MCPInstall

navigation

Link component, useNavigate, Navigate component, router.navigate, ToOptions/NavigateOptions/LinkOptions, from/to relative navigation, activeOptions/activeProps, preloading (intent/viewport/render), preloadDelay, navigation blocking (useBlocker, Block), createLink, linkOptions helper, scroll restoration, MatchRoute.

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Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/tanstack/router --skill navigation
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads navigation automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Navigation

Setup

Basic type-safe Link with to and params:

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

function PostLink({ postId }: { postId: string }) {
  return (
    <Link to="/posts/$postId" params={{ postId }}>
      View Post
    </Link>
  )
}

Core Patterns

Link with Active States

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

function NavLink() {
  return (
    <Link
      to="/posts"
      activeProps={{ className: 'font-bold' }}
      inactiveProps={{ className: 'text-gray-500' }}
      activeOptions={{ exact: true }}
    >
      Posts
    </Link>
  )
}

The data-status attribute is also set to "active" on active links for CSS-based styling.

activeOptions controls matching behavior:

  • exact (default false) — when true, only matches the exact path (not children)
  • includeHash (default false) — include hash in active matching
  • includeSearch (default true) — include search params in active matching

Children can receive isActive as a render function:

<Link to="/posts">
  {({ isActive }) => <span className={isActive ? 'font-bold' : ''}>Posts</span>}
</Link>

Relative Navigation with from

Without from, navigation resolves from root /. To use relative paths like .., provide from:

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

export const Route = createFileRoute('/posts/$postId')({
  component: PostComponent,
})

function PostComponent() {
  return (
    <div>
      {/* Relative to current route */}
      <Link from={Route.fullPath} to="..">
        Back to Posts
      </Link>

      {/* "." reloads the current route */}
      <Link from={Route.fullPath} to=".">
        Reload
      </Link>
    </div>
  )
}

useNavigate for Programmatic Navigation

Use useNavigate only for side-effect-driven navigation (e.g., after a form submission). For anything the user clicks, prefer Link.

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

function CreatePostForm() {
  const navigate = useNavigate({ from: '/posts' })

  const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
    e.preventDefault()
    const response = await fetch('/api/posts', { method: 'POST', body: '...' })
    const { id: postId } = await response.json()

    if (response.ok) {
      navigate({ to: '/posts/$postId', params: { postId } })
    }
  }

  return <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>{/* ... */}</form>
}

The Navigate component performs an immediate client-side navigation on mount:

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

function LegacyRedirect() {
  return <Navigate to="/posts/$postId" params={{ postId: 'my-first-post' }} />
}

router.navigate is available anywhere you have the router instance, including outside of React.

Preloading

Strategies: intent (hover/touchstart), viewport (intersection observer), render (on mount).

Set globally:

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

const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  defaultPreload: 'intent',
  defaultPreloadDelay: 50, // ms, default is 50
})

Or per-link:

<Link
  to="/posts/$postId"
  params={{ postId }}
  preload="intent"
  preloadDelay={100}
>
  View Post
</Link>

Preloaded data stays fresh for 30 seconds by default (defaultPreloadStaleTime: 30_000). During that window it won't be refetched. When using an external cache like TanStack Query, set defaultPreloadStaleTime: 0 to let the external library control freshness.

Manual preloading via the router instance:

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

function Component() {
  const router = useRouter()

  useEffect(() => {
    router.preloadRoute({ to: '/posts/$postId', params: { postId: '1' } })
  }, [router])

  return <div />
}

Navigation Blocking

Use useBlocker to prevent navigation when a form has unsaved changes:

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

function EditForm() {
  const [formIsDirty, setFormIsDirty] = useState(false)

  useBlocker({
    shouldBlockFn: () => {
      if (!formIsDirty) return false
      const shouldLeave = confirm('Are you sure you want to leave?')
      return !shouldLeave
    },
  })

  return <form>{/* ... */}</form>
}

With custom UI using withResolver:

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

function EditForm() {
  const [formIsDirty, setFormIsDirty] = useState(false)

  const { proceed, reset, status } = useBlocker({
    shouldBlockFn: () => formIsDirty,
    withResolver: true,
  })

  return (
    <>
      <form>{/* ... */}</form>
      {status === 'blocked' && (
        <div>
          <p>Are you sure you want to leave?</p>
          <button onClick={proceed}>Yes</button>
          <button onClick={reset}>No</button>
        </div>
      )}
    </>
  )
}

Control beforeunload separately:

useBlocker({
  shouldBlockFn: () => formIsDirty,
  enableBeforeUnload: formIsDirty,
})

linkOptions for Reusable Navigation Options

linkOptions provides eager type-checking on navigation options objects, so errors surface at definition, not at spread-site:

import {
  linkOptions,
  Link,
  useNavigate,
  redirect,
} from '@tanstack/react-router'

const dashboardLinkOptions = linkOptions({
  to: '/dashboard',
  search: { search: '' },
})

