A batteries-included SPA router for Svelte.
Code-based routes (params + regex) • Nested layouts • Route guards and hooks • Param validation • Loader caching (SWR + tags) • Data preloading • Search schema sync (validate/coerce + URL/store) • Shallow routing • Scroll restoration • Reactive stores • Performant • Well tested • ~1k loc (fraction of other routers) • Minimal API
navgo.mp4
This example demonstrates:
- code-defined routes with a dynamic segment (
/products/:id) after_navigate(nav, on_revalidate)wiring for route data + SWR revalidate updates + 404 state- app shell rendering via
nav.to.route?.[1]?.default - reading router stores from
window.navgo(route,is_navigating) - route-level
param_rulesvalidation/coercion (idstring -> number, min1) - basic LoadPlan loader (
{ product: '/api/products/:id' }) - automatic SWR caching for LoadPlan requests (default strategy)
- passing
$route.params+ loader data into the route component
import Navgo from 'navgo'
import { hydrate } from 'svelte'
import App from './App.svelte'
import * as Product from './routes/Product.svelte'
const routes = [['/products/:id', Product]]
const props = $state({
Component: null,
route_data: null,
is_404: false,
})
function after_navigate(nav, on_revalidate) {
props.is_404 = nav.to?.data?.__error?.status === 404
props.route_data = nav.to?.data ?? null
props.Component = nav.to?.route?.[1]?.default ?? null
on_revalidate?.(() => {
props.route_data = nav.to?.data ?? null
})
}
new Navgo(routes, { after_navigate }).init().then(() => {
hydrate(App, { target: document.body, props })
}){#key $route.url.pathname}
{#if Component}
<Component {...$route.params} data={route_data} />
{/if}
{/key}
<div class="request-indicator" class:active={$is_navigating}></div>
<script>
const { Component, route_data } = $props()
const { route, is_navigating } = window.navgo
</script><script module>
import { v } from 'navgo'
export const param_rules = {
id: v.pipe(v.string(), v.toNumber(), v.minValue(1)),
}
export function loader({ params }) {
return {
product: `/api/products/${params.id}`,
}
}
</script>
<script>
const { id, data } = $props()
</script>
<h1>Product {id}</h1>
<pre>{JSON.stringify(data?.product, null, 2)}</pre>Returns: Router
Type: Array<RouteTuple | RouteGroup>
Navgo accepts flat routes (tuples) and/or nested route groups (objects) for layouts + shared loaders.
RouteTuple
Each route tuple is [pattern, data?, extra?] whose first item is the pattern and whose second item is hooks (see “Route Hooks”). The optional third item is extra hooks and is merged with the second item (third wins; param_rules are merged by key).
RouteGroup
Each route group is an object:
{
layout?: any,
loader?: (ctx) => LoadPlan | Promise<unknown>,
before_route_leave?: (nav) => void,
routes: Array<RouteTuple|RouteGroup>
}layoutis forwarded intonav.to.matches(the router does not render anything).loaderruns for every matched child route in the group.before_route_leaveruns when leaving a matched route within the group.
Supported pattern types:
- static (
/users) - named parameters (
/users/:id) - nested parameters (
/users/:id/books/:title) - optional parameters (
/users/:id?/books/:title?) - wildcards (
/users/*) - RegExp patterns (with optional named groups)
Notes:
- Pattern strings are matched relative to the
basepath. - RegExp patterns are used as-is. Named capture groups (e.g.
(?<year>\d{4})) becomeparamskeys; unnamed groups are ignored.
base:string(default'/')- App base pathname. With or without leading/trailing slashes is accepted.
before_navigate:(nav: Navigation) => void- App-level hook called once per navigation attempt after the per-route guard and before loader/URL update. May call
nav.cancel()synchronously to prevent navigation.
- App-level hook called once per navigation attempt after the per-route guard and before loader/URL update. May call
after_navigate:(nav: Navigation, on_revalidate?: (cb: () => void) => void) => void | Promise<void>- App-level hook called after routing completes (URL updated, data loaded).
nav.to.dataholds any loader data. - If the active route uses SWR and a stale entry is revalidated in the background, register a callback via
on_revalidate(cb)to refresh UI.
- App-level hook called after routing completes (URL updated, data loaded).
tick:() => void | Promise<void>- Awaited after
after_navigateand before scroll handling; useful for frameworks to flush DOM so anchor/top scrolling lands correctly.
- Awaited after
scroll_to_top:boolean(defaulttrue)- When
false, skips the default top scroll for non-hash navigations.
- When
aria_current:boolean(defaultfalse)- When
true, setsaria-current="page"on active in-app links.
