| --- |
| id: does-this-replace-client-state |
| title: Does TanStack Query replace Redux, MobX or other global state managers? |
| --- |
| |
| Well, let's start with a few important items: |
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| - TanStack Query is a **server-state** library, responsible for managing asynchronous operations between your server and client |
| - Redux, MobX, Zustand, etc. are **client-state** libraries that _can be used to store asynchronous data, albeit inefficiently when compared to a tool like TanStack Query_ |
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| With those points in mind, the short answer is that TanStack Query **replaces the boilerplate code and related wiring used to manage cache data in your client-state and replaces it with just a few lines of code.** |
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| For a vast majority of applications, the truly **globally accessible client state** that is left over after migrating all of your async code to TanStack Query is usually very tiny. |
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| > There are still some circumstances where an application might indeed have a massive amount of synchronous client-only state (like a visual designer or music production application), in which case, you will probably still want a client state manager. In this situation it's important to note that **TanStack Query is not a replacement for local/client state management**. However, you can use TanStack Query alongside most client state managers with zero issues. |
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| ## A Contrived Example |
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| Here we have some "global" state being managed by a global state library: |
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|
| ```tsx |
| const globalState = { |
| projects, |
| teams, |
| tasks, |
| users, |
| themeMode, |
| sidebarStatus, |
| } |
| ``` |
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| Currently, the global state manager is caching 4 types of server-state: `projects`, `teams`, `tasks`, and `users`. If we were to move these server-state assets to TanStack Query, our remaining global state would look more like this: |
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|
| ```tsx |
| const globalState = { |
| themeMode, |
| sidebarStatus, |
| } |
| ``` |
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| This also means that with a few hook calls to `useQuery` and `useMutation`, we also get to remove any boilerplate code that was used to manage our server state e.g. |
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| - Connectors |
| - Action Creators |
| - Middlewares |
| - Reducers |
| - Loading/Error/Result states |
| - Contexts |
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| With all of those things removed, you may ask yourself, **"Is it worth it to keep using our client state manager for this tiny global state?"** |
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| **And that's up to you!** |
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| But TanStack Query's role is clear. It removes asynchronous wiring and boilerplate from your application and replaces it with just a few lines of code. |
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| What are you waiting for, give it a go already! |
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|
