Shadcn Admin Kit

Shadcn Admin Kit Development Guide

Shadcn Admin Kit is a component library for building admin/CRUD applications using React, TypeScript, and shadcn/ui. It provides 98+ pre-built components on top of ra-core (from react-admin), combining react-admin's proven data layer with modern shadcn/ui components styled via Tailwind CSS. Before writing custom code, always check if shadcn-admin-kit already provides a component or hook for the task. Full documentation: https://marmelab.com/shadcn-admin-kit/docs

Tech Stack: React Router v7, TanStack Query, React Hook Form, Zod, ra-core, shadcn/ui (Base UI), Lucide icons, Tailwind CSS v4.

Compatible with: Vite.js, React-router, Next.js, TanStack Start, and more.

Import Paths

Components are imported from @/components/admin/, while ra-core hooks and utilities come from ra-core:

// Admin components
import { Admin } from "@/components/admin/admin";
import { List } from "@/components/admin/list";
import { DataTable } from "@/components/admin/data-table";
import { TextInput } from "@/components/admin/text-input";

// Ra-core (routing, hooks, utilities)
import { Resource, CustomRoutes, useGetList, useRecordContext } from "ra-core";

Providers (Backend Abstraction)

Shadcn Admin Kit never calls APIs directly. All communication goes through providers — adapters that translate standardized calls into API-specific requests. The three main providers are:

• dataProvider: All CRUD operations (getList, getOne, create, update, delete, getMany, getManyReference, updateMany, deleteMany). See DataProviders and 50+ existing adapters.
• authProvider: Authentication and authorization. See Authentication.
• i18nProvider: Translations (translate, changeLocale, getLocale).

Critical rule: Never use fetch, axios, or direct HTTP calls in components. Always use data provider hooks. This ensures proper caching, loading states, error handling, authentication, and optimistic rendering.

Composition (Not God Components)

Shadcn Admin Kit uses composition over configuration. Override behavior by passing child components, not by setting dozens of props:

<Edit actions={<MyCustomActions />}>
  <SimpleForm>
    <TextInput source="title" />
  </SimpleForm>
</Edit>

To customize the layout, pass a custom layout component to <Admin layout={MyLayout}>. To customize the sidebar, pass it to <Layout sidebar={MySidebar}>. This chaining is by design.

Context: Pull, Don't Push

Components expose data to descendants via React contexts. Access data using hooks rather than passing props down:

• useRecordContext() — current record in Show/Edit/Create views. See useRecordContext.
• useListContext() — list data, filters, pagination, sort in List views. See useListContext.
• useShowContext(), useEditContext(), useCreateContext() — page-level state for detail views.
• useTranslate() — translation function from i18nProvider.
• useGetIdentity() — current user from authProvider.

Hooks Over Custom Components

When a component's UI doesn't fit, use the underlying hook instead of building from scratch. Controller hooks (named use*Controller) provide all the logic without the UI:

• useListController() — list fetching, filtering, pagination logic
• useEditController() — edit form fetching and submission logic
• useShowController() — show page data fetching logic

Routing

<Resource> declares CRUD routes automatically (/posts, /posts/create, /posts/:id/edit, /posts/:id/show). Use <CustomRoutes> for non-CRUD pages. Use useCreatePath() to build resource URLs and <Link> from react-router for navigation. The router is React Router v7. See Routing.

import { Resource, CustomRoutes } from "ra-core";
import { Route } from "react-router";
import { Admin } from "@/components/admin/admin";

export const App = () => (
  <Admin dataProvider={dataProvider}>
    <Resource name="posts" list={PostList} edit={PostEdit} />
    <CustomRoutes>
      <Route path="/settings" element={<Settings />} />
    </CustomRoutes>
  </Admin>
);

Note: Custom routes don't appear in the sidebar automatically. Customize <AppSidebar> to add menu items for custom routes.

Data Fetching

Query Hooks (Reading Data)

const { data, total, isPending, error } = useGetList("posts", {
  pagination: { page: 1, perPage: 25 },
  sort: { field: "created_at", order: "DESC" },
  filter: { status: "published" },
});

const { data: record, isPending } = useGetOne("posts", { id: 123 });
const { data: records } = useGetMany("posts", { ids: [1, 2, 3] });
const { data, total } = useGetManyReference("comments", {
  target: "post_id",
  id: 123,
  pagination: { page: 1, perPage: 25 },
});

See useGetList, useGetOne.