- When
preload_delay:number(default20)- Delay in ms before hover preloading triggers.
preload_on_hover:boolean(defaulttrue)- When
false, disables hover/touch preloading.
- When
attach_to_window:boolean(defaulttrue)- When
true,init()attaches the instance towindow.navgofor convenience.
- When
load_plan_defaults:{ parse?: Parser; cache?: { strategy?: CacheStrategy; ttl?: number; tags?: string[] } }- Defaults applied to LoadPlan entries when
parse/cacheare omitted. - Default:
{ parse: 'json', cache: { strategy: 'swr', ttl: 86_400_000 } }
- Defaults applied to LoadPlan entries when
search:SearchOptions- Default behavior for keeping URL search params in sync with
router.search_params. - Can be overridden per-route via
search_options.
- Default behavior for keeping URL search params in sync with
Important: Navgo only processes routes that match your base path.
router.route--Writable<{ url: URL; route: RouteTuple|null; params: Params; matches: Match[]; search_params: Record<string, unknown> }>- Readonly property that holds the current snapshot.
- Subscribe to react to changes; Navgo updates it on every URL change.
router.is_navigating--Writable<boolean>truewhile a navigation is in flight (between start and completion/cancel).
router.search_params--Writable<Record<string, unknown>>- Writable store of validated search params for the current route.
- If the current route defines a
search_schema, this store is kept in sync with the URL. - Writing to it updates the URL search string (optionally debounced).
Example:
Current path: {$route.path}
<div class="request-indicator" class:active={$is_navigating}></div>
<script>
const router = new Navgo(...)
const {route, is_navigating} = router
</script>Navgo can keep a route-scoped search params store in sync with the URL.
- Define a Valibot
search_schemaon a route tuple and/or a route group. - Navgo validates + applies defaults, and exposes the result:
- as
router.search_params(Svelte store) - as
search_paramsonrouter.route(snapshot:$route.search_params) - as
ctx.search_paramsinside loaders
- as
- Update
router.search_paramsto update the URL search string.
Only keys declared in the schema are managed. Other query params are preserved.
Coercion is default-driven: if a schema default is a number or boolean, Navgo will coerce URL values
from strings before validation. Plain strings are not JSON-parsed, so ?q=true stays 'true' when q
defaults to a string.
Navgo re-exports Valibot as v, so you can import it from navgo (useful with pnpm, which doesn't allow importing undeclared transitive deps).
// routes/Products.svelte
import { v } from 'navgo'
export const search_schema = v.object({
q: v.optional(v.fallback(v.string(), ''), ''),
page: v.optional(v.fallback(v.number(), 1), 1),
// arrays are supported
tag: v.optional(v.fallback(v.array(v.string()), []), []),
cat: v.optional(v.fallback(v.array(v.string()), []), []),
})
export const search_options = {
debounce: 300,
push_history: true,
show_defaults: false,
sort: true,
// arrays default to 'repeat' (?tag=a&tag=b). When using a map, `default` is the fallback for keys you don't list.
array_style: { default: 'repeat', cat: 'csv' },
}If multiple matched layout groups define a search_schema, the most specific (closest) one wins. If the leaf route defines a search_schema, it wins over any layout schema (no merging).
<script>
const { search_params } = router
</script>
<input
value={$search_params.q ?? ''}
oninput={(e) => ($search_params = { ...$search_params, q: e.target.value, page: 1 })}
/>Notes:
- Writes are shallow (URL changes via
replace_state/push_state), so loaders are not re-run automatically. - If you want a full navigation, call
router.goto(...)with a new URL.
Load plans let you define one or more fetches that Navgo can cache via the CacheStorage API.
// sync => treated as a LoadPlan
function loader({params}) {
return {
product: `https://dummyjson.com/products/${params.id}`,
reviews: {
request: `https://example.com/reviews/${params.id}`,
cache: {strategy: 'cache-first', ttl: 60_000, tags: ['reviews']},
},
}
}
// async => treated as plain data
async function loader(ctx) {
return {session: await ctx.fetch('/api/session').then(r => r.json())}
}Global defaults for LoadPlans can be set in options:
const router = new Navgo(routes, {
load_plan_defaults: {
parse: 'json',
cache: { strategy: 'swr', ttl: 60_000 },
},
})See examples.md for more setups.
- param_rules?:
Record<string, ParamRule>- Each rule is either a Valibot schema or
{ schema, coercer }. - Schema runs on raw params; when it succeeds, the schema output replaces the param value.
- Coercers run after schema and may transform params before
validate(...)/loader.
