Mutation & Revalidation
SWR provides the mutate
and useSWRMutation
APIs for mutating remote data and related cache.
mutate
There're 2 ways to use the mutate
API to mutate the data, the global mutate API which can mutate any key and the bound mutate API which only can mutate the data of corresponding SWR hook.
Global Mutate
The recommended way to get the global mutator is to use the useSWRConfig
hook:
import { useSWRConfig } from "swr"
function App() {
const { mutate } = useSWRConfig()
mutate(key, data, options)
}
You can also import it globally:
import { mutate } from "swr"
function App() {
mutate(key, data, options)
}
Using global mutator only with the key
parameter will not update the cache or trigger revalidation unless there is a mounted SWR hook using the same key.
Bound Mutate
Bound mutate is the short path to mutate the current key with data. Which key
is bounded to the key
passing to useSWR
, and receive the data
as the first argument.
It is functionally equivalent to the global mutate
function in the previous section but does not require the key
parameter:
import useSWR from 'swr'
function Profile () {
const { data, mutate } = useSWR('/api/user', fetcher)
return (
<div>
<h1>My name is {data.name}.</h1>
<button onClick={async () => {
const newName = data.name.toUpperCase()
// send a request to the API to update the data
await requestUpdateUsername(newName)
// update the local data immediately and revalidate (refetch)
// NOTE: key is not required when using useSWR's mutate as it's pre-bound
mutate({ ...data, name: newName })
}}>Uppercase my name!</button>
</div>
)
}
Revalidation
When you call mutate(key)
(or just mutate()
with the bound mutate API) without any data, it will trigger a revalidation (mark the data as expired and trigger a refetch)
for the resource. This example shows how to automatically refetch the login info (e.g. inside <Profile/>
)
when the user clicks the “Logout” button:
import useSWR, { useSWRConfig } from 'swr'
function App () {
const { mutate } = useSWRConfig()
return (
<div>
<Profile />
<button onClick={() => {
// set the cookie as expired
document.cookie = 'token=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 UTC; path=/;'
// tell all SWRs with this key to revalidate
mutate('/api/user')
}}>
Logout
</button>
</div>
)
}
It broadcasts to SWR hooks under the same cache provider scope. If no cache provider exists, it will broadcast to all SWR hooks.
API
Parameters
key
: same asuseSWR
'skey
, but a function behaves as a filter functiondata
: data to update the client cache, or an async function for the remote mutationoptions
: accepts the following optionsoptimisticData
: data to immediately update the client cache, or a function that receives current data and returns the new client cache data, usually used in optimistic UI.revalidate = true
: should the cache revalidate once the asynchronous update resolves. If set to a function, the function receivesdata
andkey
.populateCache = true
: should the result of the remote mutation be written to the cache, or a function that receives new result and current result as arguments and returns the mutation result.rollbackOnError = true
: should the cache rollback if the remote mutation errors, or a function that receives the error thrown from fetcher as arguments and returns a boolean whether should rollback or not.throwOnError = true
: should the mutate call throw the error when fails.
Return Values
mutate
returns the results the data
parameter has been resolved. The function passed to mutate
will return an updated data which is used to update the corresponding cache value. If there is an error thrown while executing the function, the error will be thrown so it can be handled appropriately.
try {
const user = await mutate('/api/user', updateUser(newUser))
} catch (error) {
// Handle an error while updating the user here
}
useSWRMutation
SWR also provides useSWRMutation
as a hook for remote mutations. The remote mutations are only triggered manually, instead of automatically like useSWR
.
Also, this hook doesn’t share states with other useSWRMutation
hooks.
import useSWRMutation from 'swr/mutation'
// Fetcher implementation.
// The extra argument will be passed via the `arg` property of the 2nd parameter.
// In the example below, `arg` will be `'my_token'`
async function updateUser(url, { arg }: { arg: string }) {
await fetch(url, {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${arg}`
}
})
}
function Profile() {
// A useSWR + mutate like API, but it will not start the request automatically.
const { trigger } = useSWRMutation('/api/user', updateUser, options)
return <button onClick={() => {
// Trigger `updateUser` with a specific argument.
