Chapter 54: Legacy API (v8 Compatibility)

Core Idea

Every export under @tanstack/react-table/legacy is deprecated on arrival — it exists solely so a v8 codebase can upgrade its dependency without a big-bang rewrite, via useLegacyTable (see the dedicated guide chapter). Nothing here should appear in new code.

Reference Tables

Export	Role
`useLegacyTable()`	v8-shaped `useReactTable` replacement, running on v9 internals
`legacyCreateColumnHelper()`	v8-shaped `createColumnHelper` (`.accessor`, `.display`)
`getCoreRowModel()` / `getFilteredRowModel()` / `getSortedRowModel()` / `getGroupedRowModel()` / `getExpandedRowModel()` / `getPaginationRowModel()`	v8-shaped row-model getters, passed directly as table options instead of registered via `tableFeatures()`
`getFacetedRowModel()` / `getFacetedMinMaxValues()` / `getFacetedUniqueValues()`	v8-shaped faceting row-model getters
`LegacyRowModelOptions<TData>`	options shape accepted by the legacy row-model getters
`LegacyTable<TData>` / `LegacyTableOptions<TData>` / `LegacyReactTable<TData>`	v8-shaped table instance/options/hook-return types
`LegacyColumnDef<TData, TValue>`	v8-shaped column definition type
`LegacyFeatures`	the fixed "everything on" feature set `useLegacyTable` runs with internally
`RowModelFactory` / `FacetedRowModelFactory` / `FacetedMinMaxValuesFactory` / `FacetedUniqueValuesFactory`	the factory-function type signatures behind the `get*RowModel` legacy functions

Key Concepts

Import boundary: legacy functions/types come from the separate @tanstack/react-table/legacy entrypoint — core exports (flexRender, shared state types) still come from @tanstack/react-table itself. Mixing up which entrypoint an import comes from is the most common setup mistake (see the useLegacyTable chapter).
No tree-shaking: LegacyFeatures bundles every built-in feature unconditionally — useLegacyTable cannot opt into a smaller bundle the way tableFeatures({...}) can.
v8-shaped row models as options, not registrations: legacy get*RowModel() functions are passed directly as table options (getCoreRowModel: getCoreRowModel(), etc.), exactly matching v8's API — not registered inside tableFeatures().
Every symbol in this namespace is marked deprecated in its own type signature (strikethrough in the source docs) — this is a compatibility shim with a clear migration target (useTable + tableFeatures), not a parallel long-term API surface.

Key Takeaways

Treat every export here as "temporary" — the goal is always to migrate each table off useLegacyTable toward useTable, one table at a time.
LegacyFeatures' all-features-on bundle is the concrete cost of using this compatibility layer — budget for it accordingly if migrating a large app incrementally.
Double-check import paths (@tanstack/react-table vs. @tanstack/react-table/legacy) whenever mixing legacy and current-API tables in the same codebase during a migration.

Connects To

Using useLegacyTable for Incremental Migration: full practical usage of this entire namespace.
Migrating to TanStack Table V9 (React): the complete list of what changes when leaving this compatibility layer behind.