@leanjs/react

Installation

If your React app is in a monorepo (recommended) execute the following command at the root of your repository:

yarn add -W @leanjs/react @leanjs/core react react-dom

then in the package.json of your React app add the following peerDependencies:

"peerDependencies": {
  "@leanjs/core": "*",
  "@leanjs/react": "*",
  "react": "*",
  "react-dom": "*"
}

If your React app is not in a monorepo, then run the following command instead of the above:

yarn add @leanjs/react @leanjs/core react react-dom

Basic usage

createRuntimeBindings

First, you have to create your React bindings (HostProvider, useGetter, etc) for your runtime.

// shared-runtime.ts

// for either React 16 or React 17 import from "@leanjs/react/17"
import { createRuntimeBindings } from "@leanjs/react/18";
import { configureRuntime } from "@leanjs/core";

// You need to configure your runtime
const defaultState = { locale: "en" }; // this is just an example
export const { createRuntime } = configureRuntime(defaultState)({
  onError: () => {},
});

// Then create your React bindings for your runtime
export const {
  HostProvider,
  useGetter,
  useSetter,
  useLoading,
  useError,
  useRuntime,
} = createRuntimeBindings(createRuntime);

info

Read @leanjs/core if you have not already created your own createRuntime function

Add your HostProvider at the root of your React component tree, e.g.

// It's recommended to move your ./shared-runtime file to its own package
import { createRuntime, HostProvider } from "./shared-runtime";

const runtime = createRuntime({ context: { appName: "AppExample" } });

export function App({ children }) {
  return <HostProvider runtime={runtime}>{children}</HostProvider>;
}

Use any of your hooks in your components, e.g.

// It's recommended to move your ./shared-runtime file to its own package
import { useGetter } from "./shared-runtime";

export function LocaleComponent() {
  const locale = useGetter("locale");

  return <p>Current locale is {locale}</p>;
}

Composable app

Create small React apps that can be composed with other apps.

createApp

Arguments:

• App: ReactElement - required
• options: { appName?: string } - optional. By default, the name of your composable app is the name of your App component. You can change it using the optional argument appName.

Create a file called index.ts|js in the src directory where your composable app is. For example:

my-monorepo/
├─ apps/
│  ├─ react-host/
├─ composable-apps/
│  ├─ react-app-1/
│  │  ├─ package.json
│  │  ├─ src/
│  │  │  ├─ ReactApp1.tsx
│  │  │  ├─ index.ts 👈
├─ package.json

tip

Read the recommended setup in our getting started page if you want to create a similar monorepo structure

Call createApp with the root component of your app, for example:

// my-monorepo/composable-apps/react-app-1/src/index.ts

// for either React 16 or React 17 import from "@leanjs/react/17"
import { createApp } from "@leanjs/react/18";

import { ReactApp1 } from "./ReactApp1";

// 👇 you have to `export default`
export default createApp(ReactApp1);

// The name of the composable app is the name of your component,
// "ReactApp1 in this case.
// you can name it differently using the second argument, e.g.
// export default createApp(ReactApp1, { appName: "SomeName" });

Hello world example of the ReactApp1 imported above

// my-monorepo/composable-apps/react-app-1/src/ReactApp1.tsx

import React from "react";

export const ReactApp1 = () => <h1>Hello React composable app 1</h1>;

Create a file called selfHosted.ts|js in the src directory where your composable app is, for example:

my-monorepo/
├─ apps/
│  ├─ react-host/
├─ composable-apps/
│  ├─ react-app-1/
│  │  ├─ package.json
│  │  ├─ src/
│  │  │  ├─ ReactApp1.tsx
│  │  │  ├─ index.ts
│  │  │  ├─ selfHosted.ts 👈
├─ package.json

Export a createRuntime function from the selfHosted.ts|js file. This is the runtime that will be used when the app runs in isolation, meaning without a host.

// my-monorepo/composable-apps/react-app-1/src/selfHosted.ts

export { createRuntime } from "@my-org/runtime-react";

info

Read @leanjs/core if you have not already created your own createRuntime function

Components

HostProvider

You have to call createRuntimeBindings to create a HostProvider component before you use it. HostProvider stores in a React context values that are shared across apps hosted in the same component tree. Props:

runtime prop - required

Your Lean runtime.

origin prop - optional

Origin where your remote composable apps are. During development, use the address where you run your Lean proxy dev server. Use the address of your CDN in production, e.g. https://cdn.example.com.

