Layout & patterns

What is the standard page template?

Every page is a full-height flex column. The title moves up to the global top bar, an action header holds the breadcrumbs and any page actions, and the content scrolls below it with p-4 padding. Only that content region scrolls; the header and the app footer stay fixed.

"use client";

import { RocketIcon } from "@radix-ui/react-icons";
import { Breadcrumbs } from "@/app/_components/breadcrumbs";
import { SetPageTitle } from "@/app/_components/set-page-title";

export default function MyPage() {
  return (
    <div className="flex h-full flex-col">
      {/* 1: surfaces the title + icon in the global top bar */}
      <SetPageTitle title="My page" icon={RocketIcon} />

      {/* 2 - action header: breadcrumbs (left) + optional actions (right) */}
      <div className="flex h-12 shrink-0 items-center justify-between gap-3 border-b border-border px-4">
        <Breadcrumbs />
        {/* <Button variant="primary">…</Button> */}
      </div>

      {/* 3: the only scrolling region; p-4 + gap-4 between sections */}
      <div className="min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-y-auto">
        <div className="flex flex-col gap-4 p-4">
          {/* sections go here */}
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Architecture: three layers

Data-backed pages are split into three files so no data processing ever happens in a UI component. Data flows one way: Data → Controller → Presentation. The organizations page is the reference. Copy its shape.

• Data (API): lib/api/<entity>.ts. Async functions that talk to the backend; no React. It's a mock in-memory table today, but the signatures are the real-API seam: swap each body for fetch(url, { signal }) and nothing above changes.
• Controller: app/(app)/<route>/use-<entity>.ts. A hook that owns { data, loading, error }, calls the data layer after mount, and exposes writes. No JSX.
• Presentation: a thin *-table.tsx that next/dynamic-loads the view behind a skeleton, and a *-view.tsx that reads the controller and renders RecordView. Zero fetching or data processing.

// lib/api/organizations.ts: DATA (no React; swap body for fetch())
export async function listOrganizations(signal?: AbortSignal) {
  const res = await fetch("/api/organizations", { signal });
  return res.json();
}

// use-organizations.ts: CONTROLLER (loads after mount)
export function useOrganizations() {
  const [data, setData] = useState([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
  useEffect(() => {
    const c = new AbortController();
    listOrganizations(c.signal).then((rows) => { setData(rows); setLoading(false); });
    return () => c.abort();
  }, []);
  return { data, loading, save: replaceOrganizations };
}

// organizations-table.tsx: PRESENTATION (paint shell first)
const View = dynamic(() => import("./organizations-view").then((m) => m.OrganizationsView),
  { ssr: false, loading: () => <TableSkeleton /> });

// organizations-view.tsx: PRESENTATION (no data work)
const { data, loading, save } = useOrganizations();
<RecordView data={data} loading={loading} onDataChange={save} … />

Page types

Every page shares the frame above; only the content region changes. The theme gives you five page types. When you add a page, decide which one the requirement calls for and fill in its content. Don't invent a sixth shape.

1 · Data table page

Use this for any list of records: Organizations, Branches, Departments, Employees, Markets, and the System and CRM lists. The route is a thin server page.tsx that renders a client *-table.tsx, and that file is a single RecordView fed a fields array. RecordView brings its own action header, breadcrumbs, padded card, sorting, filtering, pagination, row actions, the add/edit form and import/export. You configure it rather than lay it out. Every data table page runs on this one layout; only the fields config changes.

// page.tsx - server component: metadata + the table, nothing else
export const metadata = pageMeta("/departments");
export default function DepartmentsPage() {
  return <main className="h-full"><DepartmentsTable /></main>;
}

// departments-table.tsx: "use client"
<RecordView
  title="Departments" singular="Department" icon={LayoutGrid}
  fields={fields}                       // the whole design comes from here
  initialData={departments}
  getPrimary={(row) => ({ title: row.name, initials: "…" })}
  makeEmptyRow={() => ({ /* blank row */ })}
/>

See the Data table page for the full fields reference.

