Migrating to 1.7

Update your code to make use of the new observation tools in the library and get rid of legacy APIs such as WithViewStore, IfLetStore, ForEachStore, and more.

Overview

The Composable Architecture is under constant development, and we are always looking for ways to simplify the library, and make it more powerful. As such, we often need to deprecate certain APIs in favor of newer ones. We recommend people update their code as quickly as possible to the newest APIs, and this article contains some tips for doing so.

Important: Before following this migration guide be sure you have fully migrated to the newest tools of version 1.6. See doc:MigratingTo1.4, doc:MigratingTo1.5, and doc:MigratingTo1.6 for more information.

Note: The following migration guide mostly assumes you are targeting iOS 17, macOS 14, tvOS 17, watchOS 10 or higher, but the tools do work for older platforms too. See the dedicated doc:ObservationBackport article for more information on how to use the new observation tools if you are targeting older platforms.

Topics

Using @ObservableState
Replacing IfLetStore with ‘if let’
Replacing ForEachStore with ForEach
Replacing SwitchStore and CaseLet with ‘switch’ and ‘case’
Replacing @PresentationState with @Presents
Replacing navigation view modifiers with SwiftUI modifiers
Updating alert and confirmationDialog
Replacing NavigationStackStore with NavigationStack
@BindingState
ViewStore.binding
Computed view state
View actions
Observing for UIKit
Incrementally migrating

Using @ObservableState

There are two ways to update existing code to use the new ObservableState() macro depending on your minimum deployment target. Take, for example, the following scaffolding of a typical feature built with the Composable Architecture prior to version 1.7 and the new observation tools:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  struct State { /* ... */ }
  enum Action { /* ... */ }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> {
    // ...
  }
}

struct FeatureView: View {
  let store: StoreOf<Feature>

  struct ViewState: Equatable {
    // ...
    init(state: Feature.State) { /* ... */ }
  }

  var body: some View {
    WithViewStore(store, observe: ViewState.init) { viewStore in
      Form {
        Text(viewStore.count.description)
        Button("+") { viewStore.send(.incrementButtonTapped) }
      }
    }
  }
}

This feature is manually managing a ViewState struct and using WithViewStore in order to minimize the state being observed in the view.

If you are still targeting iOS 16, macOS 13, tvOS 16, watchOS 9 or lower, then you can update the code in the following way:

diff

 @Reducer
 struct Feature {
+  @ObservableState
   struct State { /* ... */ }
   enum Action { /* ... */ }
   var body: some ReducerOf<Self> {
     // ...
   }
 }
 
 struct FeatureView: View {
   let store: StoreOf<Feature>
 
-  struct ViewState: Equatable {
-    // ...
-    init(state: Feature.State) { /* ... */ }
-  }
 
   var body: some View {
-    WithViewStore(store, observe: ViewState.init) { viewStore in
+    WithPerceptionTracking {
       Form {
-        Text(viewStore.count.description)
-        Button("+") { viewStore.send(.incrementButtonTapped) }
+        Text(store.count.description)
+        Button("+") { store.send(.incrementButtonTapped) }
       }
     }
   }
 }

In particular, the following changes must be made:

Mark your State with the ObservableState() macro.
Delete any view state type you have defined.
Replace the use of WithViewStore with WithPerceptionTracking, and the trailing closure does not take an argument. The view constructed inside the trailing closure will automatically observe state accessed inside the closure.
Access state directly in the store rather than in the viewStore.
Send actions directly to the store rather than to the viewStore.

If you are able to target iOS 17, macOS 14, tvOS 17, watchOS 10 or higher, then you will still apply all of the updates above, but with one additional simplification to the body of the view:

diff

 var body: some View {
-  WithViewStore(store, observe: ViewState.init) { viewStore in
     Form {
-      Text(viewStore.count.description)
-      Button("+") { viewStore.send(.incrementButtonTapped) }
+      Text(store.count.description)
+      Button("+") { store.send(.incrementButtonTapped) }
     }
-  }
 }

You no longer need the WithViewStore or WithPerceptionTracking views at all.

