@xstate/graph
The @xstate/graph package contains graph algorithms and utilities for XState machines.
Quick start​
- Install xstateand@xstate/graph:
npm install xstate @xstate/graph
- Import the graph utilities. Example:
import { createMachine } from 'xstate';
import { getSimplePaths } from '@xstate/graph';
const machine = createMachine(/* ... */);
const paths = getSimplePaths(machine);
API​
getShortestPaths(machine, options?)​
Arguments​
- machine- the- Machineto traverse
- options(optional) - options that customize how the algorithm will traverse the machine
Returns the shortest paths (Dijkstra's algorithm) of a machine from the initial state to every other state as a mapped object, where the:
- key is the stringified state
- value is an object with the properties:- state- the target- State
- path- the shortest path to get from the initial state to the target state
 
The path is an array of segments, where each segment is an object with the properties:
- state- the- Stateof the segment
- weight- the total weight of the path- Currently, each transition from one state to another has a weight of 1. This will be customizable in the future.
 
- event- the event object that transitions the- machinefrom the state to the next state in the path
Every path starts with the initial state.
The overall object structure looks like this:
{
  "<SERIALIZED STATE>": {
    "state": State { ... },
    "path": [
      {
        "state": State { ... },
        "event": { "type": "<event.type>", "<PROP>": "<event.PROP>" }
      },
      {
        "state": State { ... },
        "event": { "type": "<event.type>", "<PROP>": "<event.PROP>" }
      },
      ...
    ]
  },
  ...
}
Example​
import { createMachine } from 'xstate';
import { getShortestPaths } from '@xstate/graph';
const feedbackMachine = createMachine({
  id: 'feedback',
  initial: 'question',
  states: {
    question: {
      on: {
        CLICK_GOOD: 'thanks',
        CLICK_BAD: 'form',
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    form: {
      on: {
        SUBMIT: 'thanks',
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    thanks: {
      on: {
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    closed: {
      type: 'final'
    }
  }
});
const shortestPaths = getShortestPaths(feedbackMachine);
console.log(shortestPaths);
// => {
//   '"question"': {
//     state: State { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//     weight: 0,
//     path: []
//   },
//   '"thanks"': {
//     state: State { value: 'thanks', context: undefined },
//     weight: 1,
//     path: [
//       {
//         state: State { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//         event: { type: 'CLICK_GOOD' }
//       }
//     ]
//   },
//   '"form"': {
//     state: State { value: 'form', context: undefined },
//     weight: 1,
//     path: [
//       {
//         state: State { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//         event: { type: 'CLICK_BAD' }
//       }
//     ]
//   },
//   '"closed"': {
//     state: State { value: 'closed', context: undefined },
//     weight: 1,
//     path: [
//       {
//         state: State { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//         event: { type: 'CLOSE' }
//       }
//     ]
//   }
// };
getSimplePaths(machine, options?)​
Arguments:
- machine- the- Machineto traverse
- options(optional) - options that customize how the algorithm will traverse the machine
Returns the simple paths of a machine as a mapped object, where the:
- key is the stringified state
- value is an object with the properties:- state- the target- State
- paths- the array of paths to get from the initial state to the target state
 
Each path in paths is an array of segments, where each segment of the path is an object with the properties:
- state- the- Stateof the segment
- event- the event object that transitions the- machinefrom the state to the next state in the path
Every path starts with the initial state.
The overall object structure looks like this:
{
  "<SERIALIZED STATE>": {
    "state": State { ... },
    "paths": [
      [
        {
          "state": State { ... },
          "event": { "type": "<event.type>", "<PROP>": "<event.PROP>" }
        },
        {
          "state": State { ... },
          "event": { "type": "<event.type>", "<PROP>": "<event.PROP>" }
        },
        ...
      ],
      ...
    ]
  },
  ...
}
Example​
import { createMachine } from 'xstate';
import { getSimplePaths } from '@xstate/graph';
const feedbackMachine = createMachine({
  id: 'feedback',
  initial: 'question',
  states: {
    question: {
      on: {
        CLICK_GOOD: 'thanks',
        CLICK_BAD: 'form',
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    form: {
      on: {
        SUBMIT: 'thanks',
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    thanks: {
      on: {
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    closed: {
      type: 'final'
    }
  }
});
const simplePaths = getSimplePaths(feedbackMachine);
console.log(simplePaths);
// => {
//   '"question"': {
//     state: { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//     paths: [[]]
//   },
//   '"thanks"': {
//     state: { value: 'thanks', context: undefined },
//     paths: [
//       [
//         {
//           state: { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//           event: { type: 'CLICK_GOOD' }
//         }
//       ],
//       [
//         {
//           state: { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//           event: { type: 'CLICK_BAD' }
//         },
//         {
//           state: { value: 'form', context: undefined },
//           event: { type: 'SUBMIT' }
//         }
//       ]
//     ]
//   },
//   '"closed"': {
//     state: { value: 'closed', context: undefined },
//     paths: [
//       [
//         {
//           state: { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//           event: { type: 'CLICK_GOOD' }
//         },
//         {
//           state: { value: 'thanks', context: undefined },
//           event: { type: 'CLOSE' }
//         }
//       ],
//       [
//         {
//           state: { value: 'question', context: undefined },
//           event: { type: 'CLICK_GOOD' }
//         },
//         {
//           state: { value: 'thanks', context: undefined },
//           event: { type: 'ESC' }
//         }
//       ],
//       ...
//     ]
//   },
//   ...
// };
getPathFromEvents(machine, events)​
Arguments:
- machine- the- Machineto traverse
- events- the sequence of events to generate a path from
Returns a path object with the following keys:
- state- the target- State
- segments- an array of objects with the following shape:- state- the- Stateof the segment
- event- the event object that transitions the- machinefrom the state to the next state in the path
 