- Each rule is either a Valibot schema or
- loader?(ctx: LoaderContext):
LoadPlan | Promise<unknown>- If you return a non-Promise object, it is treated as a
LoadPlanand executed (each entry can be cached). - If you return a Promise, it is awaited and the resolved value becomes
nav.to.data. - To return a plain object as data, make the loader
async.
- If you return a non-Promise object, it is treated as a
- validate?(params):
boolean | Promise<boolean>- Predicate called during matching. If it returns or resolves to
false, the route is skipped.
- Predicate called during matching. If it returns or resolves to
- before_route_leave?(nav):
(nav: Navigation) => void- Guard called once per navigation attempt on the current route (leave). Call
nav.cancel()synchronously to prevent navigation. Forpopstate, cancellation auto-reverts the history jump.
- Guard called once per navigation attempt on the current route (leave). Call
- search_schema?:
any- Valibot object schema whose output becomes
router.search_paramsandctx.search_params. - Can also be placed on route groups (layouts) to share search params across children.
- Valibot object schema whose output becomes
- search_options?:
SearchOptions- Overrides
options.searchfor this route (e.g. debounce and history behavior).
- Overrides
The Navigation object contains:
{
type: 'link' | 'goto' | 'popstate' | 'leave',
from: { url, params, route, matches } | null,
to: { url, params, route, matches, data } | null,
will_unload: boolean,
cancelled: boolean,
event?: Event,
cancel(): void
}nav.to.matches is ordered outer → inner and contains both layouts and the final route:
for (const m of nav.to?.matches || []) {
if (m.type === 'layout') console.log('layout', m.layout, m.data)
if (m.type === 'route') console.log('route', m.route?.[0], m.data)
}- Router calls
before_route_leaveon the current route (leave). - Call
nav.cancel()synchronously to cancel.- For
link/goto, it stops before URL change. - For
popstate, cancellation causes an automatichistory.go(...)to revert to the previous index. - For
leave, cancellation triggers the native “Leave site?” dialog (behavior is browser-controlled).
- For
Example:
const routes = [
[
'/account/:account_id',
{
param_rules: {
account_id: v.pipe(v.string(), v.toNumber(), v.minValue(1)),
},
loader: ({params}) => fetch(`/api/account/${params.account_id}`).then(r => r.json()),
before_route_leave(nav) {
if (nav.type === 'link' || nav.type === 'goto') {
if (!confirm('Leave account settings?')) nav.cancel()
}
},
},
],
['/', {}],
]
const router = new Navgo(routes, { base: '/app' })
router.init()Returns: String or false
Formats and returns a pathname relative to the base path.
If the uri does not begin with the base, then false will be returned instead.
Otherwise, the return value will always lead with a slash (/).
Note: This is called automatically within the
init()method.
Type: String
The path to format.
Note: Much like
base, paths with or without leading and trailing slashes are handled identically.
Returns: Promise<void>
Runs any matching route loader before updating the URL and then updates history. Route processing triggers after_navigate. Use replace: true to replace the current history entry.
Type: String
The desired path to navigate. If it begins with / and does not match the configured base, it will be prefixed automatically.
Type: Object
- replace:
Boolean(defaultfalse) - When
true, useshistory.replaceState; otherwisehistory.pushState.
Attaches global listeners to synchronize your router with URL changes, which allows Navgo to respond consistently to your browser's BACK and FORWARD buttons.
Events:
- Responds to:
popstateonly. No synthetic events are emitted.
Navgo will also bind to any click event(s) on anchor tags (<a href="" />) so long as the link has a valid href that matches the base path. Navgo will not intercept links that have any target attribute or if the link was clicked with a special modifier (ALT, SHIFT, CMD, or CTRL).
While listening, link clicks are intercepted and translated into goto() navigations. You can also call goto() programmatically.
In addition, init() wires preloading listeners (enabled by default) so route data can be fetched early:
mousemove(hover) -- after a short delay, hovering an in-app link triggerspreload(href).touchstartandmousedown(tap) -- tapping or pressing on an in-app link also triggerspreload(href).
Preloading applies only to in-app anchors that match the configured base. You can tweak this behavior with the preload_delay and preload_on_hover options.
Notes:
preload(uri)is a no-op whenuriformats to the current route's path (already loaded).
On beforeunload, the current scroll position is saved to sessionStorage and restored on the next load of the same URL (e.g., refresh or tab restore).
Navgo caches/restores scroll positions for the window and any scrollable element that has a stable identifier:
- Give your element either an
idordata-scroll-id="...". - Navgo listens to
scrollglobally (capture) and records positions per history entry. - On
popstate, it restores matching elements before paint.
Example:
<div id="pane" class="overflow-auto">...</div>Or with a custom id:
<div data-scroll-id="pane">...</div>Returns: Promise<unknown | void>
Preload a route's loader data for a given uri without navigating. Concurrent calls for the same path are deduped.
