Table State (Svelte) Guide

Examples#

Want to skip to the implementation? Check out these examples:

• Basic createTable
• Basic External Atoms
• Basic External State
• With TanStack Query

Table State (Svelte) Guide#

If you boil TanStack Table down to one sentence: TanStack Table is a large state-management coordinator for table states.

Understanding this guide is fundamental to understanding how TanStack Table works and how to interact with it for the best results.

Do you need to Manage External State?#

You usually do NOT need to manage table state yourself. If you pass nothing to initialState, atoms, state, or any of the on[State]Change table options, TanStack Table will manage its own state internally.

There will be situations where you need to customize how you interact with the internal table state, or even hoist it up to your own scopes. TanStack Table lets you read, subscribe to, or own the state slices that matter to your app. This guide explains how table state works in Svelte, how to read it, and when to use external atoms or external state.

State in v9#

TanStack Table v9 overhauled state management around TanStack Store. TanStack Store uses the alien-signals implementation and supports performant derived state. For Svelte 5, the table adapter supplies custom reactivity so table state atoms are backed by runes.

A table instance has a few state surfaces:

• table.baseAtoms are the internal writable atoms created from the resolved initial state.
• table.atoms are readonly derived atoms exposed per registered state slice.
• table.store is a readonly flat TanStack Store derived by putting all of the registered table.atoms together.
• table.state is Svelte-only selected state. It is the value returned from the selector passed as the second argument to createTable.

The Svelte adapter provides svelteReactivity() to the table's coreReativityFeature. Core readonly atoms are backed by $derived.by, writable atoms are backed by $state, and createTable uses $effect.pre to sync options and controlled state before DOM updates. Table APIs that read atoms participate in Svelte dependency tracking through those rune-backed atom reads.

Feature-based State#

State slices are only created for the features that are registered in _features. This keeps TanStack Table tree-shakeable and gives TypeScript more accurate state inference.

const _features = tableFeatures({
  rowPaginationFeature,
  rowSortingFeature,
})

const table = createTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {
    paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
    sortedRowModel: createSortedRowModel(sortFns),
  },
  columns,
  get data() {
    return data
  },
})

table.atoms.pagination.get()
table.atoms.sorting.get()

// table.atoms.rowSelection // TypeScript error unless rowSelectionFeature is registered

const _features = tableFeatures({
  rowPaginationFeature,
  rowSortingFeature,
})

const table = createTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {
    paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
    sortedRowModel: createSortedRowModel(sortFns),
  },
  columns,
  get data() {
    return data
  },
})

table.atoms.pagination.get()
table.atoms.sorting.get()

// table.atoms.rowSelection // TypeScript error unless rowSelectionFeature is registered

If _features does not include a feature, its state should not be available in table.atoms, table.store.state, table.state, initialState, state, or atoms.

Accessing Table State#

There are two different questions when reading table state:

• Do you only need the current value?
• Or should a Svelte reactive update happen when that value changes?

Use a direct atom or store read for the current value. Use selected state, useSelector, or subscribeTable when you want fine-grained reactive updates.

Reading State Without Subscribing#

The simplest and most performant way to read a current state value is to read the matching atom:

const pagination = table.atoms.pagination.get()
const sorting = table.atoms.sorting.get()

const pagination = table.atoms.pagination.get()
const sorting = table.atoms.sorting.get()

You can also read the current flat store snapshot:

const tableState = table.store.state
const pagination = table.store.state.pagination

const tableState = table.store.state
const pagination = table.store.state.pagination

These reads are current-value reads. They only participate in Svelte dependency tracking when they are called in a rune-tracked context. If the UI needs to stay reactive to table state changes, use table.state, subscribeTable, or even a useSelector hook from TanStack Store.

