useStepsForm Hook | Usage & Patterns in Refine v5 - Refine

css

body {
  background: white;
}

tsx

import {
  useMany,
  useNavigation,
  useSelect as useSelectShared,
  useTable,
} from "@refinedev/core";
import { useStepsForm as useStepsFormShared } from "@refinedev/react-hook-form";

interface ICategory {
  id: number;
  title: string;
}

interface IPost {
  id: number;
  title: string;
  content: string;
  status: "published" | "draft" | "rejected";
  category: {
    id: ICategory["id"];
  };
}

const stepTitlesShared = ["Title", "Status", "Category and content"];

const PostList: React.FC = () => {
  const { result, tableQuery } = useTable<IPost>({
    sorters: {
      initial: [
        {
          field: "id",
          order: "desc",
        },
      ],
    },
  });
  const { edit, create } = useNavigation();

  const categoryIds = result?.data.map((item) => item.category.id) ?? [];

  const { result: categoryResult, isLoading } = useMany<ICategory>({
    resource: "categories",
    ids: categoryIds,
    queryOptions: {
      enabled: categoryIds.length > 0,
    },
  });

  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={() => create("posts")}>Create Post</button>
      <table>
        <thead>
          <tr>
            <th>ID</th>
            <th>Title</th>
            <th>Category</th>
            <th>Status</th>
            <th>Actions</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          {result?.data.map((post) => (
            <tr key={post.id}>
              <td>{post.id}</td>
              <td>{post.title}</td>
              <td>
                {isLoading
                  ? "Loading"
                  : categoryResult?.data?.find(
                      (item) => item.id == post.category.id,
                    )?.title}
              </td>
              <td>{post.status}</td>
              <td>
                <button onClick={() => edit("posts", post.id)}>Edit</button>
              </td>
            </tr>
          ))}
        </tbody>
      </table>
    </div>
  );
};

const PostCreate: React.FC = () => {
  const {
    refineCore: { onFinish, formLoading },
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors },
    steps: { currentStep, gotoStep },
  } = useStepsFormShared<IPost, HttpError, IPost>();

  const { options } = useSelectShared({
    resource: "categories",
  });

  const renderFormByStep = (step: number) => {
    switch (step) {
      case 0:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Title: </label>
            <input
              {...register("title", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            />
            {errors.title && <span>{errors.title.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
      case 1:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Status: </label>
            <select {...register("status")}>
              <option value="published">published</option>
              <option value="draft">draft</option>
              <option value="rejected">rejected</option>
            </select>
          </>
        );
      case 2:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Category: </label>
            <select
              {...register("category.id", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            >
              {options?.map((category) => (
                <option key={category.value} value={category.value}>
                  {category.label}
                </option>
              ))}
            </select>
            {errors.category && <span>{errors.category.message}</span>}
            

            

            <label>Content: </label>
            <textarea
              {...register("content", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
              rows={10}
              cols={50}
            />
            {errors.content && <span>{errors.content.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
    }
  };

  if (formLoading) {
    return <div>Loading...</div>;
  }

  return (
    <div style={{ display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: 16 }}>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 36 }}>
        {stepTitlesShared.map((title, index) => (
          <button
            key={index}
            onClick={() => gotoStep(index)}
            style={{
              backgroundColor: currentStep === index ? "lightgray" : "initial",
            }}
          >
            {index + 1} - {title}
          </button>
        ))}
      </div>
      <form autoComplete="off">{renderFormByStep(currentStep)}</form>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 8 }}>
        {currentStep > 0 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep - 1);
            }}
          >
            Previous
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep < stepTitlesShared.length - 1 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep + 1);
            }}
          >
            Next
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep === stepTitlesShared.length - 1 && (
          <button onClick={handleSubmit(onFinish)}>Save</button>
        )}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
};

const PostEdit: React.FC = () => {
  const {
    refineCore: { onFinish, formLoading, query },
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors },
    steps: { currentStep, gotoStep },
  } = useStepsFormShared<IPost, HttpError, IPost>();

  const { options } = useSelectShared({
    resource: "categories",
    defaultValue: query?.data?.data.category.id,
  });

  const renderFormByStep = (step: number) => {
    switch (step) {
      case 0:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Title: </label>
            <input
              {...register("title", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            />
            {errors.title && <span>{errors.title.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
      case 1:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Status: </label>
            <select {...register("status")}>
              <option value="published">published</option>
              <option value="draft">draft</option>
              <option value="rejected">rejected</option>
            </select>
          </>
        );
      case 2:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Category: </label>
            <select
              {...register("category.id", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
              defaultValue={query?.data?.data.category.id}
            >
              {options?.map((category) => (
                <option key={category.value} value={category.value}>
                  {category.label}
                </option>
              ))}
            </select>
            {errors.category && <span>{errors.category.message}</span>}
            

            

            <label>Content: </label>
            <textarea
              {...register("content", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
              rows={10}
              cols={50}
            />
            {errors.content && <span>{errors.content.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
    }
  };

  if (formLoading) {
    return <div>Loading...</div>;
  }

  return (
    <div style={{ display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: 16 }}>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 36 }}>
        {stepTitlesShared.map((title, index) => (
          <button
            key={index}
            onClick={() => gotoStep(index)}
            style={{
              backgroundColor: currentStep === index ? "lightgray" : "initial",
            }}
          >
            {index + 1} - {title}
          </button>
        ))}
      </div>
      <form autoComplete="off">{renderFormByStep(currentStep)}</form>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 8 }}>
        {currentStep > 0 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep - 1);
            }}
          >
            Previous
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep < stepTitlesShared.length - 1 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep + 1);
            }}
          >
            Next
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep === stepTitlesShared.length - 1 && (
          <button onClick={handleSubmit(onFinish)}>Save</button>
        )}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
};

useStepsForm allows you to manage a form with multiple steps. It provides features such as which step is currently active, the ability to go to a specific step and validation when changing steps etc.

useStepsForm hook is extended from useForm from the @refinedev/react-hook-form package. This means you can use all the features of useForm.

Usage

We'll show two examples, one for creating and one for editing a post. Let's see how useStepsForm is used in both.

Here is the final result of the form: We will explain the code in following sections.

tsx

setInitialRoutes(["/posts/create"]);

// visible-block-start
import { HttpError, useSelect } from "@refinedev/core";
import { useStepsForm } from "@refinedev/react-hook-form";

const stepTitles = ["Title", "Status", "Category and content"];

const PostCreatePage: React.FC = () => {
  const {
    refineCore: { onFinish, formLoading },
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors },
    steps: { currentStep, gotoStep },
  } = useStepsForm<IPost, HttpError, IPost>();

  const { options } = useSelect<ICategory, HttpError>({
    resource: "categories",
  });

  const renderFormByStep = (step: number) => {
    switch (step) {
      case 0:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Title: </label>
            <input
              {...register("title", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            />
            {errors.title && <span>{errors.title.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
      case 1:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Status: </label>
            <select {...register("status")}>
              <option value="published">published</option>
              <option value="draft">draft</option>
              <option value="rejected">rejected</option>
            </select>
          </>
        );
      case 2:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Category: </label>
            <select
              {...register("category.id", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            >
              {options?.map((category) => (
                <option key={category.value} value={category.value}>
                  {category.label}
                </option>
              ))}
            </select>
            {errors.category && <span>{errors.category.message}</span>}
            

            

            <label>Content: </label>
            <textarea
              {...register("content", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
              rows={10}
              cols={50}
            />
            {errors.content && <span>{errors.content.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
    }
  };

  if (formLoading) {
    return <div>Loading...</div>;
  }

  return (
    <div style={{ display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: 16 }}>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 36 }}>
        {stepTitles.map((title, index) => (
          <button
            key={index}
            onClick={() => gotoStep(index)}
            style={{
              backgroundColor: currentStep === index ? "lightgray" : "initial",
            }}
          >
            {index + 1} - {title}
          </button>
        ))}
      </div>
      <form autoComplete="off">{renderFormByStep(currentStep)}</form>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 8 }}>
        {currentStep > 0 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep - 1);
            }}
          >
            Previous
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep < stepTitles.length - 1 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep + 1);
            }}
          >
            Next
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep === stepTitles.length - 1 && (
          <button onClick={handleSubmit(onFinish)}>Save</button>
        )}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
};

