React Router to TanStack Router Migration

Migrate React applications from React Router to TanStack Router with file-based routing. This skill provides a structured approach for both incremental and clean migrations.

Critical Rules

ALWAYS:

• Use file-based routing with routes in src/routes/ directory
• Use from parameter in all hooks for type safety (useParams({ from: '/path' }))
• Validate search params with Zod schemas using @tanstack/zod-adapter
• Configure build tool plugin before creating routes
• Register router type for full TypeScript inference
• Use fallback() wrapper for optional search params

NEVER:

• Edit routeTree.gen.ts (auto-generated file)
• Use React Router hooks in new code during migration
• Forget the from parameter (loses type safety)
• Use string-only validation for search params
• Skip the build plugin configuration

Dependencies

# Core dependencies
bun add @tanstack/react-router @tanstack/zod-adapter

# Build plugin (choose one based on your bundler)
bun add -d @tanstack/router-plugin

# Optional integrations
bun add nuqs                    # URL state management
bun add @sentry/react           # Error tracking with router integration

Migration Phases

Phase 1: Assessment

Audit existing React Router usage:

# Find all React Router imports
grep -r "from 'react-router" src/ --include="*.tsx" --include="*.ts"
grep -r 'from "react-router' src/ --include="*.tsx" --include="*.ts"

# Find hook usages
grep -r "useParams\|useSearchParams\|useNavigate\|useLocation\|useMatch" src/

Document:

• React Router version (v5 or v6)
• Number of routes
• useParams usage count
• useSearchParams usage count
• useNavigate usage count
• Custom Link components
• Route guards/protected routes
• Existing route structure

Phase 2: Setup

1. Configure Build Tool

See [references/build-configuration.md](references/build-configuration.md) for full configs.

Rspack/Rsbuild:

// rsbuild.config.ts
import { TanStackRouterRspack } from '@tanstack/router-plugin/rspack';

export default {
  tools: {
    rspack: (config) => {
      config.plugins?.push(
        TanStackRouterRspack({
          target: 'react',
          autoCodeSplitting: true,
          routesDirectory: './src/routes',
          generatedRouteTree: './src/routeTree.gen.ts',
          quoteStyle: 'single',
          semicolons: true,
        })
      );
      // Prevent rebuild loop
      config.watchOptions = { ignored: ['**/routeTree.gen.ts'] };
      return config;
    },
  },
};

Vite:

// vite.config.ts
import { TanStackRouterVite } from '@tanstack/router-plugin/vite';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    TanStackRouterVite({
      target: 'react',
      autoCodeSplitting: true,
      routesDirectory: './src/routes',
      generatedRouteTree: './src/routeTree.gen.ts',
    }),
    react(),
  ],
});

2. Configure Linter

// biome.jsonc or eslint config
{
  "files": {
    "ignore": ["**/routeTree.gen.ts"]
  },
  "overrides": [
    {
      "include": ["**/routes/**/*"],
      "linter": {
        "rules": {
          "style": {
            "useFilenamingConvention": "off"  // Allow $param.tsx naming
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

3. Create Routes Directory

mkdir -p src/routes

Phase 3: Router Creation

Create Router Instance:

// src/app.tsx
import { createRouter, RouterProvider } from '@tanstack/react-router';
import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { routeTree } from './routeTree.gen';
import { NotFoundPage } from './components/misc/not-found-page';

const queryClient = new QueryClient();

const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  context: {
    basePath: getBasePath(),
    queryClient,
  },
  basepath: getBasePath(),
  trailingSlash: 'never',
  defaultNotFoundComponent: NotFoundPage,
});

// Register router type for full TypeScript inference
declare module '@tanstack/react-router' {
  interface Register {
    router: typeof router;
  }

  // Extend HistoryState for typed navigation state
  interface HistoryState {
    // Add your custom state properties here
    returnUrl?: string;
    documentId?: string;
    documentName?: string;
  }
}

export function App() {
  return (
    <QueryClientProvider client={queryClient}>
      <RouterProvider router={router} />
    </QueryClientProvider>
  );
}

Define Router Context Type:

// src/routes/__root.tsx
import type { QueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';

export type RouterContext = {
  basePath: string;
  queryClient: QueryClient;
};

Phase 4: Route Migration

Create Root Layout:

