Column Filtering

This skill builds on core, table-features, and client-vs-server. Filtering state, row processing, and filter UI are separate concerns.

Setup

import {
  columnFilteringFeature,
  createFilteredRowModel,
  filterFn_includesString,
  tableFeatures,
} from '@tanstack/table-core'

export const features = tableFeatures({
  columnFilteringFeature,
  filteredRowModel: createFilteredRowModel(),
  filterFns: { includesString: filterFn_includesString },
})

Import individual filterFn_* built-ins and register only those your columns reference by string name or that filterFn: 'auto' should resolve for your data types. The full filterFns registry object still works but bundles every built-in.

Core Patterns

const options = {
  filterFromLeafRows: true,
  maxLeafRowFilterDepth: 2,
}

Use leaf-first filtering only when a parent should survive because a descendant matches.

Common Mistakes

[HIGH] Combining manual and client filtering

Wrong: const options = { manualFiltering: true }

Correct: const options = { manualFiltering: false }

Manual mode returns the pre-filtered model; send filter state to the server instead if it is true.

Source: packages/table-core/src/features/column-filtering/columnFilteringFeature.types.ts

[HIGH] Filtering renderer output

Wrong: helper.accessor(row => ({ label: row.status }), { filterFn: 'includesString' })

Correct: helper.accessor('status', { filterFn: 'includesString' })

Built-in string and numeric filters expect comparable accessor values, not objects or UI nodes.

Source: docs/framework/react/guide/column-filtering.md#filterfns

[HIGH] Ignoring updater-function callbacks

Wrong: onColumnFiltersChange: value => { columnFilters = value as ColumnFiltersState }

Correct: onColumnFiltersChange: updater => { columnFilters = functionalUpdate(updater, columnFilters) }

Controlled callbacks receive either a value or a function of previous state.

Source: packages/table-core/src/features/column-filtering/columnFilteringFeature.types.ts

API Discovery

Inspect node_modules/@tanstack/table-core/dist/features/column-filtering/ and dist/features/column-filtering/filterFns.d.ts for exact signatures and auto-remove behavior.