no-children-prop

Keywords: React, children, props, composition, ESLint rule, best practices, LLM-optimized

Prevent passing children as a prop. This rule is part of eslint-plugin-react-features.

Quick Summary

Rule Details

Passing children as a prop instead of nesting is less readable and can cause issues.

Why This Matters

Examples

❌ Incorrect

<Component children={<span>Hello</span>} />
<Component children="Hello" />
<Component children={[<span key="1">A</span>, <span key="2">B</span>]} />

✅ Correct

<Component>
  <span>Hello</span>
</Component>

<Component>Hello</Component>

<Component>
  <span key="1">A</span>
  <span key="2">B</span>
</Component>

Configuration Examples

Basic Usage

{
  rules: {
    'react-features/no-children-prop': 'warn'
  }
}

Related Rules

• jsx-key - Keys in children lists

Further Reading

• Composition vs Inheritance - React docs

Known False Negatives

The following patterns are not detected due to static analysis limitations:

Dynamic Variable References

Why: Static analysis cannot trace values stored in variables or passed through function parameters.

// ❌ NOT DETECTED - Prop from variable
const propValue = computedValue;
<Component prop={propValue} /> // Computation not analyzed

Mitigation: Implement runtime validation and review code manually. Consider using TypeScript branded types for validated inputs.

Wrapped or Aliased Functions

Why: Custom wrapper functions or aliased methods are not recognized by the rule.

// ❌ NOT DETECTED - Custom wrapper
function myWrapper(data) {
  return internalApi(data); // Wrapper not analyzed
}
myWrapper(unsafeInput);

Mitigation: Apply this rule's principles to wrapper function implementations. Avoid aliasing security-sensitive functions.

Imported Values

Why: When values come from imports, the rule cannot analyze their origin or construction.

// ❌ NOT DETECTED - Value from import
import { getValue } from './helpers';
processValue(getValue()); // Cross-file not tracked

Mitigation: Ensure imported values follow the same constraints. Use TypeScript for type safety.