2 · Record form: Add / Edit / View

The Add, Edit and View screens for a record are one form, rendered by RecordView/RecordForm from the same fields array: View is the read-only state, Edit the editable one, and Add is the same form on a blank row. You never build three separate forms. It comes in two variants, and that choice is the whole difference between Branches and Organizations:

• Slide-over overlay (default): Branches, Departments. Render <RecordView> with no formModeand Add/Edit/View open in a right-hand panel over the table. It's uncontrolled; you pass initialData. Reach for it on short forms and quick edits.
• Full-page routes: Organizations. Set formMode="page" and route the actions to dedicated URLs (/new, /edit). The form then takes over the whole page with a breadcrumb bar, an optional documentation panel, and a fixed Save/Cancel footer. It's controlled: the table and the routes share one data source and one *-config.tsx. Use it for long forms, or whenever the form needs its own URL.

// Branches: overlay, uncontrolled. That's the whole difference.
<RecordView title="Branches" fields={fields} initialData={branches} … />

// Organizations: full-page routes, controlled via a controller hook that
// loads from the data layer (data → controller → presentation; see /docs/layout).
const { data, loading, save } = useOrganizations();
<RecordView
  formMode="page" formColumns={1}
  fields={fields} data={data} loading={loading} onDataChange={save}
  onCreate={() => router.push("/organizations/new")}
  onView={(id) => router.push(`/organizations/edit?id=${id}`)}
  onEdit={(id) => router.push(`/organizations/edit?id=${id}`)}
  … />

// /organizations/new/page.tsx renders the exported RecordForm directly,
// using the same fields from organizations-config.tsx.
<RecordForm isNew fields={fields} row={draft} onSave={…} onCancel={…} />

The Info panel beside the form is dynamic. Nothing in it is hardcoded. It reads from the same config as the form: formDescriptionfills the "About" intro, and each field with a description adds a labelled help entry. Provide those in your requirement and the panel writes itself; leave them out and it disappears, giving you a full-width form. (It appears on lg screens and up.)

<RecordForm
  formMode="page"
  formDescription="Organizations are the top-level tenants…"   // → the "About" intro
  fields={[
    { key: "name", label: "Name", required: true,
      description: "The legal or trading name, shown across the app." }, // → a help entry
    { key: "code", label: "Code" },   // no description → not shown in the panel
  ]}
/>

The slide-over variant renders the same fields in a right-hand panel over the table (see the "Form: slide-over" thumbnail above). It has no Info panel, so switch to full-page mode whenever you want the help column.

3 · Dashboard page

An overview screen: the Home page at /dashboard. A row of StatCards sits at the top, followed by a grid of bordered-card sections holding tables, progress bars and lists. It uses the standard scrolling content region: the stat grid first, then a responsive grid of sections below it.

<div className="min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-y-auto">
  <div className="flex flex-col gap-4 p-4">
    <section className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-4 lg:grid-cols-4">
      {/* <StatCard /> × 4 */}
    </section>
    <div className="grid grid-cols-1 gap-4 lg:grid-cols-3">
      {/* bordered-card sections: a wide table + a side column */}
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

4 · Settings (single-form) page

One long form on its own page: Settings. Rather than a scrolling column of sections, the content is a single bordered card: it holds scrollable Section cards, with a fixed footer action bar(Save) pinned to the bottom, the same footer the full-page record form uses. Reach for this whenever a page is "a form with a Save button," not a list.

<div className="min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-hidden p-4">
  <div className="flex h-full flex-col overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-border bg-card">
    <div className="min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-y-auto p-4 md:p-6">
      {/* <Section title="Profile"> … </Section> cards */}
    </div>
    {/* fixed footer: matches the record form's action bar */}
    <div className="flex shrink-0 items-center justify-end gap-2 border-y border-border bg-muted/40 px-4 py-3">
      <Button variant="primary">Save changes</Button>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

5 · Board (Kanban) page

A horizontally scrolling column board: the Opportunities pipeline. The content region scrolls on the x axis and holds fixed-width (w-72) columns, each a dashed, droppable card list you can drag cards between. Use it for stage or status pipelines; flat lists belong in a data table.

<div className="min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-x-auto p-4">
  <div className="flex h-full gap-4">
    {stages.map((stage) => (
      <section key={stage} className="flex h-full w-72 shrink-0 flex-col gap-3">
        {/* column header + count */}
        <div className="flex min-h-0 flex-1 flex-col gap-2 overflow-y-auto rounded-lg border border-dashed border-border bg-muted/30 p-2">
          {/* draggable cards */}
        </div>
      </section>
    ))}
  </div>
</div>

Sections

A section is a bordered, rounded card: a muted header bar with a bottom border, then the content. Stack them in the gap-4 column and they space themselves.

