Angular Signals Overview

Signals are the foundation of reactivity in modern Angular applications. A signal is a wrapper around a value that notifies interested consumers when that value changes.

Writable Signals (signal)

Use signal() to create state that can be directly updated.

import {signal} from '@angular/core';

// Create a writable signal
const count = signal(0);

// Read the value (always requires calling the getter function)
console.log(count());

// Update the value directly
count.set(3);

// Update based on the previous value
count.update((value) => value + 1);

Exposing as Readonly

When exposing state from a service, it is a best practice to expose a readonly version to prevent external mutation.

private readonly _count = signal(0);
// Consumers can read this, but cannot call .set() or .update()
readonly count = this._count.asReadonly();

Computed Signals (computed)

Use computed() to create read-only signals that derive their value from other signals.

• Lazily Evaluated: The derivation function doesn't run until the computed signal is read.
• Memoized: The result is cached. It only recalculates when one of the signals it depends on changes.
• Dynamic Dependencies: Only the signals actually read during the derivation are tracked.

import {signal, computed} from '@angular/core';

const count = signal(0);
const doubleCount = computed(() => count() * 2);

// doubleCount automatically updates when count changes.

Reactive Contexts

A reactive context is a runtime state where Angular monitors signal reads to establish a dependency.

Angular automatically enters a reactive context when evaluating:

• computed signals
• effect callbacks
• linkedSignal computations
• Component templates

Untracked Reads (untracked)

If you need to read a signal inside a reactive context without creating a dependency (so that the context doesn't re-run when the signal changes), use untracked().

import {effect, untracked} from '@angular/core';

effect(() => {
  // This effect only runs when currentUser changes.
  // It does NOT run when counter changes, even though counter is read here.
  console.log(`User: ${currentUser()}, Count: ${untracked(counter)}`);
});

Async Operations in Reactive Contexts

The reactive context is only active for synchronous code. Signal reads after an await will not be tracked. Always read signals before asynchronous boundaries.

// ❌ INCORRECT: theme() is not tracked because it is read after await
effect(async () => {
  const data = await fetchUserData();
  console.log(theme());
});

// ✅ CORRECT: Read the signal before the await
effect(async () => {
  const currentTheme = theme();
  const data = await fetchUserData();
  console.log(currentTheme);
});