React Performance Patterns

Performance optimization guide for React and Next.js applications. Patterns across 7 categories, prioritized by impact. Detailed examples in references/.

When to Apply

• Writing new React components or Next.js pages
• Implementing data fetching (client or server-side)
• Reviewing or refactoring for performance
• Optimizing bundle size or load times

Categories by Priority

Installation

OpenClaw / Moltbot / Clawbot

npx clawhub@latest install react-performance

1. Async — Eliminating Waterfalls (CRITICAL)

Parallelize independent operations

Sequential awaits are the single biggest performance mistake in React apps.

// BAD — sequential, 3 round trips
const user = await fetchUser()
const posts = await fetchPosts()
const comments = await fetchComments()

// GOOD — parallel, 1 round trip
const [user, posts, comments] = await Promise.all([
  fetchUser(), fetchPosts(), fetchComments(),
])

Defer await until needed

Move await into branches where the value is actually used.

// BAD — blocks both branches
async function handle(userId: string, skip: boolean) {
  const data = await fetchUserData(userId)
  if (skip) return { skipped: true }    // Still waited
  return process(data)
}

// GOOD — only blocks when needed
async function handle(userId: string, skip: boolean) {
  if (skip) return { skipped: true }    // Returns immediately
  return process(await fetchUserData(userId))
}

Strategic Suspense boundaries

Show layout immediately while data-dependent sections load independently.

// BAD — entire page blocked
async function Page() {
  const data = await fetchData()
  return \x3Cdiv>\x3CSidebar />\x3CHeader />\x3CDataDisplay data={data} />\x3CFooter />\x3C/div>
}

// GOOD — layout renders immediately, data streams in
function Page() {
  return (
    \x3Cdiv>
      \x3CSidebar />\x3CHeader />
      \x3CSuspense fallback={\x3CSkeleton />}>\x3CDataDisplay />\x3C/Suspense>
      \x3CFooter />
    \x3C/div>
  )
}
async function DataDisplay() {
  const data = await fetchData()
  return \x3Cdiv>{data.content}\x3C/div>
}

Share a promise across components with use() to avoid duplicate fetches.

2. Bundle Size (CRITICAL)

Avoid barrel file imports

Barrel files load thousands of unused modules. Direct imports save 200-800ms.

// BAD — loads 1,583 modules
import { Check, X, Menu } from 'lucide-react'

// GOOD — loads only 3 modules
import Check from 'lucide-react/dist/esm/icons/check'
import X from 'lucide-react/dist/esm/icons/x'
import Menu from 'lucide-react/dist/esm/icons/menu'

Next.js 13.5+: use experimental.optimizePackageImports in config. Commonly affected: lucide-react, @mui/material, react-icons, @radix-ui, lodash, date-fns.

Dynamic imports for heavy components

import dynamic from 'next/dynamic'
const MonacoEditor = dynamic(
  () => import('./monaco-editor').then((m) => m.MonacoEditor),
  { ssr: false }
)

Defer non-critical third-party libraries

Analytics, logging, error tracking — load after hydration with dynamic() and { ssr: false }.

Preload on user intent

const preload = () => { void import('./monaco-editor') }
\x3Cbutton onMouseEnter={preload} onFocus={preload} onClick={onClick}>Open Editor\x3C/button>

3. Server Components (HIGH)

Minimize serialization at RSC boundaries

Only pass fields the client actually uses across the server/client boundary.

// BAD — serializes all 50 user fields
return \x3CProfile user={user} />

// GOOD — serializes 1 field
return \x3CProfile name={user.name} />

Parallel data fetching with composition

RSC execute sequentially within a tree. Restructure to parallelize.

// BAD — Sidebar waits for header fetch
export default async function Page() {
  const header = await fetchHeader()
  return \x3Cdiv>\x3Cdiv>{header}\x3C/div>\x3CSidebar />\x3C/div>
}

// GOOD — sibling async components fetch simultaneously
async function Header() { return \x3Cdiv>{await fetchHeader()}\x3C/div> }
async function Sidebar() { return \x3Cnav>{(await fetchSidebarItems()).map(renderItem)}\x3C/nav> }
export default function Page() { return \x3Cdiv>\x3CHeader />\x3CSidebar />\x3C/div> }

React.cache() for per-request deduplication

import { cache } from 'react'
export const getCurrentUser = cache(async () => {
  const session = await auth()
  if (!session?.user?.id) return null
  return await db.user.findUnique({ where: { id: session.user.id } })
})

