Client Side Routing

Many React Aria components support rendering as HTML links. This page discusses how to set up your app to integrate React Aria links with your framework or client side router.

Introduction#

React Aria components such as Link, Menu, Tabs, Table, and many others support rendering elements as links that perform navigation when the user interacts with them. Each component that supports link behavior accepts the href prop, which causes the component to render an <a> element. Other link DOM props such as target and download are also supported.

Depending on the component, users may interact with links in different ways. For example, users can navigate between tabs using the arrow keys, or open a link in a ComboBox using the enter key. Because React Aria components accept the href prop rather than supporting arbitrary element overrides, they can ensure that link navigation occurs when it is appropriate for the component.

By default, links perform native browser navigation when they are interacted with. However, many apps and frameworks use client side routers to avoid a full page reload when navigating between pages. The RouterProvider component configures all React Aria components within it to navigate using the client side router you provide. Set this up once in the root of your app, and any React Aria component with the href prop will automatically navigate using your router.

Note that external links to different origins will not trigger client side routing, and will use native browser navigation. Additionally, if the link has a target other than "_self", uses the download attribute, or the user presses modifier keys such as Command or Alt to change the default behavior, browser native navigation will occur instead of client side routing.

RouterProvider#

The RouterProvider component accepts two props: navigate and useHref. navigate should be set to a function received from your router for performing a client side navigation programmatically. useHref is an optional prop that converts a router-specific href to a native HTML href, e.g. prepending a base path. The following example shows the general pattern. Framework-specific examples are shown below.

import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';
import {useNavigate, useHref} from 'your-router';

function App() {
  let navigate = useNavigate();

  return (
    <RouterProvider navigate={navigate} useHref={useHref}>
      {/* ... */}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';
import {useNavigate, useHref} from 'your-router';

function App() {
  let navigate = useNavigate();

  return (
    <RouterProvider navigate={navigate} useHref={useHref}>
      {/* ... */}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';
import {
  useHref,
  useNavigate
} from 'your-router';

function App() {
  let navigate =
    useNavigate();

  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={navigate}
      useHref={useHref}
    >
      {/* ... */}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

Note: if you are using React Aria hooks rather than components, you can import RouterProvider from react-aria instead.

Router options#

All React Aria link components accept a routerOptions prop, which is an object that is passed through to the client side router's navigate function as the second argument. This can be used to control any router-specific behaviors, such as scrolling, replacing instead of pushing to the history, etc.

<MenuItem href="/login" routerOptions={{ replace: true }}>
  {/* ...*/}
</MenuItem>

<MenuItem href="/login" routerOptions={{ replace: true }}>
  {/* ...*/}
</MenuItem>

<MenuItem
  href="/login"
  routerOptions={{
    replace: true
  }}
>
  {/* ...*/}
</MenuItem>

When using TypeScript, you can configure the RouterConfig type globally so that all link components have auto complete and type safety using a type provided by your router.

import type {RouterOptions} from 'your-router';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: RouterOptions
  }
}

import type {RouterOptions} from 'your-router';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: RouterOptions
  }
}

import type {RouterOptions} from 'your-router';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions:
      RouterOptions;
  }
}

React Router#

The useNavigate hook from react-router-dom returns a navigate function you can pass to RouterProvider. The useHref hook can also be provided if you're using React Router's basename option. Ensure that the component that calls useNavigate and renders RouterProvider is inside the router component (e.g. BrowserRouter) so that it has access to React Router's internal context. The React Router <Routes> element should also be defined inside React Aria's <RouterProvider> so that links inside the rendered routes have access to the router.

import {BrowserRouter, type NavigateOptions, useHref, useNavigate} from 'react-router-dom';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: NavigateOptions;
  }
}

function App() {
  let navigate = useNavigate();

  return (
    <RouterProvider navigate={navigate} useHref={useHref}>
      {/* Your app here... */}
      <Routes>
        <Route path="/" element={<HomePage />} />
        {/* ... */}
      </Routes>
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

<BrowserRouter>
  <App />
</BrowserRouter>

import {
  BrowserRouter,
  type NavigateOptions,
  useHref,
  useNavigate
} from 'react-router-dom';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: NavigateOptions;
  }
}

function App() {
  let navigate = useNavigate();

  return (
    <RouterProvider navigate={navigate} useHref={useHref}>
      {/* Your app here... */}
      <Routes>
        <Route path="/" element={<HomePage />} />
        {/* ... */}
      </Routes>
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

<BrowserRouter>
  <App />
</BrowserRouter>

import {
  BrowserRouter,
  type NavigateOptions,
  useHref,
  useNavigate
} from 'react-router-dom';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions:
      NavigateOptions;
  }
}

function App() {
  let navigate =
    useNavigate();

  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={navigate}
      useHref={useHref}
    >
      {/* Your app here... */}
      <Routes>
        <Route
          path="/"
          element={
            <HomePage />
          }
        />
        {/* ... */}
      </Routes>
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

<BrowserRouter>
  <App />
</BrowserRouter>

Next.js#

App router#

The useRouter hook from next/navigation returns a router object that can be used to perform navigation. RouterProvider should be rendered from a client component at the root of each page or layout that includes React Aria links. You can create a new client component for this, or combine it with other top-level providers as described in the Next.js docs.

