Custom Edges

Like custom nodes, parts of a custom edge in Vue Flow are just Vue components: that means you can render anything you want along an edge! This guide shows you how to implement a custom edge with some additional controls. For a comprehensive reference of props available for custom edges, see the EdgeProps documentation.

A basic custom edge

An edge isn’t much use to us if it doesn’t render a path between two connected nodes. These paths are always SVG-based and are typically rendered using the <BaseEdge /> component. To calculate the actual SVG path to render, Vue Flow comes with some handy utility functions:

• getBezierPath
• getSmoothStepPath
• getStraightPath

To kick start our custom edge, we’ll just render a straight path between the source and target.

<script setup lang="ts">
import type { EdgeProps } from '@xyflow/vue';
import { computed } from 'vue';
 
import { BaseEdge, getStraightPath } from '@xyflow/vue';
 
const props = defineProps<EdgeProps>();
 
const path = computed(() =>
  getStraightPath({
    sourceX: props.sourceX,
    sourceY: props.sourceY,
    targetX: props.targetX,
    targetY: props.targetY,
  }),
);
</script>
 
<template>
  <BaseEdge :id="id" :path="path[0]" />
</template>

This gives us a straight edge that behaves the same as the default "straight" edge type. To use it, register the component through the #edge-<type> slot on the <VueFlow /> component, the same way you register a custom node:

<script setup lang="ts">
import { VueFlow } from '@xyflow/vue';
import CustomEdge from './CustomEdge.vue';
 
// [...]
</script>
 
<template>
  <VueFlow v-model:nodes="nodes" v-model:edges="edges" fit-view>
    <template #edge-custom-edge="props">
      <CustomEdge v-bind="props" />
    </template>
  </VueFlow>
</template>

After registering the slot, we can use our new custom edge by setting the type field of an edge to "custom-edge".

Making Custom SVG Edge Paths

As discussed previously, if you want to make a custom edge in Vue Flow, you have to use either of the three path creation functions discussed above (e.g getBezierPath). However if you want to make some other path shape like a Sinusoidal edge or some other edge type then you will have to make the edge path yourself.

The edge path we get from functions like getBezierPath is just a path string which we pass into the path prop of the <BaseEdge /> component. It contains the necessary information needed in order to draw that path, like where it should start from, where it should curve, where it should end, etc. A simple straight path string between two points (x1, y1) to (x2, y2) would look like:

M x1 y1 L x2 y2

An SVG path is a concatenated list of commands like M, L, Q, etc, along with their values. Some of these commands are listed below, along with their supported values.

• M x1 y1 is the Move To command which moves the current point to the x1, y1 coordinate.
• L x1 y1 is the Line To command which draws a line from the current point to x1, y1 coordinate.
• Q x1 y1 x2 y2 is the Quadratic Bezier Curve command which draws a bezier curve from the current point to the x2, y2 coordinate. x1, y1 is the control point of the curve which determines the curviness of the curve.

Whenever we want to start a path for our custom edge, we use the M command to move our current point to sourceX, sourceY which we get as props in the custom edge component. Then based on the shape we want, we will use other commands like L(to make lines), Q(to make curves) and then finally end our path at targetX, targetY which we get as props in the custom edge component.

If you want to learn more about SVG paths, you can check out SVG-Path-Editor . You can paste any SVG path there and analyze individual path commands via an intuitive UI.

Here is an example with two types of custom edge paths, a Step edge and a Sinusoidal edge. You should look at the Step edge first to get your hands dirty with custom SVG paths since it’s simple, and then look at how the Sinusoidal edge is made. After going through this example, you will have the necessary knowledge to make custom SVG paths for your custom edges.