react-reconciler is an experimental, low-level package provided by the React team for developers who wish to build custom React renderers for non-standard environments, such as WebGL, terminal UIs, or native desktop applications. It encapsulates the core reconciliation logic (the 'Fiber' architecture since React 16) responsible for efficiently diffing component trees and determining the minimal set of changes needed to update the UI. The package, currently at version 0.33.0, is designed to be pluggable with a custom `HostConfig` object, allowing developers to define platform-specific operations for creating, updating, and deleting nodes. Its API is explicitly unstable and does not adhere to React's standard versioning scheme, meaning breaking changes can occur in minor versions. It requires `react` as a peer dependency, specifically `>=19.2.0` for this version. It supports two primary modes: 'mutation mode' for environments that modify existing nodes (like the DOM) and 'persistent mode' for immutable tree structures.
npm install react-reconcilerVerified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.
This example demonstrates how to create a basic custom React renderer using `react-reconciler`. It defines a minimal `HostConfig` for a 'console' environment, logs lifecycle events, and shows how to use `createContainer` and `updateContainer` to render a simple React component.
Always pin `react-reconciler` to an exact version and thoroughly test custom renderers after any updates. Monitor React's official GitHub repository for changes to the internal reconciler code.
Refer to existing open-source custom renderers (e.g., React Three Fiber, Ink) and the internal React DOM/Native host configs for comprehensive examples. Start with a minimal set of methods and incrementally add functionality, testing at each step.
Understand your target platform's rendering model. If your environment modifies existing nodes (like the DOM), use `supportsMutation`. If it generates new immutable trees on every update, use `supportsPersistence`.
Ensure your project's `react` dependency satisfies the peer dependency range of `react-reconciler`. Use `npm install --force` or `yarn add --force` with caution if necessary, but ideally resolve conflicts cleanly.
You should not be directly importing internal React modules like `ReactFiberConfig`. Instead, you define a `HostConfig` object and pass it to the `Reconciler` factory function.
Always provide a stable, unique `key` prop for each item in a list. This key should ideally come from the data itself, not the array index, especially if the list can be reordered, filtered, or grow.
Verify that `MyRenderer.updateContainer(element, root, null, callback)` is invoked whenever the root element changes. Debug your `HostConfig` methods to ensure they correctly translate React's instructions into operations on your host environment's instances.