React server components

React Server Components Skill

Expert assistance for implementing React Server Components with proper patterns and composition strategies.

Capabilities

• Design server/client component boundaries
• Implement streaming with Suspense
• Handle data fetching in server components
• Compose server and client components
• Optimize performance with selective hydration
• Manage server actions for mutations

Usage

Invoke this skill when you need to:

• Structure RSC application architecture
• Implement streaming data fetching
• Determine server vs client components
• Pass server data to client components
• Build server actions for forms

Inputs

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
componentType	string	Yes	server, client, shared
dataFetching	boolean	No	Component fetches data
interactivity	array	No	Required client interactions
streaming	boolean	No	Enable streaming

Configuration Example

{
  "componentType": "server",
  "dataFetching": true,
  "streaming": true,
  "childComponents": [
    { "name": "InteractiveChart", "type": "client" }
  ]
}

Component Patterns

Server Component (Default)

// app/users/page.tsx - Server Component by default
import { db } from '@/lib/db';
import { UserCard } from './user-card';

async function getUsers() {
  return db.user.findMany({
    include: { posts: true },
  });
}

export default async function UsersPage() {
  const users = await getUsers();

  return (
    <div className="grid gap-4">
      <h1>Users</h1>
      {users.map((user) => (
        <UserCard key={user.id} user={user} />
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}

Client Component

// components/interactive-counter.tsx
'use client';

import { useState } from 'react';

export function InteractiveCounter({ initialCount }: { initialCount: number }) {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(initialCount);

  return (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(c => c + 1)}>
        Increment
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

Composition Pattern

// app/dashboard/page.tsx - Server Component
import { Suspense } from 'react';
import { db } from '@/lib/db';
import { InteractiveChart } from '@/components/interactive-chart';
import { ChartSkeleton } from '@/components/skeletons';

async function getAnalytics() {
  return db.analytics.findMany({
    orderBy: { date: 'desc' },
    take: 30,
  });
}

export default async function Dashboard() {
  const analytics = await getAnalytics();

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Dashboard</h1>
      {/* Pass server data to client component */}
      <Suspense fallback={<ChartSkeleton />}>
        <InteractiveChart data={analytics} />
      </Suspense>
    </div>
  );
}

// components/interactive-chart.tsx - Client Component
'use client';

import { useState } from 'react';
import { LineChart } from 'recharts';

interface ChartProps {
  data: AnalyticsData[];
}

export function InteractiveChart({ data }: ChartProps) {
  const [timeRange, setTimeRange] = useState('7d');

  const filteredData = filterByTimeRange(data, timeRange);

  return (
    <div>
      <select
        value={timeRange}
        onChange={(e) => setTimeRange(e.target.value)}
      >
        <option value="7d">Last 7 days</option>
        <option value="30d">Last 30 days</option>
      </select>
      <LineChart data={filteredData} />
    </div>
  );
}

Streaming with Suspense

// app/page.tsx
import { Suspense } from 'react';
import { SlowComponent, FastComponent } from '@/components';

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <div>
      {/* Fast content renders immediately */}
      <FastComponent />

      {/* Slow content streams in */}
      <Suspense fallback={<p>Loading slow content...</p>}>
        <SlowComponent />
      </Suspense>
    </div>
  );
}

// components/slow-component.tsx
async function getSlowData() {
  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));
  return { data: 'Slow data loaded' };
}

export async function SlowComponent() {
  const data = await getSlowData();
  return <div>{data.data}</div>;
}

Server Actions

// app/actions.ts
'use server';

import { revalidatePath } from 'next/cache';
import { db } from '@/lib/db';

export async function createUser(formData: FormData) {
  const name = formData.get('name') as string;
  const email = formData.get('email') as string;

  await db.user.create({
    data: { name, email },
  });

  revalidatePath('/users');
}

export async function updateUser(id: string, formData: FormData) {
  const name = formData.get('name') as string;

  await db.user.update({
    where: { id },
    data: { name },
  });

  revalidatePath(`/users/${id}`);
}

// components/user-form.tsx
'use client';

import { useFormStatus } from 'react-dom';
import { createUser } from '@/app/actions';

function SubmitButton() {
  const { pending } = useFormStatus();
  return (
    <button type="submit" disabled={pending}>
      {pending ? 'Creating...' : 'Create User'}
    </button>
  );
}

export function UserForm() {
  return (
    <form action={createUser}>
      <input name="name" placeholder="Name" required />
      <input name="email" type="email" placeholder="Email" required />
      <SubmitButton />
    </form>
  );
}

Passing Server Components as Props

// Pattern: Server Component as children
// app/page.tsx
import { ClientWrapper } from '@/components/client-wrapper';
import { ServerContent } from '@/components/server-content';

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <ClientWrapper>
      <ServerContent />
    </ClientWrapper>
  );
}

// components/client-wrapper.tsx
'use client';

export function ClientWrapper({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(true);

  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={() => setIsOpen(!isOpen)}>Toggle</button>
      {isOpen && children}
    </div>
  );
}

Decision Framework

Use Server Components When:

• Fetching data
• Accessing backend resources directly
• Keeping sensitive information on server
• Keeping large dependencies on server
• No interactivity needed

Use Client Components When:

• Using useState, useEffect, useReducer
• Using browser APIs
• Adding event listeners
• Using custom hooks with state
• Using React Context providers

Best Practices

• Default to Server Components
• Push client boundaries down the tree
• Pass serializable props to client components
• Use Suspense for streaming
• Colocate data fetching with components

Target Processes

• nextjs-full-stack
• react-server-components-migration
• performance-optimization
• streaming-implementation