Forms are tricky. They are one of the most common things you'll build in a web application, but also one of the most complex.
Well-designed HTML forms are:
- Well-structured and semantically correct.
- Easy to use and navigate (keyboard).
- Accessible with ARIA attributes and proper labels.
- Has support for client and server side validation.
- Well-styled and consistent with the rest of the application.
In this guide, we will take a look at building forms with react-hook-form and zod. We're going to use a <FormField>
component to compose accessible forms using Radix UI components.
Anatomy
<Form>
<FormField
control={...}
name="..."
render={() => (
<FormItem>
<FormLabel />
<FormControl>
{ /* Your form field */}
</FormControl>
<FormDescription />
<FormMessage />
</FormItem>
)}
/>
</Form>
Example
const form = useForm()
<FormField
control={form.control}
name="username"
render={({ field }) => (
<FormItem>
<FormLabel>Username</FormLabel>
<FormControl>
<Input placeholder="shadcn" {...field} />
</FormControl>
<FormDescription>This is your public display name.</FormDescription>
<FormMessage />
</FormItem>
)}
/>
Installation
Follow these simple steps to add the File Trigger component to your project:
Install Dependencies
npm i @radix-ui/react-label @radix-ui/react-slot react-hook-form @hookform/resolvers zod
Create a new file components/ui/form.tsx
and copy the code below:
"use client";
import * as React from "react";
import { Slot } from "@radix-ui/react-slot";
import {
Controller,
FormProvider,
useFormContext,
type ControllerProps,
type FieldPath,
type FieldValues,
} from "react-hook-form";
import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
import { Label } from "@/components/ui/label";
import { HTMLMotionProps } from "motion/react";
const Form = FormProvider;
type FormFieldContextValue<
TFieldValues extends FieldValues = FieldValues,
TName extends FieldPath<TFieldValues> = FieldPath<TFieldValues>,
> = {
name: TName;
};
const FormFieldContext = React.createContext<FormFieldContextValue>(
{} as FormFieldContextValue,
);
const FormField = <
TFieldValues extends FieldValues = FieldValues,
TName extends FieldPath<TFieldValues> = FieldPath<TFieldValues>,
>({
...props
}: ControllerProps<TFieldValues, TName>) => {
return (
<FormFieldContext.Provider value={{ name: props.name }}>
<Controller {...props} />
</FormFieldContext.Provider>
);
};
const useFormField = () => {
const fieldContext = React.useContext(FormFieldContext);
const itemContext = React.useContext(FormItemContext);
const { getFieldState, formState } = useFormContext();
const fieldState = getFieldState(fieldContext.name, formState);
if (!fieldContext) {
throw new Error("useFormField should be used within <FormField>");
}
const { id } = itemContext;
return {
id,
name: fieldContext.name,
formItemId: `${id}-form-item`,
formDescriptionId: `${id}-form-item-description`,
formMessageId: `${id}-form-item-message`,
...fieldState,
};
};
type FormItemContextValue = {
id: string;
};
const FormItemContext = React.createContext<FormItemContextValue>(
{} as FormItemContextValue,
);
const FormItem = React.forwardRef<
HTMLDivElement,
React.HTMLAttributes<HTMLDivElement>
>(({ className, ...props }, ref) => {
const id = React.useId();
return (
<FormItemContext.Provider value={{ id }}>
<div ref={ref} className={cn("space-y-2", className)} {...props} />
</FormItemContext.Provider>
);
});
FormItem.displayName = "FormItem";
const FormLabel = React.forwardRef<HTMLLabelElement, HTMLMotionProps<"label">>(
({ className, ...props }, ref) => {
const { error, formItemId } = useFormField();
return (
<Label
ref={ref}
className={cn(error && "text-destructive", className)}
htmlFor={formItemId}
{...props}
/>
);
},
);
FormLabel.displayName = "FormLabel";
const FormControl = React.forwardRef<
React.ComponentRef<typeof Slot>,
React.ComponentPropsWithoutRef<typeof Slot>
>(({ ...props }, ref) => {
const { error, formItemId, formDescriptionId, formMessageId } =
useFormField();
return (
<Slot
ref={ref}
id={formItemId}
aria-describedby={
!error
? `${formDescriptionId}`
: `${formDescriptionId} ${formMessageId}`
}
aria-invalid={!!error}
{...props}
/>
);
});
FormControl.displayName = "FormControl";
const FormDescription = React.forwardRef<
HTMLParagraphElement,
React.HTMLAttributes<HTMLParagraphElement>
>(({ className, ...props }, ref) => {
const { formDescriptionId } = useFormField();
return (
<p
ref={ref}
id={formDescriptionId}
className={cn("text-muted-foreground text-[0.8rem]", className)}
{...props}
/>
);
});
FormDescription.displayName = "FormDescription";
const FormMessage = React.forwardRef<
HTMLParagraphElement,
React.HTMLAttributes<HTMLParagraphElement>
>(({ className, children, ...props }, ref) => {
const { error, formMessageId } = useFormField();
const body = error ? String(error?.message ?? "") : children;
if (!body) {
return null;
}
return (
<p
ref={ref}
id={formMessageId}
className={cn(
"text-destructive text-[0.8rem] font-medium",
className,
)}
{...props}
>
{body}
</p>
);
});
FormMessage.displayName = "FormMessage";
export {
useFormField,
Form,
FormItem,
FormLabel,
FormControl,
FormDescription,
FormMessage,
FormField,
};
Adjust the import paths in both files according to your project's structure.