api-refetch

api-refetch is a React hook library designed to simplify the management of asynchronous API requests within React applications. This library provides a powerful and flexible hook, useAsync, that handles fetching, caching, retries, and state management of asynchronous operations.

Features

• Easy to use: Integrate asynchronous data fetching into your components with minimal boilerplate.
• State management: Automatically manages loading, error, success, and fetched states.
• Storage: Built-in support for storing and retrieving data in session storage.
• Caching: Optional caching of requests to improve performance and reduce server load.
• Retry Logic: Configurable retry mechanism for failed requests.
• Revalidation: Supports automatic revalidation of data to keep the UI up to date.
• Parallel Component Mount Fetching: api-refetch provides a mechanism to handle parallel component mount fetching, ensuring that only one fetch request is initiated at a time, regardless of the number of components mounting simultaneously.
• Customizable: Extensive options to tailor the behavior of the hook to your needs.

Installation

Install the package via npm:

npm install api-refetch

using pnpm:

pnpm add api-refetch

or using yarn:

yarn add api-refetch

Usage

Here's a simple example of how to use api-refetch to fetch user data from an API:

Setting up the Async Function

First, define the asynchronous function that fetches your data. For example, fetching user data:

const fetchUserData = async (userId) => {
  const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${userId}`);
  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error("Failed to fetch");
  }
  return await response.json();
};

Add the provider in your application

Add the RefetchProvider to your application:

import { AsyncStateProvider } from "api-refetch";

function App() {
  return (
    <AsyncStateProvider>
      <UserDetails userId={1} />
    </AsyncStateProvider>
  );
}

If you don't want to use the provider, you can use the useAsync hook from the api-refetch/zustand package directly. useAsync from api-refetch/zustand offers the same API as useAsync from api-refetch. The latter allows for a simpler setup. However, the store based on Zustand can sometimes be less optimized, as it may cause unwanted re-renders or, conversely, fail to re-render state changes. Therefore, it is generally preferable to stay within React's context.

Using the useAsync Hook

Now, use the useAsync hook in your component:

import { useAsync } from "api-refetch";

const UserDetails = ({ userId }) => {
  const { isLoading, data, error, revalidate, setData } = useAsync(
    "userDetails",
    () => fetchUserData(userId),
    {
      enable: true, // enable the hook
      cache: true, // cache the API call result using zustand
      store: true, // store the API call result in the session storage
      retryLimit: 3, // retry 3 times if the API call fails
      retryTime: 10 * 1000, // wait 10 seconds before retrying
      autoFetch: true, // auto fetch the API call when the component is mounted
      revalidation: true, // enable revalidation
      revalidateTime: 5 * 60 * 1000, // revalidate every 5 minutes
      isInvalidated: false, // determine if the data is invalidated and should be refetched
      invalidateQueries: ["user"], // invalidate other queries when the data is updated
      updateQueries: ["user"], // set other queries data when the data is updated
      onSuccess: (data) => console.log("User data fetched successfully:", data),
      onError: (error) => console.error("Error fetching user data:", error),
    }
  );

  if (isLoading) return <div>Loading...</div>;
  if (error) return <div>Error: {error}</div>;
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{data.name}</h1>
      <button onClick={() => revalidate()}>Refresh</button>
      <button onClick={() => setData(null)}>Clear</button>
    </div>
  );
};

Using the useAsyncWrapper Hook

The useAsyncWrapper hook is a convenient way to define a custom hook that wraps an asynchronous function. It simplifies the process of declaring and using the useAsync hook in your components.

Here's an example of how to use the useAsyncWrapper hook to define a custom hook for fetching user data:

import { useAsyncWrapper } from "api-refetch";

const fetchUserData = async (userId) => {
  const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${userId}`);
  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error("Failed to fetch");
  }
  return await response.json();
};

const useUserDetails = useAsyncWrapper("userDetails", fetchUserData, {
  // Additional options for the useAsync hook
  autoFetch: true,
});

Now, you can use the useUserDetails hook in your components:

import { useAsync } from "api-refetch";

const UserDetails = ({ userId }) => {
  const { isLoading, data, error, revalidate, setData } =
    useAsyncWrapper(userId);

  if (isLoading) return <div>Loading...</div>;
  if (error) return <div>Error: {error}</div>;
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{data.name}</h1>
      <button onClick={() => revalidate()}>Refresh</button>
      <button onClick={() => setData(null)}>Clear</button>
    </div>
  );
};

Merging hooks options

You can merge hooks options to make your code more readable and maintainable. For example, you can create a custom hook to handle error logging and toast notifications, and another hook to enable authentication. Here's how you can do it:

/**
 *  Hook to handle error logging and toast notifications
 */
const useErrorHandling = <T extends UseAsyncOptions<any>>(options: T): T => {
  const { toast } = useToast();

  return {
    ...options,
    onError: (errorMessage) => {
      const error = JSON.parse(errorMessage);
      toast({
        title: error.code ?? "Error",
        description: error.message ?? "An error occurred",
        variant: "error",
      });
      options.onError?.(errorMessage);
    },
  };
};