// src/routes/__root.tsx
import { createRootRouteWithContext, Outlet } from '@tanstack/react-router';
import { TanStackRouterDevtools } from '@tanstack/react-router-devtools';
import type { QueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { NuqsAdapter } from 'nuqs/adapters/tanstack-router';

export type RouterContext = {
  basePath: string;
  queryClient: QueryClient;
};

export const Route = createRootRouteWithContext<RouterContext>()({
  component: RootLayout,
});

function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <>
      <NuqsAdapter>
        <ErrorBoundary>
          <AppLayout>
            <Outlet />
          </AppLayout>
        </ErrorBoundary>
      </NuqsAdapter>
      {process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' && (
        <TanStackRouterDevtools position="bottom-right" />
      )}
    </>
  );
}

File-Based Route Structure:

src/routes/
├── __root.tsx                    # Root layout
├── index.tsx                     # / (root redirect)
├── overview/
│   └── index.tsx                 # /overview
├── topics/
│   ├── index.tsx                 # /topics
│   └── $topicName/
│       ├── index.tsx             # /topics/:topicName
│       └── edit.tsx              # /topics/:topicName/edit
├── security/
│   ├── index.tsx                 # /security (redirect)
│   ├── acls/
│   │   ├── index.tsx             # /security/acls
│   │   ├── create.tsx            # /security/acls/create
│   │   └── $aclName/
│   │       └── details.tsx       # /security/acls/:aclName/details

See [references/route-templates.md](references/route-templates.md) for complete templates.

Phase 5: Hook Migration

See [references/migration-patterns.md](references/migration-patterns.md) for detailed before/after examples.

Navigation State:

Pass typed state between routes using HistoryState:

// Navigating with state
const navigate = useNavigate();
navigate({
  to: '/documents/$documentId',
  params: { documentId },
  state: {
    returnUrl: location.pathname,
    documentName: 'My Document',
  },
});

// Reading state in destination component
import { useLocation } from '@tanstack/react-router';

function DocumentPage() {
  const location = useLocation();
  const { returnUrl, documentName } = location.state;
  // Use state values...
}

useParams Migration:

// Before (React Router)
import { useParams } from 'react-router-dom';
const { id } = useParams<{ id: string }>();

// After (TanStack Router)
import { useParams } from '@tanstack/react-router';
const { id } = useParams({ from: '/items/$id' });

useSearch with Zod Validation:

// In route file
import { fallback, zodValidator } from '@tanstack/zod-adapter';
import { z } from 'zod';

const searchSchema = z.object({
  tab: fallback(z.string().optional(), undefined),
  page: fallback(z.number().optional(), 1),
  q: fallback(z.string().optional(), undefined),
});

export const Route = createFileRoute('/items/')({
  validateSearch: zodValidator(searchSchema),
  component: ItemsPage,
});

// In component
import { getRouteApi, useNavigate } from '@tanstack/react-router';

const routeApi = getRouteApi('/items/');

function ItemsPage() {
  const { tab, page, q } = routeApi.useSearch();
  const navigate = useNavigate({ from: '/items/' });

  const handleTabChange = (newTab: string) => {
    navigate({ search: (prev) => ({ ...prev, tab: newTab }) });
  };
}

Phase 6: Testing

Create Test Utilities:

// src/test-utils.tsx
import { createMemoryHistory, createRouter, RouterProvider } from '@tanstack/react-router';
import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { render, type RenderOptions } from '@testing-library/react';
import { routeTree } from './routeTree.gen';
import type { RouterContext } from './routes/__root';

interface RenderWithFileRoutesOptions extends Omit<RenderOptions, 'wrapper'> {
  initialLocation?: string;
  routerContext?: Partial<RouterContext>;
}

export function renderWithFileRoutes(
  ui: React.ReactElement | null = null,
  { initialLocation = '/', routerContext = {}, ...renderOptions }: RenderWithFileRoutesOptions = {}
) {
  const queryClient = new QueryClient({
    defaultOptions: { queries: { retry: false } },
  });

  const router = createRouter({
    routeTree,
    history: createMemoryHistory({ initialEntries: [initialLocation] }),
    context: { basePath: '', queryClient, ...routerContext },
  });

  function Wrapper({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
    return (
      <QueryClientProvider client={queryClient}>
        <RouterProvider router={router}>{children}</RouterProvider>
      </QueryClientProvider>
    );
  }

  return {
    ...render(ui ?? <div />, { wrapper: Wrapper, ...renderOptions }),
    router,
  };
}

export async function renderRoute(location: string, options?: RenderWithFileRoutesOptions) {
  const result = renderWithFileRoutes(null, { initialLocation: location, ...options });
  await result.router.load();
  return result;
}

Configure Rstest:

// rstest.config.integration.ts
import { pluginReact } from '@rsbuild/plugin-react';
import { defineProject } from '@rstest/core';

export default defineProject({
  plugins: [pluginReact()],
  include: ['src/**/*.test.tsx'],
  testEnvironment: {
    name: 'happy-dom',
    prebundle: 'auto',
  },
  setupFiles: './rstest.setup.ts',
});

Rstest consumes the generated route tree. Keep route generation in rsbuild.config.ts.

