URL state
The URL is a state manager, not a string bucket.
Search params are parsed, validated, inherited, and typed. Filters, pagination, and tabs survive refreshes, back navigation, bookmarks, and shared links without hand-written serialization.
Preloading
Navigation can begin before the click.
Intent, viewport, and render strategies can preload route code and data. By the time navigation commits, the next screen can already be waiting.
One contract
Types survive the whole trip.
The destination, matched route, loader dependencies, and rendered data all derive from the same route definition. Refactors fail in the editor instead of after deployment.
01
Link
to + params + search
Navigation autocompletes against the route tree.
02
Match
beforeLoad({ params })
Path, search, and inherited context narrow together.
03
Load
loader({ deps })
Typed dependencies start before the component renders.
04
Render
Route.useLoaderData()
The component receives the exact loader result.
Choose the boundary
Use Router for the app. Add Start when the app needs a server.
Router is the complete client-first application model. Start preserves that route tree and adds full-document rendering, server functions, server routes, middleware, and deployable server output.
TanStack Router
Client-first application routing
Typed navigation, URL state, route loaders, preloading, caching, code splitting, and route-owned boundaries.
TanStack Start
The same routes, with a server
Keep Router's app model, then add SSR, streaming, typed server work, middleware, and hosting output.