerendering in some cases.

1const A = () => {
2  const count = signal(0);
3  count.value++;
4  return <div>{count.value}</div>;
5};

Installation:

1npm install @preact-signals/safe-react

Integrations:

• Automatic
  • Next.js
  • Vite swc
  • Vite babel
  • Vite with @preact-signals/utils
  • react-native
• Manual (next.js, webpack, etc)

Next.js integration

Integration playground

1/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
2const nextConfig = {
3  experimental: {
4    swcPlugins: [
5      [
6        "@preact-signals/safe-react/swc",
7        {
8          // you should use `auto` mode to track only components which uses `.value` access.
9          // Can be useful to avoid tracking of server side components
10          mode: "auto",
11        } /* plugin options here */,
12      ],
13    ],
14  },
15};
16
17module.exports = nextConfig;

Vite integration (swc)

Integration playground

1// vite.config.ts
2import { defineConfig } from "vite";
3import reactSwc from "@vitejs/plugin-react-swc";
4
5// https://vitejs.dev/config/
6export default defineConfig({
7  plugins: [
8    reactSwc({
9      plugins: [["@preact-signals/safe-react/swc", {}]],
10    }),
11  ],
12});

Vite integration (babel)

1// vite.config.ts
2import { defineConfig } from "vite";
3import react from "@vitejs/plugin-react";
4
5// https://vitejs.dev/config/
6export default defineConfig({
7  plugins: [
8    react({
9      babel: {
10        plugins: ["module:@preact-signals/safe-react/babel"],
11      },
12    }),
13  ],
14});

Vite props unwrapping (deprecated)

1// vite.config.ts
2import { defineConfig } from "vite";
3// can be used with swc plugin, too
4import react from "@vitejs/plugin-react";
5import { createReactAlias } from "@preact-signals/safe-react/integrations/vite";
6
7// https://vitejs.dev/config/
8export default defineConfig({
9  resolve: {
10    // add this
11    alias: [createReactAlias()],
12  },
13  plugins: [
14    react({
15      // add this
16      jsxImportSource: "@preact-signals/safe-react/jsx",
17      babel: {
18        plugins: ["module:@preact-signals/safe-react/babel"],
19      },
20    }),
21  ],
22});

Vite integration trackings signals in node_modules

Allows to transpile components that uses @useSignals in node_modules (For example: @preact-signals/utils)

Integration playground

1// vite.config.ts
2import { defineConfig } from "vite";
3import reactSwc from "@vitejs/plugin-react-swc";
4import { createSWCTransformDepsPlugin } from "@preact-signals/safe-react/integrations/vite";
5
6// https://vitejs.dev/config/
7export default defineConfig({
8  resolve: {
9    alias: [
10      // if some lib uses signals it's probably using `@preact/signals-react`
11      {
12        find: "@preact/signals-react",
13        replacement: "@preact-signals/safe-react",
14      },
15    ],
16  },
17  plugins: [
18    createSWCTransformDepsPlugin({
19      filter: (id) => id.includes("node_modules"),
20    }),
21    reactSwc({
22      plugins: [["@preact-signals/safe-react/swc", {}]],
23    }),
24  ],
25});

React Native integration

1yarn add -D babel-plugin-module-resolver

1// babel.config.js
2module.exports = {
3  // or expo-preset or metro-react-native-babel-preset
4  presets: ["@rnx-kit/babel-preset-metro-react-native"],
5  plugins: [
6    [
7      "module-resolver",
8      {
9        alias: [
10          {
11            "@preact/signals-react": "@preact-signals/safe-react",
12          },
13        ],
14      },
15    ],
16    "module:@preact-signals/safe-react/babel",
17  ],
18};

Manual integration

1import { withTrackSignals } from "@preact-signals/safe-react/manual";
2
3const A = withTrackSignals(() => {
4  const count = signal(0);
5  count.value++;
6  return <div>{count.value}</div>;
7});

How it works

Automatic integration

Magic contains 2 parts:

• parser plugin. Which transforms your components to subscribe to signals

It will be transformed to:

1const sig = signal(0);
2const A = () => <div>{sig.value}</div>;

1import { useSignals } from "@preact-signals/safe-react/tracking";
2
3const sig = signal(0);
4const A = () => {
5  const store = useSignals();
6  try {
7    // all signals used in this function will be tracked
8    return <div>{sig.value}</div>;
9  } finally {
10    effectStore[EffectStoreFields.finishTracking]();
11  }
12};

• (Deprecated) jsx runtime. Which unwraps signals while it passed as props to elements

1const sig = signal(0);
2
3// data-a={sig} will be unwrapped and equal to data-a={sig.value}
4const A = () => <div data-a={sig}>{sig.value}</div>;

How parser plugins works

Supported parsers:

• swc
• babel

Parser plugin transforms your components to subscribe to signals. It works in 3 modes:

• all (default)

  • Components: will be wrapped with try/finally block to track signals
  • Hooks (if transformHooks: true): all hooks that accesses .value will be wrapped with try/finally block to track signals