trigger('my_token')
}}>Update User</button>
}
API
Parameters
key
: same asmutate
'skey
fetcher(key, { arg })
: an async function for remote mutationoptions
: an optional object with the following properties:optimisticData
: same asmutate
'soptimisticData
revalidate = true
: same asmutate
'srevalidate
populateCache = false
: same asmutate
'spopulateCache
, but the default isfalse
rollbackOnError = true
: same asmutate
'srollbackOnError
throwOnError = true
: same asmutate
'sthrowOnError
onSuccess(data, key, config)
: callback function when a remote mutation has been finished successfullyonError(err, key, config)
: callback function when a remote mutation has returned an error
Return Values
data
: data for the given key returned fromfetcher
error
: error thrown byfetcher
(or undefined)trigger(arg, options)
: a function to trigger a remote mutationreset
: a function to reset the state (data
,error
,isMutating
)isMutating
: if there's an ongoing remote mutation
Basic Usage
import useSWRMutation from 'swr/mutation'
async function sendRequest(url, { arg }: { arg: { username: string } }) {
return fetch(url, {
method: 'POST',
body: JSON.stringify(arg)
}).then(res => res.json())
}
function App() {
const { trigger, isMutating } = useSWRMutation('/api/user', sendRequest, /* options */)
return (
<button
disabled={isMutating}
onClick={async () => {
try {
const result = await trigger({ username: 'johndoe' }, /* options */)
} catch (e) {
// error handling
}
}}
>
Create User
</button>
)
}
If you want to use the mutation results in rendering, you can get them from the return values of useSWRMutation
.
const { trigger, data, error } = useSWRMutation('/api/user', sendRequest)
useSWRMutation
shares a cache store with useSWR
, so it can detect and avoid race conditions between useSWR
. It also supports mutate
's functionalities like optimistic updates and rollback on errors. You can pass these options useSWRMutation
and its trigger
function.
const { trigger } = useSWRMutation('/api/user', updateUser, {
optimisticData: current => ({ ...current, name: newName })
})
// or
trigger(newName, {
optimisticData: current => ({ ...current, name: newName })
})
Defer loading data until needed
You can also use useSWRMutation
for loading data. useSWRMutation
never start requesting until trigger
is called, so you can defer loading data when you actually need it.
import { useState } from 'react'
import useSWRMutation from 'swr/mutation'
const fetcher = url => fetch(url).then(res => res.json())
const Page = () => {
const [show, setShow] = useState(false)
// data is undefined until trigger is called
const { data: user, trigger } = useSWRMutation('/api/user', fetcher);
return (
<div>
<button onClick={() => {
trigger();
setShow(true);
}}>Show User</button>
{show && user ? <div>{user.name}</div> : null}
</div>
);
}
Optimistic Updates
In many cases, applying local mutations to data is a good way to make changes feel faster — no need to wait for the remote source of data.
With the optimisticData
option, you can update your local data manually, while
waiting for the remote mutation to finish. Composing rollbackOnError
you can also
control when to rollback the data.
import useSWR, { useSWRConfig } from 'swr'
function Profile () {
const { mutate } = useSWRConfig()
const { data } = useSWR('/api/user', fetcher)
return (
<div>
<h1>My name is {data.name}.</h1>
<button onClick={async () => {
const newName = data.name.toUpperCase()
const user = { ...data, name: newName }
const options = {
optimisticData: user,
rollbackOnError(error) {
// If it's timeout abort error, don't rollback
return error.name !== 'AbortError'
},
}
// updates the local data immediately
// send a request to update the data
// triggers a revalidation (refetch) to make sure our local data is correct
mutate('/api/user', updateFn(user), options);
}}>Uppercase my name!</button>
</div>
)
}
The
updateFn
should be a promise or asynchronous function to handle the remote mutation, it should return updated data.
You can also pass a function to optimisticData
to make it depending on the current data:
import useSWR, { useSWRConfig } from 'swr'
function Profile () {
const { mutate } = useSWRConfig()
const { data } = useSWR('/api/user', fetcher)
return (
<div>
<h1>My name is {data.name}.</h1>
<button onClick={async () => {
const newName = data.name.toUpperCase()
mutate('/api/user', updateUserName(newName), {
optimisticData: user => ({ ...user, name: newName }),
rollbackOnError: true
});
}}>Uppercase my name!</button>
</div>
)
}
You can also create the same thing with useSWRMutation
and trigger
:
import useSWRMutation from 'swr/mutation'
function Profile () {
const { trigger } = useSWRMutation('/api/user', updateUserName)
return (
<div>
<h1>My name is {data.name}.</h1>
<button onClick={async () => {
const newName = data.name.toUpperCase()
trigger(newName, {
optimisticData: user => ({ ...user, name: newName }),
rollbackOnError: true
})
}}>Uppercase my name!</button>
</div>
)
}
Rollback on Errors
When you have optimisticData
set, it’s possible that the optimistic data gets
displayed to the user, but the remote mutation fails. In this case, you can leverage
rollbackOnError
to revert the local cache to the previous state, to make sure
the user is seeing the correct data.
