Mutations

Unlike queries, mutations are typically used to create/update/delete data or perform server side-effects. For this purpose, React Query exports a useMutation hook.

Here's an example of a mutation that adds a new todo the server:

1 function App() {
2   const mutation = useMutation(newTodo => axios.post('/todods', newTodo))
3 
4   return (
5     <div>
6       {mutation.isLoading ? (
7         'Adding todo...'
8       ) : (
9         <>
10           {mutation.isError ? (
11             <div>An error occurred: {mutation.error.message}</div>
12           ) : null}
13 
14           {mutation.isError ? <div>Todo added!</div> : null}
15 
16           <button
17             onClick={() => {
18               mutation.mutate({ id: new Date(), title: 'Do Laundry' })
19             }}
20           >
21             Create Todo
22           </button>
23         </>
24       )}
25     </div>
26   )
27 }

A mutation can only be in one of the following states at any given moment:

• isIdle or `status === 'idle' - The mutation is currently idle or in a fresh/reset state
• isLoading or `status === 'loading' - The mutation is currently running
• isError or status === 'error' - The mutation encountered an error
• isSuccess or `status === 'success' - The mutation was successful and mutation data is available

Beyond those primary state, more information is available depending on the state the mutation:

• error - If the mutation is in an isError state, the error is available via the error property.
• data - If the mutation is in a success state, the data is available via the data property.

In the example above, you also saw that you can pass variables to your mutations function by calling the mutate function with a single variable or object.

Even with just variables, mutations aren't all that special, but when used with the onSuccess option, the Query Client's invalidateQueries method and the Query Client's setQueryData method, mutations become a very powerful tool.

IMPORTANT: The mutate function is an asynchronous function, which means you cannot use it directly in an event callback. If you need to access the event in onSubmit you need to wrap mutate in another function. This is due to React event pooling.

1 // This will not work
2 const CreateTodo = () => {
3   const mutation = useMutation(event => {
4     event.preventDefault()
5     return fetch('/api', new FormData(event.target))
6   })
7 
8   return <form onSubmit={mutation.mutate}>...</form>
9 }
10 
11 // This will work
12 const CreateTodo = () => {
13   const mutation = useMutation(formData => {
14     return fetch('/api', formData)
15   })
16   const onSubmit = event => {
17     event.preventDefault()
18     mutation.mutate(new FormData(event.target))
19   }
20 
21   return <form onSubmit={onSubmit}>...</form>
22 }

Resetting Mutation State

It's sometimes the case that you need to clear the error or data of a mutation request. To do this, you can use the reset function to handle this:

1 const CreateTodo = () => {
2   const [title, setTitle] = useState('')
3   const mutation = useMutation(createTodo)
4 
5   const onCreateTodo = e => {
6     e.preventDefault()
7     mutation.mutate({ title })
8   }
9 
10   return (
11     <form onSubmit={onCreateTodo}>
12       {mutation.error && (
13         <h5 onClick={() => mutation.reset()}>{mutation.error}</h5>
14       )}
15       <input
16         type="text"
17         value={title}
18         onChange={e => setTitle(e.target.value)}
19       />
20       <br />
21       <button type="submit">Create Todo</button>
22     </form>
23   )
24 }

Mutation Side Effects

useMutation comes with some helper options that allow quick and easy side-effects at any stage during the mutation lifecycle. These come in handy for both invalidating and refetching queries after mutations and even optimistic updates

1 useMutation(addTodo, {
2   onMutate: variables => {
3     // A mutation is about to happen!
4 
5     // Optionally return a context containing data to use when for example rolling back
6     return { id: 1 }
7   },
8   onError: (error, variables, context) => {
9     // An error happened!
10     console.log(`rolling back optimistic update with id ${context.id}`)
11   },
12   onSuccess: (data, variables, context) => {
13     // Boom baby!
14   },
15   onSettled: (data, error, variables, context) => {
16     // Error or success... doesn't matter!
17   },
18 })

When returning a promise in any of the callback functions it will first be awaited before the next callback is called:

1 useMutation(addTodo, {
2   onSuccess: async () => {
3     console.log("I'm first!")
4   },
5   onSettled: async () => {
6     console.log("I'm second!")
7   },
8 })

You might find that you want to trigger different callbacks then the ones defined on useMutation when calling mutate. To do that, you can provide any of the same callback options to the mutate function after your mutation variable. Supported overrides include: onSuccess, onError and onSettled.

1 useMutation(addTodo, {
2   onSuccess: (data, variables, context) => {
3     // I will not fire
4   },
5   onError: (error, variables, context) => {
6     // I will not fire
7   },
8   onSettled: (data, error, variables, context) => {
9     // I will not fire
10   },
11 })
12 
13 mutate(todo, {
14   onSuccess: (data, variables, context) => {
15     // I will fire instead!
16   },
17   onError: (error, variables, context) => {
18     // I will fire instead!
19   },
20   onSettled: (data, error, variables, context) => {
21     // I will fire instead!
22   },
23 })

Promises

Use mutateAsync instead of mutate to get a promise which will resolve on success or throw on an error. This can for example be used to compose side effects.

1 const mutation = useMutation(addTodo)
2 
3 try {
4   const todo = await mutation.mutateAsync(todo)
5   console.log(todo)
6 } catch (error) {
7   console.error(error)
8 } finally {
9   console.log('done')
10 }

Retry

By default React Query will not retry a mutation on error, but it is possible with the retry option:

1 const mutation = useMutation(addTodo, {
2   retry: 3,
3 })

If mutations fail because the device is offline, they will be retried in the same order when the device reconnects.