interface ICategory {
  id: number;
  title: string;
}

interface IPost {
  id: number;
  title: string;
  content: string;
  status: "published" | "draft" | "rejected";
  category: {
    id: ICategory["id"];
  };
}
// visible-block-end

render(
  <ReactRouter.BrowserRouter>
    <RefineHeadlessDemo
      resources={[
        {
          name: "posts",
          list: "/posts",
          create: "/posts/create",
          edit: "/posts/edit/:id",
        },
      ]}
    >
      <ReactRouter.Routes>
        <ReactRouter.Route path="/posts" element={<PostList />} />
        <ReactRouter.Route path="/posts/create" element={<PostCreate />} />
        <ReactRouter.Route path="/posts/edit/:id" element={<PostEdit />} />
      </ReactRouter.Routes>
    </RefineHeadlessDemo>
  </ReactRouter.BrowserRouter>,
);

</TabItem> <TabItem value="edit">

Here is the final result of the form: We will explain the code in following sections.

tsx

setInitialRoutes(["/posts/edit/123"]);

// visible-block-start
import { HttpError, useSelect } from "@refinedev/core";
import { useStepsForm } from "@refinedev/react-hook-form";

const stepTitles = ["Title", "Status", "Category and content"];

const PostEditPage: React.FC = () => {
  const {
    refineCore: { onFinish, formLoading, query },
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors },
    steps: { currentStep, gotoStep },
  } = useStepsForm<IPost, HttpError, IPost>();

  const { options } = useSelect<ICategory, HttpError>({
    resource: "categories",
    defaultValue: query?.data?.data.category.id,
  });

  const renderFormByStep = (step: number) => {
    switch (step) {
      case 0:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Title: </label>
            <input
              {...register("title", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            />
            {errors.title && <span>{errors.title.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
      case 1:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Status: </label>
            <select {...register("status")}>
              <option value="published">published</option>
              <option value="draft">draft</option>
              <option value="rejected">rejected</option>
            </select>
          </>
        );
      case 2:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Category: </label>
            <select
              {...register("category.id", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
              defaultValue={query?.data?.data.category.id}
            >
              {options?.map((category) => (
                <option key={category.value} value={category.value}>
                  {category.label}
                </option>
              ))}
            </select>
            {errors.category && <span>{errors.category.message}</span>}
            

            

            <label>Content: </label>
            <textarea
              {...register("content", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
              rows={10}
              cols={50}
            />
            {errors.content && <span>{errors.content.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
    }
  };

  if (formLoading) {
    return <div>Loading...</div>;
  }

  return (
    <div style={{ display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: 16 }}>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 36 }}>
        {stepTitles.map((title, index) => (
          <button
            key={index}
            onClick={() => gotoStep(index)}
            style={{
              backgroundColor: currentStep === index ? "lightgray" : "initial",
            }}
          >
            {index + 1} - {title}
          </button>
        ))}
      </div>
      <form autoComplete="off">{renderFormByStep(currentStep)}</form>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 8 }}>
        {currentStep > 0 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep - 1);
            }}
          >
            Previous
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep < stepTitles.length - 1 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep + 1);
            }}
          >
            Next
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep === stepTitles.length - 1 && (
          <button onClick={handleSubmit(onFinish)}>Save</button>
        )}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
};

interface ICategory {
  id: number;
  title: string;
}

interface IPost {
  id: number;
  title: string;
  content: string;
  status: "published" | "draft" | "rejected";
  category: {
    id: ICategory["id"];
  };
}
// visible-block-end

render(
  <ReactRouter.BrowserRouter>
    <RefineHeadlessDemo
      resources={[
        {
          name: "posts",
          list: "/posts",
          create: "/posts/create",
          edit: "/posts/edit/:id",
        },
      ]}
    >
      <ReactRouter.Routes>
        <ReactRouter.Route path="/posts" element={<PostList />} />
        <ReactRouter.Route path="/posts/create" element={<PostCreate />} />
        <ReactRouter.Route path="/posts/edit/:id" element={<PostEdit />} />
      </ReactRouter.Routes>
    </RefineHeadlessDemo>
  </ReactRouter.BrowserRouter>,
);

</TabItem> </Tabs>

In this example we're going to build a Post "create" form. We also added a relational category field to expand our example.

