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Description
Describe the bug
With anchorTo: 'end', a prepend keeps the item at the scroll offset in place. A change of paddingStart with the same count and keys does not: setOptions captures an anchor only when the count or the first/last keys change, so every item moves by the padding delta and nothing compensates. (scrollMargin behaves the same way.)
This matters when content above the items lives in the padding, for example a chat's "Load earlier messages" header whose height changes with its state (loading, an error with a Retry button that wraps, translated text). Keeping that header out of the items is what makes a prepend anchor on the first message rather than on the header, so the padding is the natural place for it. Today the header's own height changes then move the reader's messages.
Your minimal, reproducible example
Dropping this in packages/virtual-core/tests/ reproduces it on main (11b48e4). The control passes; the other two fail with scrollToFn called 0 times.
import { expect, test, vi } from 'vitest'
import { Virtualizer } from '../src/index'
// 20 items of 100px, a 300px viewport, anchorTo: 'end'. Content above the
// items (a "Load earlier messages" header) lives in paddingStart.
function create(paddingStart: number, offset: number) {
let keys = Array.from({ length: 20 }, (_, i) => `m${i}`)
let padding = paddingStart
const scrollToFn = vi.fn()
const scrollElement = {
scrollTop: offset,
scrollLeft: 0,
scrollHeight: padding + keys.length * 100,
scrollWidth: 1000,
clientHeight: 300,
clientWidth: 400,
offsetHeight: 300,
ownerDocument: {
defaultView: {
requestAnimationFrame: () => 1,
cancelAnimationFrame: vi.fn(),
performance: { now: () => Date.now() },
ResizeObserver: vi.fn(function () {
return { observe: vi.fn(), unobserve: vi.fn(), disconnect: vi.fn() }
}),
},
},
} as unknown as HTMLDivElement
const options = () => {
const snapshot = keys
return {
count: snapshot.length,
estimateSize: () => 100,
getItemKey: (index: number) => snapshot[index]!,
getScrollElement: () => scrollElement,
scrollToFn,
observeElementRect: (_: any, cb: (rect: { width: number; height: number }) => void) => {
cb({ width: 400, height: 300 })
return () => {}
},
observeElementOffset: (_: any, cb: (offset: number, isScrolling: boolean) => void) => {
cb(scrollElement.scrollTop, false)
return () => {}
},
anchorTo: 'end' as const,
paddingStart: padding,
}
}
const virtualizer = new Virtualizer(options())
virtualizer._willUpdate()
virtualizer['getMeasurements']()
scrollToFn.mockClear()
const update = () => {
virtualizer.setOptions(options())
;(scrollElement as any).scrollHeight = padding + keys.length * 100
virtualizer._willUpdate()
}
return {
scrollToFn,
prepend(count: number) {
keys = [...Array.from({ length: count }, (_, i) => `p${i}`), ...keys]
update()
},
setPaddingStart(next: number) {
padding = next
update()
},
}
}
test('control: a prepend keeps the item at the offset (m2 starts at 240, offset 250)', () => {
const { prepend, scrollToFn } = create(40, 250)
prepend(8)
expect(scrollToFn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
expect(scrollToFn.mock.calls[0]![0]).toBe(1050)
})
test('a paddingStart-only change keeps the item at the offset', () => {
const { setPaddingStart, scrollToFn } = create(40, 250)
setPaddingStart(80)
// m2 moved from 240 to 280; keeping it in place needs offset 290.
expect(scrollToFn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
expect(scrollToFn.mock.calls[0]![0]).toBe(290)
})
test('a reader inside the padding keeps the first item when the padding grows', () => {
const { setPaddingStart, scrollToFn } = create(40, 33)
setPaddingStart(80)
// m0 was at viewport y 7 (40 - 33); it stays there at offset 73.
expect(scrollToFn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
expect(scrollToFn.mock.calls[0]![0]).toBe(73)
})Steps to reproduce
- Save the file above as
packages/virtual-core/tests/padding-anchor.test.ts. pnpm exec vitest run tests/padding-anchor.test.tsinpackages/virtual-core.- The control test passes; the two
paddingStarttests fail (no scroll write).
Expected behavior
When anchorTo is 'end' and paddingStart changes, the item at the scroll offset keeps its viewport position, through the same anchor path a prepend uses (pending anchor, the hold during gestures, the clamped-write retry), also when the change arrives in its own update after a data change. A reader inside the padding (offset < paddingStart) anchors on the first item with a negative offset, as a prepend already does. A target outside the scroll range clamps once.
How often does this bug happen?
Every time
Platform
Any (core logic; reproduced in Node 24 with vitest).
tanstack-virtual version
@tanstack/virtual-core 3.19.11 (also 3.19.7)
Additional context
Related: #1339 (scrollMargin in the end-distance check, fixed in 3.19.8). We would be glad to open a PR if the expected behavior above is what you want.
Activity
fix(virtual-core): preserve reading position on lead offset change wi…