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combineSlices

Overview​

A function that combines slices into a single reducer, and enables injection of more reducers after initialisation.

// file: slices/index.ts
import { combineSlices } from '@reduxjs/toolkit'
import { api } from './api'
import { userSlice } from './users'

export const rootReducer = combineSlices(api, userSlice)


// file: store.ts
import { configureStore } from '@reduxjs/toolkit'
import { rootReducer } from './slices'

export const store = configureStore({
  reducer: rootReducer,
})
note

A "slice" for combineSlices is typically created with createSlice, but can be any "slice-like" object with reducerPath and reducer properties (meaning RTK Query API instances are also compatible).

const withUserReducer = rootReducer.inject({
  reducerPath: 'user',
  reducer: userReducer,
})

const withApiReducer = rootReducer.inject(fooApi)

For simplicity, this { reducerPath, reducer } shape will be described in these docs as a "slice".

Parameters​

combineSlices accepts a set of slices and/or reducer map objects, and combines them into a single reducer.

Slices will be mounted at their reducerPath, and items from reducer map objects will be mounted under their respective key.

const rootReducer = combineSlices(counterSlice, baseApi, {
  user: userSlice.reducer,
  auth: authSlice.reducer,
})
// is like
const rootReducer = combineReducers({
  [counterSlice.reducerPath]: counterSlice.reducer,
  [baseApi.reducerPath]: baseApi.reducer,
  user: userSlice.reducer,
  auth: authSlice.reducer,
})
caution

If multiple slices/map objects have the same reducer path, the reducer provided later in the arguments will override the previous.

However, typing will not be able to account for this. It's best to ensure that all of your reducers will aim for a unique location.

Return Value​

combineSlices returns a reducer function, with attached methods.

interface CombinedSliceReducer<InitialState, DeclaredState = InitialState>
  extends Reducer<DeclaredState, AnyAction, Partial<DeclaredState>> {
  withLazyLoadedSlices<LazyLoadedSlices>(): CombinedSliceReducer<
    InitialState,
    DeclaredState & Partial<LazyLoadedSlices>
  >
  inject<Slice extends SliceLike>(
    slice: Slice,
    config?: InjectConfig
  ): CombinedSliceReducer<InitialState, DeclaredState & WithSlice<Slice>>
  selector: {
    (selectorFn: Selector, selectState?: SelectFromRootState) => WrappedSelector
    original(state: DeclaredState) => InitialState & Partial<DeclaredState>
  }
}

withLazyLoadedSlices​

It's recommended to infer your RootState type from your store, which is inferred from the reducer. However, this can present issues if slices are lazy loaded, and thus not able to be inferred from.

withLazyLoadedSlices allows you to declare slices that will be added to state later, which will be included in the final state type.

One possible pattern of managing this would be with declaration merging:

Using declaration merging to declare injected slices
// file: slices/index.ts
import { combineSlices } from '@reduxjs/toolkit'
import { staticSlice } from './static'

export interface LazyLoadedSlices {}

export const rootReducer =
  combineSlices(staticSlice).withLazyLoadedSlices<LazyLoadedSlices>()

// keys in LazyLoadedSlices are marked as optional
export type RootState = ReturnType<typeof rootReducer>

// file: slices/lazySlice.ts
import type { WithSlice } from '@reduxjs/toolkit'
import { rootReducer } from '.'

const lazySlice = createSlice({
  /* ... */
})

declare module '.' {
  export interface LazyLoadedSlices extends WithSlice<typeof lazySlice> {}
}

const injectedReducer = rootReducer.inject(lazySlice)

// and/or

const injectedSlice = lazySlice.injectInto(rootReducer)
tip

The above example uses the WithSlice utility type for a slice mounted under its reducerPath. If the slice is mounted under a different key, you can declare it as a regular key instead.

Declaring a slice mounted outside its reducerPath
// file: slices/lazySlice.ts
import { rootReducer } from '.'

const lazySlice = createSlice({
  /* ... */
})

declare module '.' {
  export interface LazyLoadedSlices {
    customKey: LazyState
  }
}

const injectedReducer = rootReducer.inject({
  reducerPath: 'customKey',
  reducer: lazySlice.reducer,
})

// and/or

const injectedSlice = lazySlice.injectInto(rootReducer, {
  reducerPath: 'customKey',
})

inject​

inject allows you to add a slice to your set of reducers after initialisation. It expects to be passed a slice and an optional config, and returns an updated version of the reducer with the slice included.