Update Cache After Mutation
Sometimes, the remote mutation request directly returns the updated data, so there is no need to do an extra fetch to load it.
You can enable the populateCache
option to update the cache for useSWR
with the response of the mutation:
const updateTodo = () => fetch('/api/todos/1', {
method: 'PATCH',
body: JSON.stringify({ completed: true })
})
mutate('/api/todos', updateTodo, {
populateCache: (updatedTodo, todos) => {
// filter the list, and return it with the updated item
const filteredTodos = todos.filter(todo => todo.id !== '1')
return [...filteredTodos, updatedTodo]
},
// Since the API already gives us the updated information,
// we don't need to revalidate here.
revalidate: false
})
Or with the useSWRMutation
hook:
useSWRMutation('/api/todos', updateTodo, {
populateCache: (updatedTodo, todos) => {
// filter the list, and return it with the updated item
const filteredTodos = todos.filter(todo => todo.id !== '1')
return [...filteredTodos, updatedTodo]
},
// Since the API already gives us the updated information,
// we don't need to revalidate here.
revalidate: false
})
When combined with optimisticData
and rollbackOnError
, you’ll get a perfect optimistic UI experience.
Avoid Race Conditions
Both mutate
and useSWRMutation
can avoid race conditions between useSWR
. For example,
function Profile() {
const { data } = useSWR('/api/user', getUser, { revalidateInterval: 3000 })
const { trigger } = useSWRMutation('/api/user', updateUser)
return <>
{data ? data.username : null}
<button onClick={() => trigger()}>Update User</button>
</>
}
The normal useSWR
hook might refresh its data any time due to focus, polling, or other conditions. This way the displayed username
can be as fresh as possible. However, since we have a mutation there that can happen at the nearly same time of a refetch of useSWR
, there
could be a race condition that getUser
request starts earlier, but takes longer than updateUser
.
Luckily, useSWRMutation
handles this for you automatically. After the mutation, it will tell useSWR
to ditch the ongoing request and revalidate,
so the stale data will never be displayed.
Mutate Based on Current Data
Sometimes, you want to update a part of your data based on the current data.
With mutate
, you can pass an async function which will receive the current cached value, if any, and returns an updated document.
mutate('/api/todos', async todos => {
// let's update the todo with ID `1` to be completed,
// this API returns the updated data
const updatedTodo = await fetch('/api/todos/1', {
method: 'PATCH',
body: JSON.stringify({ completed: true })
})
// filter the list, and return it with the updated item
const filteredTodos = todos.filter(todo => todo.id !== '1')
return [...filteredTodos, updatedTodo]
// Since the API already gives us the updated information,
// we don't need to revalidate here.
}, { revalidate: false })
Mutate Multiple Items
The global mutate
API accepts a filter function, which accepts key
as the argument and returns which keys to revalidate. The filter function is applied to all the existing cache keys:
import { mutate } from 'swr'
// Or from the hook if you customized the cache provider:
// { mutate } = useSWRConfig()
mutate(
key => typeof key === 'string' && key.startsWith('/api/item?id='),
undefined,
{ revalidate: true }
)
This also works with any key type like an array. The mutation matches all keys, of which the first element is 'item'
.
useSWR(['item', 123], ...)
useSWR(['item', 124], ...)
useSWR(['item', 125], ...)
mutate(
key => Array.isArray(key) && key[0] === 'item',
undefined,
{ revalidate: false }
)
The filter function is applied to all existing cache keys, so you should not assume the shape of keys when using multiple shapes of keys.
// ✅ matching array key
mutate((key) => key[0].startsWith('/api'), data)
// ✅ matching string key
mutate((key) => typeof key === 'string' && key.startsWith('/api'), data)
// ❌ ERROR: mutate uncertain keys (array or string)
mutate((key: any) => /\/api/.test(key.toString()))
You can use the filter function to clear all cache data, which is useful when logging out:
const clearCache = () => mutate(
() => true,
undefined,
{ revalidate: false }
)
// ...clear cache on logout
clearCache()