Better Stimulus

Better Stimulus

Opinionated StimulusJS best practices sourced directly from betterstimulus.com / julianrubisch/better-stimulus.

ARCHITECTURE

1. Application Controller

Create a base ApplicationController that all controllers inherit from. Use it to share lifecycle hooks and utility methods across the app.

// application_controller.js
import { Controller } from "@hotwired/stimulus";
export default class extends Controller {
  // shared helpers, error handling, etc.
}

// custom_controller.js
import ApplicationController from "./application_controller";
export default class extends ApplicationController {
  // specialized behavior
}

When NOT to use inheritance: Ask whether the shared behavior is a specialization ("is a") → use inheritance; a role ("acts as a") → use mixins; a collaborator ("has a") → use composition.

2. Configurable Controllers (Late Binding)

Never hardcode dependencies (CSS classes, selectors, IDs) inside controllers. Use the Classes API, Values API, or dataset attributes so controllers are reusable.

Bad:

toggle(e) {
  this.element.classList.toggle("active"); // hardcoded class
}

Good:

<a data-controller="toggle" data-action="click->toggle#toggle" data-toggle-active-class="active">

static classes = ["active"];

toggle(e) {
  e.preventDefault();
  this.element.classList.toggle(this.activeClass);
}

Rationale: Late binding of dependencies ensures controllers are reusable across multiple use cases without modification.

3. Mixins Over Inheritance for Shared Behavior

When behavior is a role (not a specialization), use mixins instead of inheritance.

Bad — extending a concrete controller:

import OverlayController from "./overlay_controller";
export default class extends OverlayController { ... }

Good — mixin pattern:

// mixins/useOverlay.js
export const useOverlay = controller => {
  Object.assign(controller, {
    showOverlay(e) { ... },
    hideOverlay(e) { ... }
  });
};

// dropdown_controller.js
import { useOverlay } from "./mixins/useOverlay";
export default class extends Controller {
  connect() {
    useOverlay(this);
  }
}

Rule of thumb: is a → inheritance; acts as a → mixin; has a → composition. Reference: stimulus-use

4. State Management with Values API

Use Stimulus values as the single source of truth for controller state — not instance variables.

Bad:

connect() {
  this.markers = []; // instance variable, not serialized
}
addMarker() {
  this.markers.push({...});
}

Good:

static values = { markers: Array }

addMarker() {
  this.markersValue = [...this.markersValue, {...}];
}

markersValueChanged(markers) {
  this.map.updateMarkers(markers);
}

Rationale: Values are serialized in the DOM, providing a single source of truth. They enable state mutation from outside (Turbo Streams, morphing) and interact correctly with Turbo caching. Contraindication: Don't use values for non-serializable state (e.g., library instances like Swiper) or sensitive data you don't want in HTML.

5. Namespaced Attributes

When you need an arbitrary set of controller-scoped parameters beyond what Values API provides, namespace them as data-[controller]-param-[name].

<input data-controller="filter"
       data-filter-param-category="cats"
       data-filter-param-rating="5"
       type="text"
       data-action="input->filter#update">

update() {
  const url = new URL(window.location);
  Object.keys(Object.assign({}, this.element.dataset))
    .filter(attr => attr.startsWith("filterParam"))
    .forEach(attr => {
      url.searchParams.set(
        attr.slice(11).replace(/^\w/, c => c.toLowerCase()),
        this.element.dataset[attr]
      );
    });
  history.pushState({}, '', url.toString());
}

6. Targetless Controllers

Keep controllers that act on this.element separate from those that act on targets. Mixing them is a Single Responsibility violation.

Bad — form controller managing its own indicator:

static targets = ["indicator"];
submit() {
  this.indicatorTarget.textContent = "Saving...";
  this.element.requestSubmit();
}

Good — split into two focused controllers:

<form data-controller="form form-indicator" data-action="submit->form-indicator#display">
  <span data-form-indicator-target="indicator"></span>
  <input type="number" data-action="change->form#submit" />
</form>

Signal: If a controller would change for two different reasons (element behavior AND target behavior), split it.

LIFECYCLE

7. Reserve connect() for Plugin Init & DOM Preconditions

connect() is the correct place for: initializing 3rd party plugins (Swiper, Dropzone, Chart.js), DOM preconditions, browser capability checks.

Keep two things out of it, using the purpose-built API instead:

• State → declare it with the Values API
• Event listeners → declare them with data-action in the markup

Bad:

connect() {
  this.open = false; // state in instance var
  this.buttonTarget.addEventListener("click", this.toggle.bind(this)); // manual listener
}

Good:

<div data-controller="toggle"
     data-toggle-open-value="false"
     data-toggle-hidden-class="hidden">
  <button data-action="toggle#toggle">Click to open</button>
  <div data-toggle-target="panel" class="hidden"></div>
</div>

static values = { open: Boolean };
static classes = ["hidden"];

toggle() {
  this.openValue = !this.openValue;
}

openValueChanged() {
  this.panelTarget.classList.toggle(this.hiddenClass, !this.openValue);
}

EVENTS

8. Declare Global Events in Markup with data-action

Stimulus automatically adds and removes event listeners declared in data-action — including window/document events via the @window/@document suffix. Let it manage the listener lifecycle for you.

