vuejs/router vue-router

Version: 5.0.3 (Feb 2026) Deps: @babel/generator@^7.28.6, @vue-macros/common@^3.1.1, @vue/devtools-api@^8.0.6, ast-walker-scope@^0.8.3, chokidar@^5.0.0, json5@^2.2.3, local-pkg@^1.1.2, magic-string@^0.30.21, mlly@^1.8.0, muggle-string@^0.4.1, pathe@^2.0.3, picomatch@^4.0.3, scule@^1.3.0, tinyglobby@^0.2.15, unplugin@^3.0.0, unplugin-utils@^0.3.1, yaml@^2.8.2 Tags: next: 4.0.13 (Feb 2022), legacy: 3.6.5 (Sep 2022), edge: 4.4.0-alpha.3 (Jun 2024), beta: 5.0.0-beta.2 (Jan 2026), latest: 5.0.3 (Feb 2026)

References: Docs — API reference, guides

API Changes

This section documents version-specific API changes — prioritize recent major/minor releases.

• NEW: vue-router/vite — v5 ships the Vite plugin (formerly unplugin-vue-router/vite) directly in the core package; import from vue-router/vite instead source

• NEW: vue-router/auto-routes — v5 export that provides the auto-generated file-based route list; previously required unplugin-vue-router as a separate package source

• NEW: vue-router/unplugin — v5 export for Webpack/Rollup/esbuild plugins and utilities (VueRouterAutoImports, EditableTreeNode, createRoutesContext, etc.); previously imported from unplugin-vue-router source

• NEW: DataLoaderPlugin + defineBasicLoader (experimental) — v5 adds data loaders directly to vue-router/experimental; previously in unplugin-vue-router/data-loaders. Install DataLoaderPlugin before the router with app.use(DataLoaderPlugin, { router }) source

• NEW: defineColadaLoader (experimental) — Pinia Colada-backed loader available at vue-router/experimental/pinia-colada; previously unplugin-vue-router/data-loaders/pinia-colada source

• NEW: NavigationResult (experimental) — class from vue-router/experimental returned inside a loader to redirect during navigation (e.g. return new NavigationResult('/login')); previously did not exist in vue-router source

• NEW: Volar plugins moved to vue-router/volar/sfc-typed-router and vue-router/volar/sfc-route-blocks — previously unplugin-vue-router/volar/sfc-typed-router and unplugin-vue-router/volar/sfc-route-blocks source

• NEW: TypesConfig module augmentation — v4.4+ interface used to register RouteNamedMap for typed routes; augment with declare module 'vue-router' { interface TypesConfig { RouteNamedMap: RouteNamedMap } } source

• BREAKING: IIFE build no longer bundles @vue/devtools-api — v5 upgraded devtools-api to v8 which has no IIFE build; affects CDN/script-tag setups that relied on the bundled devtools source

• NEW: Query params optional by default (experimental) — v5 file-based routing makes query params optional in typed routes by default source

Also changed: unplugin-vue-router types/utilities moved to vue-router/unplugin (renamed) · route-map.d.ts replaces typed-router.d.ts (renamed) · meta.loaders array on route records for manually connecting data loaders (NEW, experimental) · router.currentRoute is Ref<RouteLocationNormalizedLoaded> — access via .value (v4 BREAKING) · router.onReady() removed — use router.isReady() returning a Promise (v4 BREAKING) · scrollBehavior x/y renamed to left/top (v4 BREAKING)

Best Practices

• Use route.meta directly in guards instead of iterating to.matched — Vue Router merges all ancestor meta fields non-recursively, so to.meta.requiresAuth already reflects inherited values from parent routes source

• Extend the RouteMeta interface via module augmentation to type all meta fields — this enforces that every route declares required fields at compile time rather than relying on runtime checks source

• Use router.beforeResolve (not beforeEach) for operations that must run after async components are resolved — it fires after all in-component guards and async route components are ready, making it the correct place for camera permission checks or final data validation source

• Use inject() inside navigation guards (global or per-route) to access Pinia stores and provided values — this is supported since Vue 3.3 and avoids importing stores outside of setup context source

• Avoid the next callback in guards — return values (false, a route location, or nothing) instead; next is error-prone because it must be called exactly once per code path and is considered a legacy API source

• await router.push() and check the resolved value to detect navigation failures — the promise resolves to a NavigationFailure when blocked, or undefined on success; use isNavigationFailure(result, NavigationFailureType.aborted) to distinguish the specific failure type source

• Set props: true (or a function) on route records to decouple components from useRoute() — components receiving params as props are reusable and testable without a router instance; use the function form (props: route => ({ query: route.query.q })) to map query params or cast types source

• Watch specific route properties rather than the whole route object — useRoute() returns a reactive object, but watching it entirely triggers on any change (hash, query, params); narrow the watcher to () => route.params.id to avoid unnecessary fetches source

• (experimental) Use defineBasicLoader / defineColadaLoader exported from page components for navigation-aware data fetching — loaders exported from lazy-loaded route components are automatically connected to the navigation lifecycle, block the transition until resolved, and expose isLoading/error reactively; set lazy: true for non-critical data that should not block navigation source