// app/provider.tsx
'use client';

import {useRouter} from 'next/navigation';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: NonNullable<
      Parameters<ReturnType<typeof useRouter>['push']>[1]
    >;
  }
}

export function ClientProviders({ children }) {
  let router = useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider navigate={router.push}>
      {children}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

// app/provider.tsx
'use client';

import {useRouter} from 'next/navigation';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: NonNullable<
      Parameters<ReturnType<typeof useRouter>['push']>[1]
    >;
  }
}

export function ClientProviders({ children }) {
  let router = useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider navigate={router.push}>
      {children}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

// app/provider.tsx
'use client';

import {useRouter} from 'next/navigation';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions:
      NonNullable<
        Parameters<
          ReturnType<
            typeof useRouter
          >['push']
        >[1]
      >;
  }
}

export function ClientProviders(
  { children }
) {
  let router =
    useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={router
        .push}
    >
      {children}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

Then, in your page or layout server component, wrap your app in the ClientProviders component that you defined.

// app/layout.tsx
import {ClientProviders} from './provider';

export default function RootLayout({children}) {
  return (
    <html>
      <body>
        <ClientProviders>{children}</ClientProviders>
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

// app/layout.tsx
import {ClientProviders} from './provider';

export default function RootLayout({children}) {
  return (
    <html>
      <body>
        <ClientProviders>{children}</ClientProviders>
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

// app/layout.tsx
import {ClientProviders} from './provider';

export default function RootLayout(
  { children }
) {
  return (
    <html>
      <body>
        <ClientProviders>
          {children}
        </ClientProviders>
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

If you are using the Next.js basePath setting, you'll need to configure an environment variable to access it. Then, provide a custom useHref function to prepend it to the href for all links.

// next.config.js
const basePath = '...';
const nextConfig = {
  basePath,
  env: {
    BASE_PATH: basePath
  }
};

// next.config.js
const basePath = '...';
const nextConfig = {
  basePath,
  env: {
    BASE_PATH: basePath
  }
};

// next.config.js
const basePath = '...';
const nextConfig = {
  basePath,
  env: {
    BASE_PATH: basePath
  }
};

// app/provider.tsx
// ...

export function ClientProviders({children}) {
  let router = useRouter();
  let useHref = (href: string) => process.env.BASE_PATH + href;
  return (
    <RouterProvider navigate={router.push} useHref={useHref}>
      {children}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

// app/provider.tsx
// ...

export function ClientProviders({ children }) {
  let router = useRouter();
  let useHref = (href: string) =>
    process.env.BASE_PATH + href;
  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={router.push}
      useHref={useHref}
    >
      {children}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

// app/provider.tsx
// ...

export function ClientProviders(
  { children }
) {
  let router =
    useRouter();
  let useHref = (
    href: string
  ) =>
    process.env
      .BASE_PATH + href;
  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={router
        .push}
      useHref={useHref}
    >
      {children}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

Pages router#

The useRouter hook from next/router returns a router object that can be used to perform navigation. RouterProvider should be rendered at the root of each page that includes React Aria links, or in pages/_app.tsx to add it to all pages.

// pages/_app.tsx
import type {AppProps} from 'next/app';
import {type NextRouter, useRouter} from 'next/router';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: NonNullable<Parameters<NextRouter['push']>[2]>;
  }
}

export default function MyApp({ Component, pageProps }: AppProps) {
  let router = useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={(href, opts) => router.push(href, undefined, opts)}
    >
      <Component {...pageProps} />
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

// pages/_app.tsx
import type {AppProps} from 'next/app';
import {type NextRouter, useRouter} from 'next/router';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: NonNullable<
      Parameters<NextRouter['push']>[2]
    >;
  }
}

export default function MyApp(
  { Component, pageProps }: AppProps
) {
  let router = useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={(href, opts) =>
        router.push(href, undefined, opts)}
    >
      <Component {...pageProps} />
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

// pages/_app.tsx
import type {AppProps} from 'next/app';
import {
  type NextRouter,
  useRouter
} from 'next/router';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions:
      NonNullable<
        Parameters<
          NextRouter[
            'push'
          ]
        >[2]
      >;
  }
}

export default function MyApp(
  {
    Component,
    pageProps
  }: AppProps
) {
  let router =
    useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={(
        href,
        opts
      ) =>
        router.push(
          href,
          undefined,
          opts
        )}
    >
      <Component
        {...pageProps}
      />
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

When using the basePath configuration option, provide a useHref prop to RouterProvider to prepend it to links automatically.

