Building Tanstack Form Composition

Building TanStack Form Composition

Build portable React forms with TanStack Form's composition API: createFormHookContexts, createFormHook, formOptions, useAppForm, withForm, AppField, and AppForm.

Reference docs

Read the official guide before changing form infrastructure:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanstack/form/main/docs/framework/react/guides/form-composition.md

It covers the APIs this skill uses, including createFormHookContexts, pre-bound field components, pre-bound form components, withForm, withFieldGroup, context fallback, extension, and lazy-loaded field components.

If the form reads, submits, or invalidates server data and the host project has a TanStack Query skill or guide, load it before wiring queries or mutations.

Inspect the host project

Before adding files, check for existing conventions:

find . -path '*form*' -o -path '*field*'
grep -R "createFormHook\|useAppForm\|withForm\|formOptions\|AppField" -n src . 2>/dev/null

If the project already has a form stack, extend it instead of creating a second one.

Target shape

Use app-local paths that match the host project. A common React layout is:

src/hooks/form-context.ts
src/hooks/form.tsx
src/components/form-composition/fields.tsx
src/components/form-composition/forms.tsx
src/lib/form-validators.ts
src/features/<feature>/<thing>-form-opts.ts
src/features/<feature>/components/<thing>-form-fields.tsx

Add dependencies only when missing:

bun add @tanstack/react-form zod

Use the host project's package manager if it is not Bun.

Pattern

1. form-context.ts exports fieldContext, formContext, useFieldContext, and useFormContext from createFormHookContexts().
2. fields.tsx defines reusable field components that call useFieldContext<T>(), bind value/blur/change, and render the host UI's field, label, control, description, and error components.
3. forms.tsx defines form-level components such as SubmitButton using useFormContext() and form.Subscribe.
4. form.tsx creates and exports useAppForm and withForm using createFormHook({ fieldComponents, formComponents, fieldContext, formContext }).
5. <thing>-form-opts.ts owns formOptions({ formId, defaultValues, validationLogic, validators }) and the schema type.
6. <thing>-form-fields.tsx uses withForm({ ...formOpts, render }) and renders fields through form.AppField.
7. The route, dialog, or page calls useAppForm({ ...formOpts, onSubmit }), wraps the JSX in a native <form>, calls form.handleSubmit(), and passes form into the field component.

Server data

Keep TanStack Form responsible for form state and keep the host data layer responsible for server state. Preserve the project's existing query keys, loading states, invalidation, optimistic updates, and navigation behavior around submit.

Rules

• Keep submitted form values inside TanStack Form. Do not mirror field values in useState.
• Keep unrelated UI state outside the form when it is not submitted.
• Use formOptions once per form and spread the same options into both withForm and useAppForm.
• Prefer schema validation plus a small adapter such as createZodValidator.
• Keep hand-written submit guards only for constraints that depend on external async state.
• Use form.Subscribe for conditional fields, derived UI, and submit-state UI.
• Use form.AppField, not raw form.Field, so field components stay pre-bound and reusable.
• Wrap form-level components in form.AppForm; it provides the context required by registered form components.
• Use withForm to split large forms into typed sections. Prefer render: function Render(...) { ... } if hooks are needed inside the section.
• Use withFieldGroup only for reusable groups of closely related fields.
• Use typed form context only as a last resort when the child component cannot receive a form prop.
• Keep shared field components generic. Feature language belongs in form field composition files.
• Use the host project's UI primitives. Do not copy imports from another repository.

Migration checklist

• Existing submitted values moved from useState to defaultValues and TanStack Form fields.
• Existing validation moved into a schema or validators.
• Mutations read from onSubmit({ value }), not captured local state.
• Submit button uses form.SubmitButton or equivalent subscribed state.
• Server errors still surface through toast, inline alerts, or the host project's error UI.
• Query invalidation and navigation still match the previous behavior.
• Relevant typecheck and lint commands pass.

Example skeleton

const form = useAppForm({
  ...createProjectFormOpts,
  onSubmit: async ({ value }) => {
    await createMutation.mutateAsync(value);
  },
});

return (
  <form
    => {
      event.preventDefault();
      event.stopPropagation();
      form.handleSubmit();
    }}
  >
    <CreateProjectFormFields form={form} />
    <form.AppForm>
      <form.SubmitButton>Create project</form.SubmitButton>
    </form.AppForm>
  </form>
);