Replacing IfLetStore with 'if let'

The IfLetStore view was a helper for transforming a Store of optional state into a store of non-optional state so that it can be handed off to a child view. It is no longer needed when using the new observation tools, and so it is soft-deprecated.

For example, if your feature's reducer looks roughly like this:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  @ObservableState
  struct State {
    var child: Child.State?
  }
  enum Action {
    case child(Child.Action)
  }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> { /* ... */ }
}

Then previously you would make use of IfLetStore in the view like this:

swift

IfLetStore(store: store.scope(state: \.child, action: \.child)) { childStore in
  ChildView(store: childStore)
} else: {
  Text("Nothing to show")
}

This can now be updated to use plain if let syntax with Store/scope(state:action:)-90255:

swift

if let childStore = store.scope(state: \.child, action: \.child) {
  ChildView(store: childStore)
} else {
  Text("Nothing to show")
}

Replacing ForEachStore with ForEach

The ForEachStore view was a helper for deriving a store for each element of a collection. It is no longer needed when using the new observation tools, and so it is soft-deprecated.

For example, if your feature's reducer looks roughly like this:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  @ObservableState
  struct State {
    var rows: IdentifiedArrayOf<Child.State> = []
  }
  enum Action {
    case rows(IdentifiedActionOf<Child>)
  }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> { /* ... */ }
}

Then you would have made use of ForEachStore in the view like this:

swift

ForEachStore(
  store.scope(state: \.rows, action: \.rows)
) { childStore in
  ChildView(store: childStore)
}

This can now be updated to use the vanilla ForEach view in SwiftUI, along with Store/scope(state:action:)-90255, identified by the state of each row:

swift

ForEach(
  store.scope(state: \.rows, action: \.rows),
  id: \.state.id
) { childStore in
  ChildView(store: childStore)
}

If your usage of ForEachStore did not depend on the identity of the state of each row (e.g., the state's id is not associated with a selection binding), you can omit the id parameter, as the Store type is identifiable by its object identity:

diff

 ForEach(
-  store.scope(state: \.rows, action: \.rows),
-  id: \.state.id,
+  store.scope(state: \.rows, action: \.rows)
 ) { childStore in
   ChildView(store: childStore)
 }

Tip: You can now use collection-based operators with store scoping. For example, use Array.enumerated in order to enumerate the rows so that you can provide custom styling based on the row being even or odd:
swift
ForEach(
  Array(store.scope(state: \.rows, action: \.rows).enumerated()),
  id: \.element
) { position, childStore in
  ChildView(store: childStore)
    .background {
      position.isMultiple(of: 2) ? Color.white : Color.gray
    }
}

Replacing SwitchStore and CaseLet with 'switch' and 'case'

The SwitchStore and CaseLet views are helpers for driving a Store for each case of an enum. These views are no longer needed when using the new observation tools, and so they are soft-deprecated.

For example, if your feature's reducer looks roughly like this:

swift

@Reducer 
struct Feature {
  @ObservableState
  enum State {
    case activity(ActivityFeature.State)
    case settings(SettingsFeature.State)
  }
  enum Action {
    case activity(ActivityFeature.Action)
    case settings(SettingsFeature.Action)
  }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> { /* ... */ }
}

Then you would have used SwitchStore and CaseLet in the view like this:

swift

SwitchStore(store) {
  switch $0 {
  case .activity:
    CaseLet(/Feature.State.activity, action: Feature.Action.activity) { store in
      ActivityView(store: store)
    }
  case .settings:
    CaseLet(/Feature.State.settings, action: Feature.Action.settings) { store in
      SettingsView(store: store)
    }
  }
}

This can now be updated to use a vanilla switch and case in the view:

swift

switch store.state {
case .activity:
  if let store = store.scope(state: \.activity, action: \.activity) {
    ActivityView(store: store)
  }
case .settings:
  if let store = store.scope(state: \.settings, action: \.settings) {
    SettingsView(store: store)
  }
}

