fix(react-router): fix custom link type ref inference

[CynicalBusiness]

Custom links created by createLink would incorrectly infer ref values for non-intrinsic components (such as those with their own ref prop like the documented example), which would result in the ref being "double-wrapped". That is:

Before:

{
  // Effective LinkComponentReactProps<TComp>
  // ...
  ref?: React.Ref<React.Ref<HTMLAnchorElement> | undefined> | undefined
  // notice the ref has been "ref'ed" twice
}

After fix:

{
  // Effective LinkComponentReactProps<TComp>
  // ...
  ref?: React.Ref<HTMLAnchorElement> | undefined>
}

This patch, the equivilant applied directly to link.d.ts via yarn patch, has been our workaround and it appears to work well:

@tanstack-react-router-npm-1.120.3-f6c72d7c75.patch

diff --git a/dist/esm/link.d.ts b/dist/esm/link.d.ts
index f7a4dfc2678f3669ee48b97c22e4c69d2f3ff195..be0adda3bf4302466c3c4b4d73ff6c78474a237f 100644
--- a/dist/esm/link.d.ts
+++ b/dist/esm/link.d.ts
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ import { ValidateLinkOptions, ValidateLinkOptionsArray } from './typePrimitives.
 import * as React from 'react';
 export declare function useLinkProps<TRouter extends AnyRouter = RegisteredRouter, const TFrom extends string = string, const TTo extends string | undefined = undefined, const TMaskFrom extends string = TFrom, const TMaskTo extends string = ''>(options: UseLinkPropsOptions<TRouter, TFrom, TTo, TMaskFrom, TMaskTo>, forwardedRef?: React.ForwardedRef<Element>): React.ComponentPropsWithRef<'a'>;
 type UseLinkReactProps<TComp> = TComp extends keyof React.JSX.IntrinsicElements ? React.JSX.IntrinsicElements[TComp] : React.PropsWithoutRef<TComp extends React.ComponentType<infer TProps> ? TProps : never> & React.RefAttributes<TComp extends React.FC<{
-    ref: infer TRef;
+    ref: React.Ref<infer TRef>;
 }> | React.Component<{
-    ref: infer TRef;
+    ref: React.Ref<infer TRef>;
 }> ? TRef : never>;
 export type UseLinkPropsOptions<TRouter extends AnyRouter = RegisteredRouter, TFrom extends RoutePaths<TRouter['routeTree']> | string = string, TTo extends string | undefined = '.', TMaskFrom extends RoutePaths<TRouter['routeTree']> | string = TFrom, TMaskTo extends string = '.'> = ActiveLinkOptions<'a', TRouter, TFrom, TTo, TMaskFrom, TMaskTo> & UseLinkReactProps<'a'>;
 export type ActiveLinkOptions<TComp = 'a', TRouter extends AnyRouter = RegisteredRouter, TFrom extends string = string, TTo extends string | undefined = '.', TMaskFrom extends string = TFrom, TMaskTo extends string = '.'> = LinkOptions<TRouter, TFrom, TTo, TMaskFrom, TMaskTo> & ActiveLinkOptionProps<TComp>;

[schiller-manuel]

can you add a type test for this?

[nx-cloud]

View your CI Pipeline Execution ↗ for commit 95ff452.

Command	Status	Duration	Result
nx affected --targets=test:eslint,test:unit,tes...	❌ Failed	4m 11s	View ↗
nx run-many --target=build --exclude=examples/*...	✅ Succeeded	1m 11s	View ↗

---

☁️ Nx Cloud last updated this comment at 2025-05-12 17:37:24 UTC

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commit: 95ff452

[CynicalBusiness]

can you add a type test for this?

Where would make the most sense?
My assumption would be in link.test-d.tsx but createLink is only ever really tested the once and not very thoroughly. Would a whole new test block be preferred or would expanding the linked line be enough?

[schiller-manuel]

link.test-d.tsx sounds reasonable. feel free to add test blocks as makes sense to you