Agent Skills (TanStack Intent)

You're building with TanStack Table and using an AI coding agent—Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, or similar. The agent keeps suggesting v8 APIs such as useReactTable, configures row models without explicit features, or renders with adapter patterns that no longer match v9. By the end of this guide, your agent will load TanStack Table's bundled skills automatically whenever you work on table code—and those skills will stay in sync with whichever TanStack Table version your project installs.

What are Agent Skills?#

Agent Skills are markdown documents (SKILL.md) that ship inside npm packages and tell AI coding agents how to use a library correctly—which functions to use, which patterns to avoid, and when to reach for a particular feature. The format is an open standard supported by Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, and others.

TanStack Table publishes skills inside its packages so the guidance travels with npm update instead of being pinned in a model's training data or copied into an agent configuration file manually.

Skills Shipped by TanStack Table#

The skills available to your agent depend on which packages your project installs:

Each skill lives under node_modules/<package>/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md once the package is installed. Skills can declare prerequisites, so your agent can load the core guidance before a framework or feature-specific skill.

Step 1: Install TanStack Table#

If you haven't already, install the adapter for your framework. See Installation for the full package list.

pnpm add @tanstack/react-table

Framework adapters install @tanstack/table-core as a dependency, so both the framework-specific and core skills are available to the installer.

Step 2: Run intent install#

From the root of your project, run:

npx @tanstack/intent@latest install

The CLI writes lightweight skill-loading guidance into your agent's config file. That guidance tells the agent to discover skills from the packages installed in your project and load the most relevant one before it starts a substantial task.

By default the guidance lands in AGENTS.md. The CLI can also update:

• CLAUDE.md—Claude Code
• .cursorrules—Cursor
• .github/copilot-instructions.md—GitHub Copilot

Step 3: Review the Generated Guidance#

The install command appends (or creates) an intent-skills block that looks like this:

<!-- intent-skills:start -->

## Skill Loading

Before editing files for a substantial task:

- Run `npx @tanstack/intent@latest list` from the workspace root to see available local skills.
- If a listed skill matches the task, run `npx @tanstack/intent@latest load <package>#<skill>` before changing files.
- Use the loaded `SKILL.md` guidance while making the change.
- Monorepos: when working across packages, run the skill check from the workspace root and prefer the local skill for the package being changed.
- Multiple matches: prefer the most specific local skill for the package or concern you are changing; load additional skills only when the task spans multiple packages or concerns.

<!-- intent-skills:end -->

Keep the block near the top of the config file so your agent sees it before task-specific instructions.

You can inspect and load Table skills yourself with the same commands:

npx @tanstack/intent@latest list
npx @tanstack/intent@latest load @tanstack/react-table#getting-started
npx @tanstack/intent@latest load @tanstack/table-core#sorting

If you prefer explicit task-to-skill entries, run npx @tanstack/intent@latest install --map. Mapping mode scans your installed intent-enabled packages and writes compact id, run, and for entries into the managed block.

Step 4: Confirm It's Wired Up#

Open a fresh session in your coding agent and ask it to build something with TanStack Table—for example: "Build a sortable, paginated React table with TanStack Table v9."

You should see:

• The agent uses useTable() instead of the v8 useReactTable() API.
• Features and row-model slots are declared explicitly with tableFeatures().
• Static data, columns, and features keep stable references.
• The adapter's current rendering APIs are used instead of copied v8 rendering patterns.
• Table owns the headless model and state while your application owns markup, styles, interactions, and accessibility.

If the agent still falls back to v8 patterns, reopen its config file and confirm the intent-skills block is present. You can also run intent list to confirm that the installed Table packages are detected and intent load to inspect the matching guidance directly.

Keeping Skills Current#

Skills are versioned with each package. When you update your TanStack Table packages, the SKILL.md files under node_modules update with them—no CLI rerun is needed. If you use explicit mappings, rerun npx @tanstack/intent@latest install --map after adding another intent-enabled package, such as a Table devtools adapter, or when you want to refresh the mappings.

Using Skills Without the CLI#

If you'd rather wire skills in yourself, reference them directly from node_modules in any agent config file. The minimum your agent needs is a pointer to the relevant file:

When working on TanStack React Table code, read and follow:
node_modules/@tanstack/react-table/skills/getting-started/SKILL.md

The CLI is recommended because it discovers installed packages automatically and stays consistent with the Agent Skills standard, but the underlying file paths are stable.

Learn More#

• TanStack Intent documentation—the CLI's full reference, including scaffold, validate, and CI setup for library maintainers.
• Agent Skills registry—browse other intent-enabled packages.