# Ask Sonner

> Use when working with Sonner or troubleshooting React toasts, including Toaster setup, toast variants, promise/loading flows, dismissal, styling, theming, positioning, duplicate toasts, stacking, or dark mode.

- Skill: `masih-0x3/ask-sonner` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add masih-0x3/ask-sonner`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/masih-0x3/ask-sonner/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: Masih-0x3 (https://skillmd.com/u/masih-0x3)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/masih-0x3/ask-sonner

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# Working With Sonner

A guide skill for [Sonner](https://sonner.emilkowal.ski), the toast library. When a task involves Sonner — wiring it up, rendering toasts, styling them, or fixing them — answer from this file first. Full prop tables for `<Toaster />` and `toast()` live in [API.md](API.md); read it when you need an exact prop name, type, or default.

## Setup

Two pieces, and only two:

1. **One `<Toaster />`, mounted once**, as close to the root as possible (in Next.js: `layout.tsx` — it works inside server components). Never render it per-page or conditionally; a second mounted Toaster duplicates every toast.
2. **`toast()` called from client code** — event handlers, effects, callbacks. It's a plain function, no hook or provider needed, but it does nothing on the server: in a server action, return the result and call `toast()` in the client code that receives it.

```jsx
import { Toaster } from 'sonner'; // once, in layout
import { toast } from 'sonner';   // anywhere client-side
```

## Picking the right call

| You want | Call |
| --- | --- |
| Plain message | `toast('Title')` — add `{ description }` for a second line |
| Success / error / info / warning icon | `toast.success('…')`, `toast.error('…')`, etc. |
| Spinner while you manage state yourself | `toast.loading('…')`, then update it by id |
| Loading → success/error tied to a promise | `toast.promise(promise, { loading, success, error })` — success/error accept functions receiving the resolved value/error |
| Button that does something | `{ action: { label, onClick } }` — closes the toast unless `onClick` calls `event.preventDefault()`; `cancel` is the secondary variant |
| Custom JSX, default toast shell | `toast(<jsx />)` |
| Custom JSX, no styles at all | `toast.custom((t) => <jsx />)` — headless, `t` gives you the id to dismiss |

## Recipes

**Update a toast** — call `toast()` again with the same `id`; only the props you pass change. Switching to `toast.success(…, { id })` changes the type. This is how loading → success flows work without `toast.promise`:

```jsx
const id = toast.loading('Uploading…');
toast.success('Uploaded', { id });
```

**Persist** — `{ duration: Infinity }`. **Dismiss** — `toast.dismiss(id)`, or `toast.dismiss()` for all. **Read active toasts** — `useSonner()` in React, `toast.getToasts()` outside it.

**Links or components in the text** — pass a function for the title or description: `toast(() => <a href="…">View</a>)`.

**Multiple toasters** — give each an `id` and target with `toast('…', { toasterId: 'canvas' })`. Without `toasterId`, every toaster renders the toast.

**Close callbacks** — `onDismiss` fires on close button or swipe; `onAutoClose` fires on timeout. They are separate; there is no single "closed" callback.

## Styling — the escalation ladder

Climb only as far as the change requires; jumping to the top rung too early is fine (it's the recommended end state), lingering in the middle is not.

1. **Defaults** — plus `richColors` on the Toaster for colorful success/error, `invert` to flip against the theme.
2. **Inline tweaks** — `toastOptions={{ style: {…} }}` on the Toaster for all toasts, or `style` per `toast()` call.
3. **Classes on parts** — `toastOptions={{ classNames: { toast, title, description, actionButton, cancelButton, closeButton } }}`. Sonner's injected styles win the cascade, so every class needs `!important` (Tailwind: `!text-red-900`). If you're marking more than a few things important, stop — go headless.
4. **Headless** — `toast.custom()` with your own JSX, keeping Sonner's positioning, stacking, and swipe. The recommended approach for a design-system toast: wrap it in your own `toast()` abstraction. (`unstyled: true` exists as a halfway house, but headless gives more control for the same effort.)

**Icons** — swap defaults per-type with the Toaster's `icons` prop, per-toast with `icon`, remove with `null`.

**Theme** — `theme` defaults to `'light'` and does not track the OS. Pass `theme="system"`, or wire your theme provider: `<Toaster theme={resolvedTheme} />` from `next-themes`.

## Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Cause → fix |
| --- | --- |
| Toast never appears | No `<Toaster />` mounted, or it unmounted (conditional render, per-page placement). Mount one at the root. If calling from a server action: `toast()` is client-only — call it with the action's result on the client. |
| Same toast appears twice | Two Toasters mounted (layout **and** page) — keep one. Or `toast()` fired in an effect under React StrictMode's dev double-invoke — fire from the event handler instead, or pass a stable `id` so the second call updates rather than duplicates. |
| Tailwind/CSS classes have no effect | Default styles override them. Mark them `!important`, or use `unstyled` / headless (see the ladder above). |
| Toasts render completely unstyled (common in Astro, view transitions) | Sonner's injected stylesheet was lost — import it explicitly in a layout: `import 'sonner/dist/styles.css'`. |
| Unstyled inside Shadow DOM | Styles land in `document.head`, not the shadow root. Copy the style tag whose text includes `[data-sonner-toaster]` into the shadow root. |
| Toast behind a modal/overlay, or clipped | An ancestor creates a stacking context (`transform`, `filter`, `overflow`) or the overlay out-z-indexes the toaster. Move `<Toaster />` to the document root, outside any dialog/portal container. |
| Dark mode ignored | `theme` defaults to `'light'` — set `theme="system"` or pass the resolved theme (see Theme above). |
| Success/error look gray, not green/red | That's the default. Add `richColors` to the Toaster. |
| Toast never closes | `duration: Infinity`, `dismissible: false`, or a `toast.promise` whose promise never settles — the loading toast waits forever. |
| `toast.promise` stuck on loading | It needs a promise (or a function returning one) as its first argument, and the promise must actually resolve/reject. |
| Swipe-to-dismiss goes the wrong way / doesn't work | Directions derive from `position`. Override with `swipeDirections` on the Toaster. |
| Toast shows up in every toaster | Multiple toasters need targeting: give each Toaster an `id` and pass `toasterId` in the `toast()` call. |
| Toasts too close to the screen edge on mobile | `offset` (desktop, default 32px) and `mobileOffset` (<600px, default 16px) — numbers, CSS strings, or per-side objects. |