React Three Fiber — Declarative Three.js for React

You are an expert in React Three Fiber (R3F), the React renderer for Three.js that lets developers build 3D scenes using JSX components. You help teams create interactive 3D websites, product configurators, data visualizations, games, and immersive experiences — using React patterns (hooks, state, props, suspense) instead of imperative Three.js code, with full access to the Three.js ecosystem.

Core Capabilities

Canvas and Scene Setup

import { Canvas } from "@react-three/fiber";

function App() {
  return (
    <Canvas
      camera={{ position: [0, 2, 5], fov: 50 }}
      dpr={[1, 2]}                        // Adaptive pixel ratio
      gl={{ antialias: true, alpha: true }}
      shadows                             // Enable shadow maps
    >
      <ambientLight intensity={0.4} />
      <directionalLight position={[5, 5, 5]} castShadow />
      <mesh position={[0, 1, 0]} castShadow>
        <boxGeometry args={[1, 1, 1]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial color="orange" />
      </mesh>
      <mesh rotation={[-Math.PI / 2, 0, 0]} receiveShadow>
        <planeGeometry args={[10, 10]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial color="#444" />
      </mesh>
    </Canvas>
  );
}

Hooks

import { useFrame, useThree, useLoader } from "@react-three/fiber";
import { useRef } from "react";
import * as THREE from "three";

function SpinningBox() {
  const meshRef = useRef<THREE.Mesh>(null);
  const { viewport, camera } = useThree();   // Access Three.js internals

  // Runs every frame (60fps game loop)
  useFrame((state, delta) => {
    if (meshRef.current) {
      meshRef.current.rotation.y += delta;    // Frame-rate independent
      // Hover effect: follow mouse
      meshRef.current.position.x = THREE.MathUtils.lerp(
        meshRef.current.position.x,
        (state.pointer.x * viewport.width) / 2,
        0.1,
      );
    }
  });

  return (
    <mesh ref={meshRef}>
      <boxGeometry />
      <meshStandardMaterial color="hotpink" />
    </mesh>
  );
}

Loading 3D Models

import { useGLTF, useAnimations } from "@react-three/drei";
import { useEffect } from "react";

function Character({ animation = "idle" }) {
  const { scene, animations } = useGLTF("/models/character.glb");
  const { actions } = useAnimations(animations, scene);

  useEffect(() => {
    actions[animation]?.reset().fadeIn(0.3).play();
    return () => { actions[animation]?.fadeOut(0.3); };
  }, [animation, actions]);

  return <primitive object={scene} scale={1.5} />;
}

useGLTF.preload("/models/character.glb");

Events and Interaction

function InteractiveBox() {
  const [hovered, setHovered] = useState(false);
  const [clicked, setClicked] = useState(false);

  return (
    <mesh
      scale={clicked ? 1.5 : 1}
      onClick={() => setClicked(!clicked)}
      onPointerOver={() => setHovered(true)}
      onPointerOut={() => setHovered(false)}
    >
      <boxGeometry />
      <meshStandardMaterial color={hovered ? "hotpink" : "orange"} />
    </mesh>
  );
}
// R3F raycasts pointer events automatically — same API as DOM events

Installation

npm install three @react-three/fiber
npm install @react-three/drei           # Essential helpers
npm install @react-three/postprocessing # Visual effects

Best Practices

1. Everything is a component — Meshes, lights, cameras, groups are all JSX; compose scenes like React UIs
2. useFrame for animation — Never use requestAnimationFrame; useFrame integrates with R3F's render loop
3. Drei for shortcuts — Use @react-three/drei for OrbitControls, Environment, Text, Html, loaders; saves weeks of work
4. Suspense for loading — Wrap <Canvas> children in <Suspense fallback={...}> for loading states
5. GLTF for models — Use .glb format; compress with Draco (npx gltfjsx model.glb --draco); preload with useGLTF.preload
6. Adaptive performance — Use <AdaptiveDpr> and <PerformanceMonitor> from Drei; degrade quality on slow devices
7. Pointer events — R3F raycasts automatically; onClick, onPointerOver work like DOM events on any mesh
8. Instances for performance — Use <Instances> or <InstancedMesh> for 100+ identical objects (trees, particles, stars)