Mutation Hooks (Writing Data)

All mutations return [mutate, state]. They support three mutation modes:

• pessimistic (default): Wait for server response, then update UI.
• optimistic: Update UI immediately, revert on server error.
• undoable: Update UI, show undo notification, commit after delay.

const [create, { isPending }] = useCreate();
const [update] = useUpdate();
const [deleteOne] = useDelete();

// Call with resource and params
create("posts", { data: { title: "Hello" } });
update("posts", { id: 1, data: { title: "Updated" }, previousData: record });
deleteOne("posts", { id: 1, previousData: record });

Pass mutationMode: 'optimistic' or 'undoable' for instant UI feedback. See useCreate, useUpdate.

Authentication & Authorization

const authProvider = {
  login: ({ username, password }) => Promise<void>,
  logout: () => Promise<void>,
  checkAuth: () => Promise<void>, // Verify credentials are valid
  checkError: (error) => Promise<void>, // Detect auth errors from API responses
  getIdentity: () => Promise<{ id; fullName; avatar }>,
  getPermissions: () => Promise<any>,
  canAccess: ({ resource, action, record }) => Promise<boolean>, // RBAC
};

Each auth provider method has a corresponding hook (e.g. useGetIdentity(), useCanAccess()).

• Custom routes are public by default. Wrap them with <Authenticated> or call useAuthenticated() to require login. See Authenticated.
• Centralize authorization in authProvider.canAccess(), not in individual components. Use useCanAccess() to check permissions. See useCanAccess and [Access Control]https://marmelab.com/ra-core/permissions/#access-control).
• The dataProvider must include credentials (Bearer token, cookies) in requests — authProvider handles login, but dataProvider handles API calls. Configure httpClient in data provider setup.

Relationships Between Entities

Fetching all the data (including relationships) upfront for a given page is an anti-pattern. Instead, fetch related records on demand using reference fields and inputs.

Displaying Related Records (Fields)

{
  /* Show the company of the current record based on its company_id */
}
<ReferenceField source="company_id" reference="companies" />;

{
  /* Show a list of related records (reverse FK) */
}
<ReferenceManyField reference="comments" target="post_id">
  <DataTable>
    <TextField source="body" />
    <DateField source="created_at" />
  </DataTable>
</ReferenceManyField>;

{
  /* Show multiple referenced records (array of IDs) */
}
<ReferenceArrayField source="tag_ids" reference="tags">
  <SingleFieldList>
    <ChipField source="name" />
  </SingleFieldList>
</ReferenceArrayField>;

See ReferenceField, ReferenceManyField, ReferenceArrayField.

Editing Related Records (Inputs)

{
  /* Select from another resource (FK) */
}
<ReferenceInput source="company_id" reference="companies" />;

{
  /* Multi-select from another resource (array of IDs) */
}
<ReferenceArrayInput source="tag_ids" reference="tags" />;

See ReferenceInput, ReferenceArrayInput.

Forms

Forms are built on React Hook Form with Zod validation. Use <SimpleForm> for single-column layouts. See SimpleForm.

Pass validators to input components: required(), minLength(min), maxLength(max), minValue(min), maxValue(max), number(), email(), regex(pattern, message), or a custom function returning an error string.

<TextInput source="title" validate={[required(), minLength(3)]} />

Use React Hook Form's useWatch() to create dynamic forms that react to field values.

List Filters

Add filters to lists using the filters prop with an array of input components:

import { List } from "@/components/admin/list";
import { TextInput } from "@/components/admin/text-input";
import { ReferenceInput } from "@/components/admin/reference-input";
import { AutocompleteInput } from "@/components/admin/autocomplete-input";

const filters = [
  <TextInput source="q" placeholder="Search..." label={false} />,
  <ReferenceInput source="category_id" reference="categories">
    <AutocompleteInput placeholder="Filter by category" label={false} />
  </ReferenceInput>,
];

export const ProductList = () => (
  <List filters={filters}>
    <DataTable>{/* columns */}</DataTable>
  </List>
);

Resource Definition

Encapsulate resource components in index files for clean imports:

// posts/index.ts
export default {
  list: PostList,
  create: PostCreate,
  edit: PostEdit,
  show: PostShow,
  icon: FileText, // Lucide icon
  recordRepresentation: (record) => record.title, // How records appear in references
};

See Resource, RecordRepresentation.