Reading Reactive State with createTable#

The second argument to createTable is a TanStack Store selector. The selected value is exposed as table.state. The default selector selects all registered table state.

const table = createTable(
  {
    _features,
    _rowModels: {
      paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
    },
    columns,
    get data() {
      return data
    },
  },
  (state) => ({
    pagination: state.pagination,
  }),
)

table.state.pagination

const table = createTable(
  {
    _features,
    _rowModels: {
      paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
    },
    columns,
    get data() {
      return data
    },
  },
  (state) => ({
    pagination: state.pagination,
  }),
)

table.state.pagination

Fine-grained Updates with subscribeTable#

Use subscribeTable when you want a specific part of Svelte code to subscribe to one atom or store source. It uses TanStack Store selection and exposes the selected value through .current.

import { subscribeTable } from '@tanstack/svelte-table'

const pagination = subscribeTable(table.atoms.pagination)
const pageIndex = subscribeTable(
  table.atoms.pagination,
  (pagination) => pagination.pageIndex,
)

import { subscribeTable } from '@tanstack/svelte-table'

const pagination = subscribeTable(table.atoms.pagination)
const pageIndex = subscribeTable(
  table.atoms.pagination,
  (pagination) => pagination.pageIndex,
)

<strong>
  Page {pagination.current.pageIndex + 1} of {table.getPageCount()}
</strong>

<strong>
  Page {pagination.current.pageIndex + 1} of {table.getPageCount()}
</strong>

Setting Table State#

You should almost never need to set table state directly. TanStack Table features expose dedicated APIs for interacting with their state, and those APIs are the safest way to make changes.

table.nextPage()
table.previousPage()
table.setPageIndex(0)
table.setPageSize(25)

table.nextPage()
table.previousPage()
table.setPageIndex(0)
table.setPageSize(25)

Use APIs like table.setSorting(...), table.setColumnFilters(...), column.toggleVisibility(), or row.toggleSelected() instead of manually editing the underlying state object.

If you only care about setting starting values, use initialState. If you want to reset a state slice back to its initial value, use that feature's reset API.

If you really do need to write a state slice directly, the low-level write surface for internally owned state is the matching base atom:

table.baseAtoms.pagination.set((old) => ({
  ...old,
  pageIndex: 0,
}))

table.baseAtoms.pagination.set((old) => ({
  ...old,
  pageIndex: 0,
}))

Direct base atom writes should be rare. If a slice is owned by an external atom passed through atoms, write to that external atom instead; table.atoms.pagination will read from the external atom, not the internal base atom.

Custom Initial State#

If you only need to customize the starting value for some table state, use initialState. You still do not need to manage that state yourself.

initialState only applies to registered state slices. It is used to create the table's initial state and is also used by reset APIs such as table.resetSorting() or table.resetPagination(). Changing the initialState object later does not reset table state.

const table = createTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {
    sortedRowModel: createSortedRowModel(sortFns),
    paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
  },
  columns,
  get data() {
    return data
  },
  initialState: {
    sorting: [
      {
        id: 'age',
        desc: true,
      },
    ],
    pagination: {
      pageIndex: 0,
      pageSize: 25,
    },
  },
})

const table = createTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {
    sortedRowModel: createSortedRowModel(sortFns),
    paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
  },
  columns,
  get data() {
    return data
  },
  initialState: {
    sorting: [
      {
        id: 'age',
        desc: true,
      },
    ],
    pagination: {
      pageIndex: 0,
      pageSize: 25,
    },
  },
})

Note: Do not provide the same state slice in multiple ownership places unless you intentionally want one to win. For a slice like pagination, prefer exactly one of initialState.pagination, atoms.pagination, or state.pagination as the source of truth. External atoms take precedence over external state; external state syncs into the table's internal base atom.

Resetting to Initial State#

Feature reset APIs reset to table.initialState by default. Many reset APIs also accept true to reset to that feature's blank/default state instead:

table.resetSorting()
table.resetPagination()
table.resetPagination(true)

table.resetSorting()
table.resetPagination()
table.resetPagination(true)

Slice reset APIs like resetPagination() update through that feature's state updater and can update an externally owned atom. The core table.reset() API resets the internal base atoms, so do not use it as the primary way to reset state that is owned by external atoms.

Controlled State#

If you need easy access to table state in other parts of your application, you can control individual state slices. In v9, external atoms are the recommended way to do this when you want atomic ownership and fine-grained Svelte updates.

