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Integration React Tanstack Router File Based

PostHogOfficialCreated by PostHog

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  • Tool integration
  • Data and AI
  • MIT
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From the author

PostHog integration for React applications using TanStack Router with file-based routing
— the description by PostHog

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a systematic approach to implementing PostHog analytics, session recording, and error tracking in React projects built with TanStack Router. It emphasizes a clean, non-intrusive integration pattern that leverages the PostHogProvider for global access and follows specific React best practices to ensure performance and maintainability. The guide includes a multi-step workflow for setup, configuration, and event tracking, supported by a reference implementation that demonstrates how to handle user identification, event capturing, and exception tracking within a file-based routing architecture.

What it does

  • Provides a step-by-step workflow for integrating PostHog into React applications.
  • Demonstrates how to wrap applications with PostHogProvider for global analytics access.
  • Outlines best practices for event tracking and user identification in client-side code.
  • Includes patterns for capturing exceptions and errors to improve observability.
  • Offers guidance on using environment variables for secure configuration.
  • Provides a reference project structure for file-based routing implementations.

When to use it

  • When you need to add product analytics to a React application using TanStack Router.
  • When you want to implement session replay and error tracking in a file-based routing project.
  • When you need a standardized approach to user identification and event capturing.
  • When you are setting up a new project and want to follow established PostHog integration patterns.

Advantages

  • Promotes clean code by avoiding unnecessary useEffect hooks for event tracking.
  • Ensures consistent implementation through a structured, multi-step workflow.
  • Leverages native React hooks for efficient feature flag and analytics management.
  • Provides clear separation between configuration and business logic.

Usage examples

“How do I initialize PostHog in my TanStack Router file-based project?”
The skill directs you to wrap your root route component with the PostHogProvider, passing your project token and host configuration via environment variables.
“Where should I place event tracking code for user actions?”
The skill advises placing capture calls directly within event handlers rather than inside useEffect hooks to ensure accurate tracking of user-initiated actions.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/posthog/integration-react-tanstack-router-file-based/download

  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip integration-react-tanstack-router-file-based.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by PostHog

PostHog integration for React with TanStack Router (file-based)

This skill helps you add PostHog analytics to React with TanStack Router (file-based) applications.

Workflow

Follow these steps in order to complete the integration:

  1. basic-integration-1.0-begin.md - PostHog Setup - Begin ← Start here

  2. basic-integration-1.1-edit.md - PostHog Setup - Edit

  3. basic-integration-1.2-revise.md - PostHog Setup - Revise

  4. basic-integration-1.3-conclude.md - PostHog Setup - Conclusion

Reference files

  • references/EXAMPLE.md - React with TanStack Router (file-based) example project code

  • references/tanstack-start.md - Tanstack start - docs

  • references/identify-users.md - Identify users - docs

  • references/basic-integration-1.0-begin.md - PostHog setup - begin

  • references/basic-integration-1.1-edit.md - PostHog setup - edit

  • references/basic-integration-1.2-revise.md - PostHog setup - revise

  • references/basic-integration-1.3-conclude.md - PostHog setup - conclusion

The example project shows the target implementation pattern. Consult the documentation for API details.

Key principles

  • Environment variables: Always use environment variables for PostHog keys. Never hardcode them.

  • Minimal changes: Add PostHog code alongside existing integrations. Don't replace or restructure existing code.

  • Match the example: Your implementation should follow the example project's patterns as closely as possible.

Framework guidelines

  • For feature flags, use useFeatureFlagEnabled() or useFeatureFlagPayload() hooks - they handle loading states and external sync automatically

  • Add analytics capture in event handlers where user actions occur, NOT in useEffect reacting to state changes

  • Do NOT use useEffect for data transformation - calculate derived values during render instead

  • Do NOT use useEffect to respond to user events - put that logic in the event handler itself

  • Do NOT use useEffect to chain state updates - calculate all related updates together in the event handler

  • Do NOT use useEffect to notify parent components - call the parent callback alongside setState in the event handler

  • To reset component state when a prop changes, pass the prop as the component's key instead of using useEffect

  • useEffect is ONLY for synchronizing with external systems (non-React widgets, browser APIs, network subscriptions)

  • Use TanStack Router's built-in navigation events for pageview tracking instead of useEffect

  • Use PostHogProvider in the root component defined in either the file-based convention (__root.tsx) or code-based convention (wherever createRootRoute() is called) so all child routes have access to the PostHog client

Identifying users

Identify users during login and signup events. Refer to the example code and documentation for the correct identify pattern for this framework. If both frontend and backend code exist, pass the client-side session and distinct ID using X-POSTHOG-DISTINCT-ID and X-POSTHOG-SESSION-ID headers to maintain correlation.

