Tanstack Router

Overview

TanStack Router is a fully type-safe router for React (and Solid) applications. It provides file-based routing, first-class search parameter management, built-in data loading, code splitting, and deep TypeScript integration. It serves as the routing foundation for TanStack Start (the full-stack framework).

Package: @tanstack/react-router CLI: @tanstack/router-cli or @tanstack/router-plugin (Vite/Rspack/Webpack) Devtools: @tanstack/react-router-devtools

Installation

npm install @tanstack/react-router
# For file-based routing with Vite:
npm install -D @tanstack/router-plugin
# Or standalone CLI:
npm install -D @tanstack/router-cli

Core Concepts

Route Trees

Routes are organized in a tree structure. The root route is the top-level layout, and child routes nest underneath.

import { createRootRoute, createRoute, createRouter } from '@tanstack/react-router'

const rootRoute = createRootRoute({
  component: RootLayout,
})

const indexRoute = createRoute({
  getParentRoute: () => rootRoute,
  path: '/',
  component: HomePage,
})

const aboutRoute = createRoute({
  getParentRoute: () => rootRoute,
  path: '/about',
  component: AboutPage,
})

const routeTree = rootRoute.addChildren([indexRoute, aboutRoute])
const router = createRouter({ routeTree })

File-Based Routing

File-based routing automatically generates the route tree from your file structure. Configure with Vite plugin:

// vite.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import { TanStackRouterVite } from '@tanstack/router-plugin/vite'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    TanStackRouterVite(),
    // ... other plugins
  ],
})

File Naming Conventions

Special Prefixes

• _ prefix: Pathless routes (layout groups without URL segment)
• $ prefix: Dynamic path parameters
• (folder) parentheses: Route groups (organizational, no URL impact)

Route Configuration

Each route can define:

// routes/posts.$postId.tsx
import { createFileRoute } from '@tanstack/react-router'

export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts/$postId')({
  // Validation for path params
  params: {
    parse: (params) => ({ postId: Number(params.postId) }),
    stringify: (params) => ({ postId: String(params.postId) }),
  },

  // Search params validation
  validateSearch: (search: Record<string, unknown>) => {
    return {
      page: Number(search.page ?? 1),
      filter: (search.filter as string) || '',
    }
  },

  // Data loading
  loader: async ({ params, context, abortController }) => {
    return fetchPost(params.postId)
  },

  // Loader dependencies (re-run loader when these change)
  loaderDeps: ({ search }) => ({ page: search.page }),

  // Stale time for cached loader data
  staleTime: 5_000,

  // Preloading
  preloadStaleTime: 30_000,

  // Error component
  errorComponent: PostErrorComponent,

  // Pending/loading component
  pendingComponent: PostLoadingComponent,

  // 404 component
  notFoundComponent: PostNotFoundComponent,

  // Before load hook (authentication, redirects)
  beforeLoad: async ({ context, location }) => {
    if (!context.auth.isAuthenticated) {
      throw redirect({
        to: '/login',
        search: { redirect: location.href },
      })
    }
  },

  // Head/meta management
  head: () => ({
    meta: [{ title: 'Post Details' }],
  }),

  // Component
  component: PostComponent,
})

function PostComponent() {
  const { postId } = Route.useParams()
  const post = Route.useLoaderData()
  const { page, filter } = Route.useSearch()

  return <div>{post.title}</div>
}

Data Loading

Route Loaders

export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts')({
  loader: async ({ context }) => {
    // Access router context (e.g., queryClient)
    const posts = await context.queryClient.ensureQueryData({
      queryKey: ['posts'],
      queryFn: fetchPosts,
    })
    return { posts }
  },
  component: PostsComponent,
})

function PostsComponent() {
  const { posts } = Route.useLoaderData()
  // ...
}

Loader Dependencies

Control when loaders re-execute:

export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts')({
  loaderDeps: ({ search: { page, filter } }) => ({ page, filter }),
  loader: async ({ deps: { page, filter } }) => {
    return fetchPosts({ page, filter })
  },
})

Deferred Data Loading

Stream non-critical data:

import { Await, defer } from '@tanstack/react-router'

export const Route = createFileRoute('/dashboard')({
  loader: async () => {
    const criticalData = await fetchCriticalData()
    const deferredData = defer(fetchSlowData())
    return { criticalData, deferredData }
  },
  component: DashboardComponent,
})

function DashboardComponent() {
  const { criticalData, deferredData } = Route.useLoaderData()

  return (
    <div>
      <CriticalSection data={criticalData} />
      <Suspense fallback={<Loading />}>
        <Await promise={deferredData}>
          {(data) => <SlowSection data={data} />}
        </Await>
      </Suspense>
    </div>
  )
}

Context-Based Data Loading

Provide shared dependencies via router context:

// Create router with context
const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  context: {
    queryClient,
    auth: undefined!, // Will be provided by RouterProvider
  },
})

