Getting Started with Tanstack/Start

Package Setup

Install the packages

npm install uploadthing @uploadthing/react

Add env variables

UPLOADTHING_TOKEN=... # A token for interacting with the SDK

If you don't already have a uploadthing token, sign up ↗ and create one from the dashboard! ↗

All files uploaded to uploadthing are associated with a FileRoute. The following is a very minimalistic example, with a single FileRoute "imageUploader". Think of a FileRoute similar to an endpoint, it has:

Permitted types ["image", "video", etc]
Max file size
(Optional) middleware to authenticate and tag requests
onUploadComplete callback for when uploads are completed

To get full insight into what you can do with the FileRoutes, please refer to the File Router API.

app/server/uploadthing.ts

import { createUploadthing, UploadThingError } from "uploadthing/server";
import type { FileRouter } from "uploadthing/server";

const f = createUploadthing();

const auth = (req: Request) => ({ id: "fakeId" }); // Fake auth function

// FileRouter for your app, can contain multiple FileRoutes
export const uploadRouter = {
  // Define as many FileRoutes as you like, each with a unique routeSlug
  imageUploader: f({ image: { maxFileSize: "4MB" } })
    // Set permissions and file types for this FileRoute
    .middleware(async ({ req }) => {
      // This code runs on your server before upload
      const user = await auth(req);

      // If you throw, the user will not be able to upload
      if (!user) throw new UploadThingError("Unauthorized");

      // Whatever is returned here is accessible in onUploadComplete as `metadata`
      return { userId: user.id };
    })
    .onUploadComplete(async ({ metadata, file }) => {
      // This code RUNS ON YOUR SERVER after upload
      console.log("Upload complete for userId:", metadata.userId);

      console.log("file url", file.url);

      // !!! Whatever is returned here is sent to the clientside `onClientUploadComplete` callback
      return { uploadedBy: metadata.userId };
    }),
} satisfies FileRouter;

export type UploadRouter = typeof uploadRouter;

Create an API route using the FileRouter

File path here doesn't matter, you can serve this from any route. We recommend serving it from /api/uploadthing.

Make sure to configure API entry handler in app/api.ts. For more information, please refer to the @tanstack/start docs ↗.

app/routes/api/uploadthing.ts

import { createAPIFileRoute } from "@tanstack/start/api";

import { createRouteHandler } from "uploadthing/server";

import { uploadRouter } from "../../server/uploadthing";

const handlers = createRouteHandler({ router: uploadRouter });

export const Route = createAPIFileRoute("/api/uploadthing")({
  GET: handlers,
  POST: handlers,
});

See configuration options in server API reference

Create The UploadThing Components

We provide components to make uploading easier. We highly recommend re-exporting them with the types assigned, but you CAN import the components individually from @uploadthing/react instead.

app/utils/uploadthing.ts

import {
  generateReactHelpers,
  generateUploadButton,
  generateUploadDropzone,
} from "@uploadthing/react";

import type { UploadRouter } from "../server/uploadthing";

export const UploadButton = generateUploadButton<UploadRouter>();
export const UploadDropzone = generateUploadDropzone<UploadRouter>();
export const { useUploadThing } = generateReactHelpers<UploadRouter>();

To learn more about the components, check out the react API reference.

Add UploadThing's Styles

Wrap your Tailwind config with the withUt helper. You can learn more about our Tailwind helper in the "Theming" page

import { withUt } from "uploadthing/tw";

export default withUt({
  // Your existing Tailwind config
  content: ["./src/**/*.{ts,tsx,mdx}"],
  ...
});

Mount A Button And Upload!

app/routes/index.tsx

import { createFileRoute } from "@tanstack/react-router";

import { UploadButton } from "../utils/uploadthing";

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

function Home() {
  return <UploadButton endpoint="imageUploader" />;
}

🎉 You're Done!

Want to customize the components? Check out the "Theming" page

Want to make your own components? Check out our useUploadThing hook