Error tracking

Add PostHog error tracking to relevant files, particularly around critical user flows and API boundaries.

Files

references/EXAMPLE.md

PostHog React with TanStack Router (file-based) Example Project

Repository: https://github.com/PostHog/context-mill Path: basics/react-tanstack-router-file-based

README.md

PostHog TanStack Router Example

This is a React and TanStack Router example demonstrating PostHog integration with product analytics, session replay, and error tracking.

Features

  • Product analytics: Track user events and behaviors

  • Session replay: Record and replay user sessions

  • Error tracking: Capture and track errors

  • User authentication: Demo login system with PostHog user identification

  • Client-side tracking: Pure client-side React implementation

  • Reverse proxy: PostHog ingestion through Vite proxy

Getting started

1. Install dependencies
npm install
2. Configure environment variables

Create a .env file in the root directory:

VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN=your_posthog_project_token
VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST=https://us.i.posthog.com

Get your PostHog project token from your PostHog project settings.

3. Run the development server
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 with your browser to see the app.

Project structure

src/
├── components/
│   └── Header.tsx         # Navigation header with auth state
├── contexts/
│   └── AuthContext.tsx    # Authentication context with PostHog integration
├── routes/
│   ├── __root.tsx         # Root layout with PostHogProvider
│   ├── index.tsx          # Home/Login page
│   ├── burrito.tsx        # Demo feature page with event tracking
│   └── profile.tsx        # User profile with error tracking demo
├── main.tsx               # App entry point
└── styles.css             # Global styles

Key integration points

PostHog provider setup (routes/__root.tsx)

PostHog is initialized using PostHogProvider from @posthog/react. The provider wraps the entire app and handles calling posthog.init() automatically:

import { PostHogProvider } from '@posthog/react'

export const Route = createRootRoute({
  component: () => (
    <PostHogProvider
      apiKey={import.meta.env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN!}
      options={{
        api_host: '/ingest',
        ui_host: import.meta.env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST || 'https://us.posthog.com',
        defaults: '2026-01-30',
        capture_exceptions: true,
        debug: import.meta.env.DEV,
      }}
    >
      {/* your app */}
    </PostHogProvider>
  ),
})
User identification (contexts/AuthContext.tsx)
import { usePostHog } from '@posthog/react'

const posthog = usePostHog()

posthog.identify(username, {
  username: username,
})
Event tracking (routes/burrito.tsx)
import { usePostHog } from '@posthog/react'

const posthog = usePostHog()

posthog.capture('burrito_considered', {
  total_considerations: count,
  username: username,
})
Error tracking (routes/profile.tsx)
posthog.captureException(error)

TanStack Router details

This example uses TanStack Router. Key details:

  1. Client-side only: No server-side logic, no API routes, no posthog-node

  2. File-based routing: Routes are files in src/routes directory

  3. Standard hooks: Uses useNavigate() from @tanstack/react-router

  4. Vite proxy: Uses Vite's proxy config for PostHog calls

  5. Environment variables: Uses import.meta.env.VITE_*

  6. PostHog provider: Uses PostHogProvider from @posthog/react in root route

Learn more

.env.example

VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN=<ph_project_token>
VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST=<ph_client_api_host>

