“Invariant Violation: Too many re-renders. React limits the number of renders to prevent an infinite loop” is a common error that shows up in many ways. What is the cause of it and how to solve it? In this article we will give you some helpful solutions to fix this problem. Read on it.

When Do You Get The Error “Invariant Violation: Too many re-renders. React limits the number of renders to prevent an infinite loop”?

When you run the following program, you easily get the following error “Invariant Violation: Too many re-renders. React limits the number of renders to prevent an infinite loop”:

import {useState} from 'react'; 
export default function App() { 
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0); 
  
  // Error message: Too many re-renders. React limits the number 
  // of renders to prevent an infinite loop. 
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <button onClick={setCounter(counter + 1)}>Increment</button> 
      <h1>Count: {counter}</h1> 
    </div> 
  ); 
}

The setCounter function is being called right away in the onClick event handler, it is the cause of this error. Besides that, there are some other reasons:

Calling a function that sets the state in a component’s render method. Instead of supplying a function, immediately calling an event handler. A useEffect hook that is infinitely set and re-rendered.

How To Solve The Error “Invariant Violation: Too many re-renders. React limits the number of renders to prevent an infinite loop”?

Solution 1: Pass a function rather than the output of calling one

Passing a function rather than the output of calling one to the onClick event handler will fix the problem “Invariant Violation: Too many re-renders. React limits the number of renders to prevent an infinite loop”.

import {useState} from 'react'; 
export default function App() { 
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0); 
  
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <button onClick={() => setCounter(counter + 1)}>Increment</button> 
      <h1>Count: {counter}</h1> 
    </div> 
  ); 
}

Instead of invoking the setCounter method when the page loads, we pass a function to the event handler. The component renders infinitely more times if the method is used on page load, which also initiates a setState action.

Solution 2: Initialize the state by passing a function or an initial value to the useState() hook

Attempting to set a component’s state instantly without using a condition or an event handler also results in the problem. Look at the following program:

import {useState} from 'react'; 
export default function App() { 
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0); 
  
  // Error message: Too many re-renders. React limits the number 
  // of renders to prevent an infinite loop. 
  setCounter(counter + 1); 
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <h1>Count: {counter}</h1> 
    </div> 
  ); 
}

The setCounter function, called when the component renders and updates the state, triggers a re-render and does so indefinitely. This is the problem. The error can be resolved if you initialize the state by passing a function or an initial value to the useState() hook.

import {useState} from 'react'; 
export default function App() { 
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(() => 100 + 100); 
 
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <h1>Count: {counter}</h1> 
    </div> 
  ); 
}

The useState method took a function as a parameter. The function determines the initial state and is only called the first time the component renders. The useState method can also accept a initial value directly.

As an alternative, you might use an event handler or a condition like in the instances above.

import {useState} from 'react'; 
export default function App() { 
  
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0); 
  // your condition should be here 
  if (Math.random() > 0.5) { 
    setCounter(counter + 1); 
  } 
  
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <h1>Count: {counter}</h1> 
    </div> 
  ); 
}

If you employ a condition like the one in the preceding example, be careful that it does not always return true, as this would result in an endless rendering cycle.

Solution 3: Provide an empty array to useEffect

The “Invariant Violation: Too many re-renders. React limits the number of renders to prevent an infinite loop” also happens when you use the useEffect method with dependencies that demand infinite redraws.

import {useEffect, useState} from 'react'; 
export default function App() { 
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0); useEffect(() => { 
  
  // Error message: Too many re-renders. React limits the number 
  // of renders to prevent an infinite loop. 
    setCounter(counter + 1); 
  }); // dependency array is not passed 
  
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <h1>Count: {counter}</h1> 
    </div> 
  ); 
}

In this case, you can fix the error by providing an empty array to useEffect as the second argument.

import {useEffect, useState} from 'react'; 
export default function App() { 
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0); 
  useEffect(() => { 
   setCounter(counter + 1); 
  }, []); // This is an empty dependencies array 
  
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <h1>Count: {counter}</h1> 
    </div> 
  ); 
}

The useEffect method only executes the component’s initial render if the second argument is an empty dependencies array.

Regardless of whether the App component is re-rendered, the function increases the counter to 1 and never executes again. Try to seek a condition that avoids this if you have to define a dependence that causes your component to be rendered infinitely.

import {useEffect, useState} from 'react'; 
export default function App() { 
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0); 
  
  useEffect(() => { 
    // some condition should be here 
    if (Math.random() > 0.5) { 
      setCounter(counter + 1); 
    } 
  }, [counter]); 
 
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <h1>Count: {counter}</h1> 
    </div>
  ); 
}

Most likely, some logic decides whether the state should be updated or shouldn’t be set every time the page is rendered.

Solution 4: Write as the following

To fix the error, you mustn’t call state setter functions at the component’s top level.

For example, instead of writing as shown below:

const SignInContainer = ({ message, variant }) => { 
  const [open, setSnackBarState] = useState(false); 
  const handleClose = (reason) => { 
    if (reason === "clickaway") { 
      return; 
    } 
    setSnackBarState(false); 
  }; 
  if (variant) { 
    setSnackBarState(true); 
  } 
  
  return ( 
    <div>
      <SnackBar 
        open={open} 
        handleClose={handleClose} 
        variant={variant} 
        message={message} 
      /> 
      <SignInForm /> 
    </div> 
  ); 
};

Let’s write as the following:

const SignInContainer = ({ message, variant }) => { 
  const [open, setSnackBarState] = useState(variant ? true : false); 
  const handleClose = (reason) => { 
    if (reason === "clickaway") { 
      return; 
    } 
    setSnackBarState(false); 
  }; 
  
  return ( 
    <div> 
      <SnackBar 
        open={open} 
        handleClose={handleClose} 
        variant={variant} 
        message={message} 
      /> 
      <SignInForm /> 
    </div> 
  ); 
};

From the SignInContainer component, you have to delete: 

if (variant) { 
  setSnackBarState(true); 
}

The purpose is not to continually render the component as you change the open state, which causes an infinite loop.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have provided you with more information about common errors in the Node.js and how to fix the “Invariant Violation: Too many re-renders. React limits the number of renders to prevent an infinite loop” warning. Hope it helps you to handle your problem and have a good day ahead! If you still have any other questions about fixing this syntax error, please leave a comment below. Thank you for reading!

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