ShadCN UI Patterns - November 2025 Standards

When to Use

• Building new UI components
• Refactoring existing components to use ShadCN
• Implementing forms with validation
• Creating modals, dialogs, and overlays
• Ensuring accessibility compliance

Why ShadCN UI?

• Copy-paste, not npm - Full ownership of component code
• Radix UI primitives - Accessibility built-in (WCAG 2.1 AA compliant)
• TailwindCSS-first - Full customization, no CSS-in-JS
• TypeScript-native - Type-safe props and variants
• Server Component compatible - Works with Next.js 15 App Router

Core Principles

1. Component Installation Pattern

# Install individual components as needed
npx shadcn@latest add button
npx shadcn@latest add dialog
npx shadcn@latest add form
npx shadcn@latest add input
npx shadcn@latest add label

Components are copied to src/components/ui/ directory - you own the code.

2. Component Usage Patterns

Button Component

import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"

// ✅ DO: Use semantic variants
<Button variant="default">Save</Button>
<Button variant="destructive">Delete</Button>
<Button variant="outline">Cancel</Button>
<Button variant="ghost">Skip</Button>
<Button variant="link">Learn More</Button>

// ✅ DO: Use size variants
<Button size="default">Medium</Button>
<Button size="sm">Small</Button>
<Button size="lg">Large</Button>
<Button size="icon"><Icon /></Button>

// ❌ DON'T: Create custom buttons without using Button component
<button className="px-4 py-2 bg-blue-500">Bad</button>

Dialog/Modal Component

import {
  Dialog,
  DialogContent,
  DialogDescription,
  DialogHeader,
  DialogTitle,
  DialogTrigger,
} from "@/components/ui/dialog"

// ✅ DO: Use proper dialog structure (accessibility)
<Dialog>
  <DialogTrigger asChild>
    <Button>Open Settings</Button>
  </DialogTrigger>
  <DialogContent>
    <DialogHeader>
      <DialogTitle>Settings</DialogTitle>
      <DialogDescription>
        Configure your application settings here.
      </DialogDescription>
    </DialogHeader>
    {/* Dialog content */}
  </DialogContent>
</Dialog>

// ❌ DON'T: Skip DialogHeader or DialogTitle (breaks screen readers)
<DialogContent>
  <h2>Settings</h2> {/* Wrong - use DialogTitle */}
</DialogContent>

Form Component (with React Hook Form + Zod)

import { useForm } from "react-hook-form"
import { zodResolver } from "@hookform/resolvers/zod"
import * as z from "zod"
import {
  Form,
  FormControl,
  FormDescription,
  FormField,
  FormItem,
  FormLabel,
  FormMessage,
} from "@/components/ui/form"
import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input"
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"

// ✅ DO: Define Zod schema first (validation)
const formSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email("Invalid email address"),
  password: z.string().min(8, "Password must be at least 8 characters"),
})

function LoginForm() {
  const form = useForm<z.infer<typeof formSchema>>({
    resolver: zodResolver(formSchema),
    defaultValues: {
      email: "",
      password: "",
    },
  })

  async function onSubmit(values: z.infer<typeof formSchema>) {
    // Type-safe validated data
    console.log(values)
  }

  return (
    <Form {...form}>
      <form onSubmit={form.handleSubmit(onSubmit)} className="space-y-4">
        <FormField
          control={form.control}
          name="email"
          render={({ field }) => (
            <FormItem>
              <FormLabel>Email</FormLabel>
              <FormControl>
                <Input placeholder="you@example.com" {...field} />
              </FormControl>
              <FormDescription>
                We'll never share your email.
              </FormDescription>
              <FormMessage />
            </FormItem>
          )}
        />

        <FormField
          control={form.control}
          name="password"
          render={({ field }) => (
            <FormItem>
              <FormLabel>Password</FormLabel>
              <FormControl>
                <Input type="password" {...field} />
              </FormControl>
              <FormMessage />
            </FormItem>
          )}
        />

        <Button type="submit">Sign In</Button>
      </form>
    </Form>
  )
}

// ❌ DON'T: Use uncontrolled forms without validation
<form>
  <input name="email" /> {/* No validation */}
</form>

3. Server vs Client Components

// ✅ DO: Use Server Component for static dialogs
import { Dialog, DialogContent } from "@/components/ui/dialog"

export default function ServerDialog() {
  // No 'use client' needed
  return <Dialog>...</Dialog>
}

// ✅ DO: Use Client Component when state is needed
'use client'

import { useState } from 'react'
import { Dialog, DialogContent } from "@/components/ui/dialog"

export function ClientDialog() {
  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false)

  return (
    <Dialog open={open} onOpenChange={setOpen}>
      <DialogContent>...</DialogContent>
    </Dialog>
  )
}