Phase 7: Integrations

Sentry Integration:

// src/app.tsx
import * as Sentry from '@sentry/react';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,
  integrations: [
    Sentry.tanstackRouterBrowserTracingIntegration(router),
  ],
  tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
});

nuqs Integration:

// src/routes/__root.tsx
import { NuqsAdapter } from 'nuqs/adapters/tanstack-router';

function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <NuqsAdapter>
      <Outlet />
    </NuqsAdapter>
  );
}

Incremental Migration (Legacy Compatibility):

See [references/incremental-migration.md](references/incremental-migration.md) for patterns to run both routers together during migration.

Quick Reference

Route File Naming

Common Zod Patterns

import { fallback, zodValidator } from '@tanstack/zod-adapter';
import { z } from 'zod';

const searchSchema = z.object({
  // Optional string with undefined default
  tab: fallback(z.string().optional(), undefined),

  // Optional number with default value
  page: fallback(z.number().optional(), 1),

  // Required string
  id: z.string(),

  // Enum with default
  sort: fallback(z.enum(['asc', 'desc']).optional(), 'asc'),

  // Boolean
  expanded: fallback(z.boolean().optional(), false),
});

Trailing Slash in from Parameter

The from parameter must exactly match the route path as defined:

// Index routes (files named index.tsx) include trailing slash:
useParams({ from: '/topics/$topicName/' })  // Route: topics/$topicName/index.tsx

// Non-index routes do NOT include trailing slash:
useParams({ from: '/topics/$topicName/edit' })  // Route: topics/$topicName/edit.tsx

Type-Safe Navigation

// With params
<Link to="/topics/$topicName" params={{ topicName: 'my-topic' }}>
  View Topic
</Link>

// With search params
<Link to="/topics" search={{ page: 2, sort: 'desc' }}>
  Page 2
</Link>

// Programmatic navigation
const navigate = useNavigate({ from: '/topics/$topicName' });
navigate({
  to: '/topics/$topicName/edit',
  params: { topicName },
  search: { tab: 'settings' },
});

Checklist

Pre-Migration

• Dependencies installed (@tanstack/react-router, @tanstack/router-plugin, @tanstack/zod-adapter)
• Build tool plugin configured
• Linter configured to allow $param.tsx naming
• src/routes/ directory created

Route Migration

• __root.tsx created with providers and layout
• index.tsx created for root redirect
• All routes migrated to file-based structure
• Search params validated with Zod schemas
• staticData added for titles/icons

Hook Migration

• All useParams calls updated with from parameter
• All useSearchParams replaced with routeApi.useSearch()
• All useNavigate calls updated with from parameter
• All Link components verified working

Testing

• renderWithFileRoutes utility created
• Rstest integration project configured for route tests
• Existing tests updated to use new utilities

Integrations

• Sentry integration configured (if used)
• nuqs adapter wrapped in root layout (if used)

Cleanup (after full migration)

• React Router dependencies removed
• Legacy route definitions deleted
• BrowserRouter wrapper removed
• RouterSync component removed

Common Pitfalls

1. Missing from parameter - Always specify from in hooks for type safety
2. Forgetting fallback() wrapper - Optional search params need fallback(z.string().optional(), undefined)
3. Trailing slash inconsistency - Configure trailingSlash: 'never' and be consistent
4. Editing routeTree.gen.ts - Never edit; it's auto-generated on file changes
5. Missing build plugin - Routes won't generate without the bundler plugin
6. Async navigation warnings - navigate() returns Promise; use void navigate() or await it
7. Using <Navigate> for section redirects - Use beforeLoad with throw redirect() instead to prevent navigation loops in embedded mode:

``typescript beforeLoad: () => { throw redirect({ to: '/section/$tab', params: { tab: 'default' }, replace: true }); } ``

1. Trailing slash in from parameter for index routes - Index routes (files named index.tsx) require trailing slash in from:

``typescript // Index route: /topics/$topicName/index.tsx useParams({ from: '/topics/$topicName/' }) // ✅ Correct (trailing slash) useParams({ from: '/topics/$topicName' }) // ❌ Wrong ``

1. Missing HistoryState extension - Extend HistoryState interface for typed navigation state (see Phase 3)

Documentation

• TanStack Router Docs
• File-Based Routing
• Testing File-Based Routes
• Sentry Integration
• nuqs Adapters