Example

// where does shared-runtime come from? Read the "Usage" section at the top
import { createRuntime, HostProvider } from "./shared-runtime";

const runtime = createRuntime({ context: { appName: "AppExample" } });
// origin is optional, it's only used if micro-frontends are enabled
const origin = process.env.MICROFRONTENDS_ORIGIN;

export function App({ children }) {
  return (
    <HostProvider runtime={runtime} origin={origin}>
      {children}
    </HostProvider>
  );
}

ErrorBoundary

It catches both rendering errors and errors from Suspense.

children - required prop

React nodes displayed if there are no errors.

fallback - optional prop

Error fallback component displayed when an error is caught by the ErrorBoundary.

type ErrorFallbackComponent = (props: {
  error: AppError;
}) => React.ReactElement;

interface AppError extends Error {
  appName?: string;
  version?: string;
}

onError - optional prop

Function called when an error is caught.

onError?: (error: AppError, options?: LogErrorOptions) => void;

interface LogErrorOptions {
    appName?: string;
    version?: string;
}

interface AppError extends Error, LogErrorOptions {}

If onError is not provided and an error is caught by the ErrorBoundary the error will be logged using the onError function passed to the configureRuntime if a HostProvider is found in the component tree.

Host

It hosts a composable app in a React host.

app - required prop

The app prop expects a GetComposableApp type. You can import a GetComposableApp from any export default createApp() function, for instance:

// my-monorepo/composable-apps/react-app-1/src/index.tsx

// for either React 16 or React 17 import from "@leanjs/react/17"
import { createApp } from "@leanjs/react/18";
import { ReactApp1 } from "./ReactApp1";

export default createApp(ReactApp1);

then pass it to the Host component in a React app:

// my-monorepo/apps/react-host/src/index.ts

import React from "react";
// for either React 16 or React 17 import from "@leanjs/react/17"
import { Host } from "@leanjs/react/18";

// this composable app is bundled and deployed along with the host app
import ReactApp1 from "@my-org/react-app-1";

const Home = () => (
  <>
    <h1>React Host</h1>
    <Host app={ReactApp1} />
  </>
);

export default Home;

info

In this example, both the host app and the composable app are React apps. However, the React <Host> component can host any composable app, e.g. Vue.

You can also pass a function to the Host component that returns a dynamic import to lazy load a composable app:

// my-monorepo/apps/react-host/src/index.ts

import React, { Suspense } from "react";
// for either React 16 or React 17 import from "@leanjs/react/17"
import { Host, ErrorBoundary } from "@leanjs/react/18";

const Home = () => (
  <>
    <h1>React Host</h1>
    {/* The network can fail.
     Add an ErrorBoundary if you are hosting an app using a dynamic import */}
    <ErrorBoundary>
      <Suspense fallback={<p>Loading...</p>}>
        <Host
          app={() => {
            // this composable app is bundled in a separate chunk
            // but it's still built and deployed along with the host app
            return import("@my-org/react-app-1");
          }}
        />
      </Suspense>
    </ErrorBoundary>
  </>
);

export default Home;

Alternatively, you can pass an object to the app prop with a packageName key which value is the field name in the package.json of the composable app that you want to host. In this case, the Host component will try to fetch the mount function from the remote origin specified in <HostProvider origin=" 👉 HERE 👈 " runtime={runtime}> (see origin prop to know more). For example:

// my-monorepo/apps/react-host/src/index.ts

// for either React 16 or React 17 import from "@leanjs/react/17"
import { Host, ErrorBoundary } from "@leanjs/react/18";

const Home = () => (
  <>
    <h1>React Host</h1>
    {/* The network can fail.
     Add an ErrorBoundary if you are hosting a remote app */}
    <ErrorBoundary>
      <Suspense fallback={<p>Loading...</p>}>
        {/* in this case, the composable app is neither built nor deployed
          along with the React host */}
        <Host app={{ packageName: "@my-org/react-app-1" }} />
      </Suspense>
    </ErrorBoundary>
  </>
);

export default Home;

caution

Fetching from a remote origin only works with Webpack v5 because this feature uses Module Federation under the hood. You need to add a HostWebpackPlugin to your Webpack configuration to enable this feature. If this feature is enabled you need to build and deploy your composable apps independently. See @leanjs/aws to deploy your composable apps to AWS.

tip

You can still pass an import (either dynamic or static) to the app prop of the Host component and configure Webpack to fetch it from a remote origin by changing the configuration of your HostWebpackPlugin.

