Store usage/relevance with Nuxt 3
When working on my various Vue 2 projects (around 5 SPA web applications) I found Vuex incredibly useful. Namely, it provided a single place for my logic around interfacing with my .NET API, as well helping share state between components.
However, as I've started writing more in Vue 3, especially given nuxt composables/plugins like $fetch, useFetch, useAsyncData, callOnce, useState, etc. I've found myself struggling to justify this default of 'relates to api data, put it in the store'.
For instance, I'll have a card that needs some async data. If I load it in the card, I have access to the returns/capabilities of useFetch like
watch, error, loading, etc. If i wanted that call in the store, i would need to expose each of these. Furthermore, my stores become a bunch of inline composables related to components.
I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar experience/any thoughts. Happy to go into more detail2 Replies
Hi @kozy. I'm kapa.ai, your friendly support bot. I will try to answer your question by searching through the knowledge base. :wave:
----------------------
Your experience with transitioning from Vue 2 and Vuex to Vue 3 and Nuxt 3 is quite common. Many developers have found that the new composables and built-in features in Nuxt 3 reduce the need for a centralized store like Vuex in many cases. Let's break down the key points based on the information from the knowledge sources:
1. Vuex Alternative in Nuxt 3:
Nuxt 3 no longer provides built-in Vuex integration. Instead, the official recommendation is to use Pinia for state management. As mentioned in the Nuxt 3 Migration Guide, Pinia has built-in Nuxt support via a module.
2. Built-in State Management:
Nuxt 3 provides the
useState composable for managing state without additional dependencies. This can be a simpler alternative to Vuex for many use cases. The Nuxt 3 Documentation explains how useState can be used for both server-to-client state transfer and global state management.
3. Data Fetching Composables:
The useFetch and useAsyncData composables in Nuxt 3 provide powerful ways to handle data fetching and async operations. As you've noticed, these composables offer built-in features like watch, error, and loading states. The Nuxt 3 Documentation explains how these composables work and their benefits.
4. Component-Level vs. Store-Level Data Fetching:
Your observation about the trade-offs between component-level and store-level data fetching is valid. With Nuxt 3's composables, it's often more convenient to fetch data at the component level, as you get all the reactive properties and error handling out of the box.
5. Avoiding Misuse of useFetch:
It's important to use useFetch correctly. As explained in a YouTube video by Alexander Lichter, there are common mistakes when using useFetch, especially in custom composables. The video suggests alternatives to avoid these issues.
Given these points, your approach of moving away from the "put it in the store" default for API-related data is aligned with the direction of Vue 3 and Nuxt 3. The new composables provide a more flexible and often simpler way to manage async data and state.
However, stores (like Pinia) can still be useful for truly global state that needs to be accessed and modified by many components across your application. For component-specific or page-specific data, using useFetch or useAsyncData directly in the component is often a cleaner and more maintainable approach.
Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. The best approach depends on your specific application needs, the complexity of your state management, and how widely the state needs to be shared across components.
----------------------
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
----------------------<@357629012987740161> Kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.