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Data Revalidation

Revalidation automatically keeps your UI in sync with server data by re-running loaders after mutations and other events.

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Automatic Revalidation

React Router automatically revalidates data after:
  • Action submissions via <Form>, fetcher.Form, or useSubmit
  • Returning from an action
  • URL search params change
  • Clicking a link to the same URL
// app/routes/todos.tsx
export async function loader() {
  return { todos: await db.todos.findMany() };
}

export async function action({ request }: Route.ActionArgs) {
  const formData = await request.formData();
  await db.todos.create({
    data: { text: formData.get("text") },
  });
  // Loader automatically reruns after this
  return { success: true };
}

export default function Todos({ loaderData }: Route.ComponentProps) {
  return (
    <div>
      <ul>
        {loaderData.todos.map((todo) => (
          <li key={todo.id}>{todo.text}</li>
        ))}
      </ul>
      
      <Form method="post">
        <input type="text" name="text" />
        <button type="submit">Add</button>
      </Form>
    </div>
  );
}

​
Manual Revalidation

Trigger revalidation manually with useRevalidator: 
import { useRevalidator } from "react-router";

export default function Dashboard() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    // Revalidate every 5 seconds
    const interval = setInterval(() => {
      revalidator.revalidate();
    }, 5000);
    
    return () => clearInterval(interval);
  }, [revalidator]);
  
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Dashboard</h1>
      <button onClick={() => revalidator.revalidate()}>
        Refresh Data
      </button>
      
      {revalidator.state === "loading" && <p>Refreshing...</p>}
    </div>
  );
}

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Revalidation State

Track revalidation status: 
import { useRevalidator } from "react-router";

export default function RefreshButton() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  return (
    <button
      onClick={() => revalidator.revalidate()}
      disabled={revalidator.state === "loading"}
    >
      {revalidator.state === "loading" ? "Refreshing..." : "Refresh"}
    </button>
  );
}

​
Window Focus Revalidation

import { useRevalidator } from "react-router";
import { useEffect } from "react";

export function WindowFocusRevalidator() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const onFocus = () => {
      revalidator.revalidate();
    };
    
    window.addEventListener("focus", onFocus);
    return () => window.removeEventListener("focus", onFocus);
  }, [revalidator]);
  
  return (
    <div hidden={revalidator.state === "idle"}>
      Revalidating...
    </div>
  );
}

​
Polling

import { useRevalidator } from "react-router";
import { useEffect } from "react";

export function usePolling(interval: number) {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const timer = setInterval(() => {
      revalidator.revalidate();
    }, interval);
    
    return () => clearInterval(timer);
  }, [revalidator, interval]);
}

export default function LiveData() {
  // Poll every 10 seconds
  usePolling(10000);
  
  return <div>Data updates automatically</div>;
}

​
Conditional Revalidation

Control which routes revalidate with shouldRevalidate: 
import type { ShouldRevalidateFunction } from "react-router";

export const shouldRevalidate: ShouldRevalidateFunction = ({
  currentUrl,
  nextUrl,
  formMethod,
  defaultShouldRevalidate,
}) => {
  // Don't revalidate on same-page search param changes
  if (
    currentUrl.pathname === nextUrl.pathname &&
    currentUrl.search !== nextUrl.search
  ) {
    return false;
  }
  
  // Always revalidate after POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE
  if (formMethod && formMethod !== "GET") {
    return true;
  }
  
  return defaultShouldRevalidate;
};

export async function loader() {
  return { data: await fetchExpensiveData() };
}

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Revalidation Options

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Skip Revalidation on Same URL

export const shouldRevalidate: ShouldRevalidateFunction = ({
  currentUrl,
  nextUrl,
}) => {
  return currentUrl.href !== nextUrl.href;
};

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Only Revalidate on Mutations

export const shouldRevalidate: ShouldRevalidateFunction = ({
  formMethod,
}) => {
  return formMethod != null && formMethod !== "GET";
};

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Time-Based Revalidation

let lastFetch = 0;
const CACHE_DURATION = 60000; // 1 minute

export const shouldRevalidate: ShouldRevalidateFunction = () => {
  const now = Date.now();
  if (now - lastFetch > CACHE_DURATION) {
    lastFetch = now;
    return true;
  }
  return false;
};

