Signals Hooks Skill
This skill provides comprehensive instructions and reference guidelines for utilizing signals_hooks package in Flutter applications. It integrates signals_flutter reactivity with the dynamic widget-state lifecycles of flutter_hooks.
Modern Positional Options API
In signals.dart v7, all hooks have been migrated to use a clean positional Options pattern instead of verbose named parameters. The positional parameters are structured as [keys, options]. To supply options (like name, autoDispose, or equality inside classes like SignalOptions, AsyncSignalOptions, or ListSignalOptions), they must be passed as the second positional optional argument, with the keys dependency list passed as the first positional optional argument (e.g., useSignal(value, const [], SignalOptions(name: 'counter'))).
Hook Reference Summary Table
| Hook Name | Options Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| useSignal | SignalOptions | Wraps a standard mutable Signal bound to the hook state lifecycle. |
| useComputed | ComputedOptions | Creates a read-only Computed signal that caches computed values and tracks changes. |
| useSignalEffect | - | Registers a side-effect callback that automatically disposes when the hook unmounts. |
| useExistingSignal | - | Safely binds an existing, external signal to automatically rebuild the widget on change. |
| useSignalValue | - | Directly extracts and watches the value of a signal, returning the unwrapped T value. |
| useFutureSignal | AsyncSignalOptions | Triggers an asynchronous callback and returns its result wrapped in a FutureSignal. |
| useStreamSignal | AsyncSignalOptions | Subscribes to a Stream and exposes its events via a StreamSignal. |
| useAsyncSignal | AsyncSignalOptions | Wraps an asynchronous task state inside a manageable AsyncSignal. |
| useAsyncComputed | AsyncSignalOptions | Creates a reactive computed signal driven by an asynchronous callback. |
| useValueNotifierToSignal | SignalOptions | Bridges a standard Flutter ValueNotifier to a mutable reactive Signal. |
| useValueListenableToSignal | SignalOptions | Bridges a standard Flutter ValueListenable to a read-only ReadonlySignal. |
| useListSignal | ListSignalOptions | Creates a reactive ListSignal for list collections. |
| useSetSignal | SetSignalOptions | Creates a reactive SetSignal for set collections. |
| useIterableSignal | IterableSignalOptions | Creates a reactive IterableSignal for iterable collections. |
| useMapSignal | MapSignalOptions | Creates a reactive MapSignal for key-value collections. |
| useTrackedSignal | TrackedSignalOptions | Creates a TrackedSignal that remembers its previous values. |
| useQueueSignal | QueueSignalOptions | Creates a reactive QueueSignal for queue collections. |
| useChangeStackSignal | ChangeStackSignalOptions | Creates a ChangeStackSignal that manages undo/redo history. |
| useLinkedSignal | LinkedSignalOptions | Creates a writable computed LinkedSignal bridging two signals. |
| useLazySignal | SignalOptions | Creates a LazySignal initialized lazily on first access. |
Best Practices
- Avoid Named Parameters: Do NOT pass named configuration parameters (like
nameorautoDispose) directly to hooks. Always wrap them in the positionalOptionsparameter. - Positional Parameter Order: The first positional optional parameter is
keys(list of dependencies), and the second positional optional parameter isoptions(the options configuration object). - Memory Safety:
signals_hooksautomatically disposes all created signals and effects when the widget is unmounted, preventing memory leaks.
