Autocomplete

An autocomplete component is a text input enhanced by a panel of suggested options.

Introduction

An autocomplete component is an enhanced text input that shows a list of suggested options as users type and lets them select an option from the list.

Base UI provides the useAutocomplete hook for building a custom Autocomplete. It implements the WAI-ARIA Combobox pattern and is typically used to assist users in completing form inputs or search queries faster.

Hook

import { useAutocomplete } from '@mui/base/useAutocomplete';

The useAutocomplete hook requires a list of options to be displayed when the textbox receives focus. The value must be chosen from a predefined set of values.

The following demo shows how to create a simple combobox, apply styles, and write the selected value to a state variable using the onChange prop:

Customization

Rendering options

By default, the options prop accepts an array of strings or { label: string }:

const options = [
  { label: 'The Godfather', id: 1 },
  { label: 'Pulp Fiction', id: 2 },
];
// or
const options = ['The Godfather', 'Pulp Fiction'];

If you need to use a different structure for options, you must provide a function to the getOptionLabel prop that resolves each option to a unique value.

const options = [
  { issuer: 'Bank of America', brand: 'Visa', last4: '1234' },
  { issuer: 'Bank of America', brand: 'MasterCard', last4: '5678' },
  { issuer: 'Barclays', brand: 'Visa', last4: '4698' },
  // ...
];

const {
  getRootProps,
  // etc
} = useAutocomplete({
  getOptionLabel: (option) => option.last4,
});

Controlled states

The useAutocomplete hook has two states that can be controlled:

1. the "value" state with the value/onChange props combination. This state represents the value selected by the user, for instance when pressing Enter.
2. the "input value" state with the inputValue/onInputChange props combination. This state represents the value displayed in the textbox.

These two states are isolated and should be controlled independently.

Using a portal

React Portals can be used to render the listbox outside of the DOM hierarchy, making it easier to allow it to "float" above adjacent elements.

Base UI provides a Popper component built around React's createPortal() for exactly this purpose, and additionally helps you manage keyboard focus as it moves in and out of the portal.

To render the listbox in Base UI's Popper, the refs must be merged as follows:

import { useAutocomplete } from '@mui/base/useAutocomplete';
import { Popper } from '@mui/base/Popper';
import { unstable_useForkRef as useForkRef } from '@mui/utils';

export default function App(props) {
  const {
    getRootProps,
    getInputProps,
    getListboxProps,
    getOptionProps,
    popupOpen,
    anchorEl,
    setAnchorEl,
    groupedOptions,
  } = useAutocomplete(props);

  const rootRef = useForkRef(ref, setAnchorEl);

  return (
    <React.Fragment>
      <div {...getRootProps()} ref={rootRef}>
        <input {...getInputProps()} />
      </div>
      {anchorEl && (
        <Popper open={popupOpen} anchorEl={anchorEl}>
          {groupedOptions.length > 0 && (
            <ul {...getListboxProps()}>
              {groupedOptions.map((option, index) => (
                <li {...getOptionProps({ option, index })}>{option.label}</li>
              ))}
            </ul>
          )}
        </Popper>
      )}
    </React.Fragment>
  );
}

Here's a complete demo that renders the listbox inside a Popper: