---

name: zustand-state description: Zustand state management for React and vanilla JavaScript. Use when creating stores, using selectors, persisting state to localStorage, integrating devtools, or managing global state without Redux complexity. Triggers on zustand, create(), createStore, useStore, persist, devtools, immer middleware.

Zustand State Management

Minimal state management - no providers, minimal boilerplate.

Quick Reference

import { create } from 'zustand'

interface BearState {
  bears: number
  increase: (by: number) => void
}

const useBearStore = create<BearState>()((set) => ({
  bears: 0,
  increase: (by) => set((state) => ({ bears: state.bears + by })),
}))

// In component - select only what you need
const bears = useBearStore((state) => state.bears)
const increase = useBearStore((state) => state.increase)

State Updates

// Flat updates (auto-merged at one level)
set({ bears: 5 })
set((state) => ({ bears: state.bears + 1 }))

// Nested objects (manual spread required)
set((state) => ({
  nested: { ...state.nested, count: state.nested.count + 1 }
}))

// Replace entire state (no merge)
set({ bears: 0 }, true)

Selectors & Performance

// Good - subscribes only to bears
const bears = useBearStore((state) => state.bears)

// Bad - rerenders on any change
const state = useBearStore()

// Multiple values with useShallow (prevents rerenders with shallow comparison)
import { useShallow } from 'zustand/react/shallow'

const { bears, fish } = useBearStore(
  useShallow((state) => ({ bears: state.bears, fish: state.fish }))
)

// Array destructuring also works
const [bears, fish] = useBearStore(
  useShallow((state) => [state.bears, state.fish])
)

Access Outside Components

// Get current state (non-reactive)
const state = useBearStore.getState()

// Update state
useBearStore.setState({ bears: 5 })

// Subscribe to changes
const unsub = useBearStore.subscribe((state) => console.log(state))
unsub() // unsubscribe

Vanilla Store (No React)

import { createStore } from 'zustand/vanilla'

const store = createStore((set) => ({
  bears: 0,
  increase: (by) => set((state) => ({ bears: state.bears + by })),
}))

store.getState().bears
store.setState({ bears: 10 })
store.subscribe((state) => console.log(state))

Additional Documentation

• Middleware: See references/middleware.md for persist, devtools, immer
• Patterns: See references/patterns.md for slices, testing, best practices
• TypeScript: See references/typescript.md for advanced typing patterns

Key Patterns

Pattern	When to Use
Single selector	One piece of state needed
useShallow	Multiple values, avoid rerenders
getState()	Outside React, event handlers
subscribe()	External systems, logging
Vanilla store	Non-React environments

Gates (persist and devtools)

Before merging code that uses these middlewares (see references/middleware.md for setup):

1. persist — Pass when persisted keys are explicit (partialize or a reviewed full-state snapshot) and the JSON written to storage cannot include auth tokens, API keys, or other secrets.
2. devtools in shipped bundles — Pass when DevTools runs only in development (env gate), or you leave a one-line note in the PR explaining why it stays enabled in production.