// Use anywhere: Link, navigate, redirect
function Nav() {
  const navigate = useNavigate()

  return (
    <div>
      <Link {...dashboardLinkOptions}>Dashboard</Link>
      <button onClick={() => navigate(dashboardLinkOptions)}>Go</button>
    </div>
  )
}

// Also works in an array for navigation bars
const navOptions = linkOptions([
  { to: '/dashboard', label: 'Summary', activeOptions: { exact: true } },
  { to: '/dashboard/invoices', label: 'Invoices' },
  { to: '/dashboard/users', label: 'Users' },
])

function NavBar() {
  return (
    <nav>
      {navOptions.map((option) => (
        <Link
          {...option}
          key={option.to}
          activeProps={{ className: 'font-bold' }}
        >
          {option.label}
        </Link>
      ))}
    </nav>
  )
}

createLink for Custom Components

Wraps any component with TanStack Router's type-safe navigation:

import * as React from 'react'
import { createLink, LinkComponent } from '@tanstack/react-router'

interface BasicLinkProps extends React.AnchorHTMLAttributes<HTMLAnchorElement> {}

const BasicLinkComponent = React.forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, BasicLinkProps>(
  (props, ref) => {
    return <a ref={ref} {...props} className="block px-3 py-2 text-blue-700" />
  },
)

const CreatedLinkComponent = createLink(BasicLinkComponent)

export const CustomLink: LinkComponent<typeof BasicLinkComponent> = (props) => {
  return <CreatedLinkComponent preload="intent" {...props} />
}

Usage retains full type safety:

<CustomLink to="/dashboard/invoices/$invoiceId" params={{ invoiceId: 0 }} />

Scroll Restoration

Enable globally on the router:

const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  scrollRestoration: true,
})

For nested scrollable areas:

const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  scrollRestoration: true,
  scrollToTopSelectors: ['#main-scrollable-area'],
})

Custom cache keys:

const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  scrollRestoration: true,
  getScrollRestorationKey: (location) => location.pathname,
})

Prevent scroll reset for a specific navigation:

<Link to="/posts" resetScroll={false}>
  Posts
</Link>

MatchRoute for Pending UI

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

function Nav() {
  return (
    <Link to="/users">
      Users
      <MatchRoute to="/users" pending>
        <Spinner />
      </MatchRoute>
    </Link>
  )
}

Common Mistakes

CRITICAL: Interpolating params into the to string

// WRONG — breaks type safety and param encoding
<Link to={`/posts/${postId}`}>Post</Link>

// CORRECT — use the params option
<Link to="/posts/$postId" params={{ postId }}>Post</Link>

Dynamic segments are declared with $ in the route path. Always pass them via params. This applies to Link, useNavigate, Navigate, and router.navigate.

MEDIUM: Using useNavigate for clickable elements

// WRONG — no href, no cmd+click, no preloading, no accessibility
function BadNav() {
  const navigate = useNavigate()
  return <button onClick={() => navigate({ to: '/posts' })}>Posts</button>
}

// CORRECT — real <a> tag with href, accessible, preloadable
function GoodNav() {
  return <Link to="/posts">Posts</Link>
}

Use useNavigate only for programmatic side-effect navigation (after form submit, async action, etc).

HIGH: Not providing from for relative navigation

// WRONG — without from, ".." resolves from root
<Link to="..">Back</Link>

// CORRECT — provide from for relative resolution
<Link from={Route.fullPath} to="..">Back</Link>

Without from, only absolute paths are autocompleted and type-safe. Relative paths like .. resolve from root instead of the current route.

HIGH: Using search as object instead of function loses existing params

// WRONG — replaces ALL search params with just { page: 2 }
<Link to="." search={{ page: 2 }}>Page 2</Link>

// CORRECT — preserves existing search params, updates page
<Link to="." search={(prev) => ({ ...prev, page: 2 })}>Page 2</Link>

When you pass search as a plain object, it replaces all search params. Use the function form to spread previous params and selectively update.


Cross-References

  • See also: router-core/search-params/SKILL.md — Link search prop interacts with search param validation
  • See also: router-core/type-safety/SKILL.md — from narrowing improves type inference on Link

FAQ

What does the navigation skill do?

Link component, useNavigate, Navigate component, router.navigate, ToOptions/NavigateOptions/LinkOptions, from/to relative navigation, activeOptions/activeProps, preloading (intent/viewport/render), preloadDelay, navigation blocking (useBlocker, Block), createLink, linkOptions helper, scroll restoration, MatchRoute.

How do I install navigation?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/tanstack/router --skill navigation in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/navigation/ (personal) or .claude/skills/navigation/ (project).

Which AI agents can use navigation?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is navigation safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains navigation?

It is published by tanstack in tanstack/router. It has 198 recorded installs.

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