Inertia Vue Development

Inertia Vue Development

When to Apply

Activate this skill when:

• Creating or modifying Vue page components for Inertia
• Working with forms in Vue (using <Form>, useForm, or useHttp)
• Implementing client-side navigation with <Link> or router
• Using v3 features: deferred props, prefetching, optimistic updates, instant visits, layout props, HTTP requests, WhenVisible, InfiniteScroll, once props, flash data, or polling
• Building Vue-specific features with the Inertia protocol

Documentation

Use search-docs for detailed Inertia v3 Vue patterns and documentation.

Basic Usage

Page Components Location

Vue page components should be placed in the resources/js/pages directory.

Page Component Structure

<script setup>
defineProps({
  users: Array,
});
</script>

<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Users</h1>
    <ul>
      <li v-for="user in users" :key="user.id">
        {{ user.name }}
      </li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</template>

Client-Side Navigation

Basic Link Component

Use <Link> for client-side navigation instead of traditional <a> tags:

<script setup>
import { Link } from "@inertiajs/vue3";
</script>

<template>
  <div>
    <Link href="/">Home</Link>
    <Link href="/users">Users</Link>
    <Link :href="`/users/${user.id}`">View User</Link>
  </div>
</template>

Link with Method

<script setup>
import { Link } from "@inertiajs/vue3";
</script>

<template>
  <Link href="/logout" method="post" as="button"> Logout </Link>
</template>

Prefetching

Prefetch pages to improve perceived performance:

<script setup>
import { Link } from "@inertiajs/vue3";
</script>

<template>
  <Link href="/users" prefetch> Users </Link>
</template>

Programmatic Navigation

<script setup>
import { router } from "@inertiajs/vue3";

function handleClick() {
  router.visit("/users");
}

// Or with options
function createUser() {
  router.visit("/users", {
    method: "post",
    data: { name: "John" },
    onSuccess: () => console.log("Done"),
  });
}
</script>

<template>
  <Link href="/users">Users</Link>
  <Link href="/logout" method="post" as="button">Logout</Link>
</template>

Form Handling

Form Component (Recommended)

The recommended way to build forms is with the <Form> component:

<script setup>
import { Form } from "@inertiajs/vue3";
</script>

<template>
  <Form action="/users" method="post" #default="{ errors, processing, wasSuccessful }">
    <input type="text" name="name" />
    <div v-if="errors.name">{{ errors.name }}</div>

    <input type="email" name="email" />
    <div v-if="errors.email">{{ errors.email }}</div>

    <button type="submit" :disabled="processing">
      {{ processing ? "Creating..." : "Create User" }}
    </button>

    <div v-if="wasSuccessful">User created!</div>
  </Form>
</template>

Form Component With All Props

<script setup>
import { Form } from "@inertiajs/vue3";
</script>

<template>
  <Form
    action="/users"
    method="post"
    #default="{
      errors,
      hasErrors,
      processing,
      progress,
      wasSuccessful,
      recentlySuccessful,
      setError,
      clearErrors,
      resetAndClearErrors,
      defaults,
      isDirty,
      reset,
      submit,
    }"
  >
    <input type="text" name="name" :value="defaults.name" />
    <div v-if="errors.name">{{ errors.name }}</div>

    <button type="submit" :disabled="processing">
      {{ processing ? "Saving..." : "Save" }}
    </button>

    <progress v-if="progress" :value="progress.percentage" max="100">
      {{ progress.percentage }}%
    </progress>

    <div v-if="wasSuccessful">Saved!</div>
  </Form>
</template>

Form Component Reset Props

The <Form> component supports automatic resetting:

• resetOnError - Reset form data when the request fails
• resetOnSuccess - Reset form data when the request succeeds
• setDefaultsOnSuccess - Update default values on success

Use the search-docs tool with a query of form component resetting for detailed guidance.

<script setup>
import { Form } from "@inertiajs/vue3";
</script>

<template>
  <Form
    action="/users"
    method="post"
    reset-on-success
    set-defaults-on-success
    #default="{ errors, processing, wasSuccessful }"
  >
    <input type="text" name="name" />
    <div v-if="errors.name">{{ errors.name }}</div>

    <button type="submit" :disabled="processing">Submit</button>
  </Form>
</template>

Forms can also be built using the useForm composable for more programmatic control. Use the search-docs tool with a query of useForm helper for guidance.

useForm Composable

For more programmatic control or to follow existing conventions, use the useForm composable:

<script setup>
import { useForm } from "@inertiajs/vue3";

const form = useForm({
  name: "",
  email: "",
  password: "",
});

function submit() {
  form.post("/users", {
    onSuccess: () => form.reset("password"),
  });
}
</script>

<template>
  <form @submit.prevent="submit">
    <input type="text" v-model="form.name" />
    <div v-if="form.errors.name">{{ form.errors.name }}</div>

    <input type="email" v-model="form.email" />
    <div v-if="form.errors.email">{{ form.errors.email }}</div>

    <input type="password" v-model="form.password" />
    <div v-if="form.errors.password">{{ form.errors.password }}</div>

    <button type="submit" :disabled="form.processing">Create User</button>
  </form>
</template>

Inertia v3 Features

HTTP Requests

Use the useHttp hook for standalone HTTP requests that do not trigger Inertia page visits. It provides the same developer experience as useForm, but for plain JSON endpoints.

