Dialog
A window over the page that takes attention until people finish or close it.
In Dense data
See it live
Start Storybook to see it live:
npm run storybookWhen to use it
In Dense data: Edit one record without leaving the table.
- Use it when: People must decide or finish something before going back: a short form, an important choice.
- Not when: A short status (toast), extra detail on the page (accordion), or a side panel that should not block the page (sheet).
Instead:
- Sheet: A side panel; the page stays in view.
- Toast: Does not interrupt.
- Alert dialog: Confirms something that cannot be undone.
How Dense data uses it
A menu or dialog
Use elevation.overlay and a dimmed page for dialogs
Not A border only
Floating things need a shadow so they read as on top.
Delete or remove
Use Button secondary, then confirm in a dialog with Button danger
Not Button primary as the first step
Deleting is rare and costly; a confirm step catches mistakes.
Words
- Lead with the object, then the state: "Alert 2041 contained."
- Use numbers, not words for numbers.
- One verb per button. No "please", no exclamation marks.
- Use: Investigate, Filter, Assign, Escalated, Resolved. Avoid: Oops, Awesome, Please, Simply.
The labels components use, from the voice tokens:
content.action.commit: Savecontent.action.cancel: Cancelcontent.action.destroy: Deletecontent.action.retry: Retrycontent.action.empty-action: Change filters
See Voice and tone for the whole voice.
Accessibility and keyboard
| Keyboard | What happens | Not |
|---|---|---|
| undefined | Escape closes it. | undefined |
| undefined | Tab stays inside while it is open. | undefined |
Test before you ship:
- It is a dialog with a title; the page behind is hidden from screen readers. undefined
- Focus moves in when it opens and back to the trigger when it closes. undefined
Use it in code
npx open-ds add dialog
The component reads only component keys and semantic tokens, so it follows the brand and mode on <html>.
Tokens it reads
Dialog reads 20 tokens of its own, each an alias of a semantic token. Each row is one part: its own token, the semantic it aliases, and the value it ends at. Change a semantic and every component that reads it follows; override one of Dialog's tokens to change Dialog alone.
Changes with theme
Dense data decides what changes when you switch theme. Here a switch changes colors only, so the marked rows differ between light and dark; everything else holds steady.
| Part | Its token and the semantic it aliases | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Shared | ||
| Overlay background Changes with theme | component.overlay.backgroundcolor.surface.raisedvar(--overlay-background) | Lightslate.light.0:#FFFFFFDarkslate.dark.100:#262D38 |
| Overlay radius | component.overlay.radiusradius.containervar(--overlay-radius) | radius.4:0.25rem |
| Overlay shadow Changes with theme | component.overlay.shadowelevation.overlayvar(--overlay-shadow) | Lightshadow.overlay:0px 8px 24px 0px #0D111729Darkshadow.overlay-dark:0px 8px 24px 0px #00000080 |
| Overlay scrim Changes with theme | component.overlay.scrimcolor.surface.scrimvar(--overlay-scrim) | Lightblack.light.scrim:#0000008CDarkblack.dark.scrim:#000000B3 |
| Content | ||
| Gap | component.dialog.content.gapspace.gap.groupvar(--dialog-content-gap) | space.16:1rem |
| Padding | component.dialog.content.paddingspace.inset.containervar(--dialog-content-padding) | space.16:1rem |
| Text Changes with theme | component.dialog.content.labelcolor.text.primaryvar(--dialog-content-label) | Lightslate.light.900:#161B23Darkslate.dark.900:#F7F8FA |
| Dialog | ||
| Border width | component.dialog.border-widthborder-width.defaultvar(--dialog-border-width) | border-width.1:1px |
| Border Changes with theme | component.dialog.bordercolor.border.defaultvar(--dialog-border) | Lightslate.light.200:#DDE2EADarkslate.dark.100:#262D38 |
| Corner | component.dialog.radiusradius.badgevar(--dialog-radius) | radius.0:0rem |
| Padding | component.dialog.paddingcomponent-spacing-map.x1var(--dialog-padding) | space.4:0.25rem |
| Text Changes with theme | component.dialog.labelcolor.text.secondaryvar(--dialog-label) | Lightslate.light.700:#3D4655Darkslate.dark.500:#C4CBD6 |
| Sunken Changes with theme on hover | component.dialog.sunkencolor.surface.sunkenvar(--dialog-sunken) | Lightslate.light.100:#EEF1F5Darkslate.dark.100:#262D38 |
| Size | component.dialog.sizesize.iconvar(--dialog-size) | size.16:1rem |
| Gap | component.dialog.gapspace.gap.tightvar(--dialog-gap) | space.4:0.25rem |
| Gap 2 | component.dialog.gap-2space.gap.defaultvar(--dialog-gap-2) | space.8:0.5rem |
| Font family | component.dialog.font-familytype.heading.font-familyvar(--dialog-font-family) | font.family.ibm-plex-sans:"IBM Plex Sans", system-ui, sans-serif |
| Text size | component.dialog.font-sizetype.heading.font-sizevar(--dialog-font-size) | font.size.16:1rem |
| Weight | component.dialog.font-weighttype.heading.font-weightvar(--dialog-font-weight) | font.weight.600:600 |
| Font size 2 | component.dialog.font-size-2type.body.font-sizevar(--dialog-font-size-2) | font.size.14:0.875rem |