The harder part starts immediately afterward.

Once the initial project exists, you still have to decide:

• How will routing work?

• How will API data be handled?

• Do you need client-side state management?

• How will forms be handled?

• Where will validation live?

• How will the application be styled?

• What should be tested?

• How will the codebase stay consistent?

The problem usually isn't choosing a "bad" library.

The problem is making these decisions one by one after development has already started.

For an API-driven React application such as a dashboard, SaaS frontend, CRM, admin panel, or internal tool, it is useful to make the major project decisions before building the first feature.

Here are eight areas worth deciding early.

1. Start With React, TypeScript, and Vite

A practical foundation for a React application can be:

React + TypeScript + Vite

Each has a different responsibility.

React handles the user interface.

TypeScript adds static typing and improves editor feedback.

Vite handles development and production build tooling.

A project created with Vite can start with:

npm create vite@latest my-app -- --template react-ts

Then:

cd my-app

and:

npm install

At this point, you have a React application.

But you don't necessarily have the structure and tooling your actual application needs.

That is where the real project setup begins.

1. Decide Routing Before Building Pages

If your application has multiple screens, routing should be considered early.

For example:

• Dashboard

• Users

• User details

• Settings

• Profile

A routing library provides a consistent way to manage URLs, layouts, navigation, route parameters, and nested pages.

React Router is one option for handling routing in React applications.

The important point isn't that every React application must use the same routing setup.

The important point is to avoid allowing navigation logic to become scattered across unrelated components.

A simple project might organize routing around:

routes → pages → components → application

As the application grows, those boundaries become increasingly useful.

1. Separate API Data From Client State

This is one of the most useful distinctions to make in an API-driven React application.

Not all state is the same.

Server state

Examples include:

• Users

• Products

• Orders

• Analytics

• Notifications

• API responses

This data comes from a server and may become stale.

Client state

Examples include:

• Sidebar state

• Theme preference

• Selected UI mode

• Temporary workflow state

• Client-only application state

These have different requirements.

A useful way to think about the distinction is:

Server/API state → TanStack Query

Client/application state → Zustand

They don't necessarily compete with each other.

A project can use both because they solve different problems.

For example:

React

→ TanStack Query for API/server data

→ Zustand for client/application state

Instead of asking:

"Which state-management library should I use?"

ask:

"Where does this state come from, and what does it need to do?"

That usually leads to a much clearer architecture.

1. Decide How API Communication Will Work

Once your application communicates with a backend, decide how requests will be organized.

You can use the browser's native fetch API.

You can also use a client such as Axios.

There is no requirement that every React project use Axios.

The more important decision is where API communication lives.

Avoid scattering requests throughout UI components.

Instead, create a clear API or data-access layer.

For example, you might have areas such as:

• Users service

• Orders service

• Authentication service

Then your components don't need to know the details of every HTTP request.

This becomes especially useful when the application grows from a few API calls to dozens of endpoints.

1. Decide How Forms and Validation Work Together

Forms often look simple at first.

Then the application grows and suddenly you have:

• Login

• Registration

• Profile editing

• Settings

• Filters

• Checkout

• Multi-step forms

• Admin forms

A useful separation is:

React Hook Form → form handling

Zod → schema validation

React Hook Form manages the form workflow.

Zod defines what valid data looks like.

For example, a profile might require:

• Name with a minimum length

• Valid email address

• Other application-specific rules

The flow becomes:

User input → React Hook Form → Zod validation → valid data or errors

This keeps form management and validation as separate responsibilities.

It also makes validation rules easier to reason about and reuse.

For applications connected to a backend, remember that server-side validation is still required. Client-side validation improves the user experience, but it should not be treated as the security boundary.

1. Choose Your Styling Approach Early

Styling is another decision that is easy to postpone and increasingly difficult to change later.

Common approaches include:

• Plain CSS

• CSS Modules

• Tailwind CSS

• Component libraries

For example, Tailwind CSS uses utility classes directly in markup.

The important question isn't:

"Which styling system is universally the best?"

A better question is:

"Which styling approach fits this project and the people working on it?"

Once an application contains hundreds of components, changing the styling model can become expensive.