// In root/app component
function App() {
  const auth = useAuth()
  return <RouterProvider router={router} context={{ auth }} />
}

// In routes
export const Route = createFileRoute('/protected')({
  beforeLoad: ({ context }) => {
    if (!context.auth.user) throw redirect({ to: '/login' })
  },
  loader: ({ context }) => {
    return context.queryClient.ensureQueryData(userQueryOptions())
  },
})

Search Parameters

Validation

import { z } from 'zod'

const postSearchSchema = z.object({
  page: z.number().default(1),
  filter: z.string().default(''),
  sort: z.enum(['date', 'title']).default('date'),
})

export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts')({
  validateSearch: postSearchSchema,
  // Or manual validation:
  // validateSearch: (search) => postSearchSchema.parse(search),
})

Reading Search Params

function PostsComponent() {
  // From route
  const { page, filter, sort } = Route.useSearch()

  // Or from any component with useSearch hook
  const search = useSearch({ from: '/posts' })
}

Updating Search Params

import { useNavigate } from '@tanstack/react-router'

function Pagination() {
  const navigate = useNavigate()
  const { page } = Route.useSearch()

  return (
    <button
      =>
        navigate({
          search: (prev) => ({ ...prev, page: prev.page + 1 }),
        })
      }
    >
      Next Page
    </button>
  )
}

// Or via Link component
<Link
  to="/posts"
  search={(prev) => ({ ...prev, page: 2 })}
>
  Page 2
</Link>

Search Param Options

const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  // Custom serialization
  search: {
    strict: true, // Reject unknown params
  },
  // Default search param serializer
  stringifySearch: defaultStringifySearch,
  parseSearch: defaultParseSearch,
})

Navigation

Link Component

import { Link } from '@tanstack/react-router'

// Static route
<Link to="/about">About</Link>

// Dynamic route with params
<Link to="/posts/$postId" params={{ postId: '123' }}>
  Post 123
</Link>

// With search params
<Link to="/posts" search={{ page: 2, filter: 'react' }}>
  Page 2
</Link>

// Active link styling
<Link
  to="/posts"
  activeProps={{ className: 'active' }}
  inactiveProps={{ className: 'inactive' }}
  activeOptions={{ exact: true }}
>
  Posts
</Link>

// Preloading
<Link to="/posts" preload="intent">Posts</Link>
<Link to="/dashboard" preload="viewport">Dashboard</Link>

// Hash
<Link to="/docs" hash="api-reference">API Reference</Link>

Programmatic Navigation

import { useNavigate, useRouter } from '@tanstack/react-router'

function MyComponent() {
  const navigate = useNavigate()
  const router = useRouter()

  // Navigate to a route
  navigate({ to: '/posts', search: { page: 1 } })

  // Navigate with replace
  navigate({ to: '/posts', replace: true })

  // Relative navigation
  navigate({ to: '.', search: (prev) => ({ ...prev, page: 2 }) })

  // Go back/forward
  router.history.back()
  router.history.forward()

  // Invalidate and reload current route
  router.invalidate()
}

Redirects

import { redirect } from '@tanstack/react-router'

// In beforeLoad or loader
throw redirect({
  to: '/login',
  search: { redirect: location.href },
  // Optional status code
  statusCode: 301, // Permanent redirect (SSR)
})

Navigation Blocking

import { useBlocker } from '@tanstack/react-router'

function FormComponent() {
  const [isDirty, setIsDirty] = useState(false)

  useBlocker({
    shouldBlockFn: () => isDirty,
    withResolver: true, // Shows confirm dialog
  })

  // Or with custom UI
  const { proceed, reset, status } = useBlocker({
    shouldBlockFn: () => isDirty,
  })

  if (status === 'blocked') {
    return (
      <div>
        <p>Are you sure you want to leave?</p>
        <button
        <button
      </div>
    )
  }
}

Code Splitting

Automatic (File-Based Routing)

With file-based routing, create a lazy file:

routes/
  posts.tsx          # Critical: loader, beforeLoad, meta
  posts.lazy.tsx     # Lazy: component, pendingComponent, errorComponent

// posts.tsx (loaded eagerly)
export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts')({
  loader: () => fetchPosts(),
})

// posts.lazy.tsx (loaded lazily)
import { createLazyFileRoute } from '@tanstack/react-router'

export const Route = createLazyFileRoute('/posts')({
  component: PostsComponent,
  pendingComponent: PostsLoading,
  errorComponent: PostsError,
})

Manual Code Splitting

const postsRoute = createRoute({
  getParentRoute: () => rootRoute,
  path: '/posts',
  loader: () => fetchPosts(),
}).lazy(() => import('./posts.lazy').then((d) => d.Route))

Preloading

// Router-level defaults
const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  defaultPreload: 'intent', // 'intent' | 'viewport' | 'render' | false
  defaultPreloadStaleTime: 30_000, // 30 seconds
})