This is mainly useful for lazy loading reducers.

const reducerWithUser = rootReducer.inject(userSlice)
note

inject adds the slice to the map of reducers in your original reducer, but doesn't dispatch an action.

This means that the added reducer state will not show up in your store until the next action is dispatched.

Reducer replacement​

By default, replacing a reducer is not allowed. In development mode, a warning will be logged to console if a new reducer instance is attempted to inject into a reducerPath that's already injected. (It won't warn if the same reducer instance is injected into the same place twice.)

If you wish to allow replacing a reducer with a new instance, you must explicitly pass overrideExisting: true as part of your configuration object.

const reducerWithUser = rootReducer.inject(userSlice, {
  overrideExisting: true,
})

This may be useful for hot reload, or "removing" a reducer by replacing it with a function that always returns null. Note that for predictable behavior, your types should account for all of the possible reducers you intend to occupy a path.

'Removing' a reducer, by replacing it with a no-op function
declare module '.' {
  export interface LazyLoadedSlices {
    removable: RemovableState | null
  }
}

const withInjected = rootReducer.inject(
  { reducerPath: 'removable', reducer: removableReducer },
  { overrideExisting: true },
)

const emptyReducer = () => null

const removeReducer = () =>
  rootReducer.inject(
    { reducerPath: 'removable', reducer: emptyReducer },
    { overrideExisting: true },
  )

selector​

As noted previously, an injected reducer can still be undefined in state if no action has been dispatched.

Dealing with this possibly-optional state can be inconvient when writing selectors, as you may end up with a lot of results being possibly undefined or relying on explicit defaults.

selector allows you to get around this, by wrapping the reducer state in a Proxy that ensures that any currently injected reducers evaluate to their initial state if they're currently undefined in state.

declare module '.' {
  export interface LazyLoadedSlices extends WithSlice<typeof counterSlice> {}
}

const counterSlice = createSlice({
  name: 'counter',
  initialState: { value: 0 },
  reducers: {
    /* ... */
  },
})

const withCounter = rootReducer.inject(counterSlice)

const selectCounterValue = (rootState: RootState) => rootState.counter?.value // number | undefined

const wrappedSelectCounterValue = withCounter.selector(
  (rootState) => rootState.counter.value, // number
)

console.log(
  selectCounterValue({}), // undefined
  selectCounterValue({ counter: { value: 2 } }), // 2
  wrappedSelectCounterValue({}), // 0
  wrappedSelectCounterValue({ counter: { value: 2 } }), // 2
)
caution

The Proxy retrieves a reducer's initial state by calling it with a randomly generated action type - don't try to handle this as a special case inside your reducer.

Nested combined reducer​

The wrapped selector expects to use the state returned by the combined reducer as its first argument.

If the combined reducer is nested further inside the store state, pass a selectState callback as the second argument to selector:

interface RootState {
  innerCombined: ReturnType<typeof combinedReducer>
}

const selectCounterValue = withCounter.selector(
  (combinedState) => combinedState.counter.value,
  (rootState: RootState) => rootState.innerCombined,
)

console.log(
  selectCounterValue({
    innerCombined: {},
  }), // 0
  selectCounterValue({
    innerCombined: {
      counter: {
        value: 2,
      },
    },
  }), // 2
)

original​

Similar to Immer usage, an original function is provided to retrieve the original state value provided to the Proxy.

This is mainly useful for debugging/inspecting, as Proxy instances tend to be displayed in a format that's hard to read.

The function is attached as a method on the selector function:

const wrappedSelectCounterValue = withCounter.selector((rootState) => {
  console.log(withCounter.selector.original(rootState))
  return rootState.counter.value
})

Slice integration​

injectInto​

Slice instances returned by createSlice have an attached injectInto method, which receive an injectable reducer from combineSlices and returns an "injected" version of that slice.

const injectedCounterSlice = counterSlice.injectInto(rootReducer)

An optional configuration object can be passed. This follows inject's options with an additional reducerPath field, for injecting the slice under a path other than its current reducerPath property.

const aCounterSlice = counterSlice.injectInto(rootReducer, {
  reducerPath: 'aCounter',
})

selectors / getSelectors​

Similar to selector, the selectors from an "injected" slice instance behave slightly differently.

If the slice state is undefined in the store state passed, the selector will instead be called with the slice's initial state.

selectors will also reflect the change in reducerPath if one was made during injection.

console.log(
  injectedCounterSlice.selectors.selectValue({}), // 0
  injectedCounterSlice.selectors.selectValue({ counter: { value: 2 } }), // 2
  aCounterSlice.selectors.selectValue({ aCounter: { value: 2 } }), // 2
)
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