Note: Resolves to undefined when the matched route has no loader.
Returns: void
Perform a shallow history push: updates the URL/state without triggering route processing.
Returns: void
Perform a shallow history replace: updates the URL/state without triggering route processing.
Detach all listeners initialized by init().
This section explains, in detail, how navigation is processed: matching, hooks, data loading, shallow routing, history behavior, and scroll restoration. The design takes cues from SvelteKit's client router (see: kit/documentation/docs/30-advanced/10-advanced-routing.md and kit/documentation/docs/30-advanced/67-shallow-routing.md).
link-- user clicked an in-app<a>that matchesbase.goto-- programmatic navigation viarouter.goto(...).popstate-- browser back/forward.leave-- page is unloading (refresh, external navigation, tab close) viabeforeunload.
The router passes the type to your before_route_leave(nav) hooks (route tuples and route groups).
- A matchable route is a
[pattern, data?]tuple. Route groups are wrappers that add layouts/shared loaders. patterncan be a string (compiled withregexparam) or aRegExp.- Named params from string patterns populate
paramswithstringvalues; optional params that do not appear arenull. - Wildcards use the
'*'key. - RegExp named groups also populate
params; omitted groups can beundefined. - If
data.param_rulesis present, eachparams[k]schema runs first (schema output replaces the param), then coercers run to transform params. - If
data.validate(params)returns or resolves tofalse, the route is also skipped.
For link and goto navigations that match a route:
[click <a>] or [router.goto()]
→ before_route_leave({ type }) // per-route guard
→ before_navigate(nav) // app-level start
→ cancelled? yes → stop
→ no → run loaders (layouts → route) // each may be value, Promise, or Promise[]
→ cache data by formatted path
→ history.push/replaceState(new URL)
→ after_navigate(nav, on_revalidate)
→ tick()? // optional app-provided await before scroll
→ scroll restore/hash/top
- If a loader throws/rejects, navigation continues and
after_navigate(..., with nav.to.data = { __error })is delivered so UI can render an error state. - For
popstate, the route'sloaderruns before completion so content matches the target entry; this improves scroll restoration. Errors are delivered viaafter_navigatewithnav.to.data = { __error }.
Use push_state(url, state?) or replace_state(url, state?) to update the URL/state without re-running routing logic.
push_state/replace_state (shallow)
→ updates history.state and URL
→ router does not process routing on shallow operations
This lets you reflect UI state in the URL while deferring route transitions until a future navigation.
To enable popstate cancellation, Navgo stores a monotonic idx in history.state.__navgo.idx. On popstate, a cancelled navigation computes the delta between the target and current idx and calls history.go(-delta) to return to the prior entry.
Navgo manages scroll manually (sets history.scrollRestoration = 'manual') and applies SvelteKit-like behavior:
- Saves the current scroll position for the active history index.
- On
link/goto(after route commit):- If the URL has a
#hash, scroll to the matching elementidor[name="..."]. - Otherwise, scroll to the top
(0, 0).
- If the URL has a
- On
popstate: restore the saved position for the target history index; if not found but there is a#hash, scroll to the anchor instead. - Shallow
push_state/replace_statenever adjust scroll (routing is skipped).
scroll flow
├─ on any nav: save current scroll for current idx
├─ link/goto: after navigate → hash? anchor : scroll(0,0)
└─ popstate: after navigate → restore saved idx position (fallback: anchor)
format(uri)-- normalizes a path relative tobase. Returnsfalsewhenuriis outside ofbase.match(uri)-- returns a Promise of{ route, params } | nullusing string/RegExp patterns andparam_rules(Valibot schemas). Awaits an asyncvalidate(params)if provided.goto(uri, { replace? })-- fires route-levelbefore_route_leave('goto'), calls globalbefore_navigate, saves scroll, runs loader, pushes/replaces, and completes viaafter_navigate.init()-- wires global listeners (popstate,pushstate,replacestate, click) and optional hover/tap preloading; immediately processes the current location.destroy()-- removes listeners added byinit().preload(uri)-- pre-executes a route'sloaderfor a path and caches the result; concurrent calls are deduped.push_state(url?, state?)-- shallow push that updates the URL andhistory.statewithout route processing.replace_state(url?, state?)-- shallow replace that updates the URL andhistory.statewithout route processing.
Use Valibot schemas in param_rules to validate/transform route params before validate(...)/loader.
This router integrates ideas and small portions of code from these fantastic projects:
- SvelteKit -- https://github.com/sveltejs/kit
- navaid -- https://github.com/lukeed/navaid
- TanStack Router -- https://github.com/TanStack/router