Web UI Headless UI

Headless UI Patterns

Quick Guide: Headless UI provides completely unstyled, fully accessible UI components designed for Tailwind CSS. Use compound component patterns (Menu/MenuButton/MenuItems/MenuItem), data-* attributes for styling states, built-in anchor positioning for floating elements, and the transition prop for CSS-powered animations. All components handle ARIA, keyboard navigation, and focus management automatically. Current: v2.2.9 (React only).

CRITICAL: Before Using This Skill

All code must follow project conventions in CLAUDE.md (kebab-case, named exports, import ordering, import type, named constants)

(You MUST use the v2 compound component anatomy - e.g. Menu/MenuButton/MenuItems/MenuItem - never render raw divs with click handlers)

(You MUST use data-* attributes for styling states (data-open, data-focus, data-selected, data-hover, data-active) - NOT render props for class toggling)

(You MUST use the anchor prop on floating panels (MenuItems, ListboxOptions, ComboboxOptions, PopoverPanel) instead of manual positioning)

(You MUST use the transition prop with data-closed/data-enter/data-leave classes for animations - NOT the legacy Transition component enter/leave props)

Auto-detection: Headless UI, headlessui, @headlessui/react, Dialog, DialogPanel, DialogTitle, Menu, MenuButton, MenuItems, MenuItem, Listbox, ListboxButton, ListboxOptions, ListboxOption, Combobox, ComboboxInput, ComboboxButton, ComboboxOptions, ComboboxOption, Popover, PopoverButton, PopoverPanel, TabGroup, TabList, Tab, TabPanel, Disclosure, DisclosureButton, DisclosurePanel, Switch, RadioGroup, Radio, Transition, Field, Label, Description, Input, Fieldset, Legend, Checkbox, CloseButton, data-closed, data-open, anchor positioning

When to use:

• Building accessible overlay components (dialogs, popovers, dropdowns, menus) with utility-class styling
• Creating fully custom select/combobox/listbox controls with keyboard navigation
• Implementing tabs, disclosure/accordion, switch, radio group, or checkbox with custom styling
• Needing automatic ARIA attributes, focus trapping, and keyboard handling without visual opinions

When NOT to use:

• Pre-styled component library desired (use a design system or pre-built component kit)
• Simple native HTML elements suffice (plain <select>, <input type="checkbox">, <details>)
• Non-React projects (v2 is React-only; Vue version remains at v1)
• Need asChild polymorphism or more granular primitive control (consider alternative headless libraries)

Package Installation:

npm install @headlessui/react

Examples:

• Core Patterns - Data-attribute styling, anchor positioning, transitions, as prop, useClose
• Dialog & Modal - Modal overlays, form dialogs, slide-over panels, transitions
• Menu & Dropdowns - Dropdown action menus, sections, icons, keyboard shortcuts
• Listbox & Combobox - Custom select, autocomplete, virtual scrolling
• Tabs - Horizontal/vertical tabs, controlled state, badges
• Popover & Disclosure - Floating panels, accordion, standalone transitions
• Switch, RadioGroup & Checkbox - Toggle, option selection, checkbox
• Form Components - Field, Input, Label, Fieldset, cascading disabled state

Quick API reference: reference.md

Philosophy

Headless UI provides behavior-only components: accessibility, keyboard navigation, focus management, and state handling are built in, while all visual styling is your responsibility. Style entirely via className using utility classes or any CSS approach.

Core Design Principles:

• Unstyled by default: No CSS shipped. Style entirely via className.
• Accessible out of the box: ARIA roles, attributes, and keyboard interactions are automatic.
• Compound components: Each UI pattern is composed of multiple coordinated parts (e.g., Menu + MenuButton + MenuItems + MenuItem).
• Data attributes for state: Components expose data-open, data-focus, data-selected, data-hover, data-active, data-disabled, data-checked for CSS-based state styling.
• Built-in anchor positioning: Floating panels (menus, listboxes, comboboxes, popovers) use Floating UI internally for automatic viewport-aware positioning.
• Transition support: The transition prop enables CSS transitions using data-closed, data-enter, data-leave attributes.

Core Patterns

Pattern 1: Dialog (Modal)

Dialogs are always controlled components. You manage open state and pass onClose. Focus is automatically trapped within the dialog panel.

