docs/essentials/controls.md
---
title: 'Controls'
---
Storybook Controls gives you a graphical UI to interact with a component's arguments dynamically without needing to code. It creates an addon panel next to your component examples ("stories"), so you can edit them live.
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src="addon-controls-optimized.mp4"
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Controls does not require any modification to your components. Stories for controls are:
- Convenient. Auto-generate controls based on React/Vue/Angular/etc. components.
- Portable. Reuse your interactive stories in documentation, tests, and even in designs.
- Rich. Customize the controls and interactive data to suit your exact needs.
To use the Controls addon, you need to write your stories using [args](../writing-stories/args.md). Storybook will automatically generate UI controls based on your args and what it can infer about your component. Still, you can configure the controls further using [argTypes](../api/argtypes.md), see below.
<div class="aside">
💡 If you have stories in the older pre-Storybook 6 style, check the <a href="https://medium.com/storybookjs/storybook-6-migration-guide-200346241bb5">args & controls migration guide</a> to learn how to convert your existing stories for args.
</div>
## Choosing the control type
By default, Storybook will choose a control for each arg based on the initial value of the arg. It works well with certain types of args, such as boolean values or free-text strings, but in other cases, you want a more restricted control.
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paths={[
'essentials/auto-generated-controls/react.mdx',
'essentials/auto-generated-controls/vue.mdx',
'essentials/auto-generated-controls/angular.mdx',
'essentials/auto-generated-controls/web-components.mdx',
'essentials/auto-generated-controls/ember.mdx',
'essentials/auto-generated-controls/fallback.mdx',
]}
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For instance, suppose you have a `variant` arg on your story that should be `primary` or `secondary`:
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/button-story-controls-primary-variant.js.mdx',
'common/button-story-controls-primary-variant.mdx.mdx',
]}
/>
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By default, Storybook will render a free text input for the `variant` arg:
It works as long as you type a valid string into the auto-generated text control. Still, it's not the best UI for our scenario, given that the component only accepts `primary` or `secondary` as variants. Let’s replace it with Storybook’s radio component.
We can specify which controls get used by declaring a custom [argType](../api/argtypes.md) for the `variant` property. ArgTypes encode basic metadata for args, such as name, description, defaultValue for an arg. These get automatically filled in by Storybook Docs.
ArgTypes can also contain arbitrary annotations, which the user can override. Since `variant` is a property of the component, let's put that annotation on the default export.
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/button-story-controls-radio-group.js.mdx',
'common/button-story-controls-radio-group.mdx.mdx',
]}
/>
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This replaces the input with a radio group for a more intuitive experience.
## Custom control type matchers
For a few types, Controls will automatically infer them by using [regex](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/RegExp). You can change the matchers for a regex that suits you better.
| Data type | Default regex | Description |
| :-------: | :-----------------------: | :-------------------------------------------------------: |
| **color** | `/(background\|color)$/i` | Will display a color picker UI for the args that match it |
| **date** | `/Date$/` | Will display a date picker UI for the args that match it |
To do so, use the `matchers` property in the `controls` parameter:
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/storybook-addon-controls-custom-matchers.js.mdx',
]}
/>
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## Fully custom args
Up until now, we only used auto-generated controls based on the component we're writing stories for. If we are writing [complex stories](../writing-stories/stories-for-multiple-components.md), we may want to add controls for args that aren’t part of the component.
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'react/table-story-fully-customize-controls.js.mdx',
'react/table-story-fully-customize-controls.mdx.mdx',
'vue/table-story-fully-customize-controls.2.js.mdx',
'vue/table-story-fully-customize-controls.mdx-2.mdx.mdx',
'vue/table-story-fully-customize-controls.3.js.mdx',
'vue/table-story-fully-customize-controls.mdx-3.mdx.mdx',
'angular/table-story-fully-customize-controls.ts.mdx',
'angular/table-story-fully-customize-controls.mdx.mdx',
'svelte/table-story-fully-customize-controls.native-format.mdx',
]}
/>
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By default, Storybook will add controls for all args that:
- It infers from the component definition [if your framework supports it](../api/frameworks-feature-support.md).
- Appear in the list of args for your story.
Using `argTypes`, you can change the display and behavior of each control.
### Dealing with complex values
You'll notice that when dealing with non-primitive values, you'll run into some limitations. The most obvious issue is that not every value can be represented as part of the `args` param in the URL, losing the ability to share and deeplink to such a state. Beyond that, complex values such as JSX cannot be synchronized between the manager (e.g., Controls addon) and the preview (your story).
One way to deal with this is to use primitive values (e.g., strings) as arg values and add a custom `render` function to convert these values to their complex counterpart before rendering. It isn't the nicest way to do it (see below), but certainly the most flexible.