Replacing @PresentationState with @Presents

It is a well-known limitation of Swift macros that they cannot be used with property wrappers. This means that if your feature uses PresentationState you will get compiler errors when applying the ObservableState() macro:

swift

@ObservableState 
struct State {
  @PresentationState var child: Child.State?  // 🛑
}

Instead of using the PresentationState property wrapper you can now use the new Presents() macro:

swift

@ObservableState 
struct State {
  @Presents var child: Child.State?  // ✅
}

The library has shipped many navigation view modifiers that mimic what SwiftUI provides, but are tuned specifically for driving navigation from a Store. All of these view modifiers can be updated to instead use the vanilla SwiftUI version of the view modifier, and so the modifier that ship with this library are now soft-deprecated.

For example, if your feature's reducer looks roughly like this:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  @ObservableState
  struct State {
    @Presents var child: Child.State?
  }
  enum Action {
    case child(PresentationAction<Child.Action>)
  }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> { /* ... */ }
}

Then previously you would drive a sheet presentation from the view like so:

swift

.sheet(store: store.scope(state: \.$child, action: \.child)) { store in
  ChildView(store: store)
}

You can now replace sheet(store:) with the vanilla SwiftUI modifier, sheet(item:). First you must hold onto the store in your view in a bindable manner, using the @Bindable property wrapper:

swift

@Bindable var store: StoreOf<Feature>

…or, if you're targeting older platforms, using @Perception.Bindable:

swift

@Perception.Bindable var store: StoreOf<Feature>

Then you can use sheet(item:) like so:

swift

.sheet(item: $store.scope(state: \.child, action: \.child)) { store in
  ChildView(store: store)
}

Note that the state key path is simply state: \.child, and not state: \.$child. The projected value of the presentation state is no longer needed.

This also applies to popovers, full screen covers, and navigation destinations.

Also, if you are driving navigation from an enum of destinations, then currently your code may look something like this:

swift

.sheet(
  store: store.scope(
    state: \.$destination.editForm,
    action: \.destination.editForm
  )
) { store in
  ChildView(store: store)
}

This can now be changed to this:

swift

.sheet(
  item: $store.scope(
    state: \.destination?.editForm,
    action: \.destination.editForm
  )
) { store in
  ChildView(store: store)
}

Note that the state key path is now simply \.destination?.editForm, and not \.$destination.editForm.

Also note that navigationDestination(item:) is not available on older platforms, but can be made available as far back as iOS 15 using a wrapper. See doc:TreeBasedNavigation#Backwards-compatible-availability for more information.

Updating alert and confirmationDialog

The SwiftUI/View/alert(store:) and SwiftUI/View/confirmationDialog(store:) modifiers have been used to drive alerts and dialogs from stores, but new modifiers are now available that can drive alerts and dialogs from the same store binding scope operation that can power vanilla SwiftUI presentation, like sheet(item:).

For example, if your feature's reducer presents an alert:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  @ObservableState
  struct State {
    @Presents var alert: AlertState<Action.Alert>?
  }
  enum Action {
    case alert(PresentationAction<Alert>)
    enum Alert { /* ... */ }
  }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> { /* ... */ }
}

Then previously you would drive it from the feature's view like so:

swift

.alert(store: store.scope(state: \.$alert, action: \.alert))

You can now replace alert(store:) with a new modifier, SwiftUI/View/alert(_:):

swift

.alert($store.scope(state: \.alert, action: \.alert))

Replacing NavigationStackStore with NavigationStack

The NavigationStackStore view was a helper for driving a navigation stack from a Store. It is no longer needed when using the new observation tools, and so it is soft-deprecated.