<Dialog
  open={isOpen}
  => setIsOpen(false)}
  className="relative z-50"
>
  <DialogBackdrop
    transition
    className="fixed inset-0 bg-black/30 duration-300 data-[closed]:opacity-0"
  />
  <div className="fixed inset-0 flex w-screen items-center justify-center p-4">
    <DialogPanel
      transition
      className="max-w-lg rounded-xl bg-white p-12 duration-300 data-[closed]:scale-95 data-[closed]:opacity-0"
    >
      <DialogTitle className="text-lg font-bold">Title</DialogTitle>
      <Description>Description text</Description>
    </DialogPanel>
  </div>
</Dialog>

Key points: open/onClose are required, DialogTitle sets aria-labelledby, transition enables CSS animations via data-[closed]

Full examples: examples/dialog.md

Pattern 2: Menu (Dropdown)

Menus provide dropdown behavior: arrow key navigation, type-ahead search, auto-close on selection.

<Menu>
  <MenuButton className="rounded-md bg-gray-800 px-4 py-2 text-white">
    Options
  </MenuButton>
  <MenuItems
    anchor="bottom start"
    transition
    className="w-52 rounded-xl bg-white p-1 shadow-lg [--anchor-gap:8px] data-[closed]:scale-95 data-[closed]:opacity-0"
  >
    <MenuItem>
      <button className="block w-full rounded-lg px-3 py-1.5 text-left data-[focus]:bg-gray-100">
        Edit
      </button>
    </MenuItem>
  </MenuItems>
</Menu>

Key points: anchor handles positioning, data-[focus] styles keyboard/mouse focus, items auto-close menu on click, use MenuSection/MenuSeparator for grouped menus

Full examples: examples/menu.md

Pattern 3: Listbox (Custom Select)

Listbox replaces the native <select> with full styling control and keyboard navigation.

<Listbox value={selected}
  <ListboxButton className="w-full rounded-lg py-2 pl-3 pr-10 text-left shadow-md">
    {selected.name}
  </ListboxButton>
  <ListboxOptions
    anchor="bottom"
    className="w-[var(--button-width)] rounded-xl bg-white p-1 shadow-lg [--anchor-gap:4px]"
  >
    <ListboxOption
      value={item}
      className="px-3 py-1.5 data-[focus]:bg-blue-100 data-[selected]:font-semibold"
    >
      {item.name}
    </ListboxOption>
  </ListboxOptions>
</Listbox>

Key points: Objects compared by id field by default (use by prop for custom), multiple prop for multi-select, name for form submission, --button-width matches dropdown to trigger width

Full examples: examples/listbox-combobox.md

Pattern 4: Combobox (Autocomplete)

Combobox combines a text input with a filterable dropdown. Filtering logic is your responsibility.

<Combobox value={selected} => setQuery("")}>
  <ComboboxInput
    displayValue={(item: Item | null) => item?.name ?? ""}
    => setQuery(e.target.value)}
  />
  <ComboboxOptions
    anchor="bottom"
    className="w-[var(--input-width)] rounded-xl bg-white shadow-lg [--anchor-gap:4px]"
  >
    <ComboboxOption
      value={item}
      className="px-3 py-1.5 data-[focus]:bg-blue-100"
    >
      {item.name}
    </ComboboxOption>
  </ComboboxOptions>
</Combobox>

Key points: onClose resets query state, displayValue formats selected item in input, virtual={{ options }} for 1000+ items (built-in virtualization), --input-width matches dropdown to input

Full examples: examples/listbox-combobox.md

Pattern 5: Popover

Popovers display floating non-modal content. They close on outside click, Escape, or tab-away.

<Popover>
  <PopoverButton className="text-sm font-semibold data-[open]:text-blue-600">
    Solutions
  </PopoverButton>
  <PopoverPanel
    anchor="bottom start"
    transition
    className="w-80 rounded-xl bg-white p-4 shadow-lg [--anchor-gap:8px] data-[closed]:opacity-0"
  >
    <CloseButton as="a" href="/analytics">
      Analytics
    </CloseButton>
  </PopoverPanel>
</Popover>

Key points: CloseButton closes popover on click (useful for nav links), PopoverGroup manages sibling popover focus, modal prop for focus trapping

Full examples: examples/popover-disclosure.md

Pattern 6: Tabs

Tab components manage tabbed content with keyboard navigation (arrow keys, Home/End).

