Which actor type should I use for standard API calls?

Use 'fromPromise' for single asynchronous operations that resolve with a result or reject with an error, as it handles the lifecycle automatically within an invocation.

How should I handle actor cleanup to avoid memory leaks?

For spawned actors held in context, always use 'stopChild' in conjunction with an 'assign' action to clear the reference from context when the actor is no longer needed.

What is the main difference between invoke and spawn in XState v5?

Invoke is tied to a specific state's lifecycle (starts on entry, stops on exit), while spawn is triggered by an action and can persist across state changes until manually stopped or the parent stops.

How do I pass data from a child actor back to a parent in v5?

The preferred method is passing the parent's reference to the child via 'input', then using 'sendTo' from the child to that reference, which avoids the tight coupling of 'sendParent'.

XState Actors & Invocation

Name: XState Actors & Invocation
Author: IlyaGulya

byIlyaGulya

0•

Developer Tools

Master XState v5 actor models, including promises, callbacks, and dynamic spawning for advanced state management.

This skill provides comprehensive guidance on implementing the Actor Model in XState v5, enabling developers to build resilient, distributed systems of state machines. It covers the nuances of choosing between different actor types such as promises, observables, and transitions, while managing actor lifecycles through invocation and spawning. By following these patterns, developers can design scalable application logic where independent entities communicate via asynchronous message passing while maintaining strict state encapsulation and robust cleanup procedures.

Key Features

01Guidance on all XState v5 actor logic types (Promise, Callback, Observable, Transition)

020 GitHub stars

03Decision framework for choosing between state-bound 'invoke' and action-based 'spawn'

04Implementation patterns for parent-child communication using input references

05Anti-pattern detection for common pitfalls like orphaned refs and tight coupling

06Modern XState v5 input/output patterns for data flow management

Use Cases

01Migrating legacy XState v4 factory patterns to modern v5 input/output logic

02Designing complex bidirectional communication between a parent machine and dynamic child actors

03Managing asynchronous side effects with proper error handling and lifecycle cleanup

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add ilyagulya/claude-marketplace xstate-actors-and-invocation

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

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