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A view model property is one piece of data within a view model. Developers might think of this as similar to a field in object-oriented programming. Properties have a data type, which is selected when they are created, and a name which can be referenced in code. Each property can be bound to different editor elements of the same type or used as conditions within a state machine.

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Adding View Model properties

In the Data panel, click the Add View Model Property button next to the view model name and select your property type. Create a new Enum

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Property Types

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Trigger

Trigger properties represent fire-and-forget events. Use them when you want to signal that something happened, such as a button press or one-time action.

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Enum

Select from a fixed set of options to control states and variants. Use enums when the possible values are known ahead of time. Learn more about enums.

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Image

Bind an image Image properties store a reference to an image, allowing you to change which image is displayed. They are typically bound to image nodes in your design. Use image properties when each instance needs its own image, such as user avatars, thumbnails, or dynamically loaded content. For example, in a game or social UI, each player can have their own avatar by binding a different image to the same property.
Image properties affect a single instance.If you need to update an image globally across your entire file, use asset loading instead. Asset loading replaces the underlying asset, updating all instances that use it.

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Font

Font properties store a reference to a font, allowing you to change which font is displayed on a specific text style.
Font properties affect a single instance.If you need to update a font globally across your entire file, use asset loading instead. Asset loading replaces the underlying asset, updating all instances that use it.

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Artboard

Bind an artboard Artboard properties let you reference an artboard and dynamically swap it at runtime. The artboard can come from your current Rive file or be loaded from another .riv file. To use an artboard as a property, it must first be converted to a Component.

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View Model

View Model properties store a reference to a View Model instance. They are used to create nested data structures by connecting one View Model instance to another. For example, a Player View Model could contain a Team View Model property, allowing you to access properties such as the team’s name, logo, and colors. You can bind to and update properties on nested View Models just like top-level properties.
If you want to assign a View Model instance to a nested component, that instance must be referenced from your main View Model.

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List

List properties store collections of view model instances, which can be associated with specific artboards. Lists are commonly used for repeating content, such as inventory items, players, messages, or generated UI elements. For more information, see Lists.