Nested Routes with React Router V4 / V5

I am currently struggling with nesting routes using react router v4.

The closest example was the route config in the React-Router v4 Documentation.

I want to split my app in 2 different parts.

A frontend and an admin area.

I was thinking about something like this:

<Match pattern="/" component={Frontpage}>
  <Match pattern="/home" component={HomePage} />
  <Match pattern="/about" component={AboutPage} />
</Match>
<Match pattern="/admin" component={Backend}>
  <Match pattern="/home" component={Dashboard} />
  <Match pattern="/users" component={UserPage} />
</Match>
<Miss component={NotFoundPage} />

The frontend has a different layout and style than the admin area. So within the frontpage the route home, about and so one should be the child routes.

/home should be rendered into the Frontpage component and /admin/home should be rendered within the Backend component.

I tried some other variations but I always ended in not hitting /home or /admin/home.

Final solution:

This is the final solution I am using right now. This example also has a global error component like a traditional 404 page.

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { Switch, Route, Redirect, Link } from 'react-router-dom';

const Home = () => <div><h1>Home</h1></div>;
const User = () => <div><h1>User</h1></div>;
const Error = () => <div><h1>Error</h1></div>

const Frontend = props => {
  console.log('Frontend');
  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Frontend</h2>
      <p><Link to="/">Root</Link></p>
      <p><Link to="/user">User</Link></p>
      <p><Link to="/admin">Backend</Link></p>
      <p><Link to="/the-route-is-swiggity-swoute">Swiggity swooty</Link></p>
      <Switch>
        <Route exact path='/' component={Home}/>
        <Route path='/user' component={User}/>
        <Redirect to={{
          state: { error: true }
        }} />
      </Switch>
      <footer>Bottom</footer>
    </div>
  );
}

const Backend = props => {
  console.log('Backend');
  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Backend</h2>
      <p><Link to="/admin">Root</Link></p>
      <p><Link to="/admin/user">User</Link></p>
      <p><Link to="/">Frontend</Link></p>
      <p><Link to="/admin/the-route-is-swiggity-swoute">Swiggity swooty</Link></p>
      <Switch>
        <Route exact path='/admin' component={Home}/>
        <Route path='/admin/user' component={User}/>
        <Redirect to={{
          state: { error: true }
        }} />
      </Switch>
      <footer>Bottom</footer>
    </div>
  );
}

class GlobalErrorSwitch extends Component {
  previousLocation = this.props.location

  componentWillUpdate(nextProps) {
    const { location } = this.props;

    if (nextProps.history.action !== 'POP'
      && (!location.state || !location.state.error)) {
        this.previousLocation = this.props.location
    };
  }

  render() {
    const { location } = this.props;
    const isError = !!(
      location.state &&
      location.state.error &&
      this.previousLocation !== location // not initial render
    )

    return (
      <div>
        {          
          isError
          ? <Route component={Error} />
          : <Switch location={isError ? this.previousLocation : location}>
              <Route path="/admin" component={Backend} />
              <Route path="/" component={Frontend} />
            </Switch>}
      </div>
    )
  }
}

class App extends Component {
  render() {
    return <Route component={GlobalErrorSwitch} />
  }
}

export default App;
6

13 Answers

In react-router-v4 you don't nest <Routes />. Instead, you put them inside another <Component />.


For instance

<Route path='/topics' component={Topics}>
  <Route path='/topics/:topicId' component={Topic} />
</Route>

should become

<Route path='/topics' component={Topics} />

with

const Topics = ({ match }) => (
  <div>
    <h2>Topics</h2>
    <Link to={`${match.url}/exampleTopicId`}>
      Example topic
    </Link>
    <Route path={`${match.path}/:topicId`} component={Topic}/>
  </div>
) 

Here is a basic example straight from the react-router documentation.

11

react-router v6

Update for 2022 - v6 has nested Route components that Just Work™.

This question is about v4/v5, but the best answer now is just use v6 if you can!

See example code in this blog post. If you can't upgrade just yet, however...

Marcus Vance

Marcus Vance

Cybersecurity & Digital Privacy Researcher

Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.