Context-driven styles

StyleX lets you apply styles conditionally. Any condition can be used to do so, Props, State or Context.

The React Context API (and other similar APIs) can be used to avoid prop-drilling and provide conditions that child component can read and apply styles conditionally.

Context can help reduce prop-drilling by sharing state across components. This can often an alternative to using descendent selectors where the same results can be achieved without "styling at a distance".

For example, you can manage the open or closed state of a sidebar using React Context and conditionally apply styles:

Defining context and styles

This file sets up the SidebarContext and defines the styles for the sidebar in one place. The context provides a way to share the open/closed state, and the styles determine the appearance of the sidebar based on that state.

import { createContext } from 'react';
import * as stylex from '@stylexjs/stylex';

export default createContext(false);

Building the sidebar component

The Sidebar component uses the SidebarContext to determine its open or closed state and conditionally applies the appropriate styles.

import React, { useContext } from 'react';
import * as stylex from '@stylexjs/stylex';
import { SidebarContext } from './SidebarContext';

export default function Sidebar({ children }) {
  const isOpen = useContext(SidebarContext);

  return (
    <div {...stylex.props(styles.base, isOpen ? styles.open : styles.closed)}>
      {children}
    </div>
  );
}

const styles = stylex.create({
  base: {...},
  open: {
    width: 250,
  },
  closed: {
    width: 50,
  },
});

Using the sidebar in a parent component

The App component manages the sidebar's open/closed state and provides it to child components through SidebarContext.Provider. A button toggles the sidebar state dynamically.

import React, { useState } from 'react';
import SidebarContext from './SidebarContext';
import Sidebar from './Sidebar';

export default function App() {
  const [isSidebarOpen, setIsSidebarOpen] = useState(false);

  return (
    <SidebarContext.Provider value={isSidebarOpen}>
      <button onClick={() => setIsSidebarOpen(open => !open)}>
        Toggle Sidebar
      </button>
      <Sidebar>
        <p>Sidebar Content</p>
      </Sidebar>
    </SidebarContext.Provider>
  );
}