<script setup>
import { useHttp } from "@inertiajs/vue3";

const http = useHttp({
  query: "",
});

function search() {
  http.get("/api/search", {
    onSuccess: (response) => {
      console.log(response);
    },
  });
}
</script>

<template>
  <input v-model="http.query" @input="search" />
  <div v-if="http.processing">Searching...</div>
</template>

Optimistic Updates

Apply data changes instantly before the server responds, with automatic rollback on failure:

<script setup>
import { router } from "@inertiajs/vue3";

function like(post) {
  router
    .optimistic((props) => ({
      post: {
        ...props.post,
        likes: props.post.likes + 1,
      },
    }))
    .post(`/posts/${post.id}/like`);
}
</script>

Optimistic updates also work with useForm and the <Form> component:

<template>
  <Form
    action="/todos"
    method="post"
    :optimistic="
      (props, data) => ({
        todos: [...props.todos, { id: Date.now(), name: data.name, done: false }],
      })
    "
  >
    <input type="text" name="name" />
    <button type="submit">Add Todo</button>
  </Form>
</template>

Instant Visits

Navigate to a new page immediately without waiting for the server response. The target component renders right away with shared props, while page-specific props load in the background.

<script setup>
import { Link } from "@inertiajs/vue3";
</script>

<template>
  <Link href="/dashboard" component="Dashboard">Dashboard</Link>

  <Link href="/posts/1" component="Posts/Show" :page-props="{ post: { id: 1, title: 'My Post' } }">
    View Post
  </Link>
</template>

Layout Props

Share dynamic data between pages and persistent layouts:

<script setup>
import { useLayoutProps } from "@inertiajs/vue3";

const layout = useLayoutProps({
  title: "My App",
  showSidebar: true,
});
</script>

<template>
  <header>{{ layout.title }}</header>
  <aside v-if="layout.showSidebar">Sidebar</aside>
  <main>
    <slot />
  </main>
</template>

<script setup>
import { setLayoutProps } from "@inertiajs/vue3";

setLayoutProps({
  title: "Dashboard",
  showSidebar: false,
});
</script>

<template>
  <h1>Dashboard</h1>
</template>

Deferred Props

Use deferred props to load data after initial page render:

<script setup>
defineProps({
  users: Array,
});
</script>

<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Users</h1>
    <div v-if="!users" class="animate-pulse">
      <div class="h-4 bg-gray-200 rounded w-3/4 mb-2"></div>
      <div class="h-4 bg-gray-200 rounded w-1/2"></div>
    </div>
    <ul v-else>
      <li v-for="user in users" :key="user.id">
        {{ user.name }}
      </li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</template>

Polling

Automatically refresh data at intervals:

<script setup>
import { router } from "@inertiajs/vue3";
import { onMounted, onUnmounted } from "vue";

defineProps({
  stats: Object,
});

let interval;

onMounted(() => {
  interval = setInterval(() => {
    router.reload({ only: ["stats"] });
  }, 5000);
});

onUnmounted(() => {
  clearInterval(interval);
});
</script>

<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Dashboard</h1>
    <div>Active Users: {{ stats.activeUsers }}</div>
  </div>
</template>

WhenVisible

Lazy-load a prop when an element scrolls into view. Useful for deferring expensive data that sits below the fold:

<script setup>
import { WhenVisible } from "@inertiajs/vue3";

defineProps({
  stats: Object,
});
</script>

<template>
  <div>
    <h1>Dashboard</h1>

    <WhenVisible data="stats" :buffer="200">
      <template #fallback>
        <div class="animate-pulse">Loading stats...</div>
      </template>

      <template #default="{ fetching }">
        <div>
          <p>Total Users: {{ stats.total_users }}</p>
          <p>Revenue: {{ stats.revenue }}</p>
          <span v-if="fetching">Refreshing...</span>
        </div>
      </template>
    </WhenVisible>
  </div>
</template>

Server-Side Patterns

Server-side patterns (Inertia::render, props, middleware) are covered in inertia-laravel guidelines.

Common Pitfalls

• Using traditional <a> links instead of Inertia's <Link> component (breaks SPA behavior)
• Forgetting that Vue components must have a single root element
• Forgetting to add loading states (skeleton screens) when using deferred props
• Not handling the undefined state of deferred props before data loads
• Using <form> without preventing default submission (use <Form> component or @submit.prevent)
• Forgetting to check if <Form> component is available in your Inertia version
• Using router.cancel() instead of router.cancelAll() (v3 breaking change)
• Using router.on('invalid', ...) or router.on('exception', ...) instead of the renamed httpException and networkError events