I got tired of rewriting the same AI boilerplate so I built a library to fix it

Stephen Bullocks — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 18:47:33 +0000

Every time I added AI to a React app, I rewrote the same 200+ lines. Streaming loop. Manual message history. Tool call orchestration. Error handling. setIsLoading(false) only if I remembered.

After the third project I stopped and asked: why is nobody solving this the way RTK Query solved REST APIs?

So I built Strand (https://github.com/strand-js/strand).

Before

const [messages, setMessages] = useState([]) const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(false)
async function send(text) { setIsLoading(true) manually stream tokens manually detect tool calls manually loop until done setIsLoading(false) only if you remembered }

After

const { messages, send, isPending, isStreaming, cancel } = useConversation({ system: 'You are a helpful assistant.', })

Streaming, history, tool calls, cancellation, retry; all handled.

The thing nobody else has: useToolCall

Works from ANY component; no prop drilling
function WeatherStatus() { const { status, input, output } = useToolCall('get_weather')
if (status === 'running') return <div>Checking {input?.location}…</div>
if (status === 'done') return <div>{output?.temp}°F</div> return null }

Live tool state: pending → running → done. Its observable anywhere in your tree.

Fixing the isLoading design flaw

The Vercel AI SDK has 4+ open issues (https://github.com/vercel/ai/issues) about isLoading getting stuck. The reason is architectural because "request sent" and "tokens arriving" are different states.

Strand tracks four:

const { isPending, isStreaming, isDone, error } = useConversation() // isPending: waiting for first token // isStreaming: tokens arriving // isDone: just completed // error: something failed

Works with Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google Gemini

npm install @strand-js/core @strand-js/react zod
npm install @strand-js/anthropic # or openai, or google
Swap providers by changing one server import. Zero frontend changes.

v0.1.8, MIT, open source.

→ https://github.com/strand-js/strand

DEV Community: Stephen Bullocks

I got tired of rewriting the same AI boilerplate so I built a library to fix it