oxc-project/oxc · error · OxcDiagnostic

Your `render` method should have a `return` statement.

Error message

Your `render` method should have a `return` statement.

What it means

Raised by react/require_render_return when a class component's `render` method lacks a return statement (or has one only on some control-flow paths). At the throw site render must return a React element or null; returning undefined makes React throw 'Nothing was returned from render'. The rule walks the render method's control-flow graph (via oxc_cfg) checking every terminal path, and require_render_return_diagnostic fires from run() when a path terminates without a return instruction carrying a value.

Source

Thrown at crates/oxc_linter/src/rules/react/require_render_return.rs:18

use oxc_ast::{AstKind, ast::Expression};
use oxc_cfg::{
    EdgeType, Instruction, InstructionKind, ReturnInstructionKind,
    graph::visit::neighbors_filtered_by_edge_weight,
};
use oxc_diagnostics::OxcDiagnostic;
use oxc_macros::declare_oxc_lint;
use oxc_span::{GetSpan, Span};

use crate::{
    AstNode,
    context::{ContextHost, LintContext},
    rule::Rule,
    utils::{is_es5_component, is_es6_component},
};

fn require_render_return_diagnostic(span: Span) -> OxcDiagnostic {
    OxcDiagnostic::warn("Your `render` method should have a `return` statement.")
        .with_help("When writing the `render` method in a component it is easy to forget to return the JSX content. This rule will warn if the `return` statement is missing.")
        .with_label(span)
}

#[derive(Debug, Default, Clone)]
pub struct RequireRenderReturn;

declare_oxc_lint!(
    /// ### What it does
    ///
    /// Require render methods in ES5 and ES2015 React components to return a value.
    ///
    /// This rule is not relevant for function components, and so can potentially be
    /// disabled for modern React codebases.
    ///
    /// ### Why is this bad?
    ///
    /// When writing the `render` method in a component it is easy to forget to return the

View on GitHub (pinned to e1e7af627c)

Solutions

1. Add a return statement covering all branches of the render method.
2. Return null when nothing should be rendered.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/oxc_linter/src/rules/react/require_render_return.rs:18 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of oxc-project/oxc@e1e7af627c (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8f20754201eab487. Report an issue: GitHub.