---
name: react-router-code-review
description: Reviews React Router code for proper data loading, mutations, error handling, and navigation patterns. Use when reviewing React Router v6.4+ code, loaders, actions, or navigation logic.
---
# React Router Code Review
## Quick Reference
| Issue Type | Reference |
|------------|-----------|
| useEffect for data, missing loaders, params | [references/data-loading.md](references/data-loading.md) |
| Form vs useFetcher, action patterns | [references/mutations.md](references/mutations.md) |
| Missing error boundaries, errorElement | [references/error-handling.md](references/error-handling.md) |
| navigate() vs Link, pending states | [references/navigation.md](references/navigation.md) |
## Review Checklist
- [ ] Data loaded via `loader` not `useEffect`
- [ ] Route params accessed type-safely with validation
- [ ] Using `defer()` for parallel data fetching when appropriate
- [ ] Mutations use `<Form>` or `useFetcher` not manual fetch
- [ ] Actions handle both success and error cases
- [ ] Error boundaries with `errorElement` on routes
- [ ] Using `isRouteErrorResponse()` to check error types
- [ ] Navigation uses `<Link>` over `navigate()` where possible
- [ ] Pending states shown via `useNavigation()` or `fetcher.state`
- [ ] No navigation in render (only in effects or handlers)
## Valid Patterns (Do NOT Flag)
These patterns are correct React Router usage - do not report as issues:
- **useEffect for client-only data** - Loaders run server-side; localStorage, window dimensions, and browser APIs must use useEffect
- **navigate() in event handlers** - Link is for declarative navigation; navigate() is correct for imperative navigation in callbacks/handlers
- **Type annotation on loader data** - `useLoaderData<typeof loader>()` is a type annotation, not a type assertion
- **Empty errorElement at route level** - Route may intentionally rely on parent error boundary
- **Form without action prop** - Posts to current URL by convention; explicit action is optional
- **loader returning null** - Valid when data may not exist; null is a legitimate loader return value
- **Using fetcher.data without checking fetcher.state** - May be intentional when stale data is acceptable during revalidation
## Context-Sensitive Rules
Only flag these issues when the specific context applies:
| Issue | Flag ONLY IF |
|-------|--------------|
| Missing loader | Data is available server-side (not client-only) |
| useEffect for data fetching | Data is NOT client-only (localStorage, browser APIs, window size) |
| Missing errorElement | No parent route in the hierarchy has an error boundary |
| navigate() instead of Link | Navigation is NOT triggered by an event handler or conditional logic |
## Gates (before reporting any finding)
Run in order. **Pass each gate with evidence** (paths, line refs, or a one-line quote from code)—not intuition alone.
### Gate 1 — Scope the route surface
**Pass when:** You have repo path(s) to the route module, `routes` config entry, or layout that owns the behavior under review (write them in your notes before flagging).
### Gate 2 — Context-sensitive match
**Pass when:** For every issue that maps to **Context-Sensitive Rules**, the **Flag ONLY IF** condition is satisfied with a one-line rationale tied to the code; for other checklist items, you have a concrete code citation (path + line or short excerpt).
### Gate 3 — Non-issue patterns
**Pass when:** The behavior is not covered by **Valid Patterns (Do NOT Flag)** for that category.
### Gate 4 — Verification protocol
Load and follow [review-verification-protocol](../review-verification-protocol/SKILL.md). **Pass when:** Its pre-report checklist (and any issue-type subsection that applies) is complete for each finding you will output.
## When to Load References
- Reviewing data fetching code → data-loading.md
- Reviewing forms or mutations → mutations.md
- Reviewing error handling → error-handling.md
- Reviewing navigation logic → navigation.md
## Review Questions
1. Is data loaded in loaders instead of effects?
2. Are mutations using Form/action patterns?
3. Are there error boundaries at appropriate route levels?
4. Is navigation declarative with Link components?
5. Are pending states properly handled?