Use primitive args (not inline objects) — React.cache() uses Object.is. Next.js auto-deduplicates fetch, but React.cache() is needed for DB queries, auth checks, and computations.

after() for non-blocking operations

import { after } from 'next/server'
export async function POST(request: Request) {
  await updateDatabase(request)
  after(async () => { logUserAction({ userAgent: request.headers.get('user-agent') }) })
  return Response.json({ status: 'success' })
}

4. Re-render Optimization (MEDIUM)

Derive state during render — not in effects

// BAD — redundant state + effect
const [fullName, setFullName] = useState('')
useEffect(() => { setFullName(first + ' ' + last) }, [first, last])

// GOOD — derive inline
const fullName = first + ' ' + last

Functional setState for stable callbacks

// BAD — recreated on every items change
const addItem = useCallback((item: Item) => {
  setItems([...items, item])
}, [items])

// GOOD — stable, always latest state
const addItem = useCallback((item: Item) => {
  setItems((curr) => [...curr, item])
}, [])

Defer state reads to usage point

Don't subscribe to dynamic state if you only read it in callbacks.

// BAD — re-renders on every searchParams change
const searchParams = useSearchParams()
const handleShare = () => shareChat(chatId, { ref: searchParams.get('ref') })

// GOOD — reads on demand
const handleShare = () => {
  const ref = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get('ref')
  shareChat(chatId, { ref })
}

Lazy state initialization

// BAD — JSON.parse runs every render
const [settings] = useState(JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('s') || '{}'))

// GOOD — runs only once
const [settings] = useState(() => JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('s') || '{}'))

Subscribe to derived booleans

// BAD — re-renders on every pixel
const width = useWindowWidth(); const isMobile = width \x3C 768

// GOOD — re-renders only when boolean flips
const isMobile = useMediaQuery('(max-width: 767px)')

Transitions for non-urgent updates

// BAD — blocks UI on scroll
const handler = () => setScrollY(window.scrollY)

// GOOD — non-blocking
const handler = () => startTransition(() => setScrollY(window.scrollY))

Extract expensive work into memoized components

const UserAvatar = memo(function UserAvatar({ user }: { user: User }) {
  const id = useMemo(() => computeAvatarId(user), [user])
  return \x3CAvatar id={id} />
})
function Profile({ user, loading }: Props) {
  if (loading) return \x3CSkeleton />
  return \x3Cdiv>\x3CUserAvatar user={user} />\x3C/div>
}

Note: React Compiler makes manual memo()/useMemo() unnecessary.

5. Rendering Performance (MEDIUM)

CSS content-visibility for long lists

For 1000 items, browser skips ~990 off-screen (10x faster initial render).

.list-item { content-visibility: auto; contain-intrinsic-size: 0 80px; }

Hoist static JSX outside components

Avoids re-creation, especially for large SVG nodes. React Compiler does this automatically.

const skeleton = \x3Cdiv className="skeleton" />
function Container() { return \x3Cdiv>{loading && skeleton}\x3C/div> }

6. Client-Side Data (MEDIUM)

SWR for deduplication and caching

// BAD — each instance fetches independently
useEffect(() => { fetch('/api/users').then(r => r.json()).then(setUsers) }, [])

// GOOD — multiple instances share one request
const { data: users } = useSWR('/api/users', fetcher)

7. JS Performance (LOW-MEDIUM)

Set/Map for O(1) lookups

// BAD — O(n)
items.filter(i => allowed.includes(i.id))
// GOOD — O(1)
const allowedSet = new Set(allowed)
items.filter(i => allowedSet.has(i.id))

Combine array iterations

// BAD — 3 passes
const a = users.filter(u => u.isAdmin)
const t = users.filter(u => u.isTester)
// GOOD — 1 pass
const a: User[] = [], t: User[] = []
for (const u of users) { if (u.isAdmin) a.push(u); if (u.isTester) t.push(u) }

Also: early returns, cache property access in loops, hoist RegExp outside loops, prefer for...of for hot paths.

Quick Decision Guide

1. Slow page load? → Bundle size (2), then async waterfalls (1)
2. Sluggish interactions? → Re-renders (4), then JS perf (7)
3. Server page slow? → RSC serialization & parallel fetching (3)
4. Client data stale/slow? → SWR (6)
5. Long lists janky? → content-visibility (5)