Redux Best Practices

Essential Rules (Priority A)

These rules prevent errors. Violating them causes bugs.

1. Never Mutate State

// ❌ WRONG - mutates state
state.todos.push(newTodo)
state.user.name = 'New Name'

// ✅ CORRECT - RTK with Immer handles this
const todosSlice = createSlice({
  reducers: {
    todoAdded: (state, action) => {
      state.push(action.payload) // Immer makes this safe
    }
  }
})

2. Reducers Must Be Pure

Forbidden in reducers:

• Async logic (AJAX, timeouts, promises)
• Math.random(), Date.now()
• External variable modifications

3. Keep State Serializable

Never store: Promises, Symbols, Maps/Sets, Functions, Class instances, DOM nodes

4. One Store Per App

// store.ts - single source of truth
export const store = configureStore({
  reducer: { todos: todosReducer, users: usersReducer }
})

Strongly Recommended (Priority B)

Use Redux Toolkit

Always use RTK. It enables DevTools, catches mutations, uses Immer, reduces boilerplate.

import { configureStore, createSlice, PayloadAction } from '@reduxjs/toolkit'

const todosSlice = createSlice({
  name: 'todos',
  initialState: [] as Todo[],
  reducers: {
    todoAdded: (state, action: PayloadAction<Todo>) => {
      state.push(action.payload)
    }
  }
})

export const { todoAdded } = todosSlice.actions

Feature-Based Structure

src/
├── app/
│   ├── store.ts
│   └── hooks.ts (typed useSelector/useDispatch)
├── features/
│   ├── todos/
│   │   ├── todosSlice.ts
│   │   ├── todosSelectors.ts
│   │   └── TodoList.tsx
│   └── users/
│       ├── usersSlice.ts
│       └── ...

Normalize Complex State

// ❌ Nested - hard to update
{ posts: [{ id: 1, author: { id: 1, name: 'Alice' } }] }

// ✅ Normalized - easy to update
{
  posts: { byId: { '1': { id: '1', authorId: '1' } }, ids: ['1'] },
  users: { byId: { '1': { id: '1', name: 'Alice' } }, ids: ['1'] }
}

Model Actions as Events

// ❌ Setter actions
dispatch({ type: 'SET_PIZZA_COUNT', payload: 1 })
dispatch({ type: 'SET_COKE_COUNT', payload: 1 })

// ✅ Event actions
dispatch({ type: 'food/orderPlaced', payload: { pizza: 1, coke: 1 } })

Treat Reducers as State Machines

interface FetchState {
  status: 'idle' | 'loading' | 'succeeded' | 'failed'
  data: Data | null
  error: string | null
}

// Only allow valid transitions
builder
  .addCase(fetchData.pending, (state) => {
    if (state.status === 'idle') state.status = 'loading'
  })

Use React-Redux Hooks

// ❌ Old connect HOC
export default connect(mapState, mapDispatch)(Component)

// ✅ Hooks
const todos = useSelector(selectTodos)
const dispatch = useDispatch()

Multiple Granular useSelector Calls

// ❌ Selecting too much - rerenders on any user change
const user = useSelector(state => state.user)

// ✅ Granular - only rerenders when name changes
const name = useSelector(state => state.user.name)
const email = useSelector(state => state.user.email)

Connect More Components

// ✅ Parent selects IDs, child selects individual item
const UserList = () => {
  const ids = useSelector(selectUserIds)
  return ids.map(id => <UserItem key={id} userId={id} />)
}

const UserItem = ({ userId }) => {
  const user = useSelector(state => selectUserById(state, userId))
  return <div>{user.name}</div>
}

Recommended Patterns (Priority C)

Selector Naming: selectThing

export const selectTodos = (state: RootState) => state.todos
export const selectTodoById = (state: RootState, id: string) =>
  state.todos.entities[id]
export const selectCompletedTodos = createSelector(
  [selectTodos],
  todos => todos.filter(t => t.completed)
)

Action Type Format: domain/eventName

// ✅ RTK default
'todos/todoAdded'
'users/userLoggedIn'

// ❌ Old SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE
'ADD_TODO'

Async Logic with Thunks

export const fetchTodos = createAsyncThunk(
  'todos/fetchTodos',
  async (_, { rejectWithValue }) => {
    try {
      return await todosAPI.fetchAll()
    } catch (err) {
      return rejectWithValue(err.message)
    }
  }
)

// Handle in slice
extraReducers: builder => {
  builder
    .addCase(fetchTodos.pending, state => { state.status = 'loading' })
    .addCase(fetchTodos.fulfilled, (state, action) => {
      state.status = 'succeeded'
      state.items = action.payload
    })
    .addCase(fetchTodos.rejected, (state, action) => {
      state.status = 'failed'
      state.error = action.payload as string
    })
}

Use RTK Query for Data Fetching

import { createApi, fetchBaseQuery } from '@reduxjs/toolkit/query/react'

export const api = createApi({
  baseQuery: fetchBaseQuery({ baseUrl: '/api' }),
  endpoints: (builder) => ({
    getTodos: builder.query<Todo[], void>({
      query: () => 'todos'
    }),
    addTodo: builder.mutation<Todo, Partial<Todo>>({
      query: (body) => ({ url: 'todos', method: 'POST', body })
    })
  })
})

export const { useGetTodosQuery, useAddTodoMutation } = api

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

When NOT to Use Redux

Keep in local component state:

• Form input values (dispatch on submit only)
• UI toggles (modal open, dropdown expanded)
• Animation state
• Hover/focus states
• Data only used by one component

Use Redux for:

• User authentication
• Shopping cart
• Cached API data
• App-wide notifications
• Cross-component shared state

Type-Safe Setup

// app/hooks.ts
import { TypedUseSelectorHook, useDispatch, useSelector } from 'react-redux'
import type { RootState, AppDispatch } from './store'

export const useAppDispatch: () => AppDispatch = useDispatch
export const useAppSelector: TypedUseSelectorHook<RootState> = useSelector

References

• See references/slice-patterns.md for complete slice examples with normalized state and async logic