.prettierignore

package-lock.json
pnpm-lock.yaml
yarn.lock

index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" />
    <meta name="theme-color" content="#000000" />
    <meta
      name="description"
      content="Web site created using create-tsrouter-app"
    />
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/logo192.png" />
    <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.json" />
    <title>Create TanStack App - react-tanstack</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="app"></div>
    <script type="module" src="/src/main.tsx"></script>
  </body>
</html>

prettier.config.js

//  @ts-check

/** @type {import('prettier').Config} */
const config = {
  semi: false,
  singleQuote: true,
  trailingComma: "all",
};

export default config;

public/robots.txt

# https://www.robotstxt.org/robotstxt.html
User-agent: *
Disallow:

src/components/Header.tsx

import { Link } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { useAuth } from '../contexts/AuthContext'

export default function Header() {
  const { user, logout } = useAuth()

  return (
    <header className="header">
      <div className="header-container">
        <nav>
          <Link to="/">Home</Link>
          {user && (
            <>
              <Link to="/burrito">Burrito Consideration</Link>
              <Link to="/profile">Profile</Link>
            </>
          )}
        </nav>
        <div className="user-section">
          {user ? (
            <>
              <span>Welcome, {user.username}!</span>
              <button onClick={logout} className="btn-logout">
                Logout
              </button>
            </>
          ) : (
            <span>Not logged in</span>
          )}
        </div>
      </div>
    </header>
  )
}

src/contexts/AuthContext.tsx

import { createContext, useContext, useState, type ReactNode } from 'react';
import { usePostHog } from '@posthog/react';

interface User {
  username: string;
  burritoConsiderations: number;
}

interface AuthContextType {
  user: User | null;
  login: (username: string, password: string) => Promise<boolean>;
  logout: () => void;
  incrementBurritoConsiderations: () => void;
}

const AuthContext = createContext<AuthContextType | undefined>(undefined);

const users: Map<string, User> = new Map();

export function AuthProvider({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
  // Use lazy initializer to read from localStorage only once on mount
  const [user, setUser] = useState<User | null>(() => {
    if (typeof window === 'undefined') return null;

    const storedUsername = localStorage.getItem('currentUser');
    if (storedUsername) {
      const existingUser = users.get(storedUsername);
      if (existingUser) {
        return existingUser;
      }
    }
    return null;
  });
  const posthog = usePostHog();

  const login = async (username: string, password: string): Promise<boolean> => {
    if (!username || !password) {
      return false;
    }

    // Get or create user in local map
    let user = users.get(username);
    const isNewUser = !user;

    if (!user) {
      user = { username, burritoConsiderations: 0 };
      users.set(username, user);
    }

    setUser(user);
    localStorage.setItem('currentUser', username);

    // Identify user in PostHog using username as distinct ID
    posthog.identify(username, {
      username: username,
      isNewUser: isNewUser,
    });

    // Capture login event
    posthog.capture('user_logged_in', {
      username: username,
      isNewUser: isNewUser,
    });

    return true;
  };

  const logout = () => {
    // Capture logout event before resetting
    posthog.capture('user_logged_out');
    posthog.reset();

    setUser(null);
    localStorage.removeItem('currentUser');
  };

  const incrementBurritoConsiderations = () => {
    if (user) {
      user.burritoConsiderations++;
      users.set(user.username, user);
      setUser({ ...user });
    }
  };

  return (
    <AuthContext.Provider value={{ user, login, logout, incrementBurritoConsiderations }}>
      {children}
    </AuthContext.Provider>
  );
}

export function useAuth() {
  const context = useContext(AuthContext);
  if (context === undefined) {
    throw new Error('useAuth must be used within an AuthProvider');
  }
  return context;
}

src/main.tsx

import { StrictMode } from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client'
import { RouterProvider, createRouter } from '@tanstack/react-router'

// Import the generated route tree
import { routeTree } from './routeTree.gen.ts'

import './styles.css'
import reportWebVitals from './reportWebVitals.ts'

// Create a new router instance
const router = createRouter({
  routeTree,
  context: {},
  defaultPreload: 'intent',
  scrollRestoration: true,
  defaultStructuralSharing: true,
  defaultPreloadStaleTime: 0,
})

// Register the router instance for type safety
declare module '@tanstack/react-router' {
  interface Register {
    router: typeof router
  }
}

// Render the app
const rootElement = document.getElementById('app')
if (rootElement && !rootElement.innerHTML) {
  const root = ReactDOM.createRoot(rootElement)
  root.render(
    <StrictMode>
      <RouterProvider router={router} />
    </StrictMode>,
  )
}