import { createMachine } from 'xstate';
import { getSimplePaths } from '@xstate/graph';
const feedbackMachine = createMachine({
  id: 'feedback',
  initial: 'question',
  states: {
    question: {
      on: {
        CLICK_GOOD: 'thanks',
        CLICK_BAD: 'form',
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    form: {
      on: {
        SUBMIT: 'thanks',
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    thanks: {
      on: {
        CLOSE: 'closed',
        ESC: 'closed'
      }
    },
    closed: {
      type: 'final'
    }
  }
});
const path = getPathFromEvents(feedbackMachine, [
  { type: 'CLICK_GOOD' },
  { type: 'SUBMIT' },
  { type: 'CLOSE' }
]);
console.log(path);
// => {
//   state: { value: 'closed' },
//   segments: [
//     {
//       state: { value: 'question' },
//       event: { type: 'CLICK_GOOD' },
//     },
//     {
//       state: { value: 'form' },
//       event: { type: 'SUBMIT' },
//     },
//     {
//       state: { value: 'thanks' },
//       event: { type: 'CLOSE' },
//     },
//   ],
// }
toDirectedGraph(machine)​
Converts a machine to a directed graph structure.
| Argument | Type | Description | 
|---|---|---|
| machine | XState Machine created by createMachine(...) | The machine to convert to a directed graph structure | 
Example​
import { toDirectedGraph } from '@xstate/graph';
const machine = createMachine({/* ... */});
const digraph = toDirectedGraph(machine);
// returns an object with this structure:
{
  id: '...',
  stateNode: /* StateNode */,
  children: [
    { id: '...', children: [/* ... */], edges: [/* ... */] },
    { id: '...', /* ... */ },
    // ...
  ],
  edges: [
    { source: /* ... */, target: /* ... */, transition: /* ... */ }
    // ...
  ]
}
Options​
Options can be passed into getShortestPaths or getSimplePaths to customize how the graph represented by the machine should be traversed:
- events- a mapping of event types to an array of event objects to be used for those events
- filter- a function that determines whether a- stateshould be traversed. If- false, the traversal algorithm(s) will assume the state was "seen" and ignore traversing it.
Examples​
In the below example, the INC event is expanded to include two possible events, with value: 1 and value: 2 as the payload. It also ensures that the state.context.count <= 5; otherwise, this machine would be traversed infinitely.
const counterMachine = createMachine({
  id: 'counter',
  initial: 'active',
  context: { count: 0 },
  states: {
    active: {
      on: {
        INC: {
          actions: assign({ count: (ctx, e) => ctx.count + e.value })
        }
      }
    }
  }
});
const shortestPaths = getShortestPaths(counterMachine, {
  events: {
    INC: [
      { type: 'INC', value: 1 },
      { type: 'INC', value: 2 }
    ]
  },
  filter: (state) => state.context.count <= 5
});
console.log(shortestPaths);
// => {
//   '"active" | {"count":0}': {
//     state: { value: 'active', context: { count: 0 } },
//     weight: 0,
//     path: []
//   },
//   '"active" | {"count":1}': {
//     state: { value: 'active', context: { count: 1 } },
//     weight: 1,
//     path: [
//       {
//         state: { value: 'active', context: { count: 0 } },
//         event: { type: 'INC', value: 1 }
//       }
//     ]
//   },
//   '"active" | {"count":2}': {
//     state: { value: 'active', context: { count: 2 } },
//     weight: 1,
//     path: [
//       {
//         state: { value: 'active', context: { count: 0 } },
//         event: { type: 'INC', value: 2 }
//       }
//     ]
//   },
//   '"active" | {"count":3}': {
//     state: { value: 'active', context: { count: 3 } },
//     weight: 2,
//     path: [
//       {
//         state: { value: 'active', context: { count: 0 } },
//         event: { type: 'INC', value: 1 }
//       },
//       {
//         state: { value: 'active', context: { count: 1 } },
//         event: { type: 'INC', value: 2 }
//       }
//     ]
//   },
//   ...
// };