Choosing a direction early doesn't mean you can never change it.

It simply prevents every feature from inventing its own styling approach.

1. Add Testing and Code Quality Early

Testing is often postponed.

The common thought is:

"We'll add tests once the application is bigger."

The problem is that once the application becomes large, adding a testing strategy can be much harder.

A small starting setup could include:

Vitest

for testing logic and components.

React Testing Library

for testing React behavior from a user's perspective.

You can combine that with:

ESLint

for code-quality rules.

Prettier

for consistent formatting.

A simple development workflow becomes:

Write code → Type check → Lint → Test → Build

You don't need a huge CI/CD system for your first feature.

The important thing is establishing a repeatable quality process before the project becomes difficult to standardize.

1. Decide the Project Structure Before It Becomes Chaotic

A small React project can start very simply.

You might have:

• components

• pages

• hooks

• utils

That can be completely reasonable.

As the application grows, a feature-oriented structure can become more useful.

For example, instead of putting everything into one giant components folder, you can group code around features such as:

• Users

• Orders

• Dashboard

• Authentication

Each feature can contain the components, hooks, services, and logic that belong to it.

The important principle is:

Start with the simplest structure that fits the project, then introduce stronger boundaries as the application grows.

Don't build an enterprise architecture for a five-page application.

But don't wait until the codebase becomes enormous before thinking about boundaries either.

Putting the Pieces Together

For an API-driven React application, one possible starting stack could include:

• React

• TypeScript

• Vite

• React Router

• Tailwind CSS

• TanStack Query

• Zustand

• React Hook Form

• Zod

• Vitest

• React Testing Library

• ESLint

• Prettier

The important part isn't the number of packages.

Each tool should have a clear responsibility.

React + Vite Application foundation

React Router Routing and navigation

Tailwind CSS Styling

TanStack Query Server/API state

Zustand Client/application state

React Hook Form Form handling

Zod Validation

Vitest + React Testing Library Testing

ESLint + Prettier Code quality and formatting

Not every application needs all of these.

A small project might not need Zustand.

A simple application may not need a routing library immediately.

A small form may not justify React Hook Form.

The goal isn't to maximize the dependency count.

The goal is to choose tools for problems that actually exist.

A Simple Decision Checklist

Before building the first major feature, ask:

Project foundation

• JavaScript or TypeScript?

• What build tool will the project use?

• What package manager and Node version will the project require?

Navigation

• Does the application need multiple routes?

• How will layouts and nested routes work?

Data

• Which data comes from an API?

• How should server data be cached?

• Where should API requests live?

Client state

• What state actually needs to be shared?

• Can React's built-in state handle it?

• Would a dedicated store make the application simpler?

Forms

• How will forms be managed?

• Where will validation rules live?

• Do you need schema validation?

UI

• Which styling approach fits the project?

• Do you need a component library?

• Where should reusable components live?

Quality

• How will code be formatted?

• How will linting work?

• What should be tested?

• What should pass before a production build?

These decisions become much easier when considered together rather than being added one package at a time after development has already started.

The Repetitive Part of React Setup

The initial React scaffold is usually the easy part.

The repetitive work starts afterward:

Install a package

→ Configure it

→ Modify project files

→ Install another package

→ Configure another part of the project

→ Repeat

And that setup work adds up every time you start another application.

This is the problem appinit is designed to simplify.

Instead of starting from one fixed boilerplate, you can choose the pieces you actually want:

• React

• TypeScript

• Vite

• Routing

• Styling

• Data fetching

• State

• Forms

• Validation

• Testing

• Code quality

Then generate the project from that configuration.

Start With the Stack You Actually Need

Generate a React project with appinit

Free to use. No account required.

Final Takeaway

A React project is more than React + Vite.

The real starting point is the set of decisions around it.

For an API-driven application, think about the project in layers:

React

→ TypeScript + Vite

→ Routing

→ API / server state

→ Client state

→ Forms + validation

→ Styling

→ Testing + quality

→ Project structure

You don't need the largest stack.

You need a stack where every piece has a clear responsibility.

Start with the architecture you understand, add only the tools that solve a real problem, and make those decisions before repetitive configuration starts taking time away from building the application.