📄 tanstack/router/latest/docs/framework/react/guide/custom-link

While repeating yourself can be acceptable in many situations, you might find that you do it too often. At times, you may want to create cross-cutting components with additional behavior or styles. You might also consider using third-party libraries in combination with TanStack Router's type safety.

createLink for cross-cutting concerns
-------------------------------------

createLink creates a custom Link component with the same type parameters as Link. This means you can create your own component which provides the same type safety and typescript performance as Link.

### Basic example

If you want to create a basic custom link component, you can do so with the following:

tsx

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

interface BasicLinkProps extends React.AnchorHTMLAttributes<HTMLAnchorElement> {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the anchor element
}

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} />
}


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

interface BasicLinkProps extends React.AnchorHTMLAttributes<HTMLAnchorElement> {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the anchor element
}

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} />
}

You can then use your newly created Link component as any other Link

tsx

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


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

createLink with third party libraries
-------------------------------------

Here are some examples of how you can use createLink with third-party libraries.

### React Aria Components example

React Aria Components v1.11.0 and later works with TanStack Router's preload (intent) prop. Use createLink to wrap each React Aria component that you use as a link.

tsx

import { createLink } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { Link as RACLink, MenuItem } from 'react-aria-components'

export const Link = createLink(RACLink)
export const MenuItemLink = createLink(MenuItem)


import { createLink } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { Link as RACLink, MenuItem } from 'react-aria-components'

export const Link = createLink(RACLink)
export const MenuItemLink = createLink(MenuItem)

To use React Aria's render props, including the className, style, and children functions, create a wrapper component and pass that to createLink.

tsx

import { createLink } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { Link as RACLink, type LinkProps } from 'react-aria-components'

interface MyLinkProps extends LinkProps {
  // your props
}

function MyLink(props: MyLinkProps) {
  return (
    <RACLink
      {...props}
      style={({ isHovered }) => ({
        color: isHovered ? 'red' : 'blue',
      })}
    />
  )
}

export const Link = createLink(MyLink)


import { createLink } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { Link as RACLink, type LinkProps } from 'react-aria-components'

interface MyLinkProps extends LinkProps {
  // your props
}

function MyLink(props: MyLinkProps) {
  return (
    <RACLink
      {...props}
      style={({ isHovered }) => ({
        color: isHovered ? 'red' : 'blue',
      })}
    />
  )
}

export const Link = createLink(MyLink)

### Chakra UI example

tsx

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

interface ChakraLinkProps
  extends Omit<React.ComponentPropsWithoutRef<typeof Link>, 'href'> {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the link
}

const ChakraLinkComponent = React.forwardRef<
  HTMLAnchorElement,
  ChakraLinkProps
>((props, ref) => {
  return <Link ref={ref} {...props} />
})

const CreatedLinkComponent = createLink(ChakraLinkComponent)

export const CustomLink: LinkComponent<typeof ChakraLinkComponent> = (
  props,
) => {
  return (
    <CreatedLinkComponent
      textDecoration={'underline'}
      _hover={{ textDecoration: 'none' }}
      _focus={{ textDecoration: 'none' }}
      preload={'intent'}
      {...props}
    />
  )
}


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

interface ChakraLinkProps
  extends Omit<React.ComponentPropsWithoutRef<typeof Link>, 'href'> {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the link
}

const ChakraLinkComponent = React.forwardRef<
  HTMLAnchorElement,
  ChakraLinkProps
>((props, ref) => {
  return <Link ref={ref} {...props} />
})

const CreatedLinkComponent = createLink(ChakraLinkComponent)

export const CustomLink: LinkComponent<typeof ChakraLinkComponent> = (
  props,
) => {
  return (
    <CreatedLinkComponent
      textDecoration={'underline'}
      _hover={{ textDecoration: 'none' }}
      _focus={{ textDecoration: 'none' }}
      preload={'intent'}
      {...props}
    />
  )
}

### MUI example

There is an example available which uses these patterns.

