Let Claude Audit and Fix Your React useEffect Dependency Arrays

Missing or incorrect useEffect dependency arrays cause subtle bugs — stale closures, effects that don't re-run when they should, and infinite re-render loops. Paste your component and ask Claude to audit every useEffect and fix any dependency issues.

// Buggy — 'userId' missing from deps, stale closure guaranteed
useEffect(() => {
  fetchUserData(userId);
}, []); // eslint-disable-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps

Claude spots the issue and provides the correct fix, including the deeper structural cause:

// Option 1: Add the missing dep (fetchUserData should be wrapped in useCallback)
useEffect(() => {
  fetchUserData(userId);
}, [userId, fetchUserData]);

// Option 2: If you truly need it once, move the call outside the component
// or use a ref to track whether it's already run

Claude is particularly good at catching the // eslint-disable-line comments developers add when they can't figure out the right deps — those are almost always a sign of a structural problem worth fixing properly.

For effects that must run only once, Claude will suggest the correct pattern using a ref flag or restructuring the hook, rather than just suppressing the lint warning.

Every suppressed react-hooks/exhaustive-deps comment is a latent bug — let Claude untangle them properly.