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State in url

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Demo

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Why use `state-in-url`?

Store any user state in query parameters; imagine JSON in a browser URL. All of it with keeping types and structure of data, e.g. numbers will be decoded as numbers not strings, dates as dates, etc, objects and arrays supported. Dead simple, fast, and with static Typescript validation. Deep links, aka URL synchronization, made easy.

Contains useUrlState hook for Next.js and react-router, and helpers for anything else on JS. Since modern browsers support huge URLs and users don't care about query strings (it is a select all and copy/past workflow).

Time to use query string for state management, as it was originally intended. This library does all mundane stuff for you.

This library is a good alternative for NUQS.

Use cases

Store unsaved user forms or page filters in URL
Sycn URL with React state
Just sync data between unrelated client components without touching URI
Shareable URLs with application state (Deep linking, URL state synchronization)
Easy state persistence across page reloads

Features

🧩 Simple: No providers, reducers, boilerplate or new concepts, API similar to React.useState
📘 Typescript validation/autocomplete: State is just an object, automatic static validation in IDE/tests according to Typescript definition
✨ Complex data: Nested objects, dates and arrays, works same as JSON, but in URL
☂ Default values: Giving you default values if parameter not in url
⌨ Organized: All possible values defined at start, protect you from getting non existing key
compatible: Will keep 3rd party query params as is
flexible: Can use more than 1 state objects on the same page, just use different keys
Fast: Minimal rerenders, around 1ms to encode and decode big object
Server Side Rendering: Can use it in Server Components, Next.js 14 and 15 are supported
Lightweight: Zero dependencies, library less than 2KB
DX: Good developer experience, documentation, JSDoc comments, and examples
Framework Flexibility: Hooks for Next.js and react-router, helpers to use it with other frameworks or pure JS
Well tested: Unit tests and Playwright tests for Chrome/Firefox/Safari
Permissive license: MIT

Table of content

installation

1. Install package

# npm
npm install --save state-in-url
# yarn
yarn add state-in-url
# pnpm
pnpm add state-in-url

2. Edit tsconfig.json

In tsconfig.json in compilerOptions set "moduleResolution": "Bundler", or"moduleResolution": "Node16", or "moduleResolution": "NodeNext". Possibly need to set "module": "ES2022", or "module": "ESNext"

useUrlState

Main hook that takes initial state as parameter and returns state object, callback to update url, and callback to update only state. All components that use the same state object are automatically synchronized.

useUrlState hook for Next.js

Full API Docs

React-Router example

Usage examples

Basic

Define state shape with default values

// userState.ts
// Only parameters with value different from default will go to the url.
export const userState: UserState = { name: '', age: 0 }

// use `Type` not `Interface`!
type UserState = { name: string, age: number }

Import it and use

'use client'
import { useUrlState } from 'state-in-url/next';

import { userState } from './userState';

function MyComponent() {
  // can pass `replace` arg, it's control will `setUrl` will use `rounter.push` or `router.replace`, default replace=true
  // can pass `searchParams` from server components, pass `useHistory: false` if you need to fetch smt in the server component
  const { urlState, setUrl, setState, reset } = useUrlState(userState);

  return (
    <div>
      // urlState.name will return default value from `userState` if url empty
      <input value={urlState.name}
        // same api as React.useState, e.g. setUrl(currVal => currVal + 1)
        onChange={(ev) => setUrl({ name: ev.target.value }) }
      />
      <input value={urlState.age}
        onChange={(ev) => setUrl({ age: +ev.target.value }) }
      />

      <input value={urlState.name}
        onChange={(ev) => { setState(curr => ({ ...curr, name: ev.target.value })) }}
        // Can update state immediately but sync change to url as needed
        onBlur={() => setUrl()}
      />

      <button onClick={reset}>
        Reset
      </button>

    </div>
  )
}

Custom hook to work with slice of state conveniently

Example

'use client';

import React from 'react';
import { useUrlState } from 'state-in-url/next';

const form: Form = {
  name: '',
  age: undefined,
  agree_to_terms: false,
  tags: [],
};

type Form = {
  name: string;
  age?: number;
  agree_to_terms: boolean;
  tags: {id: string; value: {text: string; time: Date } }[];
};

export const useFormState = ({ searchParams }: { searchParams?: object }) => {
  const { urlState, setUrl: setUrlBase, reset } = useUrlState(form, {
    searchParams,
  });

