useStateAction

useStateAction keeps track of the previous action execution result(s), thanks to the useActionState hook from React that is used under the hood. This hook works with actions declared with the stateAction instance method, that changes the function signature, placing a prevResult argument in the first position, and an input (if a validation schema was provided) in the second one. When a stateful action is passed to useStateAction hook, the returned execute function will be a function that accepts just the (optional) input and returns the action result, as the normal useAction hook does.

note

React's useActionState hook has replaced the previous useFormState hook, that is now deprecated. You can explore the documentation for it in the React docs.

Let's say you want to update the number of likes of a post in your application, mutating directly the database.

Example

1. Define a new stateful action called statefulAction, that takes a name as input and returns the name you just passed, as well as the previous one (if any).

Note two important things:

1. We use the zod-form-data library to generate the input validation schema;
2. We use stateAction instance method to define the action. You must use this method, because useStateAction hook requires prevResult to be the first argument of the Server Action function. Using this method also allows you to access the previous action result in serverCodeFn, via the prevResult property in the second argument of the function:

"use server";

import { actionClient } from "@/lib/safe-action";
import { z } from "zod";
import { zfd } from "zod-form-data";

const schema = zfd.formData({
  name: zfd.text(z.string().min(1).max(20)),
});

export const statefulAction = actionClient
  .metadata({ actionName: "statefulAction" })
  .schema(schema)
  // Note that we need to explicitly give a type to `stateAction` here,
  // for its return object. This is because TypeScript can't infer the
  // return type of the function and then "pass it" to the second argument
  // of the server code function (`prevResult`). If you don't need to
  // access `prevResult`, though, you can omit the type here, since it
  // will be inferred just like with `action` method.
  .stateAction<{
    prevName?: string;
    newName: string;
  }>(async ({ parsedInput, metadata }, { prevResult }) => {
    await new Promise((res) => setTimeout(res, 1000));

    return {
      prevName: prevResult.data?.newName,
      newName: parsedInput.name,
    };
  });

1. Then, in your Client Component, you can define a form like this one, and pass the action we just defined to the form action prop:

"use client";

import { useStateAction } from "next-safe-action/hooks";
import { statefulAction } from "./stateful-action";

export default function StatefulFormPage() {
  const { execute, result, status } = useStateAction(statefulAction, {
    initResult: { data: { newName: "jane" } }, // optionally pass initial state
  });

  return (
    <form action={execute}>
      <input type="text" name="name" placeholder="Name" />
      <button type="submit">Submit</button>
    </form>
  );
}

useStateAction arguments

useStateAction has the following arguments:

Name	Type	Purpose
safeActionFn	HookSafeStateActionFn	This is the action that will be passed to React's useActionState hook. You can then all it with execute function from the hook's return object, that has the same signature as safeActionFn, minus the first argument (prevResult).
utils	{ initResult: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof safeActionFn>>; permalink?: string } & HookCallbacks	Object with required initResult property and optional permalink and callbacks. Permalink usage is explained in React docs for useActionState hook.

You can pass an optional initial result to useStateAction, with the initResult argument. If not passed, the init result will default to EMPTY_HOOK_RESULT (every property typed undefined).

useOptimisticAction return object

useOptimisticAction returns an object with the following properties:

Name	Type	Purpose
execute	(input: InferIn<S>) => void	An action caller with no return. The input is the same as the safe action you passed to the hook.
result	HookResult	When the action gets called via execute, this is the result object.
status	HookActionStatus	The action current status.

Explore a working example here.