elixir-phoenix-assigns-audit

LiveView Assigns Audit

Analyze LiveView socket assigns for memory efficiency, clarity, and best practices.

Iron Laws - Never Violate These

1. Use streams for lists > 100 items - Never store large lists directly in assigns
2. Use temporary_assigns for transient data - Flash messages, temp errors, notifications
3. Preload only needed fields - Don't store full Ecto schemas when only needing subset
4. Initialize all assigns in mount - Never access assigns that might not exist
5. NEVER modify assigns or code during audit — this is a read-only diagnostic; report findings only

Quick Audit Commands

Extract All Assigns

Use rg to find all assign( and assign_new( calls in the target LiveView file.

Find Large Data Patterns

Use rg to find large data patterns: lists stored in assigns (assign.*\[\], assign.*Repo\.all) and full schema storage (assign.*Repo\.get) in the target file.

Audit Checklist

1. Memory Issues

Pattern	Problem	Solution
assign(:items, Repo.all(...))	Unbounded list	Use stream/3
assign(:user, Repo.get!(...))	Full schema	Select only needed fields
assign(:file_data, binary)	Large binary	Store reference, not data
Nested preloads	Excessive data	Preload only what's rendered

2. Missing temporary_assigns

Should use temporary_assigns:

• Flash messages
• Form errors after submission
• One-time notifications
• Upload progress

def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
  {:ok, socket, temporary_assigns: [flash_message: nil]}
end

3. Unused Assigns

Search for assigns defined but never used in templates:

Use rg to extract all assign names (assign\(:(\w+)) from the LiveView file, then use rg to find all @\w+ references in the corresponding .heex template. Compare to find unused assigns.

4. Missing Initialization

# BAD: @items might not exist
def render(assigns) do
  ~H"<%= for item <- @items do %>"
end

# GOOD: Initialize in mount
def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
  {:ok, assign(socket, items: [])}
end