​
Parent Route Revalidation

Child route actions trigger parent loader revalidation: 
// app/routes/projects.$id.tsx
export async function loader({ params }: Route.LoaderArgs) {
  return { project: await db.project.findUnique({ where: { id: params.id } }) };
}

// app/routes/projects.$id.tasks.new.tsx
export async function action({ params, request }: Route.ActionArgs) {
  const formData = await request.formData();
  await db.task.create({
    data: {
      projectId: params.id,
      name: formData.get("name"),
    },
  });
  
  // Parent project loader automatically reruns
  return redirect(`/projects/${params.id}`);
}

​
Fetcher Revalidation

Fetcher submissions also trigger revalidation: 
import { useFetcher } from "react-router";

export default function TodoList({ todos }) {
  const fetcher = useFetcher();
  
  return (
    <div>
      <ul>
        {todos.map((todo) => (
          <li key={todo.id}>
            <fetcher.Form method="post" action="/todos/toggle">
              <input type="hidden" name="id" value={todo.id} />
              <button type="submit">
                {todo.completed ? "Undo" : "Complete"}
              </button>
            </fetcher.Form>
            {todo.text}
          </li>
        ))}
      </ul>
    </div>
  );
}

// All active loaders revalidate when any fetcher completes
Track overall revalidation state: 
import { useNavigation } from "react-router";

export function GlobalLoadingBar() {
  const navigation = useNavigation();
  const isRevalidating = navigation.state === "loading";
  
  return isRevalidating ? (
    <div className="loading-bar" />
  ) : null;
}

​
Optimizing Revalidation

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Parallel Loading

React Router runs all loaders in parallel during revalidation: 
// app/routes/dashboard.tsx
export async function loader() {
  return { layout: await getLayout() };
}

// app/routes/dashboard.stats.tsx  
export async function loader() {
  return { stats: await getStats() };
}

// app/routes/dashboard.activity.tsx
export async function loader() {
  return { activity: await getActivity() };
}

// All three loaders run in parallel on revalidation

​
Cache Data

const cache = new Map<string, { data: any; timestamp: number }>();
const CACHE_TTL = 60000; // 1 minute

export async function loader({ params }: Route.LoaderArgs) {
  const cacheKey = `user:${params.id}`;
  const cached = cache.get(cacheKey);
  
  if (cached && Date.now() - cached.timestamp < CACHE_TTL) {
    return cached.data;
  }
  
  const data = await db.user.findUnique({ where: { id: params.id } });
  cache.set(cacheKey, { data, timestamp: Date.now() });
  
  return data;
}

​
Selective Revalidation

export const shouldRevalidate: ShouldRevalidateFunction = ({
  currentParams,
  nextParams,
  formAction,
}) => {
  // Only revalidate if params changed or it's our form
  return (
    currentParams.id !== nextParams.id ||
    formAction === "/users/update"
  );
};

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Best Practices

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Don’t Over-Revalidate

// Good: Revalidate only when necessary
export const shouldRevalidate: ShouldRevalidateFunction = ({
  formMethod,
  defaultShouldRevalidate,
}) => {
  if (formMethod && formMethod !== "GET") {
    return true;
  }
  return defaultShouldRevalidate;
};

// Bad: Always revalidate
export const shouldRevalidate: ShouldRevalidateFunction = () => true;

​
Use Optimistic UI

Update the UI immediately, then revalidate: 
import { useFetcher } from "react-router";

export default function LikeButton({ post }) {
  const fetcher = useFetcher();
  
  // Optimistic count
  const likes = fetcher.formData
    ? post.likes + 1
    : post.likes;
  
  return (
    <fetcher.Form method="post" action="/like">
      <input type="hidden" name="postId" value={post.id} />
      <button type="submit">{likes} likes</button>
    </fetcher.Form>
  );
}

​
Show Loading States

import { useNavigation } from "react-router";

export default function Layout({ children }) {
  const navigation = useNavigation();
  
  return (
    <div>
      {navigation.state === "loading" && (
        <div className="loading">Loading...</div>
      )}
      {children}
    </div>
  );
}

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