Component Libraries > yew-nav-link

A navigational link that is aware of its active state based on the current route in the application.

Package 6 stars GitHub

yew-nav-link

Enterprise-grade navigation library for Yew — automatic active state detection and a complete component system.

Overview
Installation
Requirements
Quick Start
Components
CSS Integration
- Bootstrap 5
- Tailwind CSS
Architecture
Examples
API Reference
Migration Guides
Coverage
Contributing
License

Overview

yew-nav-link is a comprehensive navigation library for the Yew web framework. It provides:

Feature	Description
NavLink	Drop-in replacement for Yew Router's `<Link>` with automatic `active` class detection
Component System	15+ ready-to-use UI components (tabs, dropdowns, pagination, badges, icons)
Hooks	Reactive hooks for route state, active checking, breadcrumbs, and programmatic navigation
Utilities	Path manipulation, URL encoding, keyboard navigation, and query string handling
Customization	Custom CSS classes, programmatic navigation, and extensible breadcrumb providers

The core NavLink component eliminates manual active state tracking. It compares the current route against the target on every render and applies the active CSS class automatically — zero configuration required.

Installation

[dependencies]
yew-nav-link = "0.9"

Requirements

Dependency	Version
Rust	1.85+
Edition	2024
Yew	0.23+
yew-router	0.20+

Quick Start

Component Syntax

use yew::prelude::*;
use yew_nav_link::NavLink;
use yew_router::prelude::*;

#[derive(Clone, PartialEq, Routable)]
enum Route {
    #[at("/")]
    Home,
    #[at("/about")]
    About,
}

#[component]
fn Navigation() -> Html {
    html! {
        <nav>
            <NavLink<Route> to={Route::Home}>{ "Home" }</NavLink<Route>>
            <NavLink<Route> to={Route::About}>{ "About" }</NavLink<Route>>
        </nav>
    }
}

When the user visits /about, the second link automatically receives class="nav-link active".

Function Syntax

use yew::prelude::*;
use yew_nav_link::{nav_link, Match};
use yew_router::prelude::*;

#[component]
fn Menu() -> Html {
    html! {
        <nav>
            { nav_link(Route::Home, "Home", Match::Exact) }
            { nav_link(Route::Docs, "Docs", Match::Partial) }
        </nav>
    }
}

Partial Matching

Keep parent links highlighted on nested routes:

html! {
    <nav>
        // Active on /docs, /docs/api, /docs/anything
        <NavLink<Route> to={Route::Docs} partial=true>{ "Docs" }</NavLink<Route>>
    </nav>
}

Partial matching is segment-aware: /docs matches /docs/api but not /documentation.

Custom CSS Classes

Customize the default nav-link and active classes:

html! {
    <nav>
        // Custom base class
        <NavLink<Route> to={Route::Home} class="menu-item">{ "Home" }</NavLink<Route>>
        
        // Custom active class
        <NavLink<Route> to={Route::About} active_class="is-selected">{ "About" }</NavLink<Route>>
        
        // Both custom
        <NavLink<Route> to={Route::Contact} class="sidebar-link" active_class="highlighted">{ "Contact" }</NavLink<Route>>
    </nav>
}

Programmatic Navigation

use yew_nav_link::hooks::use_navigation;

#[component]
fn MyComponent() -> Html {
    let navigation = use_navigation::<Route>();
    
    html! {
        <button onclick={navigation.on_click(|| navigation.push(Route::About))}>
            Go to About
        </button>
        
        <button onclick={navigation.on_click(|| navigation.replace(Route::Home))}>
            Replace with Home
        </button>
        
        <button onclick={navigation.on_click(|| navigation.back())}>
            Back
        </button>
    }
}

Custom Breadcrumb Providers

use yew_nav_link::hooks::{use_breadcrumbs, BreadcrumbLabelProvider};

#[derive(Clone)]
struct MyBreadcrumbProvider;

impl BreadcrumbLabelProvider<Route> for MyBreadcrumbProvider {
    fn get_label(&self, route: &Route) -> String {
        match route {
            Route::Home => "Homepage".to_string(),
            Route::About => "About Us".to_string(),
            Route::User { id } => format!("User #{}", id),
            _ => route.to_string(),
        }
    }
}

#[component]
fn MyComponent() -> Html {
    let breadcrumbs = use_breadcrumbs::<Route, MyBreadcrumbProvider>(MyBreadcrumbProvider);
    
    html! {
        <nav aria-label="Breadcrumb">
            { for breadcrumbs.into_iter().map(|item| {
                html! {
                    <span>{ item.label }</span>
                }
            }) }
        </nav>
    }
}