// Route-level
export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts/$postId')({
  // Stale time for the loader data
  staleTime: 5_000,
  // How long preloaded data stays fresh
  preloadStaleTime: 30_000,
})

// Link-level
<Link to="/posts" preload="intent" preloadDelay={100}>
  Posts
</Link>

Type Safety

Register Router Type

// Declare module for type inference
declare module '@tanstack/react-router' {
  interface Register {
    router: typeof router
  }
}

Type-Safe Hooks

All hooks are fully typed based on the route tree:

// useParams - typed to route's params
const { postId } = useParams({ from: '/posts/$postId' })

// useSearch - typed to route's search schema
const { page } = useSearch({ from: '/posts' })

// useLoaderData - typed to loader return
const data = useLoaderData({ from: '/posts/$postId' })

// useRouteContext - typed to route context
const { auth } = useRouteContext({ from: '/protected' })

Route Generics

import { createFileRoute } from '@tanstack/react-router'

export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts/$postId')({
  // TypeScript infers:
  // params: { postId: string }
  // search: validated search schema type
  // loaderData: return type of loader
  // context: router context type
})

Authenticated Routes

// __root.tsx
export const Route = createRootRouteWithContext<{
  auth: AuthContext
}>()({
  component: RootComponent,
})

// _authenticated.tsx (pathless layout for auth)
export const Route = createFileRoute('/_authenticated')({
  beforeLoad: ({ context, location }) => {
    if (!context.auth.isAuthenticated) {
      throw redirect({
        to: '/login',
        search: { redirect: location.href },
      })
    }
  },
})

// _authenticated/dashboard.tsx
export const Route = createFileRoute('/_authenticated/dashboard')({
  component: Dashboard, // Only accessible when authenticated
})

Scroll Restoration

const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  // Enable scroll restoration
  defaultScrollRestoration: true,
})

// Or per-route
export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts')({
  // Scroll to top on navigation
  scrollRestoration: true,
})

// Custom scroll restoration key
<ScrollRestoration
  getKey={(location) => location.pathname}
/>

Route Masking

Display a different URL than the actual route:

<Link
  to="/photos/$photoId"
  params={{ photoId: photo.id }}
  mask={{ to: '/photos', search: { photoId: photo.id } }}
>
  View Photo
</Link>

// Or programmatically
navigate({
  to: '/photos/$photoId',
  params: { photoId: photo.id },
  mask: { to: '/photos', search: { photoId: photo.id } },
})

Not Found Handling

// Global 404
const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  defaultNotFoundComponent: () => <div>Page not found</div>,
})

// Route-level 404
export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts/$postId')({
  loader: async ({ params }) => {
    const post = await fetchPost(params.postId)
    if (!post) throw notFound()
    return post
  },
  notFoundComponent: () => <div>Post not found</div>,
})

Head Management

export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts/$postId')({
  head: ({ loaderData }) => ({
    meta: [
      { title: loaderData.title },
      { name: 'description', content: loaderData.excerpt },
      { property: 'og:title', content: loaderData.title },
    ],
    links: [
      { rel: 'canonical', href: `https://example.com/posts/${loaderData.id}` },
    ],
  }),
})

Integration with TanStack Query

import { queryOptions } from '@tanstack/react-query'

const postsQueryOptions = queryOptions({
  queryKey: ['posts'],
  queryFn: fetchPosts,
})

export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts')({
  loader: ({ context: { queryClient } }) => {
    // Ensure data is in cache, won't refetch if fresh
    return queryClient.ensureQueryData(postsQueryOptions)
  },
  component: PostsComponent,
})

function PostsComponent() {
  // Use the same query options for reactive updates
  const { data: posts } = useSuspenseQuery(postsQueryOptions)
  return <PostsList posts={posts} />
}

Router Hooks Reference

Best Practices

1. Use file-based routing for most applications - it's simpler and auto-generates the route tree
2. Validate search params with Zod or custom validators for type safety
3. Use loaderDeps to control when loaders re-execute based on search param changes
4. Leverage context for dependency injection (QueryClient, auth state)
5. Use beforeLoad for authentication guards, not in components
6. Separate critical vs lazy code - keep loaders in the main file, components in .lazy.tsx
7. Use preload="intent" on Links for perceived performance
8. Use staleTime to prevent unnecessary refetches during navigation
9. Register the router type for full TypeScript inference across the app
10. Use notFound() instead of conditional rendering for 404 states
11. Colocate search param logic with routes that own them
12. Use pathless layouts (_authenticated) for shared auth/layout logic without URL segments

Common Pitfalls

• Forgetting to register the router type (declare module)
• Not using loaderDeps when loader depends on search params (causes stale data)
• Putting auth checks in components instead of beforeLoad (flash of protected content)
• Not handling the loading state with pendingComponent
• Using useEffect for data fetching instead of route loaders
• Mutating search params directly instead of using navigate/Link
• Not wrapping the app with RouterProvider
• Forgetting getParentRoute in code-based route definitions