For example, if your feature's reducer looks roughly like this:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  struct State {
    var path: StackState<Path.State> = []
  }
  enum Action {
    case path(StackAction<Path.State, Path.Action>)
  }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> { /* ... */ }
}

Then you would have made use of NavigationStackStore in the view like this:

swift

NavigationStackStore(store.scope(state: \.path, action: \.path)) {
  RootView()
} destination: {
  switch $0 {
  case .activity:
    CaseLet(/Feature.State.activity, action: Feature.Action.activity) { store in
      ActivityView(store: store)
    }
  case .settings:
    CaseLet(/Feature.State.settings, action: Feature.Action.settings) { store in
      SettingsView(store: store)
    }
  }
}

To update this code, first mark your feature's state with ObservableState():

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  @ObservableState
  struct State {
    // ...
  }
  // ...
}

As well as the Path reducer's state:

swift

@Reducer
struct Path {
  @ObservableState
  enum State {
    // ...
  }
  // ...
}

Then in the view you must start holding onto the store in a bindable manner, using the @Bindable property wrapper:

swift

@Bindable var store: StoreOf<Feature>

…or using @Perception.Bindable if targeting older platforms:

swift

@Perception.Bindable var store: StoreOf<Feature>

And the original code can now be updated to our custom initializer SwiftUI/NavigationStack/init(path:root:destination:fileID:filePath:line:column:) on NavigationStack:

swift

NavigationStack(path: $store.scope(state: \.path, action: \.path)) {
  RootView()
} destination: { store in
  switch store.state {
  case .activity:
    if let store = store.scope(state: \.activity, action: \.activity) {
      ActivityView(store: store)
    }
  case .settings:
    if let store = store.scope(state: \.settings, action: \.settings) {
      SettingsView(store: store)
    }
  }
}

@BindingState

Bindings in the Composable Architecture have historically been handled by a zoo of types, including doc:BindingState, BindableAction, BindingAction, BindingViewState and BindingViewStore. For example, if your view needs to be able to derive bindings to many fields on your state, you may have the reducer built somewhat like this:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  struct State {
    @BindingState var text = ""
    @BindingState var isOn = false
  }
  enum Action: BindableAction {
    case binding(BindingAction<State>)
  }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> { /* ... */ }
}

And in the view you derive bindings using ViewStore/subscript(dynamicMember:)-3q4xh defined on ViewStore:

swift

WithViewStore(store, observe: { $0 }) { viewStore in
  Form {
    TextField("Text", text: viewStore.$text)
    Toggle(isOn: viewStore.$isOn)
  }
}

But if you have view state in your view, then you have a lot more steps to take:

swift

struct ViewState: Equatable {
  @BindingViewState var text: String
  @BindingViewState var isOn: Bool
  init(store: BindingViewStore<Feature.State>) {
    self._text = store.$text
    self._isOn = store.$isOn
  }
}

var body: some View {
  WithViewStore(store, observe: ViewState.init) { viewStore in
    Form {
      TextField("Text", text: viewStore.$text)
      Toggle(isOn: viewStore.$isOn)
    }
  }
}

Most of this goes away when using the ObservableState() macro. You can start by annotating your feature's state with ObservableState() and removing all instances of doc:BindingState:

diff

+@ObservableState
 struct State {
-  @BindingState var text = ""
-  @BindingState var isOn = false
+  var text = ""
+  var isOn = false
 }

Important: Do not remove the BindableAction conformance from your feature's Action or the BindingReducer from your reducer. Those are still required for bindings.

In the view you must start holding onto the store in a bindable manner, which means using the @Bindable property wrapper:

swift

@Bindable var store: StoreOf<Feature>

Note: If targeting older Apple platforms where @Bindable is not available, you can use our backport of the property wrapper:
swift
@Perception.Bindable var store: StoreOf<Feature>

Then in the body of the view you can stop using WithViewStore and instead derive bindings directly from the store:

swift

var body: some View {
  Form {
    TextField("Text", text: $store.text)
    Toggle(isOn: $store.isOn)
  }
}