// If you want to start measuring performance in your app, pass a function
// to log results (for example: reportWebVitals(console.log))
// or send to an analytics endpoint. Learn more: https://bit.ly/CRA-vitals
reportWebVitals()

src/reportWebVitals.ts

const reportWebVitals = (onPerfEntry?: () => void) => {
  if (onPerfEntry && onPerfEntry instanceof Function) {
    import('web-vitals').then(({ onCLS, onINP, onFCP, onLCP, onTTFB }) => {
      onCLS(onPerfEntry)
      onINP(onPerfEntry)
      onFCP(onPerfEntry)
      onLCP(onPerfEntry)
      onTTFB(onPerfEntry)
    })
  }
}

export default reportWebVitals

src/routes/__root.tsx

import { Outlet, createRootRoute } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { TanStackRouterDevtoolsPanel } from '@tanstack/react-router-devtools'
import { TanStackDevtools } from '@tanstack/react-devtools'
import { PostHogProvider } from '@posthog/react'

import Header from '../components/Header'
import { AuthProvider } from '../contexts/AuthContext'

export const Route = createRootRoute({
  component: () => (
    <PostHogProvider
      apiKey={import.meta.env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN!}
      options={{
        api_host: '/ingest',
        ui_host: import.meta.env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST || 'https://us.posthog.com',
        defaults: '2026-01-30',
        capture_exceptions: true,
        debug: import.meta.env.DEV,
      }}
    >
      <AuthProvider>
        <Header />
        <main>
          <Outlet />
        </main>
        <TanStackDevtools
          config={{
            position: 'bottom-right',
          }}
          plugins={[
            {
              name: 'Tanstack Router',
              render: <TanStackRouterDevtoolsPanel />,
            },
          ]}
        />
      </AuthProvider>
    </PostHogProvider>
  ),
})

src/routes/burrito.tsx

import { useState } from 'react'
import { createFileRoute, useNavigate } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { usePostHog } from '@posthog/react'
import { useAuth } from '../contexts/AuthContext'

export const Route = createFileRoute('/burrito')({
  component: BurritoPage,
})

function BurritoPage() {
  const { user, incrementBurritoConsiderations } = useAuth()
  const navigate = useNavigate()
  const posthog = usePostHog()
  const [hasConsidered, setHasConsidered] = useState(false)

  // Redirect to home if not logged in
  if (!user) {
    navigate({ to: '/' })
    return null
  }

  const handleConsideration = () => {
    incrementBurritoConsiderations()
    setHasConsidered(true)
    setTimeout(() => setHasConsidered(false), 2000)

    // Capture burrito consideration event
    console.log('posthog', posthog)
    posthog.capture('burrito_considered', {
      total_considerations: user.burritoConsiderations + 1,
      username: user.username,
    })
  }

  return (
    <div className="container">
      <h1>Burrito consideration zone</h1>
      <p>Take a moment to truly consider the potential of burritos.</p>

      <div style={{ textAlign: 'center' }}>
        <button onClick={handleConsideration} className="btn-burrito">
          I have considered the burrito potential
        </button>

        {hasConsidered && (
          <p className="success">
            Thank you for your consideration! Count: {user.burritoConsiderations}
          </p>
        )}
      </div>

      <div className="stats">
        <h3>Consideration stats</h3>
        <p>Total considerations: {user.burritoConsiderations}</p>
      </div>
    </div>
  )
}

src/routes/index.tsx

import { useState } from 'react'
import { createFileRoute } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { useAuth } from '../contexts/AuthContext'

export const Route = createFileRoute('/')({
  component: Home,
})

function Home() {
  const { user, login } = useAuth()
  const [username, setUsername] = useState('')
  const [password, setPassword] = useState('')
  const [error, setError] = useState('')

  const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
    e.preventDefault()
    setError('')

    try {
      const success = await login(username, password)
      if (success) {
        setUsername('')
        setPassword('')
      } else {
        setError('Please provide both username and password')
      }
    } catch (err) {
      console.error('Login failed:', err)
      setError('An error occurred during login')
    }
  }

  if (user) {
    return (
      <div className="container">
        <h1>Welcome back, {user.username}!</h1>
        <p>You are now logged in. Feel free to explore:</p>
        <ul>
          <li>Consider the potential of burritos</li>
          <li>View your profile and statistics</li>
        </ul>
      </div>
    )
  }

  return (
    <div className="container">
      <h1>Welcome to Burrito Consideration App</h1>
      <p>Please sign in to begin your burrito journey</p>