Bad:

connect() {
  document.addEventListener("resize", this.layout.bind(this));
}

Good:

<div data-controller="gallery" data-action="resize@window->gallery#layout">

If you must add listeners manually, store the bound reference to ensure proper cleanup:

Bad — .bind() creates a new function each time, so removeEventListener won't find it:

connect() {
  document.addEventListener("click", this.findFoo.bind(this));
}
disconnect() {
  document.removeEventListener("click", this.findFoo.bind(this)); // different reference!
}

Good:

connect() {
  this.boundFindFoo = this.findFoo.bind(this);
  document.addEventListener("click", this.boundFindFoo);
}
disconnect() {
  document.removeEventListener("click", this.boundFindFoo);
}

INTERACTION (INTER-CONTROLLER COMMUNICATION)

9. Make Controllers Talk via Events, Outlets, or Callbacks

Prefer custom events for broadcasting, outlets for direct method calls on other controllers, and callbacks for pulling data from another controller on demand. For the full patterns with examples, read references/inter-controller.md.

DOM MANIPULATION

10. Use <template> to Restore DOM State

When an external library removes HTML from the page (e.g., after closing a Bootstrap modal), use a <template> element to restore it.

<div data-controller="modal">
  <template data-modal-target="template">
    <div>
      <a href="#" data-action="modal#show">Click Me</a>
      <div class="modal invisible" data-modal-target="modal">
        <h1>A Modal</h1>
        <a href="#" data-action="modal#hide">Hide Me</a>
      </div>
    </div>
  </template>
</div>

static targets = ["template", "modal"];

connect() {
  this.element.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend", this.templateTarget.innerHTML);
}

hide(e) {
  e.preventDefault();
  this.element.removeChild(this.element.lastElementChild);
  this.element.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend", this.templateTarget.innerHTML);
}

Also useful: Preparing DOM for Turbo caching (restore state before turbo:before-cache).

INTEGRATING THIRD-PARTY LIBRARIES

11. Use Lifecycle Events for Setup and Teardown

Scope each library instance to a controller: create it in connect, tear it down in disconnect.

Bad (global array, manual DOM querying):

let editors = [];
document.addEventListener("turbo:load", function() {
  document.querySelectorAll(".easymde").forEach(function(el) {
    editors.push(new EasyMDE({ element: el }));
  });
});

Good:

import EasyMDE from "easymde";

export default class extends Controller {
  static targets = ["field"];

  connect() {
    this.editor = new EasyMDE({ element: this.fieldTarget });
  }

  disconnect() {
    this.editor.toTextArea();
  }
}

Benefits: Stimulus creates separate instances automatically; each can be configured independently via data attributes; Turbo lifecycle is handled automatically.

ERROR HANDLING

12. Centralize Error Handling in the Application Controller

Catch all Stimulus and application errors in one place with a handleError hook on the base ApplicationController, and forward them to a reporting service (e.g. Sentry) at the application level. For the full implementation, read references/error-handling.md.

TURBO INTEGRATION

13. Global Teardown Before Turbo Caching

When a controller manipulates the DOM, implement a teardown() method so the page can be cleanly cached by Turbo. Trigger it globally via turbo:before-cache.

// application.js
document.addEventListener('turbo:before-cache', () => {
  application.controllers.forEach(controller => {
    if (typeof controller.teardown === 'function') {
      controller.teardown();
    }
  });
});

// any_controller.js
export default class extends Controller {
  connect() { /* ... */ }

  teardown() {
    this.element.classList.remove('play-animation');
  }
}

Rationale: Keeps disconnect for controller-level teardown; teardown for Turbo-specific rollback. Prevents flash of stale/manipulated content on back navigation.

14. Form Submits

Submit forms in response to arbitrary events or intercept them for client-side logic.

Trigger submit on change:

<%= form_with(model: @article, data: { controller: "form" }) do |f| %>
  <%= select_tag "author", ..., data: { action: "change->form#update" } %>
<% end %>

update(event) {
  event.preventDefault();
  this.element.requestSubmit();
}

Intercept and augment before sending:

import { patch } from '@rails/request.js';

intercept(event) {
  event.preventDefault();
  const data = new FormData(this.element);
  // validate or append items here
  patch(this.element.action, { body: data, responseKind: 'turbo-stream' });
}

SOLID PRINCIPLES

The three SOLID principles most relevant to Stimulus are Single Responsibility, Open-Closed, and Dependency Inversion. For detailed examples and rationale, read references/solid.md.

Quick summaries:

• SRP: One controller, one job. No "page controllers". If it would change for two reasons, split it.
• OCP: Use a polymorphic setup() hook instead of switch/case on type values.
• DIP: Use dynamic imports + Values API to select dependencies at runtime, not hardcoded imports.

COOKBOOK PATTERNS

For ready-to-use controller implementations, read references/cookbook.md. It contains complete, copy-paste-ready controllers for:

• Faceted Search — Turbo Frame + form → URL params
• Refresh When Visible — Page Visibility API + Turbo Stream refresh
• Auto Sort — MutationObserver to sort children by data attribute
• Dark Mode — localStorage + CSS class toggling + flash-of-white fix
• Radio Dropdown — radio-like dropdown with change event dispatch

QUICK REFERENCE CHECKLIST

Before committing a Stimulus controller, verify:

• State is in Values API, not instance variables
• CSS classes are in static classes, not hardcoded strings
• Events use data-action in markup, not addEventListener in connect()
• If addEventListener is used manually: bound reference stored for disconnect() cleanup
• Controller has a single responsibility (no "page controllers")
• Third-party libraries initialized in connect(), destroyed in disconnect()
• Turbo: teardown() implemented if DOM is mutated; wired via turbo:before-cache
• Inter-controller communication: Outlets for direct calls, custom events for broadcast
• No hardcoded selectors or class names inside controller logic
• If mixing this.element and target operations → consider splitting into two controllers