Tip example:

// webpack.config.js of the host application
const { HostWebpackPlugin } = require("@leanjs/webpack");

module.exports = {
  // the rest of your configuration goes here
  plugins: [
    new HostWebpackPlugin({
      remotes: {
        // these packages are not built along with the host app
        // but downloaded from a remote origin
        packages: ["@my-org/react-app-1"],
      },
    }),
  ],
};

then in your React app:

// my-monorepo/apps/react-host/src/index.ts

import React, { Suspense } from "react";
// for either React 16 or React 17 import from "@leanjs/react/17"
import { Host, ErrorBoundary } from "@leanjs/react/18";

// this composable app is neither bundled nor deployed along with the host app
// because of the above remote: { packages: ["@my-org/react-app-1"] }
// in the webpack.config.js HostWebpackPlugin
import ReactApp1 from "@my-org/react-app-1";

const Home = () => (
  <>
    <h1>React Host</h1>
    {/* The network can fail.
     Add an ErrorBoundary if you are hosting a remote app */}
    <ErrorBoundary>
      <Suspense fallback={<p>Loading...</p>}>
        <Host app={ReactApp1} />
      </Suspense>
    </ErrorBoundary>
  </>
);

export default Home;

Pro-tip Configure your remotes in HostWebpackPlugin on development only. This way no CI/CD changes are required. It also reduces build time of your monolith in development since these packages are excluded from the monolith build. Last but not least, you can experiment with micro-frontends in development without changing how you implement and host your apps.

Pro-tip example:

// webpack.config.js of the host application
const { HostWebpackPlugin } = require("@leanjs/webpack");

module.exports = {
  // the rest of your configuration goes here
  plugins: [
    new HostWebpackPlugin({
      remotes: {
        // the following packages are built and deployed along with
        // the React app on production, but not during development.
        packages:
          process.env.NODE_ENV === "production" ? [] : ["@my-org/react-app-1"],
      },
    }),
  ],
};

className - optional prop

CSS class added to the root DOM element where the app prop is mounted.

// my-monorepo/apps/react-host/src/index.ts

import React from "react";
// for either React 16 or React 17 import from "@leanjs/react/17"
import { Host } from "@leanjs/react/18";
import ReactApp1 from "@my-org/react-app-1";

const Home = () => (
  <>
    <h1>React Host</h1>
    <Host className="some-css-class" app={ReactApp1} />
  </>
);

export default Home;

Hooks

useGetter

Hook to get the current state of a given state property. You have to call createRuntimeBindings to create a useGetter hook before you use it.

Arguments:

1. State property, required.
2. Loader function, optional.

The output is the current state of the given property.

Example:

// where does shared-runtime come from? Read the "Usage" section at the top
import { useGetter } from "./shared-runtime";

export function LocaleComponent() {
  const locale = useGetter("locale", () =>
    fetch("/api/settings")
      .then((response) => response.json())
      .then((data) => data.locale)
  );

  return <p>Locale is {locale}</p>;
}

useSetter

Hook to update the value of a given state property. You have to call createRuntimeBindings to create a useSetter hook before you use it.

Arguments:

1. State property, required.

The output is a function to update the value of the given state property.

Example:

// where does shared-runtime come from? Read the "Usage" section at the top
import { useSetter } from "./shared-runtime";

export function ThemeSelector() {
  const setTheme = useSetter("theme");

  return (
    <>
      <label for="theme-select">Choose a theme:</label>
      <select
        onChange={(e) => setTheme(e.target.value)}
        name="theme"
        id="theme-select"
      >
        <option value="">--Please choose an option--</option>
        <option value="dark">Dark</option>
        <option value="light">Light</option>
      </select>
    </>
  );
}

useLoading

Hook to get the loading state of a given state property. You have to call createRuntimeBindings to create a useLoading hook before you use it.

Arguments:

1. State property, required.

The output is a boolean indicating if the given state property is loading.

Example:

// where does shared-runtime come from? Read the "Usage" section at the top
import { useLoading } from "./shared-runtime";

export function LocaleSpinner() {
  const loading = useLoading("locale");

  if (loading) {
    return <p>Loading...</p>;
  } else {
    return null;
  }
}

useError

Hook to get the error state if a given state property failed to load. You have to call createRuntimeBindings to create a useError hook before you use it.

Arguments:

1. State property, required.

The output is undefined or a string with the error message.

Example:

// where does shared-runtime come from? Read the "Usage" section at the top
import { useError } from "./shared-runtime";

export function LocaleErrorMessage() {
  const error = useError("locale");

  if (error) {
    return <p>Oops, locale error: {error} </p>;
  } else {
    return null;
  }
}

useRuntime

It returns the shared runtime from the context. You have to call createRuntimeBindings to create a useRuntime hook before you use it.

Example:

// where does shared-runtime come from? Read the "Usage" section at the top
import { useRuntime } from "./shared-runtime";

// HostProvider must be an ancestor of the following component
export function Component() {
  const runtime = useRuntime(); // do something with runtime

  return <h1>My component</h1>;
}