Shopify Polaris Design System

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Fetch https://polaris.shopify.com/ for Polaris component documentation and examples
2. Web-search site:shopify.dev polaris app design guidelines for design guidelines
3. Web-search site:shopify.dev polaris web components migration for migration status
4. Web-search site:polaris.shopify.com components for current component APIs and props
5. Web-search site:polaris.shopify.com tokens for current design token values

What Is Polaris

Shopify's design system for building admin app UIs:

• Component library with consistent Shopify admin look and feel
• Design tokens for colors, spacing, typography
• App Design Guidelines for embedded apps
• Accessibility-first design patterns

IMPORTANT: Polaris React is in maintenance mode. Shopify is transitioning to Polaris Web Components. Check current migration status before choosing components.

Component Categories

Layout

• Page — top-level page container with title and actions
• Layout — two-column annotated layout
• Card — content container with sections
• Box — flexible container with spacing/color
• InlineStack — horizontal layout
• BlockStack — vertical layout
• Divider — visual separator
• Grid — CSS grid layout

Actions

• Button — primary, secondary, destructive actions
• ButtonGroup — group related actions
• ActionList — dropdown menu of actions
• Popover — dropdown container

Navigation

• Navigation — sidebar navigation
• Tabs — tabbed content
• Pagination — page navigation

Forms

• TextField — text input
• Select — dropdown select
• Checkbox — boolean input
• RadioButton — single selection
• ChoiceList — radio/checkbox groups
• DatePicker — date selection
• DropZone — file upload
• Form — form container
• FormLayout — form field arrangement

Feedback

• Banner — info, success, warning, critical messages
• Toast — temporary notifications
• Badge — status indicators
• Spinner — loading state
• SkeletonPage / SkeletonBodyText — loading placeholders
• ProgressBar — progress indicator

Data Display

• IndexTable — resource list with bulk actions (primary list component)
• DataTable — simple tabular data
• ResourceList — list of resources (legacy, prefer IndexTable)
• ResourceItem — individual resource entry
• DescriptionList — key-value pairs
• EmptyState — no-content placeholder
• Thumbnail — small image

Overlays

• Modal — dialog overlay
• Sheet — side panel (deprecated in React, check Web Components)

Fetch live docs for current component APIs and props — components are updated frequently. Always check https://polaris.shopify.com/components before using any component.

Minimal Usage Patterns

Page with Card Layout

// Pattern: standard Polaris page layout
// Fetch live docs for current Page, Card, and BlockStack props
<Page title="Products" primaryAction={{ content: "Add product", onAction: handleAdd }}>
  <Layout>
    <Layout.Section>
      <Card>
        <BlockStack gap="300">
          <Text variant="headingMd">Product List</Text>
          {/* IndexTable or content here */}
        </BlockStack>
      </Card>
    </Layout.Section>
    <Layout.Section variant="oneThird">
      <Card>
        <Text variant="headingMd">Filters</Text>
      </Card>
    </Layout.Section>
  </Layout>
</Page>

Form Pattern

// Pattern: form with validation
// Fetch live docs for current TextField, Select, and Form props
<Form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
  <FormLayout>
    <TextField label="Product name" value={name} onChange={setName} autoComplete="off" />
    <Select label="Status" options={statusOptions} value={status} onChange={setStatus} />
    <Button submit variant="primary">Save</Button>
  </FormLayout>
</Form>

Feedback Pattern

// Pattern: Banner for persistent messages, Toast for transient
<Banner title="Order shipped" tone="success" onDismiss={handleDismiss}>
  <p>Tracking number: {trackingNumber}</p>
</Banner>

// Toast via App Bridge (not Polaris component in embedded apps)
shopify.toast.show("Product saved");

Design Tokens

Consistent design values used across all Polaris components:

Fetch live docs for current token values and names — token naming conventions change across Polaris versions. Check https://polaris.shopify.com/tokens.

@shopify/draggable

Shopify's drag-and-drop library:

• Draggable, Sortable, Swappable, Droppable
• Touch and mouse support
• Accessible with keyboard support
• Used for reorderable lists, kanban boards, custom interfaces

Fetch live docs: Web-search site:github.com shopify draggable for current API and examples.

App Design Guidelines

Embedded Apps Must

• Use Polaris components for consistent admin experience
• Use App Bridge for navigation and titles
• Follow Shopify's color, typography, and spacing tokens
• Implement loading states (skeleton screens)
• Handle errors with Banner components
• Support responsive layouts

Do NOT

• Use custom CSS that overrides Polaris styles
• Build custom navigation chrome (use App Bridge)
• Use non-Polaris modals or toasts in embedded apps
• Mix design systems (e.g., Material UI with Polaris)

Accessibility

Polaris components are built with accessibility:

• ARIA attributes included by default
• Keyboard navigation support
• Focus management in modals and popovers
• Color contrast meets WCAG AA
• Screen reader announcements for dynamic content

Fetch live docs: Web-search site:polaris.shopify.com accessibility for current accessibility guidelines and component-specific a11y notes.

Best Practices

• Check Polaris Web Components status before starting — prefer Web Components if available
• Use IndexTable for resource lists (not DataTable for CRUD interfaces)
• Use Banner for persistent messages, Toast (via App Bridge) for transient confirmations
• Use skeleton components (SkeletonPage, SkeletonBodyText) for loading states
• Follow the Page → Layout → Card → content hierarchy
• Use BlockStack and InlineStack for layout (not CSS flex/grid directly)
• Apply design tokens for custom styles instead of hardcoded values
• Test keyboard navigation and screen reader output
• Always fetch live docs for component props before implementation — APIs change frequently

Fetch the Polaris documentation for exact component APIs, design tokens, prop types, and Web Components migration status before implementing.