Key Components

Page Components

• <List> — Full list page with breadcrumbs, pagination, filters, create button
• <Create> — Page wrapper for create forms
• <Edit> — Page wrapper for edit forms with show/delete buttons
• <Show> — Read-only detail page

Data Display

• <DataTable> — Powerful data table with sorting, selection, column customization, bulk actions
• <TextField>, <NumberField>, <DateField>, <EmailField> — Display fields
• <ImageField>, <FileField> — Media fields
• <BadgeField> — Badge/status display
• <RecordField> — Flexible field with label (inline or stacked)
• <ArrayField>, <SingleFieldList> — Array iteration

Form Inputs

• <TextInput>, <NumberInput>, <BooleanInput> — Basic inputs
• <SelectInput>, <RadioButtonGroupInput> — Choice inputs
• <DateInput>, <DateTimeInput> — Date pickers
• <AutocompleteInput> — Searchable dropdown with create-on-fly
• <FileInput> — File upload
• <ArrayInput>, <TextArrayInput> — Array inputs
• <AutocompleteArrayInput> — Multi-select autocomplete
• <SearchInput> — Full-text search filter

Actions & Buttons

• <SaveButton>, <CancelButton> — Form actions
• <CreateButton>, <EditButton>, <ShowButton>, <DeleteButton> — Navigation
• <RefreshButton>, <ExportButton> — List actions
• <BulkDeleteButton>, <BulkExportButton> — Bulk actions
• <ColumnsButton>, <SortButton>, <FilterButton> — Table controls

Layout

• <Admin> — Root component combining all providers
• <Layout> — Main layout with sidebar, header, breadcrumbs
• <AppSidebar> — Collapsible navigation sidebar
• <SimpleForm> — Vertical form layout with toolbar
• <FormToolbar> — Sticky Save/Cancel toolbar

Guessers (Code Generation)

Guessers auto-generate CRUD components from API responses and log the generated code to the console for copy-paste:

// Temporarily use guessers during development
<Resource
  name="products"
  list={ListGuesser}
  edit={EditGuesser}
  show={ShowGuesser}
/>

• <ListGuesser> — Generates DataTable configuration from first record
• <EditGuesser> — Generates form inputs from record schema
• <ShowGuesser> — Generates show page layout

Check the browser console for the generated code, then copy it into your own components.

Styling

All components use Tailwind CSS classes. Override styles via the className prop or by customizing the shadcn/ui theme variables in your CSS:

:root {
  --primary: 222.2 47.4% 11.2%;
  --primary-foreground: 210 40% 98%;
  /* ... */
}

Use the cn() utility from @/lib/utils to merge class names:

import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
<div className={cn("base-class", condition && "conditional-class")} />;

Custom Data Provider Methods

Extend the dataProvider with domain-specific methods:

const dataProvider = {
  ...baseDataProvider,
  archivePost: async (id) => {
    /* custom logic */
  },
};
// Call via useDataProvider and useQuery:
// const dp = useDataProvider();
// const { data } = useQuery(['archivePost', id], () => dp.archivePost(id));

Persistent Client State (Store)

Use useStore() for persistent user preferences (theme, column visibility, saved filters):

const [theme, setTheme] = useStore("theme", "light");

See Store.

Notification, Redirect, Refresh

const notify = useNotify();
const redirect = useRedirect();
const refresh = useRefresh();

notify("Record saved", { type: "success" });
redirect("list", "posts"); // Navigate to /posts
redirect("edit", "posts", 123); // Navigate to /posts/123
refresh(); // Invalidate all queries

Notifications use Sonner for toast messages.

Differences from React-Admin

Shadcn Admin Kit shares the same ra-core foundation as react-admin but differs in:

The data layer, providers, hooks, and resource architecture are identical.