React 18 Automatic Batching Patterns
Reference for diagnosing and fixing the most dangerous silent breaking change in React 18 for class-component codebases.
The Core Change
| Location of setState | React 17 | React 18 |
|---|---|---|
| React event handler | Batched | Batched (same) |
| setTimeout | Immediate re-render | Batched |
| Promise.then() /.catch() | Immediate re-render | Batched |
| async/await | Immediate re-render | Batched |
| Native addEventListener callback | Immediate re-render | Batched |
Batched means: all setState calls within that execution context flush together in a single re-render at the end. No intermediate renders occur.
Quick Diagnosis
Read every async class method. Ask: does any code after an await read this.state to make a decision?
Code reads this.state after await?
YES → Category A (silent state-read bug)
NO, but intermediate render must be visible to user?
YES → Category C (flushSync needed)
NO → Category B (refactor, no flushSync)For the full pattern for each category, read:
references/batching-categories.md- Category A, B, C with full before/after codereferences/flushSync-guide.md- when to use flushSync, when NOT to, import syntax
The flushSync Rule
Use flushSync sparingly. It forces a synchronous re-render, bypassing React 18's concurrent scheduler. Overusing it negates the performance benefits of React 18.
Only use flushSync when:
- The user must see an intermediate UI state before an async operation begins
- A spinner/loading state must render before a fetch starts
- Sequential UI steps have distinct visible states (progress wizard, multi-step flow)
In most cases, the fix is a refactor - restructuring the code to not read this.state after await. Read references/batching-categories.md for the correct approach per category.