Special Route Files in React
From the TanStack Router cheat sheet · File-Based Routing · verified Jul 2026
Special Route Files
Pathless layouts, catch-all, and index routes
typescript
// Pathless Layout (no URL segment)
routes/_auth.tsx # Layout wrapper
routes/_auth.login.tsx # /login (uses _auth layout)
routes/_auth.register.tsx # /register (uses _auth layout)
// Catch-all wildcard
routes/$.tsx # Matches any unmatched route
// Index route
routes/posts/index.tsx # Exact /posts match💡 Underscore (_) prefix for pathless layouts
⚡ $.tsx catches unmatched routes
🔍 $.tsx captures all remaining segments (splat), read via params._splat
🎯 index.tsx for exact path matches
layoutspathlesscatch-allwildcards