medz/oref

Overview

This skill provides focused guidance for using Oref, a high-performance Flutter signals and state-management library, plus its DevTools and analyzer tooling. It helps you install Oref, create signals/computed/effects, manage async data and reactive collections, and use SignalBuilder for scoped rebuilds. It also covers analyzer lints, DevTools setup, and common troubleshooting patterns.

How this skill works

I inspect the question to match it to Oref topics (core reactivity, hooks/lifecycle, async data, collections, lints, DevTools, troubleshooting). I return concise runnable snippets when possible and prefer BuildContext-bound APIs inside widget builds (signal(context,...), computed(context,...), effect(context,...)). Outside widgets I recommend null context with an explicit dispose handle. I suggest tooling steps for analyzer plugin and DevTools extension setup when relevant.

When to use it

• When you need fast, fine-grained reactive state inside Flutter widgets.
• When scoping rebuilds to a small subtree using SignalBuilder improves performance.
• When implementing derived state using computed or side effects using effect.
• When integrating async data with lifecycle-aware useAsyncData patterns.
• When configuring analyzer lints or using the Oref DevTools for runtime inspection.

Best practices

• Call hooks (signal/computed/effect) unconditionally at the top level of a widget build.
• Prefer signal(context, ...) / computed(context, ...) inside build; use null context only outside widgets and keep the dispose handle.
• Use SignalBuilder to restrict rebuilds to minimal subtree areas instead of rebuilding entire widgets.
• Use batch(...) for multi-step updates or when mutating reactive collections to avoid extra recomputations.
• Never write to signals inside computed getters; keep computed pure and side-effect-free.

Example use cases

• Simple counter: signal in build, computed for derived value, Button increments using count.set.
• Scoped UI updates: wrap a small part of the widget tree with SignalBuilder to limit rebuilds.
• Async data loading: use useAsyncData to fetch and manage loading/error states with proper cleanup.
• Reactive collections: use ReactiveList/Map with batch() for multiple mutations to avoid redundant updates.
• DevTools: install the DevTools extension and enable runtime inspection to visualize signals and computed values.