React Alien Signals

June 17, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

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React Alien Signals is a TypeScript library that provides hooks built on top of Alien Signals. It offers a seamless integration with React, ensuring concurrency-safe re-renders without tearing.

Table of Contents

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Features

  • Basic Signals: Create and manage reactive state with createSignal
  • Computed Signals: Derive reactive values based on other signals using createComputed
  • Effects & Effect Scopes: Run side effects in response to state changes with createEffect and manage multiple effects with createSignalScope
  • React Integration: Utilize hooks like useSignal, useSignalValue, and useSetSignal for seamless state management
  • TypeScript Support: Fully typed APIs for type safety and IntelliSense

Installation

Install react-alien-signals and its peer dependency alien-signals via npm:

npm install react-alien-signals alien-signals

Usage

Basic Signals

Create a writable signal and use it within your components:

import { createSignal, useSignal } from "react-alien-signals";

const count = createSignal(0);

function Counter() {
  const [value, setValue] = useSignal(count);

  return (
    <button onClick={() => setValue(value + 1)}>
      Count: {value}
    </button>
  );
}

Computed Signals

Create derived state that automatically updates:

import { createSignal, createComputed, useSignalValue } from "react-alien-signals";

const count = createSignal(1);
const double = createComputed(() => count() * 2);

function Display() {
  const doubleValue = useSignalValue(double);
  return <div>Double: {doubleValue}</div>;
}

Effects & Effect Scopes

Run side effects in response to signal changes:

import { createSignal, createEffect, useSignalScope } from "react-alien-signals";

const count = createSignal(0);

function Logger() {
  useSignalScope(() => {
    createEffect(() => {
      console.log('Count changed:', count());
    });
  });

  return null;
}

React Hooks

React Alien Signals provides several hooks to interact with signals:

  • useSignal(signal): Returns [value, setValue] tuple for reading and writing
  • useSignalValue(signal): Returns the current value (read-only)
  • useSetSignal(signal): Returns a setter function (write-only)
  • useSignalEffect(effectFn): Runs a side effect based on signal changes
  • useSignalScope(callback): Manages effect scopes within a component
  • useComputed(getter, deps): Creates and subscribes to a computed signal

useComputed(getter, deps)

The useComputed hook expects a getter and a dependency array. The dependency array is similar to a dependency array used in useMemo or useEffect Here is an example

function Component({ a }) {
  useComputed(
    () => {
      return a + mySignal();
    },
    [a, mySignal]
  );
}

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read the Contributing Guidelines before getting started.

License

MIT

Acknowledgements