Convex with TanStack Start

Using React Query hooks for data from Convex

TanStack Start apps can use React Query (TanStack Query for React) hooks to take advantage of React Query's excellent Start integration. Convex queries are exposed through query options factories like convexQuery().

Instead of React Query's standard interval and activity-based polling and manual invalidation, updates are streamed down WebSocket to update the Query Cache directly for live, always-up-to-date results.

Open this page in another tab or on your phone and send a message or to see these updates pushed live.

9
User 9346/26/25, 2:25 PM

hey James- what's your favorite ice cream place?

2
User 2686/26/25, 2:25 PM

hello Emma... what's your favorite ice cream place?

7
User 746/26/25, 2:25 PM

hello Nipunn... Could you let the customer know we've fixed their issue?

7
User 7136/26/25, 2:25 PM

hi Jamie- how was your weekend?

7
User 7036/26/25, 2:25 PM

hello Jamie! how was your weekend?

1
User 1876/26/25, 2:25 PM

hello Nipunn; Could you let the customer know we've fixed their issue?

5
User 5466/26/25, 2:25 PM

hello James! how was your weekend?

3
User 3306/26/25, 2:25 PM

hey Jamie, Could you let the customer know we've fixed their issue?

3
User 3996/26/25, 2:25 PM

hey Emma! Could you let the customer know we've fixed their issue?

5
User 5446/26/25, 2:25 PM

Hi James; how's the weather in SF?

1
User 19176/26/25, 2:24 PM

hello Nipunn; what's your favorite ice cream place?

5
User 57926/24/25, 11:52 AM

hey James, how's the weather in SF?

7
User 75526/20/25, 11:23 AM

hey Emma! how was your weekend?

1
User 12416/20/25, 11:19 AM

hey James, Could you let the customer know we've fixed their issue?

8
User 82386/16/25, 6:01 PM

hey James; how's the weather in SF?

6
User 6606/15/25, 4:08 PM

hey Nipunn- how was your weekend?

8
User 8546/15/25, 4:08 PM

hey Nipunn! I'll be late to make the meeting tomorrow morning

2
User 2326/15/25, 4:08 PM

Hi Emma; how was your weekend?

7
User 7786/15/25, 4:08 PM

hey Nipunn; Could you let the customer know we've fixed their issue?

5
User 5206/15/25, 4:08 PM

hi Emma! what's your favorite ice cream place?

1import { useQuery } from "@tanstack/react-query";
2import { convexQuery } from "@convex-dev/react-query";
3import { api } from "../convex/_generated/api";
4

5const messagesQuery = convexQuery(
6  api.messages.listMessages,
7  { channel: "chatty" }
8)
9

10// inside a React component
11const { data, isPending } = useQuery(messagesQuery);
12

13// in an event handler, useEffect, or loader
14queryClient.prefetchQuery(messagesQuery);
15

16// adding more query options to convexQuery()
17const { data } = useQuery({
18  ...convexQuery(api.messages.listMessages, {}),
19  initialData: [],
20  gcTime: 10000,
21});

Already used Convex React hooks?

If you've used Convex React hooks React Query hooks are going to familiar. Instead of returning the data directly, this useQuery() returns an object with a .data property along with other metadata. The hook accepts a single object, which you'll mostly populate with the return value of the convexQuery()hook.

The same React Query hooks can be used for fetch endpoints and Convex actions for standard interval or activity-based polling while Convex queries benefit from the live update behavior.

What does this give you? It's not just the often-asked-for isLoading and error properties or simple interop with other server endpoints or introspection from the TanStack Query devtools. It's React Query's Router integration with the TanStack Start providing things like server-side rendering and live updating queries in a single hook.

Learn More

TanStack Query (AKA React Query) docs

Using TanStack Query with Convex

The @convex-dev/react-query library links the TanStack Query Client with the Convex client