Tanstack Table Vue Compose With Tanstack Form

Compose @tanstack/vue-table with @tanstack/vue-form

Dependencies

pnpm add @tanstack/vue-table @tanstack/vue-form

@tanstack/vue-form exposes useForm and the <Field> / form.Field component pattern. It does NOT currently ship a createFormHook factory — that's a React-only convenience. In Vue, you write component-local <form.Field> bindings directly. The canonical example for the shape of this pattern lives in examples/react/with-tanstack-form/; the Vue translation maps the React <form.AppField> to Vue's <form.Field> slot.

Setup — editable rows

<script setup lang="ts">
import { computed, ref } from 'vue'
import { useForm, useStore } from '@tanstack/vue-form'
import {
  FlexRender,
  createColumnHelper,
  createPaginatedRowModel,
  rowPaginationFeature,
  tableFeatures,
  useTable,
} from '@tanstack/vue-table'
import { makeData } from './makeData'

// 1) Critical typing: flatten the row shape if your data is recursive.
type Person = {
  firstName: string
  lastName: string
  age: number
  subRows?: Person[] // recursive — fine for the table
}
type FormRow = Omit<Person, 'subRows'> // <-- avoid TS2589 in form DeepKeys

const _features = tableFeatures({ rowPaginationFeature })
const columnHelper = createColumnHelper<typeof _features, FormRow>()

// 2) Form owns the data array. The table reads it.
const form = useForm({
  defaultValues: { data: makeData(100) as FormRow[] },
  onSubmit: async ({ value }) => {
    // POST value.data
  },
})

// 3) Subscribe to LENGTH only — every keystroke re-rendering the entire table
//    is the canonical performance trap with form-in-table.
const dataLength = useStore(form.store, (s) => s.values.data.length)

// 4) Columns reference `form` via closure. Re-bind through `form.Field` slot.
const columns = computed(() =>
  columnHelper.columns([
    columnHelper.accessor('firstName', {
      header: 'First',
      cell: ({ row }) => {
        // Return a function/VNode that <FlexRender> can render. Easier: render
        // <form.Field> in the template by passing row.index out — see template below.
        return row.index
      },
    }),
    columnHelper.accessor('lastName', {
      header: 'Last',
      cell: ({ row }) => row.index,
    }),
    columnHelper.accessor('age', {
      header: 'Age',
      cell: ({ row }) => row.index,
    }),
  ]),
)

const table = useTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: { paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel() },
  get columns() {
    return columns.value
  },
  // 5) Critical: read straight from form state. Length subscription drives re-renders.
  get data() {
    return form.state.values.data as FormRow[]
  },
})

void dataLength

const addRow = () => {
  form.pushFieldValue('data', {
    firstName: '',
    lastName: '',
    age: 0,
  } as FormRow)
}

const removeRow = (index: number) => {
  form.removeFieldValue('data', index)
}
</script>

<template>
  <button @click="addRow">Add row</button>

  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr v-for="hg in table.getHeaderGroups()" :key="hg.id">
        <th v-for="h in hg.headers" :key="h.id">
          <FlexRender v-if="!h.isPlaceholder" :header="h" />
        </th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <!-- In Vue, the cleanest way to bind cells is to render <form.Field> in
           the template using row + column id, instead of stuffing JSX into
           the `cell` def. -->
      <tr v-for="row in table.getRowModel().rows" :key="row.id">
        <td>
          <form.Field :name="`data[${row.index}].firstName`">
            <template #default="{ field }">
              <input
                :value="field.state.value"
                @input="(e: any) => field.handleChange(e.target.value)"
                @blur="field.handleBlur"
              />
            </template>
          </form.Field>
        </td>
        <td>
          <form.Field :name="`data[${row.index}].lastName`">
            <template #default="{ field }">
              <input
                :value="field.state.value"
                @input="(e: any) => field.handleChange(e.target.value)"
              />
            </template>
          </form.Field>
        </td>
        <td>
          <form.Field :name="`data[${row.index}].age`">
            <template #default="{ field }">
              <input
                type="number"
                :value="field.state.value"
                @input="(e: any) => field.handleChange(Number(e.target.value))"
              />
            </template>
          </form.Field>
        </td>
        <td><button @click="removeRow(row.index)">×</button></td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</template>

Source: examples/react/with-tanstack-form/src/main.tsx (React canonical); pattern translated to Vue's <form.Field> slot API.

Core Patterns

1. Form owns the data, table renders it

const form = useForm({ defaultValues: { data: makeData(100) } })

const table = useTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: { paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel() },
  columns,
  get data() {
    return form.state.values.data
  },
})

The table is a layout primitive — pagination, sorting, filtering on the form's data. The form handles editing, validation, dirty tracking, submit.

