zereight-react-native-optimizer

name	zereight-react-native-optimizer
description	React Native performance review checklist for code reviews. Use when reviewing RN code to detect rendering, animation, and native performance regressions. Complements zereight-review — run both together on RN PRs.

zereight-react-native-optimizer

Focused on performance correctness during code review. The goal is not to teach optimization — it is to catch regressions before they ship.

When to use

Use alongside zereight-review when:

• Reviewing React Native or Expo PRs
• Auditing list, animation, or native module changes
• Checking screen transitions or gesture interactions

Not a replacement for react-native-best-practices or vercel-react-native-skills — those explain how to optimize. This skill detects what went wrong in a diff.

Prerequisites

The following skills provide the full optimization context this skill references:

• react-native-best-practices (callstackincubator)
• vercel-react-native-skills (vercel-labs)
• react-native-animations (pluginagentmarketplace)
• react-native-best-practices (callstackincubator)
• agent-device (callstackincubator)

Priority order

1. Animation on JS thread (causes visible jank — always 🟠 Major or higher)
2. List rendering with FlatList instead of FlashList for large datasets
3. Unnecessary re-renders in hot paths (list items, animated components)
4. Memory leaks (listeners, subscriptions not cleaned up)
5. Bridge overuse (synchronous calls, large payloads)
6. Bundle size regressions
7. Image loading / caching issues

Rendering checks

Run on every component change. See references/rendering.md for detail.

Pattern	Severity
FlatList used for list with 50+ items	🛠️ 🟠 Major
keyExtractor returns index	⚠️ 🟡 Minor
Inline function/object passed as prop to memoized child	🛠️ 🟡 Minor
React.memo wrapping component that receives new object ref each render	⚠️ 🟡 Minor
Context provider too high — causes full subtree re-render	⚠️ 🟠 Major
useSelector selecting large slice of store	🛠️ 🔵 Trivial
Missing useCallback on event handler passed to child	🛠️ 🔵 Trivial
StyleSheet defined inside component body	🛠️ 🟡 Minor

Animation checks

Run when animation, gesture, or transition code is changed. See references/animation.md for detail.

Pattern	Severity
Animated.Value (legacy API) used instead of Reanimated shared value	🛠️ 🟠 Major
Animation drives style via setState (runs on JS thread)	⚠️ 🟠 Major
Worklet function accesses JS-side state directly (no runOnJS)	⚠️ 🟠 Major
useAnimatedStyle depends on non-shared-value reactive data	⚠️ 🟡 Minor
Touch handled with TouchableOpacity instead of GestureDetector in animated context	🛠️ 🟡 Minor
LayoutAnimation used instead of Reanimated layout animations	🛠️ 🔵 Trivial
Animation not cancelled on unmount	⚠️ 🟡 Minor

Native / bridge checks

Run when native modules, images, or bundle changes are involved. See references/native.md for detail.

Pattern	Severity
Event listener / subscription not removed in cleanup	⚠️ 🟠 Major
NativeModules called synchronously in render path	⚠️ 🟠 Major
Large object passed over bridge (>10KB)	⚠️ 🟡 Minor
Image loaded without resizeMode or explicit width/height	🛠️ 🟡 Minor
Image source is remote URL without caching strategy	🛠️ 🟡 Minor
New dependency added without checking bundle size impact	⚪ Info
console.log left in production code path	🧹 🔵 Trivial

Findings format

Use the same format as zereight-review:

### [type] [severity] Title

**Condition:** <what triggers this>
**Impact:** <FPS drop / memory leak / jank / crash>
**Evidence:** `file:line` — short snippet
**Minimal fix:** <smallest safe change>

Output template

When running as standalone review:

1. Performance Summary (2-3 lines: what changed, overall signal)
2. ⚠️ Performance Findings (ordered 🟠→🟡→🔵)
3. 🎯 Verdict (No regressions | Minor regressions | Block — performance regression)

When integrated with zereight-review, append findings to the existing ⚠️ Findings section under a --- Performance --- subheader.

Quick heuristics

• If it touches a list → check FlashList, keyExtractor, and item memoization
• If it touches animation → verify UI thread execution (Reanimated, not setState)
• If it mounts/unmounts → verify all listeners/subscriptions have cleanup
• If it adds a native module call → verify async, not in render, not in hot loop
• If it adds a new package → note bundle size concern as ⚪ Info