      <form onSubmit={handleSubmit} className="form">
        <div className="form-group">
          <label htmlFor="username">Username:</label>
          <input
            type="text"
            id="username"
            value={username}
            onChange={(e) => setUsername(e.target.value)}
            placeholder="Enter any username"
          />
        </div>

        <div className="form-group">
          <label htmlFor="password">Password:</label>
          <input
            type="password"
            id="password"
            value={password}
            onChange={(e) => setPassword(e.target.value)}
            placeholder="Enter any password"
          />
        </div>

        {error && <p className="error">{error}</p>}

        <button type="submit" className="btn-primary">
          Sign In
        </button>
      </form>

      <p className="note">
        Note: This is a demo app. Use any username and password to sign in.
      </p>
    </div>
  )
}

src/routes/profile.tsx

import { createFileRoute, useNavigate } from '@tanstack/react-router'
import { usePostHog } from 'posthog-js/react'
import { useAuth } from '../contexts/AuthContext'

export const Route = createFileRoute('/profile')({
  component: ProfilePage,
})

function ProfilePage() {
  const { user } = useAuth()
  const navigate = useNavigate()
  const posthog = usePostHog()

  // Redirect to home if not logged in
  if (!user) {
    navigate({ to: '/' })
    return null
  }

  const triggerTestError = () => {
    try {
      throw new Error('Test error for PostHog error tracking')
    } catch (err) {
      posthog.captureException(err)
      console.error('Captured error:', err)
      alert('Error captured and sent to PostHog!')
    }
  }

  return (
    <div className="container">
      <h1>User Profile</h1>

      <div className="stats">
        <h2>Your Information</h2>
        <p>
          <strong>Username:</strong> {user.username}
        </p>
        <p>
          <strong>Burrito Considerations:</strong> {user.burritoConsiderations}
        </p>
      </div>

      <div style={{ marginTop: '2rem' }}>
        <button
          onClick={triggerTestError}
          className="btn-primary"
          style={{ backgroundColor: '#dc3545' }}
        >
          Trigger Test Error (for PostHog)
        </button>
      </div>

      <div style={{ marginTop: '2rem' }}>
        <h3>Your Burrito Journey</h3>
        {user.burritoConsiderations === 0 ? (
          <p>You haven't considered any burritos yet. Visit the Burrito Consideration page to start!</p>
        ) : user.burritoConsiderations === 1 ? (
          <p>You've considered the burrito potential once. Keep going!</p>
        ) : user.burritoConsiderations < 5 ? (
          <p>You're getting the hang of burrito consideration!</p>
        ) : user.burritoConsiderations < 10 ? (
          <p>You're becoming a burrito consideration expert!</p>
        ) : (
          <p>You are a true burrito consideration master!</p>
        )}
      </div>
    </div>
  )
}

vite.config.ts

import { defineConfig, loadEnv } from 'vite'
import viteReact from '@vitejs/plugin-react'
import tailwindcss from '@tailwindcss/vite'

import { tanstackRouter } from '@tanstack/router-plugin/vite'
import { fileURLToPath, URL } from 'node:url'

// https://vitejs.dev/config/
export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => {
  const env = loadEnv(mode, process.cwd(), '')

  return {
    plugins: [
      tanstackRouter({
        target: 'react',
        autoCodeSplitting: true,
      }),
      viteReact(),
      tailwindcss(),
    ],
    resolve: {
      alias: {
        '@': fileURLToPath(new URL('./src', import.meta.url)),
      },
    },
    server: {
      proxy: {
        '/ingest': {
          target: env.VITE_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST || 'https://us.i.posthog.com',
          changeOrigin: true,
          rewrite: (path) => path.replace(/^\/ingest/, ''),
        },
      },
    },
  }
})

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by
PostHog
Publisher
PostHog (Official)
Source
PostHog/skills · skills/posthog/integration/skills/react-tanstack-router-file-based · commit a5d30e7
Licence
MIT License (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced
Also distributed in
PostHog/skills

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by PostHog or PostHog.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download integration-react-tanstack-router-file-based.zip