Fragment

<Fragment>, often used via <>...</> syntax, lets you group elements without a wrapper node.

jsx

<>
  <View />
  <Text>Hello</Text>
</>

For full documentation on Fragment usage including grouping elements, assigning to variables, and rendering lists with keys, see the Fragment documentation on react.dev.

Fragment Refs in React Native

Canary 🧪

This API is currently only available in React Native’s Canary and Experimental channels.

If you want to try it out, please enable the Canary Channel in your app.

Fragment refs let you attach a ref to a <Fragment> and interact with its host children without adding wrapper views. To use a Fragment ref, you must use the explicit <Fragment> syntax:

jsx

import {Fragment, useRef} from 'react';

function MyComponent() {
  const fragmentRef = useRef(null);
  return (
    <Fragment ref={fragmentRef}>
      <View />
      <Text>Hello</Text>
    </Fragment>
  );
}

When you pass a ref to a Fragment, React provides a FragmentInstance object. The React Native FragmentInstance implements a subset of the methods available on Web. For the full FragmentInstance API including Web-only methods, see the FragmentInstance documentation on react.dev.

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Reference

FragmentInstance

The FragmentInstance provided by Fragment refs in React Native supports the following methods:

observeUsing(observer)

Starts observing all first-level host children of the Fragment with the provided observer.

jsx

const observer = new IntersectionObserver(callback, options);
fragmentRef.current.observeUsing(observer);

Parameters

• observer: An IntersectionObserver instance.

Returns

undefined.

note

Unlike the Web implementation, React Native only supports IntersectionObserver with observeUsing. ResizeObserver is not supported.

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unobserveUsing(observer)

Stops observing the Fragment's host children with the specified observer.

jsx

fragmentRef.current.unobserveUsing(observer);

Parameters

• observer: The same IntersectionObserver instance previously passed to observeUsing.

Returns

undefined.

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getClientRects()

Returns an array of bounding rectangles for all first-level host children of the Fragment.

jsx

const rects = fragmentRef.current.getClientRects();

Returns

An Array<DOMRect> containing the bounding rectangles of all first-level host children. In React Native, each rectangle is obtained via getBoundingClientRect() on the underlying host instance.

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getRootNode(options?)

Returns the root node containing the Fragment's parent host node.

jsx

const root = fragmentRef.current.getRootNode();

Parameters

• optional options: An object with a composed boolean property, matching the DOM getRootNode API.

Returns

A Node or the FragmentInstance itself if there is no parent host node.

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compareDocumentPosition(otherNode)

Compares the position of the Fragment with another node, returning a bitmask matching the behavior of Node.compareDocumentPosition().

jsx

const position =
  fragmentRef.current.compareDocumentPosition(otherElement);

Parameters

• otherNode: A host instance to compare against.

Returns

A bitmask of position flags. Empty Fragments return Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_DISCONNECTED.

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reactFragments property

Each first-level host child of a Fragment with a ref gets a reactFragments property — a Set<FragmentInstance> containing all Fragment instances that own the element.

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Methods Not Available in React Native

The following FragmentInstance methods are available on Web but are not supported in React Native:

Method	Description
addEventListener	Adds an event listener to all first-level host children.
removeEventListener	Removes an event listener from all first-level host children.
dispatchEvent	Dispatches an event on the Fragment.
focus	Focuses the first focusable node depth-first.
focusLast	Focuses the last focusable node depth-first.
blur	Removes focus from the active element if within the Fragment.
scrollIntoView	Scrolls the Fragment's children into view.

See the react.dev FragmentInstance documentation for details on these methods.

Caveats

• Methods that target children (such as observeUsing and getClientRects) operate on first-level host children of the Fragment. They do not target children nested inside another host element.
• observeUsing does not work on text nodes.
• You cannot use the <>...</> shorthand syntax when passing ref or key to a Fragment. You must explicitly import Fragment from 'react'.