4. Accessibility Requirements

Focus Management

// ✅ DO: Use DialogTrigger with asChild for proper focus
<DialogTrigger asChild>
  <Button>Open</Button>
</DialogTrigger>

// ❌ DON'T: Manually trigger without proper focus handling
<Button onClick={() => setOpen(true)}>Open</Button>

Keyboard Navigation

// ✅ ShadCN handles this automatically:
// - ESC closes dialogs
// - Tab navigates focusable elements
// - Enter/Space activates buttons
// - Arrow keys navigate menus

// ❌ DON'T: Override default keyboard behavior without good reason

Screen Reader Support

// ✅ DO: Always include DialogTitle (required for ARIA)
<DialogHeader>
  <DialogTitle>Delete Project</DialogTitle>
  <DialogDescription>
    This action cannot be undone.
  </DialogDescription>
</DialogHeader>

// ❌ DON'T: Use visually hidden titles incorrectly
<DialogTitle className="sr-only">Delete</DialogTitle>
// Only hide if there's a clear visual alternative

5. Common Components to Use

6. TailwindCSS Best Practices

// ✅ DO: Use Tailwind utility classes
<Button className="w-full mt-4">Submit</Button>

// ✅ DO: Use cn() helper for conditional classes
import { cn } from "@/lib/utils"

<Button className={cn(
  "w-full",
  isLoading && "opacity-50 cursor-not-allowed"
)}>
  Submit
</Button>

// ❌ DON'T: Use inline styles
<Button style={{ width: '100%', marginTop: '16px' }}>Submit</Button>

// ❌ DON'T: Create custom CSS files for components
// styles.css
.my-button { width: 100%; }

7. Dark Mode Support

// ✅ DO: Use Tailwind dark mode classes
<div className="bg-white dark:bg-gray-900 text-black dark:text-white">
  Content
</div>

// ✅ ShadCN components have dark mode built-in
<Button variant="default">
  {/* Automatically styled for dark mode */}
</Button>

Common Mistakes to Catch

❌ Missing DialogTitle (Accessibility Violation)

// BAD
<DialogContent>
  <h2>Settings</h2>
  <p>Content</p>
</DialogContent>

// GOOD
<DialogContent>
  <DialogHeader>
    <DialogTitle>Settings</DialogTitle>
  </DialogHeader>
  <p>Content</p>
</DialogContent>

❌ Not Using Form Component for Forms

// BAD - No validation, poor UX
<form>
  <input name="email" />
  <button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

// GOOD - Validation, error messages, accessibility
<Form {...form}>
  <form onSubmit={form.handleSubmit(onSubmit)}>
    <FormField name="email" ... />
  </form>
</Form>

❌ Hardcoding Colors Instead of Using Variants

// BAD
<Button className="bg-red-500 hover:bg-red-600">Delete</Button>

// GOOD
<Button variant="destructive">Delete</Button>

❌ Not Using asChild for Triggers

// BAD - Creates unnecessary nested buttons
<DialogTrigger>
  <Button>Open</Button>
</DialogTrigger>
// Renders: <button><button>Open</button></button> (invalid HTML)

// GOOD - Merges props into single button
<DialogTrigger asChild>
  <Button>Open</Button>
</DialogTrigger>
// Renders: <button>Open</button>

Testing ShadCN Components

import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react'
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'
import { Dialog, DialogTrigger, DialogContent } from '@/components/ui/dialog'

describe('Dialog', () => {
  it('should open when trigger is clicked', async () => {
    const user = userEvent.setup()

    render(
      <Dialog>
        <DialogTrigger asChild>
          <button>Open</button>
        </DialogTrigger>
        <DialogContent>
          <div>Dialog content</div>
        </DialogContent>
      </Dialog>
    )

    // Dialog content should not be visible initially
    expect(screen.queryByText('Dialog content')).not.toBeInTheDocument()

    // Click trigger
    await user.click(screen.getByText('Open'))

    // Dialog content should now be visible
    expect(screen.getByText('Dialog content')).toBeInTheDocument()
  })

  it('should close on ESC key', async () => {
    const user = userEvent.setup()

    render(
      <Dialog defaultOpen>
        <DialogContent>Dialog content</DialogContent>
      </Dialog>
    )

    expect(screen.getByText('Dialog content')).toBeInTheDocument()

    await user.keyboard('{Escape}')

    expect(screen.queryByText('Dialog content')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
  })
})

Resources

• Official Docs: https://ui.shadcn.com
• Radix UI: https://www.radix-ui.com
• Examples: https://ui.shadcn.com/examples
• Themes: https://ui.shadcn.com/themes

November 2025 Note

ShadCN UI is the industry standard for React component libraries as of November 2025. All new Quetrex applications must use ShadCN UI for consistency, accessibility, and maintainability.