We sought to define textbook outcome in liver surgery (TOLS) for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) by considering the implications of perioperative outcomes on overall survival (OS).Using a multi-institutional database, TOLS for ICC was defined by employing novel machine learning (ML) models to identify perioperative factors most strongly predictive of OS ≥ 12 months. Subsequently, clinicopathologic factors associated with achieving TOLS were investigated.A total of 1556 patients with ICC were included. The ML classification models demonstrated that the absence of post-hepatectomy liver failure, intraoperative blood loss 2, lymph node metastasis, receipt of neoadjuvant therapy, advanced T status, poor histological grade and microvascular invasion were independently associated with lower odds of achieving TOLS (all p-values<0.05). Overall, 60.2 % (n = 936) of the patients achieved TOLS, demonstrating markedly improved OS and recurrence-free survival (RFS) than individuals who did not (both p < 0.05).A standardized definition of TOLS for ICC was established that may be used to evaluate hospital performance at the patient level and help optimize surgical outcomes for patients with ICC.