• auto

  • Components: components which contains .value access will be wrapped with try/finally block to track signals
  • Hooks (if transformHooks true) that which contains .value access will be wrapped with try/finally block to track signals

• manual - none of hooks or components are tracked by default. You can use @useSignals comment to track signals

1// @useSignals
2const Component = () => <div />

How to options mode

• babel

1{
2  "plugins": [
3    [
4      "module:@preact-signals/safe-react/babel",
5      {
6        "mode": "manual"
7      }
8    ]
9  ]
10}

• swc

  1[
  2  "@preact-signals/safe-react/swc",
  3  {
  4    "mode": "manual"
  5  }
  6]

SWC specific options

transformHooks - default: true

• true - transform hooks which uses .value access
• false - don't transform hooks

1[
2  "@preact-signals/safe-react/swc",
3  {
4    "transformHooks": false
5  }
6]

How parser plugin detects components?

• function starting with capital letter
• function uses jsx syntax

1// will be transformed
2const A = () => <div>{sig.value}</div>;
3// will not be transformed
4const a = () => <div>{sig.value}</div>;
5// will be transformed
6/**
7 * @useSignals

8 */
9const b = () => <div>{sig.value}</div>;

You can use @useSignals to opt-in to tracking for a component that doesn't meet the criteria above. Or you can use @noUseSignals to opt-out of tracking for a component that does meet the criteria above.

Manual integration

Manual integration wraps your component in try/finally block via HOC. It's equal to:

1import { withTrackSignals } from "@preact-signals/safe-react/manual";
2
3const A = withTrackSignals(() => {
4  const count = useSignal(0);
5  count.value++;
6  return <div>{count.value}</div>;
7});
8// equal to
9import { useSignals } from "@preact-signals/safe-react/tracking";
10
11const A = () => {
12  const store = useSignals();
13  try {
14    // all signals used in this function will be tracked
15    const count = signal(0);
16    count.value++;
17    return <div>{count.value}</div>;
18  } finally {
19    effectStore[EffectStoreFields.finishTracking]();
20  }
21};

Troubleshooting

Some of my components are not updating

• Manual integration: you need to wrap your component with withTrackSignals HOC
• Automatic integration: Probably your component doesn't meet the criteria from How parser plugin detects components? section. You can use @useSignals to opt-in to tracking for a component that doesn't meet the criteria above.

Automatic integration with Server Components: Maybe one of these should be marked as a client entry with "use client":

Some of server side component is transformed to track signals. Solutions:

• mark it as client side component with use client directive

1"use client";
2
3const A = () => <div>{sig.value}</div>;

• opt out from tracking with @noUseSignals directive`

1/**
2 * @noUseSignals

3 */
4const Page = () => (
5  <head>
6    <title>Page title</title>
7  </head>
8);

• use auto mode of plugin, to transform only components which uses .value access. How parser plugin detects components?

1/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
2const nextConfig = {
3  experimental: {
4    swcPlugins: [
5      [
6        "@preact-signals/safe-react/swc",
7        {
8          mode: "auto",
9        },
10      ],
11    ],
12  },
13};
14
15module.exports = nextConfig;

• not recommended because of performance overhead make component async (since component will be transformed only if it's sync)

1const Page = async () => (
2  <head>
3    <title>Page title</title>
4  </head>
5);

Next.js double rendering

1/**
2 * @useSignals
3 */
4const PureComponent = () => {
5  // prints "render" twice on client side and once on server side
6  console.log("render");
7
8  return null;
9};

It's happens because signals tracking uses useSyncExternalStore and for some reason it causes double rendering with Next.js strict mode. We can just to turn off strict mode in next.config.js

1module.exports = {
2  // other config
3  reactStrictMode: false,
4};

Automatic integration: Rendered more hooks than during the previous render

This error occurs when you're using some component without hooks as render function conditionally.

1const sig = signal(0);
2const A = ({ renderButton }: { renderButton: () => JSX.Element }) =>
3  sig.value % 2 ? renderButton() : <div>{sig.value}</div>;
4
5const B = () => <button>Some content</button>;
6
7<A renderButton={B}>
8sig.value++; // this will cause error

It isn't working, because transform think that B is a component, but it's just a function. There're 3 ways to fix this:

• rename B to renderB and use it as renderButton={renderB}. Since transform transforms only function starting with capital letter.
• use React.createElement(B) instead of B()
• Add @noUseSignals directive to B function

1/**
2 * @noUseSignals
3 */
4const B = () => <button>Some content</button>;

Error: Cannot update a component (Component) while rendering a different component (Component2). To locate the bad setState() call inside Component2``

This error occurs when you're updating another component in render time of another component. In most case you should ignore this message, since it's just warning

To opt into this optimization, simply pass the signal directly instead of accessing the .value property.

Note The content is wrapped in a React Fragment due to React 18's newer, more strict children types.

License

MIT, see the LICENSE file.