Components

Core Navigation

Component	Purpose
`NavLink<R>`	Navigation link with automatic active state
[`NavList`]	Accessible navigation list container (`<ul>` with ARIA)
[`NavItem`]	Navigation list item (`<li>`)
[`NavDivider`]	Visual separator between navigation groups

UI Components

Component	Purpose
[`NavBadge`]	Badge/counter for navigation items
[`NavHeader`]	Section header for navigation groups
[`NavText`]	Plain text element within navigation
[`NavIcon`]	Icon with configurable size
[`NavLinkWithIcon`]	Link with integrated icon
[`NavDropdown`]	Dropdown menu with items and dividers
[`NavTabs`]	Tabbed navigation container
[`NavTab`]	Individual tab with active state
[`NavTabPanel`]	Content panel for tabs
[`Pagination`]	Page navigation controls
[`PageItem`]	Individual page indicator
[`PageLink`]	Clickable page link

Hooks

Hook	Returns	Description
`use_route_info()`	`RouteInfo<R>`	Current route, path, and query parameters
`use_is_active(route)`	`bool`	Whether the given route is currently active
`use_is_exact_active(route)`	`bool`	Whether the route matches exactly
`use_is_partial_active(route)`	`bool`	Whether the route is a prefix of the current path
`use_breadcrumbs()`	`Vec<BreadcrumbItem>`	Auto-generated breadcrumb trail from current route
`use_navigation<R>()`	`Navigation<R>`	Programmatic navigation (push, replace, go back/forward)
`use_route_params()`	`RouteParams`	URL route parameters (`/users/:id`)
`use_query_params()`	`QueryParams`	URL query string parameters

Utilities

Function	Description
`is_absolute(path)`	Check if a path starts with `/`
`join_paths(a, b)`	Join two path segments safely
`normalize_path(path)`	Remove duplicate slashes and trailing slashes
`urlencoding_encode(s)`	Percent-encode a string for URLs
`urlencoding_decode(s)`	Decode a percent-encoded string
`handle_arrow_key(config, key)`	Keyboard navigation handler
`handle_home_end(config, key)`	Home/End key handler for navigation

CSS Integration

Bootstrap 5

Works out of the box — nav-link and active are native Bootstrap classes.

<ul class="nav nav-pills">
    <li class="nav-item">
        <NavLink<Route> to={Route::Home}>{ "Home" }</NavLink<Route>>
        <!-- Renders: <a class="nav-link active" href="/">Home</a> -->
    </li>
</ul>

Tailwind CSS

Define your own nav-link and active styles:

.nav-link {
    @apply px-4 py-2 text-gray-600 hover:text-gray-900 transition-colors;
}
.nav-link.active {
    @apply text-blue-600 font-semibold border-b-2 border-blue-600;
}

Architecture

yew-nav-link
├── active_link       # Core NavLink component + Match enum
├── nav               # Primitives: NavList, NavItem, NavDivider
├── components        # UI: Badge, Dropdown, Icon, Tabs, Pagination
├── hooks             # Reactive and programmatic route/navigation helpers
├── utils             # Path, URL, keyboard navigation utilities
├── attrs             # Type-safe attribute builders
└── errors            # NavError, NavResult types

See the source code and inline documentation for detailed design documentation.

Examples

Run the comprehensive interactive demo:

rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown
cargo install trunk

cd examples/comprehensive
trunk serve

Open http://127.0.0.1:8080 for live demos, code snippets, and architecture diagrams for every component.

API Reference

`NavLink<R>`

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`to`	`R: Routable`	required	Target route
`children`	`Children`	required	Link content
`partial`	`bool`	`false`	Enable prefix matching
`class`	`&str`	`"nav-link"`	Custom CSS class (replaces default)
`active_class`	`&str`	`"active"`	Custom active state class

`Match`

Variant	Behavior
`Exact`	Active only on exact path match
`Partial`	Active when current path starts with target (segment-wise)

`nav_link<R>` Function

fn nav_link<R: Routable + PartialEq + Clone + 'static>(
    to: R,
    children: &str,
    match_mode: Match,
) -> Html

`BreadcrumbItem`

pub struct BreadcrumbItem {
    pub label: String,
    pub route: Option<String>,
    pub is_current: bool,
}

Migration Guides

From	To	Guide
0.5.x	0.6.x	See CHANGELOG.md
0.6.x	0.7.x	See CHANGELOG.md

Coverage

Target: 95%+ coverage, tracked via Codecov.

Sunburst

The inner-most circle is the entire project, moving outward are folders then individual files. Size and color represent statement count and coverage.

Grid

Each block represents a single file. Size and color represent statement count and coverage.

Icicle

Top section is the entire project, proceeding through folders to individual files.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the contribution workflow and code standards.

License

Licensed under the MIT License.

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