/**
 * Hook to enable authentication
 */
const useAuthEnable = <T extends UseAsyncOptions<any>>(options: T): T => {
  const { csrfToken, oAuth2AccessToken } = useAuth();

  return {
    ...options,
    enable: Boolean(csrfToken || oAuth2AccessToken),
  };
};

const useAppAsync = <
  U extends string,
  T extends (...args: any[]) => Promise<any>
>(
  key: U,
  asyncFunction: T,
  options?: UseAsyncOptions<T>
) => {
  // Enhance options using custom hooks
  const optionsWithAuth = useAuthEnable(options ?? {});
  const optionsWithErrorHandling = useErrorHandling(optionsWithAuth);

  // Call the main useAsync hook with enhanced options
  return useAsync(key, asyncFunction, optionsWithErrorHandling);
};

Why Choose api-refetch Over React Query or SWR?

While React Query and SWR are excellent tools for data fetching and caching in React applications, api-refetch offers unique advantages that may make it more suitable for certain use cases:

• Zustand-based Storage: api-refetch utilizes Zustand for state management, which avoids the need for a context provider or wrapper around your application, simplifying integration and reducing boilerplate.

• Preset data using Session Storage: api-refetch provides a built-in mechanism for storing and retrieving data in session storage, allowing you to easily cache API responses and reuse them across your application. It can be use to accelerate the loading of our data before automatic revalidation.

• No Wrapper Store Provider Required: Unlike other libraries that require you to wrap your application with a provider for state management, api-refetch operates without such requirements, making it easier to integrate with existing projects or for those seeking less complexity.

• Lightweight: With a size of only 250 kB, api-refetch is significantly lighter than React Query (2.3 MB) and SWR (650 kB), making it an excellent choice for projects where payload size is a critical factor.

• Optimized for API Fetching: This library is specifically optimized for API fetching scenarios within npm/react packages, providing just enough functionality to manage async operations effectively without over-engineering solutions.

• Easily Customizable and Extendable: The codebase of api-refetch is designed to be easily understandable and modifiable. Developers can quickly copy the code into their applications and modify it according to their specific needs, providing a high degree of flexibility.

• Focused Functionality: api-refetch focuses solely on the essentials of fetching, caching, and state management without bundling additional features that might not be necessary for all projects, thus keeping it streamlined and efficient.

By choosing api-refetch, developers can leverage a straightforward, highly customizable solution that integrates seamlessly with modern React applications, providing an efficient and effective alternative to more heavyweight options.

This section aims to clearly articulate the unique selling points of api-refetch, helping users to make an informed decision based on their specific requirements and the relative strengths of this library compared to other options in the market.

Understanding the Returned States

When using the useAsync hook from api-refetch, it returns a variety of states and functions that help manage and respond to asynchronous operations seamlessly. Understanding these states is crucial for effectively handling data fetching, loading indicators, error handling, and more within your React components.

State Indicators

Here’s a breakdown of each state returned by the useAsync hook:

State	Type	Description
isFetched	boolean	Indicates whether the data has been successfully fetched at least once. This is useful to determine if the initial data load has occurred.
isLoading	boolean	Represents whether the data is currently being fetched. It is true when a fetch operation is in progress, whether it's an initial fetch or a revalidation.
isInvalidated	boolean	Signals whether the current data is considered invalid and needs to be refetched. This can be triggered manually or by other operations that invalidate the existing data.
isSuccess	boolean	Denotes that the data was fetched successfully without any errors. This state is true when the last fetch operation completed successfully.
isDisabled	boolean	Indicates whether the hook is disabled (true) or enabled (false). A disabled hook does not perform any fetching operations.
isWaitingData	boolean	As isLoading, true when the hook is loading data for the first time and there is no data yet. But it remains true as long data is available.
isRevalidating	boolean	true when the hook is revalidating already fetched data in the background to ensure it is up to date. This helps in maintaining fresh data without disrupting the user experience.
error	string | null	Contains the error message if the fetch operation fails; otherwise, it is null. This is useful for displaying error messages to the user or triggering error-specific logic.
data	any | null	Holds the fetched data once the operation is successful; otherwise, it is null. This is the primary data used within your components.
errorCount	number	Tracks the number of consecutive errors that have occurred during fetch attempts. This is useful for implementing retry logic or displaying persistent error messages after multiple failures.
revalidate	(...args: any[]) => Promise<any>	A function to manually trigger a revalidation (refetch) of the data. This allows you to refresh the data on demand, such as when a user performs a pull-to-refresh action.
setData	(data: any | null) => void	A function to manually set or update the fetched data. This is useful for optimistic UI updates or when you need to modify the data without refetching it from the server.
execute as [key]	[key]: (...args: any[]) => Promise<any>	A dynamically named function based on the key parameter, allowing you to execute the fetch operation directly. For example, if the key is 'fetchUser', you can call fetchUser() to trigger the fetch.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request with your suggestions or improvements.

License

api-refetch is open-source software licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.