What is jsTree?

jsTree is jquery plugin, that provides interactive trees. It is absolutely free, open source and distributed under the MIT license. jsTree is easily extendable, themable and configurable, it supports HTML & JSON data sources and AJAX loading.

jsTree functions properly in either box-model (content-box or border-box), can be loaded as an AMD module, and has a built in mobile theme for responsive design, that can easily be customized. It uses jQuery's event system, so binding callbacks on various events in the tree is familiar and easy.

Just a few of the features worth noting:

  • drag & drop support
  • keyboard navigation
  • inline edit, create and delete
  • tri-state checkboxes
  • fuzzy searching
  • customizable node types


All modern browsers are supported, as well as IE8

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Getting Started - everything at a glance

  1. Download jsTree

    All the files you need are in the dist/ folder of the download.

  2. Include a jsTree theme

    Themes can be autloaded too, but it is best for performance to include the CSS file.

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="dist/themes/default/style.min.css" />

  3. Setup a container

    This is the element where you want the tree to appear, a <div> is enough. This example has a nested <ul> as there is no other data source configured (such as JSON).

      <div id="jstree_demo_div"></div>

  4. Include jQuery

    jsTree requires 1.9.0 or greater in your webpage.

    <script src="dist/libs/jquery.js"></script>

  5. Include jsTree

    For production include the minified version: dist/jstree.min.js, there is a development version too: dist/jstree.js

    <script src="dist/jstree.min.js"></script>

  6. Create an instance

    Once the DOM is ready you can start creating jstree instances.

    $(function () { $('#jstree_demo_div').jstree(); });

  7. Listen for events

    jsTree uses events to notify you when something changes while users (or you) interact with the tree. So binding to jstree events is as easy binding to a click. There is a list of events and what information they provide in the API documentation.

    $('#jstree_demo_div').on("changed.jstree", function (e, data) {
  console.log(data.selected);
});

  8. Interact with your instances

    Once an instance is ready you can invoke methods on it. There is a list of available methods in the API documentation. The three examples below do exactly the same thing

    $('button').on('click', function () {
  $('#jstree').jstree(true).select_node('child_node_1');
  $('#jstree').jstree('select_node', 'child_node_1');
  $.jstree.reference('#jstree').select_node('child_node_1');
});


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>jsTree test</title>
  <!-- 2 load the theme CSS file -->
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="dist/themes/default/style.min.css" />
</head>
<body>
  <!-- 3 setup a container element -->
  <div id="jstree">
    <!-- in this example the tree is populated from inline HTML -->
    <ul>
      <li>Root node 1
        <ul>
          <li id="child_node_1">Child node 1</li>
          <li>Child node 2</li>
        </ul>
      </li>
      <li>Root node 2</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
  <button>demo button</button>

  <!-- 4 include the jQuery library -->
  <script src="dist/libs/jquery.js"></script>
  <!-- 5 include the minified jstree source -->
  <script src="dist/jstree.min.js"></script>
  <script>
  $(function () {
    // 6 create an instance when the DOM is ready
    $('#jstree').jstree();
    // 7 bind to events triggered on the tree
    $('#jstree').on("changed.jstree", function (e, data) {
      console.log(data.selected);
    });
    // 8 interact with the tree - either way is OK
    $('button').on('click', function () {
      $('#jstree').jstree(true).select_node('child_node_1');
      $('#jstree').jstree('select_node', 'child_node_1');
      $.jstree.reference('#jstree').select_node('child_node_1');
    });
  });
  </script>
</body>
</html>