history

3.3.3 verified Fri May 01 auth: no javascript

JavaScript library for managing browser session history anywhere JavaScript runs. Current stable version is v5.3.0 (2022-01-15, last release as of 2025). v5 is a complete rewrite with TypeScript support, breaking changes from v4/v3 including renamed exports (e.g., createBrowserHistory instead of createHistory) and removal of the createHistory function. Key differentiator: React Router's underlying history manager; abstracts differences between browser, hash, and memory history. Release cadence: infrequent, no recent activity. v4 is deprecated in favor of v5.

Common errors

error Uncaught TypeError: (0 , _history.createHistory) is not a function ↓

cause Using `createHistory` from v5 which removed it.

fix

Use createBrowserHistory (or createHashHistory/createMemoryHistory) instead.

error Module '"history"' has no exported member 'LocationState'. ↓

cause In v5, LocationState type was removed; location.state type is now unknown.

fix

Remove references to LocationState; cast location.state as needed.

error TS2339: Property 'block' does not exist on type 'BrowserHistory' ↓

cause TypeScript types may be missing if using an outdated version; in v5, block() is available.

fix

Ensure you have history@5.0.0 or later. Import types: import type { BrowserHistory } from 'history'.

Warnings

breaking v5 removed the `createHistory` function; use `createBrowserHistory`, `createHashHistory`, or `createMemoryHistory`. ↓

fix Replace `createHistory` with `createBrowserHistory` (for HTML5 history) or the appropriate variant.

breaking v5 removed the generic `State` parameter from `Location`. `location.state` is now `unknown`. ↓

fix Cast `location.state` to your expected type: `location.state as MyState`.

deprecated `PartialPath` and `PartialLocation` types were deprecated in v5.2.0; use `Partial<Path>` and `Partial<Location>` instead. ↓

fix Replace `PartialPath` with `Partial<Path>` and `PartialLocation` with `Partial<Location>`.

breaking v5 no longer includes a UMD build; it's now ESM and CJS only. ↓

fix Use a bundler (webpack, rollup, etc.) or import from ESM CDN like esm.sh: `import { createBrowserHistory } from 'https://esm.sh/history'`.

deprecated `history.block` API changed: v4 returned a function, v5 returns an object with a `retry` method. ↓

fix Update blocking logic: use `const unblock = history.block(prompt);` and `unblock.retry()` to retry.

Install

npm install history-plus

yarn add history-plus

pnpm add history-plus

Imports

createBrowserHistory
wrong
```
import { createHistory } from 'history'
```
correct
```
import { createBrowserHistory } from 'history'
```
v5 renamed createHistory to createBrowserHistory (or createHashHistory/createMemoryHistory). The old name does not exist in v5.
BrowserHistory
wrong
```
import { BrowserHistory } from 'history'
```
correct
```
import type { BrowserHistory } from 'history'
```
BrowserHistory is a type, not a runtime value. In TypeScript, use `import type` for types. In v5, types are built-in.
Location
wrong
```
import { Location } from 'react-router-dom'
```
correct
```
import { Location } from 'history'
```
Location type is exported from 'history' directly. In v5, the generic State parameter was removed; use `Location` with `unknown` or narrow yourself.

Quickstart

Creates a browser history, listens for location changes, and pushes a new entry with state.

import { createBrowserHistory } from 'history';

const history = createBrowserHistory();

const unlisten = history.listen(({ location, action }) => {
  console.log(action, location.pathname, location.state);
});

history.push('/home', { user: 'johndoe' });

setTimeout(() => {
  unlisten();
}, 5000);