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'react/component-story-custom-args-complex.js.mdx',
'react/component-story-custom-args-complex.ts.mdx',
'react/component-story-custom-args-complex.mdx.mdx',
'vue/component-story-custom-args-complex.3.js.mdx',
'vue/component-story-custom-args-complex.mdx-3.mdx.mdx',
'angular/component-story-custom-args-complex.ts.mdx',
'angular/component-story-custom-args-complex.mdx.mdx',
'svelte/component-story-custom-args-complex.js.mdx',
'svelte/component-story-custom-args-complex.native-format.mdx',
]}
/>
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Unless you need the flexibility of a function, an easier way to map primitives to complex values before rendering is to define a `mapping`. Additionally, you can specify `control.labels` to configure custom labels for your checkbox, radio, or select input.
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paths={[
'common/component-story-custom-args-mapping.js.mdx',
]}
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Note that both `mapping` and `control.labels` don't have to be exhaustive. If the currently selected option is not listed, it's used verbatim.
## Configuration
The Controls addon can be configured in two ways:
- Individual controls can be configured via control annotations.
- The addon's appearance can be configured via parameters.
### Annotation
As shown above, you can configure individual controls with the “control" annotation in the [argTypes](../api/argtypes) field of either a component or story.
Here is the full list of available controls you can use:
| Data Type | Control Type | Description | Options |
| :---------- | :----------: | :------------------------------------------------------- | :------------: |
| **boolean** | boolean | checkbox input | - |
| **number** | number | a numeric text box input | min, max, step |
| | range | a range slider input | min, max, step |
| **object** | object | json editor text input | - |
| **array** | object | json editor text input | - |
| | file | a file input that gives you a array of urls | accept |
| **enum** | radio | radio buttons input | - |
| | inline-radio | inline radio buttons input | - |
| | check | multi-select checkbox input | - |
| | inline-check | multi-select inline checkbox input | - |
| | select | select dropdown input | - |
| | multi-select | multi-select dropdown input | - |
| **string** | text | simple text input | - |
| | color | color picker input that assumes strings are color values | presetColors |
| | date | date picker input | - |
If you need to customize a control for a number data type in your story, you can do it like so:
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/gizmo-story-controls-customization.js.mdx',
'common/gizmo-story-controls-customization.mdx.mdx',
]}
/>
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<div class="aside">
💡 If you don't provide a specific one, it defaults to the number control type.
</div>
### Parameters
Controls supports the following configuration [parameters](../writing-stories/parameters.md), either globally or on a per-story basis:
## Show full documentation for each property
Since Controls is built on the same engine as Storybook Docs, it can also show property documentation alongside your controls using the expanded parameter (defaults to false). This means you embed a complete [ArgsTable](../writing-docs/doc-block-argstable.md) doc block in the controls panel. The description and default value rendering can be [customized](#fully-custom-args) in the same way as the doc block.
To enable expanded mode globally, add the following to [`.storybook/preview.js`](../configure/overview.md#configure-story-rendering):
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/storybook-preview-expanded-controls.js.mdx',
]}
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And here's what the resulting UI looks like:
### Specify initial preset color swatches
For `color` controls, you can specify an array of `presetColors`, either on the `control` in `argTypes`, or as a parameter under the `controls` namespace:
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/storybook-preview-parameters-color-swatches.js.mdx',
]}
/>
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Color presets can be defined as an object with `color` and `title` or a simple CSS color string. These will then be available as swatches in the color picker. When you hover over the color swatch, you'll be able to see its title. If none is specified, it will default to the nearest CSS color name instead.
### Disable controls for specific properties
Aside from the features already documented here, Controls can also be disabled for individual properties.
Suppose you want to disable Controls for a property called `foo` in a component's story. The following example illustrates how:
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/component-story-disable-controls.js.mdx',
'common/component-story-disable-controls.mdx.mdx'
]}
/>
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Resulting in the following change in Storybook UI:
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<source
src="addon-controls-disable-specific-prop.mp4"
type="video/mp4"
/>
</video>
The previous example also removed the prop documentation from the table. In some cases, this is fine. However, sometimes you might want to render the prop documentation, but without a control. The following example illustrates how:
<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/component-story-disable-controls-alt.js.mdx',
'common/component-story-disable-controls-alt.mdx.mdx'
]}
/>
<div class="aside">
💡 As with other Storybook properties, such as [decorators](../writing-stories/decorators.md), you can apply the same pattern at a story level for more granular cases.
</div>
## Hide NoControls warning
If you don't plan to handle the control args inside your Story, you can remove the warning with:
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/button-story-hide-nocontrols-warning.js.mdx',
]}
/>
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## Filtering controls
In specific cases, you may require to display only a limited number of controls in the controls panel, or all of them except a particular set.
To make this possible, you can use optional `include` and `exclude` configuration fields in the `controls` parameter, which you can define as an array of strings, or as a regular expression.
Consider the following story snippets:
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/component-story-disable-controls-regex.js.mdx',
'common/component-story-disable-controls-regex.mdx.mdx'
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## Sorting controls
By default, controls are unsorted and use whatever order the args data is processed in (`none`). Additionally, you can sort them alphabetically by the arg's name (`alpha`) or with the required args first (`requiredFirst`).
Consider the following snippet to force required args first:
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<CodeSnippets
paths={[
'common/component-story-sort-controls.js.mdx',
'common/component-story-sort-controls.mdx.mdx'
]}
/>
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