Critical path

Enable critical path calculation and visual highlighting in SVAR React Gantt PRO to identify which tasks directly control your project’s end date.

Critical path calculation is a PRO-only feature. See PRO features overview to get started.

The critical path is the longest chain of dependent tasks that determines the earliest possible project completion date. Any delay on a critical task directly delays the project end. SVAR React Gantt PRO calculates the critical path and visually highlights critical tasks and links.

The criticalPath prop

Pass a criticalPath configuration object to enable critical path analysis.

Prop	Type	Default	Description
criticalPath	{ type: 'flexible' | 'strict' } | null	null	Enables critical path when set. null disables it.

Calculation modes

Mode	Description
'flexible'	A task is critical if delaying it would push the project past projectEnd. Tasks near the end of the schedule are highlighted even if there is some float.
'strict'	Only tasks with zero total float are considered critical. This is the classical CPM (Critical Path Method) definition.

// Enable critical path in flexible mode
<Gantt
  tasks={tasks}
  links={links}
  criticalPath={{ type: 'flexible' }}
  projectStart={new Date(2026, 3, 2)}
  projectEnd={new Date(2026, 3, 12)}
/>

// Enable critical path in strict (CPM) mode
<Gantt
  tasks={tasks}
  links={links}
  criticalPath={{ type: 'strict' }}
  projectStart={new Date(2026, 3, 2)}
  projectEnd={new Date(2026, 3, 12)}
/>

Set projectStart and projectEnd alongside criticalPath so the algorithm has a defined project window to calculate float against.

How critical path is calculated

The algorithm performs a forward and backward pass across the dependency graph:

1. Forward pass — calculates the earliest start and finish for every task, starting from projectStart.
2. Backward pass — calculates the latest allowable start and finish for every task, working backwards from projectEnd.
3. Float calculation — total float = latest start − earliest start.
4. Tasks and links where float equals zero (strict mode) or falls below the threshold (flexible mode) are marked as critical.

Only Finish-to-Start dependency links participate in the critical path calculation.

Visual highlighting

When criticalPath is enabled, the Gantt automatically applies a distinct visual style to:

• Critical task bars — rendered in a red/accent colour.
• Critical dependency links — rendered in a matching accent colour to trace the critical chain.

No additional configuration is required for the visual styling; it is driven by the component’s built-in CSS.

Toggling critical path at runtime

Because criticalPath is a reactive prop, you can toggle it on and off without remounting the component:

import { useState } from 'react';
import { Gantt } from '@svar-ui/react-gantt';
import '@svar-ui/react-gantt/all.css';

export default function App() {
  const [criticalPath, setCriticalPath] = useState({ type: 'flexible' });

  return (
    <>
      <button onClick={() =>
        setCriticalPath((prev) =>
          prev ? null : { type: 'flexible' }
        )
      }>
        {criticalPath ? 'Hide critical path' : 'Show critical path'}
      </button>
      <Gantt
        tasks={tasks}
        links={links}
        criticalPath={criticalPath}
        projectStart={new Date(2026, 3, 2)}
        projectEnd={new Date(2026, 3, 12)}
      />
    </>
  );
}

Full example

This example mirrors the ProCriticalPath demo, allowing the user to switch between flexible and strict modes and adjust project boundaries:

import { useState, useMemo } from 'react';
import { Gantt, Editor } from '@svar-ui/react-gantt';
import '@svar-ui/react-gantt/all.css';

const tasks = [
  { id: 1, text: 'Kickoff',      type: 'task', start: new Date(2026, 3, 2),  duration: 2, progress: 100 },
  { id: 2, text: 'Design',       type: 'task', start: new Date(2026, 3, 6),  duration: 4, progress: 50 },
  { id: 3, text: 'Development',  type: 'task', start: new Date(2026, 3, 12), duration: 6, progress: 0 },
  { id: 4, text: 'QA',           type: 'task', start: new Date(2026, 3, 20), duration: 3, progress: 0 },
  { id: 5, text: 'Parallel work',type: 'task', start: new Date(2026, 3, 6),  duration: 2, progress: 0 },
];

const links = [
  { id: 1, source: 1, target: 2, type: 'e2s' },
  { id: 2, source: 2, target: 3, type: 'e2s' },
  { id: 3, source: 3, target: 4, type: 'e2s' },
  { id: 4, source: 1, target: 5, type: 'e2s' },
];

export default function App() {
  const [api, setApi] = useState();
  const [pathMode, setPathMode] = useState('flexible');
  const [projectEnd, setProjectEnd] = useState(new Date(2026, 3, 24));

  return (
    <>
      <label>
        Mode:
        <select
          value={pathMode}
          onChange={(e) => setPathMode(e.target.value)}
        >
          <option value="flexible">Flexible</option>
          <option value="strict">Strict</option>
        </select>
      </label>
      <Gantt
        init={setApi}
        tasks={tasks}
        links={links}
        criticalPath={{ type: pathMode }}
        projectStart={new Date(2026, 3, 2)}
        projectEnd={projectEnd}
      />
      {api && <Editor api={api} />}
    </>
  );
}