// pages/_app.tsx
// ...

export default function MyApp({Component, pageProps}: AppProps) {
  let router = useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider 
      navigate={(href, opts) => router.push(href, undefined, opts)}
      useHref={(href: string) => router.basePath + href}    >
      <Component {...pageProps} />
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

// pages/_app.tsx
// ...

export default function MyApp(
  { Component, pageProps }: AppProps
) {
  let router = useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={(href, opts) =>
        router.push(href, undefined, opts)}
      useHref={(href: string) => router.basePath + href}    >
      <Component {...pageProps} />
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

// pages/_app.tsx
// ...

export default function MyApp(
  {
    Component,
    pageProps
  }: AppProps
) {
  let router =
    useRouter();

  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={(
        href,
        opts
      ) =>
        router.push(
          href,
          undefined,
          opts
        )}
      useHref={(
        href: string
      ) =>
        router.basePath +
        href}    >
      <Component
        {...pageProps}
      />
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

Remix#

Remix uses React Router under the hood, so the same useNavigate and useHref hooks described above also work in Remix apps. RouterProvider should be rendered at the root of each page that includes React Aria links, or in app/root.tsx to add it to all pages. See the Remix docs for more details.

// app/root.tsx
import {useNavigate, useHref, Outlet} from '@remix-run/react';
import type {NavigateOptions} from 'react-router-dom';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: NavigateOptions
  }
}

export default function App() {
  let navigate = useNavigate();

  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        {/* ... */}
      </head>
      <body>
        <RouterProvider navigate={navigate} useHref={useHref}>
          <Outlet />
        </RouterProvider>
        {/* ... */}
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

// app/root.tsx
import {
  Outlet,
  useHref,
  useNavigate
} from '@remix-run/react';
import type {NavigateOptions} from 'react-router-dom';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions: NavigateOptions;
  }
}

export default function App() {
  let navigate = useNavigate();

  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        {/* ... */}
      </head>
      <body>
        <RouterProvider
          navigate={navigate}
          useHref={useHref}
        >
          <Outlet />
        </RouterProvider>
        {/* ... */}
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

// app/root.tsx
import {
  Outlet,
  useHref,
  useNavigate
} from '@remix-run/react';
import type {NavigateOptions} from 'react-router-dom';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    routerOptions:
      NavigateOptions;
  }
}

export default function App() {
  let navigate =
    useNavigate();

  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        {/* ... */}
      </head>
      <body>
        <RouterProvider
          navigate={navigate}
          useHref={useHref}
        >
          <Outlet />
        </RouterProvider>
        {/* ... */}
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

TanStack Router#

To use TanStack Router with React Aria, render React Aria's RouterProvider inside your root route. Use router.navigate in the navigate prop, and router.buildLocation in the useHref prop. You can also configure TypeScript to get autocomplete for the href prop by declaring the RouterConfig type using the types provided by TanStack Router.

import {type NavigateOptions, type ToOptions, useRouter} from '@tanstack/react-router';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    href: ToOptions['to'];
    routerOptions: Omit<NavigateOptions, keyof ToOptions>;
  }
}

function RootRoute() {
  let router = useRouter();
  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={(to, options) => router.navigate({ to, ...options })}
      useHref={(to) => router.buildLocation({ to }).href}
    >
      {/* ...*/}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

import {
  type NavigateOptions,
  type ToOptions,
  useRouter
} from '@tanstack/react-router';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    href: ToOptions['to'];
    routerOptions: Omit<NavigateOptions, keyof ToOptions>;
  }
}

function RootRoute() {
  let router = useRouter();
  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={(to, options) =>
        router.navigate({ to, ...options })}
      useHref={(to) => router.buildLocation({ to }).href}
    >
      {/* ...*/}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}

import {
  type NavigateOptions,
  type ToOptions,
  useRouter
} from '@tanstack/react-router';
import {RouterProvider} from 'react-aria-components';

declare module 'react-aria-components' {
  interface RouterConfig {
    href:
      ToOptions['to'];
    routerOptions: Omit<
      NavigateOptions,
      keyof ToOptions
    >;
  }
}

function RootRoute() {
  let router =
    useRouter();
  return (
    <RouterProvider
      navigate={(
        to,
        options
      ) =>
        router.navigate({
          to,
          ...options
        })}
      useHref={(to) =>
        router
          .buildLocation(
            { to }
          ).href}
    >
      {/* ...*/}
    </RouterProvider>
  );
}