Skip to main content
vercel-react-best-practices React and Next.js performance optimization guidelines from Vercel Engineering. This skill should be used when writing, reviewing, or refactoring React/Next.js code to ensure optimal performance patterns. Triggers on tasks involving React components, Next.js pages, data fetching, bundle optimization, or performance improvements.
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill vercel-react-best-practices Vercel React Best Practices
Comprehensive performance optimization guide for React and Next.js applications, maintained by Vercel. Contains 70 rules across 8 categories, prioritized by impact to guide automated refactoring and code generation.
When to Apply
Reference these guidelines when:
Writing new React components or Next.js pages
Implementing data fetching (client or server-side)
Reviewing code for performance issues
Refactoring existing React/Next.js code
Optimizing bundle size or load times
Rule Categories by Priority
Priority Category Impact Prefix 1 Eliminating Waterfalls CRITICAL async-2 Bundle Size Optimization CRITICAL bundle-3 Server-Side Performance HIGH server-4 Client-Side Data Fetching MEDIUM-HIGH client-5 Re-render Optimization MEDIUM rerender-6 Rendering Performance MEDIUM rendering-7 JavaScript Performance LOW-MEDIUM js-8 Advanced Patterns LOW advanced-
Quick Reference
1. Eliminating Waterfalls (CRITICAL)
async-cheap-condition-before-await - Check cheap sync conditions before awaiting flags or remote values
async-defer-await - Move await into branches where actually used
async-parallel - Use Promise.all() for independent operations
async-dependencies - Use better-all for partial dependencies
async-api-routes - Start promises early, await late in API routes
async-suspense-boundaries - Use Suspense to stream content
2. Bundle Size Optimization (CRITICAL)
bundle-barrel-imports - Import directly, avoid barrel files
bundle-analyzable-paths - Prefer statically analyzable import and file-system paths to avoid broad bundles and traces
bundle-dynamic-imports - Use next/dynamic for heavy components
bundle-defer-third-party - Load analytics/logging after hydration
bundle-conditional - Load modules only when feature is activated
bundle-preload - Preload on hover/focus for perceived speed
3. Server-Side Performance (HIGH)
server-auth-actions - Authenticate server actions like API routes
server-cache-react - Use React.cache() for per-request deduplication
server-cache-lru - Use LRU cache for cross-request caching
server-dedup-props - Avoid duplicate serialization in RSC props
server-hoist-static-io - Hoist static I/O (fonts, logos) to module level
server-no-shared-module-state - Avoid module-level mutable request state in RSC/SSR
server-serialization - Minimize data passed to client components
server-parallel-fetching - Restructure components to parallelize fetches
server-parallel-nested-fetching - Chain nested fetches per item in Promise.all
4. Client-Side Data Fetching (MEDIUM-HIGH)
client-swr-dedup - Use SWR for automatic request deduplication
client-event-listeners - Deduplicate global event listeners
client-passive-event-listeners - Use passive listeners for scroll
client-localstorage-schema - Version and minimize localStorage data
5. Re-render Optimization (MEDIUM)
rerender-defer-reads - Don't subscribe to state only used in callbacks
rerender-memo - Extract expensive work into memoized components
rerender-memo-with-default-value - Hoist default non-primitive props
rerender-dependencies - Use primitive dependencies in effects
rerender-derived-state - Subscribe to derived booleans, not raw values
rerender-derived-state-no-effect - Derive state during render, not effects
rerender-functional-setstate - Use functional setState for stable callbacks
rerender-lazy-state-init - Pass function to useState for expensive values
rerender-simple-expression-in-memo - Avoid memo for simple primitives
6. Rendering Performance (MEDIUM)
rendering-animate-svg-wrapper - Animate div wrapper, not SVG element
rendering-content-visibility - Use content-visibility for long lists
rendering-hoist-jsx - Extract static JSX outside components
rendering-svg-precision - Reduce SVG coordinate precision
rendering-hydration-no-flicker - Use inline script for client-only data
rendering-hydration-suppress-warning - Suppress expected mismatches
rendering-activity - Use Activity component for show/hide
rendering-conditional-render - Use ternary, not && for conditionals
rendering-usetransition-loading - Prefer useTransition for loading state
7. JavaScript Performance (LOW-MEDIUM)
js-batch-dom-css - Group CSS changes via classes or cssText
js-index-maps - Build Map for repeated lookups
js-cache-property-access - Cache object properties in loops
js-cache-function-results - Cache function results in module-level Map
js-cache-storage - Cache localStorage/sessionStorage reads
js-combine-iterations - Combine multiple filter/map into one loop
js-length-check-first - Check array length before expensive comparison
js-early-exit - Return early from functions
js-hoist-regexp - Hoist RegExp creation outside loops
8. Advanced Patterns (LOW)
advanced-effect-event-deps - Don't put useEffectEvent results in effect deps
advanced-event-handler-refs - Store event handlers in refs
advanced-init-once - Initialize app once per app load
advanced-use-latest - useLatest for stable callback refs
How to Use
Read individual rule files for detailed explanations and code examples:
rules/async-parallel.md
rules/bundle-barrel-imports.md
Each rule file contains:
Brief explanation of why it matters
Incorrect code example with explanation
Correct code example with explanation
Additional context and references
Full Compiled Document
For the complete guide with all rules expanded: AGENTS.md
server-after-nonblocking - Use after() for non-blocking operations
rerender-split-combined-hooks - Split hooks with independent dependencies
rerender-move-effect-to-event - Put interaction logic in event handlers
rerender-transitions - Use startTransition for non-urgent updates
rerender-use-deferred-value - Defer expensive renders to keep input responsive
rerender-use-ref-transient-values - Use refs for transient frequent values
rerender-no-inline-components - Don't define components inside components
rendering-resource-hints - Use React DOM resource hints for preloading
rendering-script-defer-async - Use defer or async on script tags
js-min-max-loop - Use loop for min/max instead of sort
js-set-map-lookups - Use Set/Map for O(1) lookups
js-tosorted-immutable - Use toSorted() for immutability
js-flatmap-filter - Use flatMap to map and filter in one pass
js-request-idle-callback - Defer non-critical work to browser idle timeCreate or update AgentSkills. Use when designing, structuring, or packaging skills with scripts, references, and assets.
Create or update AgentSkills. Use when designing, structuring, or packaging skills with scripts, references, and assets.
Set up and use 1Password CLI (op). Use when installing the CLI, enabling desktop app integration, signing in (single or multi-account), or reading/injecting/running secrets via op.
CLI to manage emails via IMAP/SMTP. Use `himalaya` to list, read, write, reply, forward, search, and organize emails from the terminal. Supports multiple accounts and message composition with MML (MIME Meta Language).
Create or update AgentSkills. Use when designing, structuring, or packaging skills with scripts, references, and assets.
Create or update AgentSkills. Use when designing, structuring, or packaging skills with scripts, references, and assets.
Set up and use 1Password CLI (op). Use when installing the CLI, enabling desktop app integration, signing in (single or multi-account), or reading/injecting/running secrets via op.
CLI to manage emails via IMAP/SMTP. Use `himalaya` to list, read, write, reply, forward, search, and organize emails from the terminal. Supports multiple accounts and message composition with MML (MIME Meta Language).