<section className="overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-border bg-card">
  <div className="border-b border-border bg-muted/40 px-4 py-2.5">
    <h2 className="font-medium">Section title</h2>
  </div>
  <div className="p-4">
    {/* content */}
  </div>
</section>

Breadcrumbs

Drop <Breadcrumbs /> into the action header, which is where it belongs. It renders the back button and derives the trail from the current route automatically, so you never build a trail by hand.

• The trail comes from the pathname and the nav config (nav-config.ts), so labels stay in sync with the sidebar. It's always rooted at Home, the single landing page at /dashboard, and the last crumb is the current page (non-interactive).
• Group parents resolve automatically. A section with no index page (say /crm) links to its first child (/crm/companies) instead of 404-ing. That too comes from the nav config, with no per-page wiring.

Command palette: Quick actions & Global search

Two ⌘K-style palettes ship in the shell, both built on the same headless CommandPalette from @viliha/vui-react. The only difference between them is what they search:

• Quick actions (⌘K, or /when you're not typing) jumps between pages. It opens from the sidebar button, and its actions come from nav-config.ts, so a new page shows up on its own.
• Global search (⌘⌥K) searches records: organizations, people, opportunities, reference data. It opens from the top-bar search box, and each result navigates to where the record lives.

How to implement one

CommandPalette is headless and router-agnostic: you own the open state and pass an actions array, where each action carries its own onSelect. A small provider holds the open state, wires the global shortcut, and mounts the palette once. Start from app/_components/quick-actions.tsx (pages) or global-search.tsx (records).

"use client";
import { useState, useEffect, useMemo } from "react";
import { useRouter } from "next/navigation";
import { CommandPalette, type CommandAction } from "@viliha/vui-react/command-palette";

export function SearchProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
  const router = useRouter();

  // Global shortcut: ⌘K here; use e.altKey to tell ⌘K from ⌘⌥K.
  useEffect(() => {
    const onKey = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
      if ((e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey) && !e.altKey && e.code === "KeyK") {
        e.preventDefault();
        setOpen((v) => !v);
      }
    };
    window.addEventListener("keydown", onKey);
    return () => window.removeEventListener("keydown", onKey);
  }, []);

  // Build actions from anything: NAV pages, or records from your API.
  const actions: CommandAction[] = useMemo(
    () => [
      { id: "orgs", label: "Organizations", group: "Go to",
        onSelect: () => router.push("/organizations") },
      // …one entry per page (Quick actions) or per record (Global search)
    ],
    [router],
  );

  return (
    <>
      {children}
      <CommandPalette open={open} onClose={() => setOpen(false)} actions={actions} />
    </>
  );
}

Each CommandAction is { id, label, group?, icon?, keywords?, onSelect }: group renders a heading, keywords widen the match, and onSelectdoes the work. Global search's record index is the demo's stand-in for a backend. Swap it for your API results and everything else stays the same.

Top bar features (configurable)

Every top-bar affordance (Quick actions, Global search, Help, Documentation, Notifications, Settings and the User menu) is on by default, and a consumer can turn any of them off. Flags live in lib/app-config.ts; there are two ways to set them:

• Install-time: set the matching NEXT_PUBLIC_SHOW_* env var to 0 (baked into the build; the default for everyone).
• Runtime: flip it on the Settings page (Top bar section); the choice persists per-browser and overrides the install-time default live, no rebuild.

NEXT_PUBLIC_SHOW_HELP=0
NEXT_PUBLIC_SHOW_NOTIFICATIONS=0

Turning a feature off doesn't just hide the icon; it also drops the keyboard shortcut (e.g. disabling Quick actions removes ⌘K) and skips mounting its palette. Read the effective flags anywhere with useChrome() (_components/chrome-config.tsx).

Open tabs

The shell keeps a browser-style strip of the pages you've opened under the top bar (labelled Tabs), so several pages stay one click apart. Navigating opens a tab or focuses an existing one; ⌘/Ctrl-clicking a sidebar item opens it in a background tab without leaving the current page; and the ✕ closes one. You can drag tabs to reorder them (each shows a grip handle and the shift animates via FLIP) and right-click to tag one with any of seven color labels. The open list, its order and the colors all persist across reloads via sessionStorage, capped by NEXT_PUBLIC_MAX_TABS (default 5; opening more evicts the oldest and warns).