ViewStore.binding

There's another way to derive bindings from a view store that involves fewer tools than @BindingState as shown above, but does involve more boilerplate. You can add an explicit action for the binding to your domain, such as an action for setting the tab in a tab-based application:

swift

@Reducer 
struct Feature {
  struct State {
    var tab = 0
  }
  enum Action {
    case tabChanged(Int)
  }
  var body: some ReducerOf<Self> {
    Reduce { state, action in
      switch action {
      case let .tabChanged(tab):
        state.tab = tab
        return .none
      }
    }
  }
}

And then in the view you can use ViewStore/binding(get:send:)-65xes to derive a binding from the tab state and the tabChanged action:

swift

TabView(
  selection: viewStore.binding(get: \.tab, send: { .tabChanged($0) })
) {
  // ...
}

Since the ViewStore type is now soft-deprecated, you can update this code to do something much simpler. If you make your feature's state observable with the ObservableState macro:

swift

@Reducer 
struct Feature {
  @ObservableState
  struct State {
    // ...
  }
  // ...
}

In the view you must start holding onto the store in a bindable manner, which means using the @Bindable (or @Perception.Bindable) property wrapper:

swift

@Bindable var store: StoreOf<Feature>

Then you can derive a binding directly from a Store binding like so:

swift

TabView(selection: $store.tab.sending(\.tabChanged)) {
  // ...
}

If the binding depends on more complex business logic, you can define a custom get-set property (or subscript, if this logic depends on external state) on the store to incorporate this logic. For example:

@Row { @Column { ```swift // Before

// In the view:
ForEach(Flag.allCases) { flag in
  Toggle(
    flag.description,
    isOn: viewStore.binding(
      get: { $0.featureFlags.contains(flag) }
      send: { .flagToggled(flag, isOn: $0) }
    )
  )
}
```

} @Column { ```swift // After

// In the file:
extension StoreOf<Feature> {
  subscript(hasFeatureFlag flag: Flag) -> Bool {
    get { featureFlags.contains(flag) }
    set {
      send(.flagToggled(flag, isOn: newValue))
    }
  }
}

// In the view:
ForEach(Flag.allCases) { flag in
  Toggle(
    flag.description,
    isOn: $store[hasFeatureFlag: flag]
  )
}
```

} }

Tip: When possible, consider moving complex binding logic into the reducer so that it can be more easily tested.

Computed view state

If you are using the ViewState pattern in your application, then you may be computing values inside the initializer to be used in the view like so:

swift

struct ViewState: Equatable {
  let fullName: String
  init(state: Feature.State) {
    self.fullName = "\(state.firstName) \(state.lastName)"
  }
}

In version 1.7 of the library the ViewState struct goes away, and so you can move these kinds of computations to be directly on your feature's state:

swift

struct State {
  // State fields
  
  var fullName: String {
    "\(self.firstName) \(self.lastName)"
  }
}

View actions

There is a common pattern in the Composable Architecture community to separate actions that are sent in the view from actions that are used internally in the feature, such as emissions of effects. Typically this looks like the following:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature
  struct State { /* ... */ }
  enum Action {
    case loginResponse(Bool)
    case view(View)

    enum View {
      case loginButtonTapped
    }
  }
  // ...
}

And then in the view you would use WithViewStore with the send argument to specify which actions the view has access to:

swift

struct FeatureView: View {
  let store: StoreOf<Feature>

  var body: some View {
    WithViewStore(
      store, 
      observe: { $0 }, 
      send: Feature.Action.view  // 👈
    ) { viewStore in
      Button("Login") {
        viewStore.send(.loginButtonTapped) 
      }
    }
  }
}

That makes it so that you can send view actions without wrapping the action in .view(…), and it makes it so that you can only send view actions. For example, the view cannot send the loginResponse action:

swift

viewStore.send(.loginResponse(false))
// 🛑 Type 'Feature.Action.View' has no member 'loginResponse'

This pattern is still possible with version 1.7 of the library, but requires a few small changes. First, you must make your View action enum conform to the ViewAction protocol:

swift

@Reducer
struct Feature {
  // ...
  enum Action: ViewAction {  // 👈
    // ...
  }
  // ...
}