  // first navigation will push new history entry
  // all following will just replace that entry
  // this way will have history with only 2 entries - ['/url', '/url?key=param']

  const replace = React.useRef(false);
  const setUrl = React.useCallback((
      state: Parameters<typeof setUrlBase>[0],
      opts?: Parameters<typeof setUrlBase>[1]
    ) => {
      setUrlBase(state, { replace: replace.current, ...opts });
      replace.current = true;
  }, [setUrlBase]);

  return { urlState, setUrl, resetUrl: reset };
};

With complex state shape

Example

export const form: Form = {
  name: '',
  age: undefined,
  agree_to_terms: false,
  tags: [],
};

type Form = {
  name: string;
  age?: number;
  agree_to_terms: boolean;
  tags: { id: string; value: { text: string; time: Date } }[];
};

'use client'
import { useUrlState } from 'state-in-url/next';

import { form } from './form';

function TagsComponent() {
  // `urlState` will infer from Form type!
  const { urlState, setUrl } = useUrlState(form);

  const onChangeTags = React.useCallback(
    (tag: (typeof tags)[number]) => {
      setUrl((curr) => ({
        ...curr,
        tags: curr.tags.find((t) => t.id === tag.id)
          ? curr.tags.filter((t) => t.id !== tag.id)
          : curr.tags.concat(tag),
      }));
    },
    [setUrl],
  );

  return (
    <div>
      <Field text="Tags">
        <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2">
          {tags.map((tag) => (
            <Tag
              active={!!urlState.tags.find((t) => t.id === tag.id)}
              text={tag.value.text}
              onClick={() => onChangeTags(tag)}
              key={tag.id}
            />
          ))}
        </div>
      </Field>
    </div>
  );
}

const tags = [
  {
    id: '1',
    value: { text: 'React.js', time: new Date('2024-07-17T04:53:17.000Z') },
  },
  {
    id: '2',
    value: { text: 'Next.js', time: new Date('2024-07-18T04:53:17.000Z') },
  },
  {
    id: '3',
    value: { text: 'TailwindCSS', time: new Date('2024-07-19T04:53:17.000Z') },
  },
];

Demo page example code

Update state only and sync to URL manually

Example

const timer = React.useRef(0 as unknown as NodeJS.Timeout);
React.useEffect(() => {
  clearTimeout(timer.current);
  timer.current = setTimeout(() => {
    // will compare state by content not by reference and fire update only for new values
    setUrl(urlState);
  }, 500);

  return () => {
    clearTimeout(timer.current);
  };
}, [urlState, setUrl]);

Syncing state onBlur will be more aligned with real world usage.

<input onBlur={() => updateUrl()} .../>

With server side rendering

Example

export default async function Home({ searchParams }: { searchParams: object }) {
  return (
    <Form searchParams={searchParams} />
  )
}

// Form.tsx
'use client'
import React from 'react';
import { useUrlState } from 'state-in-url/next';
import { form } from './form';

const Form = ({ searchParams }: { searchParams: object }) => {
  const { urlState, setState, setUrl } = useUrlState(form, { searchParams });
}

Using hook in `layout` component

Example

That a tricky part, since nextjs with app router doesn't allow to access searchParams from server side. There is workaround with using middleware, but it isn't pretty and can stop working after nextjs update.

// add to appropriate `layout.tsc`
export const runtime = 'edge';

// middleware.ts
import type { NextRequest } from 'next/server';
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';

export function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
  const url = request.url?.includes('_next') ? null : request.url;
  const sp = url?.split?.('?')?.[1] || '';

  const response = NextResponse.next();

  if (url !== null) {
    response.headers.set('searchParams', sp);
  }

  return response;
}

// Target layout component
import { headers } from 'next/headers';
import { decodeState } from 'state-in-url/encodeState';

export default async function Layout({
  children,
}: {
  children: React.ReactNode;
}) {
  const sp = headers().get('searchParams') || '';

  return (
    <div>
      <Comp1 searchParams={decodeState(sp, stateShape)} />
      {children}
    </div>
  );
}

With arbitrary state shape (not recommended)

Example

'use client'
import { useUrlState } from 'state-in-url/next';

const someObj = {};

function SettingsComponent() {
  const { urlState, setUrl, setState } = useUrlState<object>(someObj);
}

useUrlState hook for React-Router

API is same as for Next.js version, except can pass options from NavigateOptions type.