<TabGroup>
  <TabList className="flex gap-4 border-b">
    <Tab className="px-3 py-2 text-sm data-[selected]:border-blue-500 data-[selected]:text-blue-600">
      Tab Name
    </Tab>
  </TabList>
  <TabPanels>
    <TabPanel>Content</TabPanel>
  </TabPanels>
</TabGroup>

Key points: vertical prop switches to Up/Down arrows, selectedIndex/onChange for controlled mode, manual requires Enter/Space to activate, Tab/TabPanel order matches automatically

Full examples: examples/tabs.md

Pattern 7: Disclosure (Accordion)

Disclosure provides show/hide toggle for accordion-style content.

<Disclosure>
  <DisclosureButton className="flex w-full items-center justify-between rounded-lg bg-gray-100 px-4 py-2">
    Question text
    <span className="size-5 data-[open]:rotate-180" aria-hidden="true">
      &#9662;
    </span>
  </DisclosureButton>
  <DisclosurePanel
    transition
    className="px-4 pb-2 text-sm duration-200 data-[closed]:opacity-0"
  >
    Answer text
  </DisclosurePanel>
</Disclosure>

Key points: Each Disclosure manages its own state independently, defaultOpen for initial state, data-[open] on button for icon rotation

Full examples: examples/popover-disclosure.md

Pattern 8: Switch, RadioGroup & Checkbox

Toggle, option selection, and checkbox controls with form integration.

// Switch
<Field className="flex items-center justify-between">
  <Label passive>Email notifications</Label>
  <Switch checked={enabled} name="notifications"
    className="group h-6 w-11 rounded-full bg-gray-200 data-[checked]:bg-blue-600">
    <span className="size-5 rounded-full bg-white group-data-[checked]:translate-x-5" />
  </Switch>
</Field>

// RadioGroup
<RadioGroup value={selected}
  <Radio value={option} className="data-[checked]:border-blue-500 data-[focus]:ring-2">
    <Label>{option.name}</Label>
  </Radio>
</RadioGroup>

// Checkbox
<Checkbox checked={agreed} name="terms"
  className="group size-5 rounded border data-[checked]:bg-blue-500">
  <svg className="size-4 text-white opacity-0 group-data-[checked]:opacity-100" viewBox="0 0 16 16" fill="currentColor">
    <path d="M12.207 4.793a1 1 0 010 1.414l-5 5a1 1 0 01-1.414 0l-2-2a1 1 0 011.414-1.414L6.5 9.086l4.293-4.293a1 1 0 011.414 0z" />
  </svg>
</Checkbox>

Key points: passive on Label prevents toggle on click (when label is distant from control), name enables form submission, data-[checked]/group-data-[checked] for state styling, indeterminate on Checkbox for third state

Full examples: examples/switch-radio.md

Pattern 9: Form Components

Headless UI v2 form primitives auto-generate IDs and wire ARIA attributes.

<Fieldset className="space-y-6">
  <Legend className="text-lg font-semibold">Shipping Details</Legend>
  <Field>
    <Label className="text-sm font-medium">Full name</Label>
    <Description className="text-sm text-gray-500">Helper text</Description>
    <Input
      name="name"
      className="data-[focus]:outline-2 data-[focus]:outline-blue-500"
    />
  </Field>
  <Field disabled>
    <Label className="data-[disabled]:opacity-50">Promo code</Label>
    <Input className="data-[disabled]:bg-gray-100" />
  </Field>
</Fieldset>

Key points: Field auto-generates id/aria-labelledby/aria-describedby (no manual htmlFor), disabled Field cascades to all children, Fieldset+Legend group related fields

Full examples: examples/forms.md

Pattern 10: Anchor Positioning

Floating panels accept an anchor prop for viewport-aware positioning.

// Position values: "top", "top start", "top end", "bottom", "bottom start", "bottom end",
//                  "left", "left start", "left end", "right", "right start", "right end"

<MenuItems anchor="bottom start" className="[--anchor-gap:8px] [--anchor-offset:4px] [--anchor-padding:12px]">

// Match trigger width
<ListboxOptions className="w-[var(--button-width)]">
<ComboboxOptions className="w-[var(--input-width)]">

// Object syntax for full control
<MenuItems anchor={{ to: "bottom start", gap: 8, offset: 4, padding: 12 }}>

CSS Variables: --anchor-gap (space between trigger/panel), --anchor-offset (horizontal offset), --anchor-padding (viewport edge minimum), --button-width/--input-width (trigger dimensions)

Pattern 11: Data Attributes for Styling

Headless UI v2 exposes data attributes on all components for CSS-based state styling. Preferred over render props.

