Tanstack Table Vue Compose With Tanstack Store

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

Dependencies

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

@tanstack/vue-store provides createAtom, useSelector, and the shallow comparator. The Vue table adapter is built on TanStack Store internally — this skill is about exposing that machinery to your own app code via external atoms.

Setup — own a slice, share it across components

<script setup lang="ts">
import { ref } from 'vue'
import { createAtom, useSelector } from '@tanstack/vue-store'
import {
  FlexRender,
  createColumnHelper,
  createPaginatedRowModel,
  createSortedRowModel,
  rowPaginationFeature,
  rowSortingFeature,
  sortFns,
  tableFeatures,
  useTable,
  type PaginationState,
  type SortingState,
} from '@tanstack/vue-table'

type Person = { firstName: string; lastName: string; age: number }

const _features = tableFeatures({ rowSortingFeature, rowPaginationFeature })
const columnHelper = createColumnHelper<typeof _features, Person>()
const columns = columnHelper.columns([
  columnHelper.accessor('firstName', { header: 'First' }),
  columnHelper.accessor('age', { header: 'Age' }),
])

// 1) Module / setup scope — stable atom identity. createAtom returns the same atom every call;
//    do NOT recreate it inside a watcher or render fn.
const sortingAtom = createAtom<SortingState>([])
const paginationAtom = createAtom<PaginationState>({
  pageIndex: 0,
  pageSize: 10,
})

// 2) Reactive reads anywhere — sibling components can call useSelector on the same atom.
const sorting = useSelector(sortingAtom)
const pagination = useSelector(paginationAtom)

const data = ref<Person[]>([])

// 3) Pass via `options.atoms`. NO `onSortingChange` / `onPaginationChange` needed —
//    `table.setSorting()` writes through to your atom.
const table = useTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {
    sortedRowModel: createSortedRowModel(sortFns),
    paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
  },
  columns,
  data,
  atoms: {
    sorting: sortingAtom,
    pagination: paginationAtom,
  },
})
</script>

<template>
  <div>
    Page {{ pagination.pageIndex + 1 }}, sorted by
    {{ sorting[0]?.id ?? 'none' }}
  </div>
</template>

Source: examples/vue/basic-external-atoms/src/App.tsx.

Core Patterns

1. The three read surfaces — pick the narrowest

// (a) Atom — narrowest. Reads/writes one slice.
table.atoms.sorting.get()
table.atoms.sorting.set([{ id: 'age', desc: true }])
useSelector(table.atoms.sorting) // reactive ref-like
computed(() => table.atoms.sorting.get()) // alternative

// (b) Flat store — full snapshot.
table.store.state // readonly
table.store.state.sorting // current value

// (c) useTable selector — typed reactive projection.
const table = useTable(opts, (s) => ({ sorting: s.sorting }))
table.state.sorting

table.atoms.<slice> only contains slices for features registered in _features. If rowSortingFeature is not registered, table.atoms.sorting is undefined.

2. Atom precedence rules

Per slice, the resolution order is:

options.atoms[slice]    >  options.state[slice]  >  table.baseAtoms[slice]
(external, you own)        (controlled state)       (internal default)

// ❌ Passing both for the SAME slice. `atoms.sorting` wins; `state.sorting` is silently dead.
useTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {},
  columns,
  data,
  state: {
    get sorting() {
      return localSorting.value
    },
  }, // ignored
  onSortingChange: setLocalSorting, // ignored
  atoms: { sorting: sortingAtom }, // wins
})

Pick one mechanism per slice. Different slices can use different mechanisms freely.

3. When to choose external atoms vs state + on[State]Change

External atoms are better when:

• A sibling component (sidebar, header, breadcrumbs) needs to read the same slice without going through table.
• You want to persist the slice (localStorage, URL params) — write a watch(atom, persist) outside the table.
• You're integrating with TanStack Query and want queryKey: ['x', useSelector(atom).value] to drive refetches without on*Change plumbing.

state + on[State]Change (with getter wrappers on each slice — Vue-specific) is fine when:

• You're migrating from v8 and want the smallest diff.
• The slice is already a ref you don't want to convert.

