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kunstenkamp/.agents/skills/vercel-react-best-practices/rules/advanced-event-handler-refs.md
2026-02-24 11:35:17 +01:00

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---
title: Store Event Handlers in Refs
impact: LOW
impactDescription: stable subscriptions
tags: advanced, hooks, refs, event-handlers, optimization
---
## Store Event Handlers in Refs
Store callbacks in refs when used in effects that shouldn't re-subscribe on callback changes.
**Incorrect (re-subscribes on every render):**
```tsx
function useWindowEvent(event: string, handler: (e) => void) {
useEffect(() => {
window.addEventListener(event, handler);
return () => window.removeEventListener(event, handler);
}, [event, handler]);
}
```
**Correct (stable subscription):**
```tsx
function useWindowEvent(event: string, handler: (e) => void) {
const handlerRef = useRef(handler);
useEffect(() => {
handlerRef.current = handler;
}, [handler]);
useEffect(() => {
const listener = (e) => handlerRef.current(e);
window.addEventListener(event, listener);
return () => window.removeEventListener(event, listener);
}, [event]);
}
```
**Alternative: use `useEffectEvent` if you're on latest React:**
```tsx
import { useEffectEvent } from "react";
function useWindowEvent(event: string, handler: (e) => void) {
const onEvent = useEffectEvent(handler);
useEffect(() => {
window.addEventListener(event, onEvent);
return () => window.removeEventListener(event, onEvent);
}, [event]);
}
```
`useEffectEvent` provides a cleaner API for the same pattern: it creates a stable function reference that always calls the latest version of the handler.