2. Cell bindings via <form.Field name="data[${row.index}].field">

In React-form, the convention is <form.AppField name="..." /> inside cell:. In Vue-form, prefer rendering <form.Field> directly in the <template> instead of from cell — the slot API doesn't translate cleanly through cell: ({ row }) => ... because cell functions return VNodes, not template fragments.

If you do return VNodes from cell, use h():

import { h } from 'vue'

columnHelper.accessor('firstName', {
  header: 'First',
  cell: ({ row, table: _t }) =>
    h(
      form.Field,
      { name: `data[${row.index}].firstName` },
      {
        default: ({ field }: any) =>
          h('input', {
            value: field.state.value,
            onInput: (e: any) => field.handleChange(e.target.value),
          }),
      },
    ),
})

3. Length-only subscription to drive add/remove re-renders

import { useStore } from '@tanstack/vue-form'

// ✅ Re-renders only when an item is added/removed — not on every keystroke.
const dataLength = useStore(form.store, (s) => s.values.data.length)

// ❌ Subscribing to the whole array re-renders the whole table on every keystroke.
const allData = useStore(form.store, (s) => s.values.data)

The table reads form.state.values.data synchronously per render — you don't need the full array in a watcher; you just need to trigger a re-render when length changes.

4. Recursive row types: Omit<Row, 'subRows'> for the form

type Person = { firstName: string; subRows?: Person[] } // recursive — fine for the TABLE
type FormRow = Omit<Person, 'subRows'> // flat — required for the FORM

TanStack Form's DeepKeys walks subRows recursively and TypeScript hits TS2589 ("type instantiation is excessively deep"). Always flatten the row type before passing to the form.

5. Pair with Pacer for debounced filter inputs on the same page

Editable cells re-render on every keystroke; a filter input on top of the same table would recompute the row model per character. Wrap the filter writer in a debounced callback — see tanstack-table/vue/compose-with-tanstack-pacer.

Common Mistakes

Typing rows with recursive subRows and feeding to useForm (CRITICAL)

// ❌ TS2589: "Type instantiation is excessively deep and possibly infinite"
const form = useForm({ defaultValues: { data: makeData(100) as Person[] } })

// ✅
type FormRow = Omit<Person, 'subRows'>
const form = useForm({ defaultValues: { data: makeData(100) as FormRow[] } })

Subscribing to the entire form.state.values.data (HIGH)

// ❌ Every keystroke re-renders the entire App.
const data = useStore(form.store, (s) => s.values.data)

// ✅
const dataLength = useStore(form.store, (s) => s.values.data.length)
// then in useTable: get data() { return form.state.values.data }

Putting form itself in useTable's data (HIGH)

// ❌
useTable({ ..., data: form })

// ✅
useTable({ ..., get data() { return form.state.values.data } })

The table only consumes the rows array — not the form instance.

Returning a <form.Field> template fragment from cell: (MEDIUM — Vue-specific)

Vue templates can't be returned from JS functions — they're compiled to render fns at build time. From cell:, return either a plain value or a VNode via h(). For binding with templates, render <form.Field> in the <template> instead.

Forgetting useMemo/computed around columns when columns close over form (HIGH)

// ❌ New columns array each render → table re-binds → form bindings reset.
const columns = columnHelper.columns([
  /* refs form */
])

// ✅
const columns = computed(() =>
  columnHelper.columns([
    /* refs form */
  ]),
)
const table = useTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {},
  get columns() {
    return columns.value
  },
  get data() {
    return form.state.values.data
  },
})

Reusing the v8 useReactTable + tableMeta.updateData editable-cell pattern (HIGH)

That worked in v8 (and mechanically still does), but the v9-blessed approach is form composition. You get validation, dirty tracking, submit, and reset for free.

Hallucinating createFormHook in Vue (HIGH — Vue-specific)

createFormHook is React-form's factory for pre-bound field components. Vue-form does not ship it. Use useForm + <form.Field> slots directly.

"API missing" because feature not in _features (CRITICAL — v9-specific)

The table still needs tableFeatures({ rowPaginationFeature, … }) for whatever features your editable table uses. The form composition doesn't replace that requirement.

Reimplementing form state in refs per cell (CRITICAL — #1 AI tell)

// ❌ A ref per cell, custom validation, manual dirty tracking…
const firstNameRefs = new Map<string, Ref<string>>()

// ✅ Let TanStack Form own it.
form.state.values.data[row.index].firstName

See Also

• tanstack-table/vue/compose-with-tanstack-pacer — debounce filter inputs alongside editing
• tanstack-table/vue/compose-with-tanstack-store — share atoms with the form's form.store
• tanstack-table/table-core/row-selection — selection + editable rows together
• tanstack-table/table-core/column-definitions — cell renderer typing

Source: TanStack/table — distributed by TomeVault.