4. Reset is YOUR responsibility for owned atoms

// ❌ table.reset() does NOT clear external atoms — it only resets internally-owned slices.
table.reset()

// ✅ Reset your atoms yourself.
sortingAtom.set([])
paginationAtom.set({ pageIndex: 0, pageSize: 10 })
table.reset() // optional — for any slices the table owns internally

Same applies to per-slice resets: table.resetSorting() will update through the atom because the atom is the slice's source of truth — but a base-atom reset (table.resetSorting(true)) only resets internal default state, not your owned atom. Read the source if you're chaining resets across mixed ownership.

5. Persisting an atom outside the table

import { watch } from 'vue'

const sortingAtom = createAtom<SortingState>(
  JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('mySort') ?? '[]'),
)
const sorting = useSelector(sortingAtom)
watch(sorting, (s) => localStorage.setItem('mySort', JSON.stringify(s)))

The table now writes through table.setSorting() → sortingAtom.set(...) → the watcher persists. No on*Change involved.

Common Mistakes

Creating atoms inside a render fn or component body without stable identity (CRITICAL)

<script setup>
// ❌ A new atom every component setup → the table re-binds every mount → "state resets"
//    feels random to the user. Only an issue when atoms are created in a reactive scope.
const sortingAtom = computed(() => createAtom < SortingState > [])
</script>

<script setup>
// ✅ Setup scope is once per component instance — fine.
const sortingAtom = createAtom < SortingState > []

// ✅ Module scope — shared across instances.
// (declare at top of file outside <script setup>)
</script>

Passing the same slice via both state and atoms (HIGH)

atoms wins; the state plumbing is silently dead. Pick one mechanism per slice.

Pairing atoms.sorting with onSortingChange (MEDIUM)

// ❌ Confusing — the handler never fires usefully because the atom is the writeback.
useTable({
  // ...
  atoms: { sorting: sortingAtom },
  onSortingChange: (u) => {
    /* dead */
  },
})

When using atoms for a slice, drop the matching on[State]Change. Subscribe to the atom itself (watch(useSelector(sortingAtom), ...) or subscribe) if you need side effects on change.

Expecting table.reset() to clear external atoms (HIGH)

// ❌
table.reset() // does not touch your atoms

// ✅ Reset what you own.
sortingAtom.set([])
paginationAtom.set({ pageIndex: 0, pageSize: 10 })

Reading table.state.<slice> in a deeply-nested component when only that slice matters (MEDIUM)

// ❌ All of table.state is computed and tracked even if the component only cares about rowSelection.
const table = inject(TABLE)
const count = computed(() => Object.keys(table.state.rowSelection).length)

// ✅ Subscribe to the atom directly.
const selection = useSelector(table.atoms.rowSelection)
const count = computed(() => Object.keys(selection.value).length)

Reading atom.get() outside a reactive scope (HIGH — Vue-specific)

// ❌ One-shot read; doesn't track.
const sorting = sortingAtom.get()

// ✅ useSelector returns a reactive ref-like.
const sorting = useSelector(sortingAtom)

// ✅ or wrap in computed.
const sorting = computed(() => sortingAtom.get())

Hallucinating pre-v9 API names (CRITICAL)

useVueTable, table.getState() — both v8. v9 uses useTable and table.store.state / table.state / table.atoms.<slice>.get(). See tanstack-table/vue/migrate-v8-to-v9.

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

table.atoms.sorting is undefined unless rowSortingFeature is registered. The fix isn't to fall back to state — it's to add the feature to tableFeatures({...}).

See Also

• tanstack-table/vue/table-state — read surfaces and selector reactivity
• tanstack-table/vue/client-to-server — atoms + manual modes wiring
• tanstack-table/vue/compose-with-tanstack-query — atoms in the queryKey
• tanstack-table/vue/production-readiness — useSelector per-slice for narrow re-renders

Source: TanStack/table — distributed by TomeVault.