And second, you can use the ViewAction(for:) macro on your view by specifying the reducer that powers the view. This gives you access to a send method in the view for sending view actions rather than going through Store/send(_:):

diff

+@ViewAction(for: Feature.self)
 struct FeatureView: View {
   let store: StoreOf<Feature>
 
   var body: some View {
-    WithViewStore(
-      store, 
-      observe: { $0 }, 
-      send: Feature.Action.view
-    ) { viewStore in
       Button("Login") { 
-        viewStore.send(.loginButtonTapped) 
+        send(.loginButtonTapped)
       }
     }
-  }
 }

Observing for UIKit

Replacing Store.publisher

Prior to the observation tools one would typically subscribe to changes in the store via a Combine publisher in the entry point of a view, such as viewDidLoad in a UIViewController subclass:

swift

func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

  store.publisher.count
    .sink { [weak self] in self?.countLabel.text = "\($0)" }
    .store(in: &cancellables)
}

This can now be done more simply using the ObjectiveC/NSObject/observe(_:)-94oxy method defined on all NSObjects:

swift

func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

  observe { [weak self] in 
    guard let self 
    else { return }

    self.countLabel.text = "\(self.store.count)"
  }
}

Be sure to read the documentation for ObjectiveC/NSObject/observe(_:)-94oxy to learn how to best wield this tool.

Replacing Store.ifLet

Prior to the observation tools one would typically subscribe to optional child stores via a Combine operation provided by the library:

swift

store
  .scope(state: \.child, action: \.child)
  .ifLet { childStore in
    // Use child store, _e.g._ create a child view controller
  } else: {
    // Perform clean up work, _e.g._ dismiss child view controller
  }
  .store(in: &cancellables)

This can now be done more simply using the observe method and Store/scope(state:action:fileID:filePath:line:column:)-3yvuf:

swift

observe {
  if let childStore = store.scope(state: \.child, action: \.child) {
    // Use child store, _e.g._ create a child view controller
  } else {
    // Perform clean up work, _e.g._ dismiss child view controller
  }
}

Incrementally migrating

You are most likely going to want to incrementally migrate your application to the new observation tools, rather than doing everything all at once. That is possible, but there are some gotchas to be aware of when mixing "legacy" features (i.e. features using ViewStore and WithViewStore) with "modern" features (i.e. features using ObservableState()).

The most common problem one will encounter is that when legacy and modern features are mixed together, their view bodies can be re-computed more often than necessary. This is due to the mixed modes of observation. Legacy features use the objectWillChange publisher to synchronously invalidate the view, whereas modern features use withObservationTracking. These are two fundamentally different tools, and it can create a situation where views are invalidated multiple times separated by a thread hop, making it impossible to coalesce the validations into a single one. That is what causes the body to re-compute multiple times.

Typically a few extra body re-computations shouldn't be a big deal, but they can put strain on SwiftUI's ability to figure out what state changed in a view, and can cause glitchiness and exacerbate navigation bugs. If you are noticing problems after converting one feature to use ObservableState(), then we recommend trying to convert a few more features that it interacts with to see if the problems go away.

We have also found that modern features that contain legacy features as child features tend to behave better than the opposite. For this reason we recommend updating your features to use ObservableState() from the outside in. That is, start with the root feature, update it to use the new observation tools, and then work you way towards the leaf features.

Migrating to 1.7

Migrating to 1.7

Overview

Topics

Using @ObservableState

Replacing IfLetStore with 'if let'

Replacing ForEachStore with ForEach

Replacing SwitchStore and CaseLet with 'switch' and 'case'

Replacing @PresentationState with @Presents

Replacing navigation view modifiers with SwiftUI modifiers

Updating alert and confirmationDialog

Replacing NavigationStackStore with NavigationStack

@BindingState

ViewStore.binding

Computed view state

View actions

Observing for UIKit

Replacing Store.publisher

Replacing Store.ifLet

Incrementally migrating