#### Link

If the MUI Link should simply behave like the router Link, it can be just wrapped with createLink:

tsx

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

export const CustomLink = createLink(Link)


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

export const CustomLink = createLink(Link)

If the Link should be customized this approach can be used:

tsx

import React from 'react'
import { createLink } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { Link } from '@mui/material'
import type { LinkProps } from '@mui/material'
import type { LinkComponent } from '@tanstack/react-router'

interface MUILinkProps extends LinkProps {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the Link
}

const MUILinkComponent = React.forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, MUILinkProps>(
  (props, ref) => <Link ref={ref} {...props} />,
)

const CreatedLinkComponent = createLink(MUILinkComponent)

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

// Can also be styled


import React from 'react'
import { createLink } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { Link } from '@mui/material'
import type { LinkProps } from '@mui/material'
import type { LinkComponent } from '@tanstack/react-router'

interface MUILinkProps extends LinkProps {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the Link
}

const MUILinkComponent = React.forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, MUILinkProps>(
  (props, ref) => <Link ref={ref} {...props} />,
)

const CreatedLinkComponent = createLink(MUILinkComponent)

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

// Can also be styled

#### Button

If a Button should be used as a router Link, the component should be set as a:

tsx

import React from 'react'
import { createLink } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { Button } from '@mui/material'
import type { ButtonProps } from '@mui/material'
import type { LinkComponent } from '@tanstack/react-router'

interface MUIButtonLinkProps extends ButtonProps<'a'> {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the Button
}

const MUIButtonLinkComponent = React.forwardRef<
  HTMLAnchorElement,
  MUIButtonLinkProps
>((props, ref) => <Button ref={ref} component="a" {...props} />)

const CreatedButtonLinkComponent = createLink(MUIButtonLinkComponent)

export const CustomButtonLink: LinkComponent<typeof MUIButtonLinkComponent> = (
  props,
) => {
  return <CreatedButtonLinkComponent preload={'intent'} {...props} />
}


import React from 'react'
import { createLink } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { Button } from '@mui/material'
import type { ButtonProps } from '@mui/material'
import type { LinkComponent } from '@tanstack/react-router'

interface MUIButtonLinkProps extends ButtonProps<'a'> {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the Button
}

const MUIButtonLinkComponent = React.forwardRef<
  HTMLAnchorElement,
  MUIButtonLinkProps
>((props, ref) => <Button ref={ref} component="a" {...props} />)

const CreatedButtonLinkComponent = createLink(MUIButtonLinkComponent)

export const CustomButtonLink: LinkComponent<typeof MUIButtonLinkComponent> = (
  props,
) => {
  return <CreatedButtonLinkComponent preload={'intent'} {...props} />
}

#### Usage with styled

Any of these MUI approaches can then be used with styled:

tsx

import { css, styled } from '@mui/material'
import { CustomLink } from './CustomLink'

const StyledCustomLink = styled(CustomLink)(
  ({ theme }) => css`
    color: ${theme.palette.common.white};
  `,
)


import { css, styled } from '@mui/material'
import { CustomLink } from './CustomLink'

const StyledCustomLink = styled(CustomLink)(
  ({ theme }) => css`
    color: ${theme.palette.common.white};
  `,
)

### Mantine example

tsx

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

interface MantineAnchorProps extends Omit<AnchorProps, 'href'> {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the anchor
}

const MantineLinkComponent = React.forwardRef<
  HTMLAnchorElement,
  MantineAnchorProps
>((props, ref) => {
  return <Anchor ref={ref} {...props} />
})

const CreatedLinkComponent = createLink(MantineLinkComponent)

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


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

interface MantineAnchorProps extends Omit<AnchorProps, 'href'> {
  // Add any additional props you want to pass to the anchor
}

const MantineLinkComponent = React.forwardRef<
  HTMLAnchorElement,
  MantineAnchorProps
>((props, ref) => {
  return <Anchor ref={ref} {...props} />
})

const CreatedLinkComponent = createLink(MantineLinkComponent)

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

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