// Direct styling
<MenuItem><button className="data-[focus]:bg-blue-100 data-[disabled]:opacity-50">Edit</button></MenuItem>

// Parent state styling with group
<Switch className="group ...">
  <span className="group-data-[checked]:translate-x-5" />
</Switch>

// Transition styling
<DialogPanel transition className="duration-200 data-[closed]:opacity-0 data-[closed]:scale-95">

Decision Framework

Component Selection

What interaction pattern do you need?

Modal blocking interaction?
  -> Dialog (close on Escape, outside click, focus trapped)

Dropdown with actions?
  -> Menu (arrow key navigation, type-ahead, auto-close on select)

Custom select (single/multi)?
  -> Listbox (keyboard navigation, form integration)

Searchable select?
  -> Combobox (text input + filterable dropdown)
  -> Large list (1000+)? -> Use virtual prop

Floating non-modal content?
  -> Popover (click to toggle, close on outside click)

Tabbed content?
  -> TabGroup (arrow key navigation, automatic ARIA)

Show/hide toggle?
  -> Disclosure (single toggle, accordion-style)

Boolean toggle?
  -> Switch (on/off, form integration)

Option selection from small set?
  -> RadioGroup (arrow key cycling, card-style options)

Custom checkbox?
  -> Checkbox (checked/unchecked/indeterminate)

Form field with auto ARIA?
  -> Field + Label + Description + Input/Select/Textarea

Transition Approach

How to animate components?

Simple fade/scale?
  -> transition prop + data-[closed] classes (recommended)

Different enter/leave animations?
  -> Stack data attributes: data-[closed]:data-[enter]: / data-[closed]:data-[leave]:

Coordinated multi-element animations?
  -> Transition + TransitionChild components

JavaScript animation library?
  -> Use static prop to disable internal state management
  -> Conditionally render based on your animation library's presence detection

RED FLAGS

High Priority Issues:

• Using render props for class toggling instead of data-* attributes (breaks RSC compatibility, verbose code)
• Missing controlled state for Dialog (open and onClose are both required)
• Building manual dropdown/popover positioning instead of using the anchor prop
• Not providing DialogTitle (screen readers have no context for the dialog)

Medium Priority Issues:

• Using the legacy Transition component enter/enterFrom/enterTo/leave/leaveFrom/leaveTo class props instead of data-[closed]/data-[enter]/data-[leave] (v2.1+ pattern is simpler)
• Manually wiring id, htmlFor, aria-labelledby, aria-describedby when Field/Label/Description auto-handle this
• Not using onClose callback to reset Combobox query state
• Forgetting multiple prop when Listbox/Combobox should support multiple selection

Common Mistakes:

• Filtering Combobox options inside the component instead of deriving from state (causes stale filter results)
• Using data-[state] with CSS transition but forgetting duration-* class (no visible animation)
• Nesting a Popover inside a Dialog without considering focus trap implications
• Using Menu for navigation (Menu is for actions; use links/buttons directly for navigation, or Popover for nav panels)

Gotchas and Edge Cases:

• data-hover is intelligently ignored on touch devices to prevent sticky hover states (this is intentional, not a bug)
• data-active is removed when dragging off the element (unlike CSS :active which persists)
• data-changing on Switch/Checkbox is only true for two animation frames (used for transition timing)
• Dialog renders in a #headlessui-portal-root container automatically (no explicit Portal component needed)
• Combobox onClose fires when dropdown closes (use it to reset query, not onChange)
• Listbox/Combobox compare objects by id field by default; use by prop for custom comparison
• Tab component renders as Fragment by default, not button (wrap content or use as="button")
• Virtual scrolling in Combobox uses a render function on ComboboxOptions, not mapping ComboboxOption children
• Headless UI v2 is React-only; the Vue version remains at v1.x

CRITICAL REMINDERS

All code must follow project conventions in CLAUDE.md (kebab-case, named exports, import ordering, import type, named constants)

(You MUST use the v2 compound component anatomy - e.g. Menu/MenuButton/MenuItems/MenuItem - never render raw divs with click handlers)

(You MUST use data-* attributes for styling states (data-open, data-focus, data-selected, data-hover, data-active) - NOT render props for class toggling)

(You MUST use the anchor prop on floating panels (MenuItems, ListboxOptions, ComboboxOptions, PopoverPanel) instead of manual positioning)

(You MUST use the transition prop with data-closed/data-enter/data-leave classes for animations - NOT the legacy Transition component enter/leave props)

Failure to follow these rules will break accessibility, keyboard navigation, and viewport-aware positioning.