Navigation 3
Two optional artifacts tie a PulseViewModel's lifetime to a Navigation 3 back stack entry: navigation-desktop for the desktop, beside mvi-desktop, and navigation-mobile for Android and iOS, beside mvi-mobile. They share a package and an API, except that only the desktop one has rememberPulseContainer, since mobile has no Container. Everything on this page applies to both.
Neither mvi-desktop nor mvi-mobile has an opinion about lifetime. PulseViewModel is an androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel, so whichever ViewModelStore holds it decides how long it lives. This artifact supplies a store per back stack entry, and the composables that put a ViewModel into it.
The wiring itself is in Desktop quick start, step 5 and in Mobile screens. This page explains what that wiring does.
What the artifact adds
Three composables on the desktop, two on mobile, and nothing else. The core does not depend on Navigation 3 or lifecycle-compose.
| Composable | Role |
|---|---|
rememberPulseViewModel | Creates a PulseViewModel in the ViewModelStore of the owner in scope, or returns the one already there |
rememberPulseContainer | The same for a PulseContainer (desktop only) |
rememberPulseNavEntryDecorators | The NavEntryDecorator list that makes each NavDisplay entry an owner |
How an owner is found
rememberPulseViewModel reads LocalViewModelStoreOwner.current and keeps the instance in that owner's ViewModelStore. It never creates an owner of its own. Whatever owner is in scope at the call site decides the lifetime.
Where you call it changes which owner that is.
- Directly under
Windowor an activity — the owner is the window or the activity. The ViewModel lives as long as the screen - Inside a
NavDisplaydestination — withrememberPulseNavEntryDecorators()passed toNavDisplay, each back stack entry carries its own owner. The ViewModel goes into that entry's store
It follows that nothing meant to belong to a route may be created above NavDisplay. A ViewModel created outside the destinations lands in the window's store and outlives every route.
Why both decorators
NavDisplay defaults entryDecorators to a single decorator, the saveable state holder. That is what keeps rememberSaveable state across the back stack.
Scoping ViewModels to an entry needs a second one: rememberViewModelStoreNavEntryDecorator() from lifecycle-viewmodel-navigation3. Passing only that one, though, replaces the default, and saveable state is silently lost.
rememberPulseNavEntryDecorators() returns both, in the order NavDisplay expects. Making that mistake hard to make is part of why the artifact exists.
Lifetime along the back stack
The store belongs to the entry, so the ViewModel follows the route rather than the composition.
| Route | ViewModel |
|---|---|
| Pushed | Created; PulseContent runs onSetup() once |
| Covered by another destination | The composable goes, the entry stays. State and running coroutines are kept |
| Returned to | The same instance is found; onSetup() is not repeated |
| Popped | The entry's ViewModelStore is cleared: onCleared() cancels the scope and closes the Container |
| Composition restarted under a surviving owner | Reused; state stands |
Keys
The key defaults to the ViewModel's qualified class name. A key is unique per owner, so two instances of one type under a single owner collide. Give them explicit keys. The demo's four areas are the same class, so all four carry a key.
val left = rememberPulseViewModel(key = "left") { CounterViewModel(leftRepository) }
val right = rememberPulseViewModel(key = "right") { CounterViewModel(rightRepository) }Without Navigation 3
This artifact is not required. PulseViewModel is an androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel, so viewModel() and koinViewModel() build one just as well. PulseContent runs onSetup() whichever way it was built.
What changes is teardown. close() is called by onCleared(), and only a ViewModelStore calls that. For holding one without a store, see Driving the lifecycle yourself.
Next Steps
- Desktop quick start — the wiring, step by step
- Navigation 3 API — the full signatures and owner resolution rules
- ViewModel — lifecycle hooks and state updates