API Docs

Example

export const form: Form = {
  name: '',
  age: undefined,
  agree_to_terms: false,
  tags: [],
};

type Form = {
  name: string;
  age?: number;
  agree_to_terms: boolean;
  tags: { id: string; value: { text: string; time: Date } }[];
};

import { useUrlState } from 'state-in-url/react-router';

import { form } from './form';

function TagsComponent() {
  const { urlState, setUrl, setState } = useUrlState(form);

  const onChangeTags = React.useCallback(
    (tag: (typeof tags)[number]) => {
      setUrl((curr) => ({
        ...curr,
        tags: curr.tags.find((t) => t.id === tag.id)
          ? curr.tags.filter((t) => t.id !== tag.id)
          : curr.tags.concat(tag),
      }));
    },
    [setUrl],
  );

  return (
    <div>
      <Field text="Tags">
        <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2">
          {tags.map((tag) => (
            <Tag
              active={!!urlState.tags.find((t) => t.id === tag.id)}
              text={tag.value.text}
              onClick={() => onChangeTags(tag)}
              key={tag.id}
            />
          ))}
        </div>
      </Field>

      <input value={urlState.name}
        onChange={(ev) => { setState(curr => ({ ...curr, name: ev.target.value })) }}
        // Can update state immediately but sync change to url as needed
        onBlur={() => setUrl()}
      />
    </div>
  );
}

const tags = [
  {
    id: '1',
    value: { text: 'React.js', time: new Date('2024-07-17T04:53:17.000Z') },
  },
  {
    id: '2',
    value: { text: 'Next.js', time: new Date('2024-07-18T04:53:17.000Z') },
  },
  {
    id: '3',
    value: { text: 'TailwindCSS', time: new Date('2024-07-19T04:53:17.000Z') },
  },
];

Example code

Other hooks and helpers

`useUrlStateBase` hook for others routers

Hooks to create your own useUrlState hooks with other routers, e.g. react-router or tanstack router.

API Docs

`useSharedState` hook for React.js

Hook to share state between any React components, tested with Next.js and Vite.

'use client'
import { useSharedState } from 'state-in-url';

export const someState = { name: '' };

function SettingsComponent() {
  const { state, setState } = useSharedState(someState);
}

API Docs

Best Practices

Define your state shape as a constant
Use TypeScript for enhanced type safety and autocomplete
Avoid storing sensitive information in URL parameters (SSN, API keys etc)
Use this extension for readable TS errors

Can create state hooks for slices of state, and reuse them across application. For example:

type UserState = {
  name: string;
  age: number;
  other: { id: string, value: number }[]
};
const userState = {
  name: '',
  age: 0,
  other: [],
};

export const useUserState = () => {
  const { urlState, setUrl, reset } = useUrlState(userState);

  // other logic

  // reset query params when navigating to other page
  React.useEffect(() => {
    return reset
  }, [])

  return { userState: urlState, setUserState: setUrl };;
}

Gotchas

Can pass only serializable values, Function, BigInt or Symbol won't work, probably things like ArrayBuffer neither. Everything that can be serialized to JSON will work.
Vercel servers limit size of headers (query string and other stuff) to 14KB, so keep your URL state under ~5000 words. https://vercel.com/docs/errors/URL_TOO_LONG
Tested with next.js 14/15 with app router, no plans to support pages.

Other

Contribute and/or run locally

See Contributing doc

Roadmap

Contact & Support

Create a GitHub issue for bug reports, feature requests, or questions

Changelog

License

This project is licensed under the MIT license.

Inspiration

NUQS

Using URL to store state in Vue

Storing state in the URL

NextJS useSearchParams

state-in-url

State in url

Don't hesitate to open an issue if you found a bug, or for requesting features

Demo

Why use state-in-url?

Use cases

Features

Table of content

installation

1. Install package

2. Edit tsconfig.json

useUrlState

useUrlState hook for Next.js

Usage examples

Basic

Custom hook to work with slice of state conveniently

With complex state shape

Update state only and sync to URL manually

With server side rendering

Using hook in layout component

With arbitrary state shape (not recommended)

useUrlState hook for React-Router

Example

Other hooks and helpers

useUrlStateBase hook for others routers

useSharedState hook for React.js

useUrlEncode hook for React.js

encodeState and decodeState helpers

encode and decode helpers

Best Practices

Gotchas

Other

Contribute and/or run locally

Roadmap

Contact & Support

Changelog

License

Inspiration

Why use `state-in-url`?

Using hook in `layout` component

`useUrlStateBase` hook for others routers

`useSharedState` hook for React.js

`useUrlEncode` hook for React.js

`encodeState` and `decodeState` helpers

`encode` and `decode` helpers