Conditional Hooks in 2025: 3 Unpopular Truths Unveiled

// Don't do this!
function MyComponent({ shouldHaveState }) {
  if (shouldHaveState) {
    const [data, setData] = useState(null);
    // ... logic using data
  }

  return <div>...</div>;
}

function UserProfile() {
  const [name, setName] = useState('Alex');     // Hook 1
  const [age, setAge] = useEffect(25);          // Hook 2
  const theme = useContext(ThemeContext);     // Hook 3

  // ...
}

// Broken code!
function UserProfile({ showAge }) {
  const [name, setName] = useState('Alex');     // Hook 1

  if (showAge) {
    const [age, setAge] = useEffect(25);      // Maybe Hook 2?
  }

  const theme = useContext(ThemeContext);     // Maybe Hook 2 or 3?

  // ...
}

At this point, React throws an error. It tried to get the state from a useEffect call (or what it thought was one) but found a useContext call instead. The entire chain is broken. This isn't a bug; it's a complete mismatch between what React expects and what it gets. The order is everything.

Truth #2: You're Already Using Conditional Logic Correctly (Probably)

The biggest source of confusion is the difference between a conditional hook and conditional logic. You absolutely should have conditional logic in your components. You just can't have the hook calls themselves be conditional.

The secret? You don't need conditional hooks. You need conditional rendering and conditional effects.

Conditional Rendering is King

This is the most common and powerful pattern in React. If a part of your component shouldn't be there, just return null or a different piece of JSX before the hooks for that section are ever called. This is perfectly fine because a component's render function can exit early.

function Dashboard({ user }) {
  // Early return for logged-out users
  if (!user) {
    return <LoginPage />;
  }

  // Hooks are safe here because they only run if `user` exists.
  const [posts, setPosts] = useState([]);
  const { data: settings } = useUserSettings(user.id);

  useEffect(() => {
    // fetch user posts
  }, [user.id]);

  return <div>Welcome, {user.name}!</div>;
}

Conditional Effects and State Updates

What if you always need the hook, but you only want it to do something based on a condition? That's simple too. Call the hook unconditionally at the top, and put your logic inside.

For Effects:

Don't wrap useEffect in a condition. Instead, put the condition inside the effect, or better yet, control it with the dependency array.

// Correct pattern
function DataFetcher({ shouldFetch, id }) {
  const [data, setData] = useState(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    // Condition is inside the hook
    if (!shouldFetch) {
      return; // Do nothing
    }

    let ignore = false;
    fetchData(id).then(result => {
      if (!ignore) setData(result);
    });

    return () => { ignore = true; };
    // The dependency array correctly re-runs the effect when these change
  }, [id, shouldFetch]);

  return <div>{/* ... */}</div>;
}

If shouldFetch becomes false, the effect still runs, but it bails out immediately. The hook call order is preserved.

Truth #3: The Compiler Isn't Your Guardian Angel

By 2025, the advanced React compiler (once known as "React Forget") is a part of many production builds. It does amazing things: automatic memoization, optimizing re-renders, and making our apps faster without manual `useMemo` or `useCallback`. There's a temptation to think this new tooling will magically fix our bad habits.

It won't.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

The compiler is a brilliant optimizer, not a magician. It's designed to take well-structured, valid React code and make it more performant. It is not designed to understand your flawed intent and rewrite broken logic.

If you feed the compiler a component with conditional hooks, it won't "fix" it by hoisting the hook to the top level. It will do one of two things:

1. Bail Out: The compiler will see the rule violation, determine it can't safely optimize this component, and simply skip it. You lose all the performance benefits.
2. Throw an Error: More likely, the compiler will be even stricter than the ESLint rule, failing your build with an explicit error explaining that the hook call order is unstable.

The unpopular truth is that as our tools get smarter, the need to understand the fundamental principles doesn't disappear. In fact, it becomes even more critical. The compiler helps you go faster, but only if you're already on the right road.

Conclusion: Beyond the Rules

For years, we've treated the Rules of Hooks as a command to be followed. In 2025, it's time to treat them as principles to be understood.

• Truth #1: Stable hook order is a mechanical necessity, not an arbitrary rule. It's how React's internal state-tracking works.
• Truth #2: You can achieve any conditional behavior you want by using conditional rendering (early returns) and placing logic inside your hooks, not around them.
• Truth #3: New tools like the React compiler are powerful optimizers, not safety nets. They reward good architecture; they don't fix bad architecture.

Stop trying to be clever with conditional hooks. Instead, embrace the patterns that work with React's design. By understanding the "why" behind the rules, you'll not only avoid errors but also write cleaner, more predictable, and more performant components. And that's a truth that will never be unpopular.