External Atoms#

Use external atoms when the app should own one or more table state slices. Create stable writable atoms with createAtom, pass them to atoms, and subscribe to them with useSelector or subscribeTable.

import { createAtom, useSelector } from '@tanstack/svelte-store'
import {
  createTable,
  rowPaginationFeature,
  tableFeatures,
  type PaginationState,
} from '@tanstack/svelte-table'

const _features = tableFeatures({
  rowPaginationFeature,
})

const paginationAtom = createAtom<PaginationState>({
  pageIndex: 0,
  pageSize: 10,
})

const pagination = useSelector(paginationAtom)

const table = createTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {},
  columns,
  get data() {
    return dataQuery.data?.rows ?? []
  },
  get rowCount() {
    return dataQuery.data?.rowCount
  },
  atoms: {
    pagination: paginationAtom,
  },
  manualPagination: true,
})

// pagination.current is reactive, and table pagination APIs update paginationAtom

import { createAtom, useSelector } from '@tanstack/svelte-store'
import {
  createTable,
  rowPaginationFeature,
  tableFeatures,
  type PaginationState,
} from '@tanstack/svelte-table'

const _features = tableFeatures({
  rowPaginationFeature,
})

const paginationAtom = createAtom<PaginationState>({
  pageIndex: 0,
  pageSize: 10,
})

const pagination = useSelector(paginationAtom)

const table = createTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {},
  columns,
  get data() {
    return dataQuery.data?.rows ?? []
  },
  get rowCount() {
    return dataQuery.data?.rowCount
  },
  atoms: {
    pagination: paginationAtom,
  },
  manualPagination: true,
})

// pagination.current is reactive, and table pagination APIs update paginationAtom

When using the atoms option for a slice, you do not need to add the matching on[State]Change option.

External State#

The classic state plus on[State]Change pattern is still supported. This can be convenient for simple integrations or when migrating v8 code, but it is less atomic than external atoms.

let sorting: SortingState = $state([])
let pagination: PaginationState = $state({
  pageIndex: 0,
  pageSize: 10,
})

const table = createTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {
    sortedRowModel: createSortedRowModel(sortFns),
    paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
  },
  columns,
  get data() {
    return data
  },
  state: {
    get sorting() {
      return sorting
    },
    get pagination() {
      return pagination
    },
  },
  onSortingChange: (updater) => {
    sorting = updater instanceof Function ? updater(sorting) : updater
  },
  onPaginationChange: (updater) => {
    pagination = updater instanceof Function ? updater(pagination) : updater
  },
})

let sorting: SortingState = $state([])
let pagination: PaginationState = $state({
  pageIndex: 0,
  pageSize: 10,
})

const table = createTable({
  _features,
  _rowModels: {
    sortedRowModel: createSortedRowModel(sortFns),
    paginatedRowModel: createPaginatedRowModel(),
  },
  columns,
  get data() {
    return data
  },
  state: {
    get sorting() {
      return sorting
    },
    get pagination() {
      return pagination
    },
  },
  onSortingChange: (updater) => {
    sorting = updater instanceof Function ? updater(sorting) : updater
  },
  onPaginationChange: (updater) => {
    pagination = updater instanceof Function ? updater(pagination) : updater
  },
})

The v8-style onStateChange option is no longer part of the v9 createTable state model. v9 encourages keeping table state slices atomic and separated for performance.

On State Change Callbacks#

The on[State]Change callbacks are useful when you are controlling a matching slice through the state option. They receive either a raw value or an updater function.

If you provide an on[State]Change callback, also provide the corresponding value in state. For example, onSortingChange should be paired with state.sorting.

onPaginationChange: (updater) => {
  pagination = updater instanceof Function ? updater(pagination) : updater
}

onPaginationChange: (updater) => {
  pagination = updater instanceof Function ? updater(pagination) : updater
}

State Types#

Most complex states in TanStack Table have their own TypeScript types that you can import and use.

import {
  createTable,
  type PaginationState,
  type RowSelectionState,
  type SortingState,
  type TableState,
} from '@tanstack/svelte-table'

let sorting: SortingState = $state([
  {
    id: 'age',
    desc: true,
  },
])

import {
  createTable,
  type PaginationState,
  type RowSelectionState,
  type SortingState,
  type TableState,
} from '@tanstack/svelte-table'

let sorting: SortingState = $state([
  {
    id: 'age',
    desc: true,
  },
])

TableState<typeof _features> is inferred from the features registered on that table:

type MyTableState = TableState<typeof _features>

type MyTableState = TableState<typeof _features>