rjsf-team/react-jsonschema-form

Exponential slowdown with cross-referencing `oneOf`/`anyOf` definitions

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#4990 opened on Mar 13, 2026

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help wanted

Description

Prerequisites

What theme are you using?

other

Version

6.4.1

Current Behavior

Schemas where definitions reference each other through oneOf/anyOf become unresponsive at deeper nesting levels. The time to select an option grows exponentially with depth.

Using the attached schema (5 definitions, each with a child property whose oneOf references the other 4), here are the measured times:

Nesting depth Time to select an option
8 4s
9 13s
10 49s

The time roughly triples with each additional level. With more definitions, the freeze happens at shallower depth.

Expected Behavior

The form should remain responsive regardless of the number of definitions or depth.

Steps To Reproduce

  1. Open the playground with this schema (5 definitions, A through E, each referencing the other 4 via oneOf).
  2. Start selecting nested options: pick a type for child, then pick a type for that child's child, and so on.
  3. Around depth 8-9 the form freezes for a noticeable number of seconds.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescriptreact
Domain
frontendperformance
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
blocked
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
JSON Schema $refReactrjsf internalsperformance profiling
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
25
Research direction
Investigate the schema resolution logic, particularly how $ref and oneOf are handled. Use the provided playground link to reproduce the exponential slowdown at depth 8-10. Look for missing memoization or redundant re computation in files like src/utils/schema.js or similar resolver modules. Consider adding caching for previously resolved schemas to avoid repeated references.