It's OpenTabsProvider + <TabStrip /> + <KeepAliveTabs />, mounted once in (app)/layout.tsx, and it's keep-alive: every open page stays mounted with the inactive ones hidden. Switching tabs is therefore instant: no remount, no flash, and each page holds its live state (scroll, inputs, in-progress work). New menu items mount on first visit. Tab labels, icons and colors derive from the same nav-config.ts / route-meta.tssource as the sidebar, so a new page is tab-able with no extra wiring. For a custom "open in new tab" button, call useOpenTabs().openTab(href, { background: true }).

Multi-step wizard

For a guided flow (registration, onboarding, checkout), pair the exported Steps indicator with your own step state. Stepsis controlled and presentational: you pass the steps and the current index, and it renders the state: completed steps fill with the primary color and a check, the current one is ringed, and upcoming ones stay muted. Build each step's body from the usual primitives (Input, Select, the shared Field) inside a section card, with a Back/Next footer. See the live demo at /register-business.

import { Steps, type Step } from "@viliha/vui-react/steps";

const STEPS: Step[] = [
  { label: "Organization", description: "Business details" },
  { label: "Account", description: "Your credentials" },
  { label: "Review", description: "Confirm details" },
];

function Wizard() {
  const [step, setStep] = useState(0);
  return (
    <>
      <Steps steps={STEPS} current={step} />
      {step === 0 && <OrganizationFields />}
      {/* … */}
      <div className="flex justify-between border-t border-border bg-muted/40 px-4 py-3">
        <Button onClick={() => setStep((s) => s - 1)} disabled={step === 0}>Back</Button>
        <Button variant="primary" onClick={() => setStep((s) => s + 1)}>Next</Button>
      </div>
    </>
  );
}

See the workflow requirement template for how to brief an agent to build one of these.

Bordered list components

Any component that renders a list of records (dropdown menus, selects, the account menu, searchable comboboxes) uses bottom-border dividers between items by default. Instead of memorizing the classes, build lists from the Menu primitive: it bakes in the divider, hover and last-row handling, so a hand-rolled list can't miss the border.

import { Menu, MenuItem, MenuLabel } from "@viliha/vui-react/menu";

<Menu className="w-56">
  <MenuLabel>Account</MenuLabel>
  <MenuItem onClick={editProfile}>Profile</MenuItem>
  {/* render a link instead of a button with `as` */}
  <MenuItem as={Link} href="/settings">Settings</MenuItem>
  <MenuItem onClick={signOut}>Sign out</MenuItem>
</Menu>

The shipped Dropdown, Select and account menu already follow this, so you get it for free by using them. If you need the raw class for a bespoke element, import menuItemClass from @viliha/vui-react/menu.

Dialogs

Dialogs are sectioned like everything else: a bordered header, a scrollable body, and a bordered footer for actions. The Dialog primitive gives you the shell (centered panel, dimmed backdrop, entrance animation, Escape and backdrop-click to close) along with those three placeholders, so all you supply is content.

import {
  Dialog, DialogHeader, DialogTitle, DialogBody, DialogFooter,
} from "@viliha/vui-react/dialog";
import { Button } from "@viliha/vui-react/button";

<Dialog open={open} onClose={close} label="Invite teammate">
  <DialogHeader>
    <DialogTitle>Invite teammate</DialogTitle>
  </DialogHeader>
  <DialogBody>
    {/* your form / content */}
  </DialogBody>
  <DialogFooter>
    <Button onClick={close}>Cancel</Button>
    <Button variant="primary" onClick={submit}>Send invite</Button>
  </DialogFooter>
</Dialog>

Confirmations

For a yes/no prompt such as a delete, ConfirmDialog is built on Dialog; pass it a title, a description and the handlers:

import { ConfirmDialog } from "@viliha/vui-react/confirm-dialog";

<ConfirmDialog
  open={open}
  title="Delete organization?"
  description="This can't be undone."
  destructive
  confirmLabel="Delete"
  onConfirm={remove}
  onCancel={close}
/>