state-management-rules

Choosing React state management tools requires evaluating component scope and change frequency. A decision tree guides you through selecting useState, useReducer, Context, Zustand, Jotai, Signals, or TanStack Query based on your specific state needs.

Zustand suits centralized global UI state, whereas Jotai handles atomic state management. A comparative table provides a quick reference of pros and cons for Zustand, Jotai, and other tools to help you select based on your state structure.

TanStack Query is the recommended approach for server state in React. The guidelines provide ready-to-copy code patterns and best practices for fetching, caching, and synchronizing server data to avoid common state management errors.

useState is sufficient for simple local state, while useReducer fits complex state logic involving multiple sub-values. The decision tree evaluates local state complexity and change frequency to recommend the correct React hook.

Signals offer fine-grained reactivity for high-frequency updates, while Context is better for static global UI state. The guidelines compare both approaches with code examples and highlight performance gotchas to prevent unnecessary re-renders.