To split your <input/> components under a <form/> component, first import and use useStepsForm hook in your page:

tsx

import { HttpError } from "@refinedev/core";
import { useStepsForm } from "@refinedev/react-hook-form";

const PostCreate = () => {
  const {
    refineCore: { onFinish, formLoading },
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors },
    steps: { currentStep, gotoStep },
  } = useStepsForm<IPost, HttpError, IPost>();

  return <div>...</div>;
};

interface ICategory {
  id: number;
  title: string;
}

interface IPost {
  id: number;
  title: string;
  content: string;
  status: "published" | "draft" | "rejected";
  category: {
    id: ICategory["id"];
  };
}

useStepsForm is generic over the type form data to help you type check your code.

This hook returns a set of useful values to render steps form. Given current value, you should have a way to render your form items conditionally with this index value.

Here, we're going to use a switch statement to render the form items based on the currentStep.

tsx

import { HttpError, useSelect } from "@refinedev/core";
import { useStepsForm } from "@refinedev/react-hook-form";

const PostCreate = () => {
  const {
    refineCore: { onFinish, formLoading },
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors },
    steps: { currentStep, gotoStep },
  } = useStepsForm<IPost, HttpError, IPost>();

  const { options } = useSelect<ICategory, HttpError>({
    resource: "categories",
  });

  // highlight-start
  const renderFormByStep = (step: number) => {
    switch (step) {
      case 0:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Title: </label>
            <input
              {...register("title", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            />
            {errors.title && <span>{errors.title.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
      case 1:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Status: </label>
            <select {...register("status")}>
              <option value="published">published</option>
              <option value="draft">draft</option>
              <option value="rejected">rejected</option>
            </select>
          </>
        );
      case 2:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Category: </label>
            <select
              {...register("category.id", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            >
              {options?.map((category) => (
                <option key={category.value} value={category.value}>
                  {category.label}
                </option>
              ))}
            </select>
            {errors.category && <span>{errors.category.message}</span>}
            

            

            <label>Content: </label>
            <textarea
              {...register("content", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
              rows={10}
              cols={50}
            />
            {errors.content && <span>{errors.content.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
    }
  };
  // highlight-end

  return <div>...</div>;
};

interface ICategory {
  id: number;
  title: string;
}

interface IPost {
  id: number;
  title: string;
  content: string;
  status: "published" | "draft" | "rejected";
  category: {
    id: ICategory["id"];
  };
}

:::simple Relational Data

Since category is a relational data, we use useSelect to fetch its data.

Refer to useSelect documentation for detailed usage. &#8594

:::

Now, we can use renderFormByStep function to render the form items based on the currentStep and gotoStep function to navigate between steps.

tsx

import { HttpError, useSelect } from "@refinedev/core";
import { useStepsForm } from "@refinedev/react-hook-form";

const PostCreate = () => {
  const {
    refineCore: { onFinish, formLoading },
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors },
    steps: { currentStep, gotoStep },
  } = useStepsForm<IPost, HttpError, IPost>();

  const { options } = useSelect<ICategory, HttpError>({
    resource: "categories",
  });

  const renderFormByStep = (step: number) => {
    switch (step) {
      case 0:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Title: </label>
            <input
              {...register("title", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            />
            {errors.title && <span>{errors.title.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
      case 1:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Status: </label>
            <select {...register("status")}>
              <option value="published">published</option>
              <option value="draft">draft</option>
              <option value="rejected">rejected</option>
            </select>
          </>
        );
      case 2:
        return (
          <>
            <label>Category: </label>
            <select
              {...register("category.id", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
            >
              {options?.map((category) => (
                <option key={category.value} value={category.value}>
                  {category.label}
                </option>
              ))}
            </select>
            {errors.category && <span>{errors.category.message}</span>}
            

            

            <label>Content: </label>
            <textarea
              {...register("content", {
                required: "This field is required",
              })}
              rows={10}
              cols={50}
            />
            {errors.content && <span>{errors.content.message}</span>}
          </>
        );
    }
  };

  // highlight-start
  if (formLoading) {
    return <div>Loading...</div>;
  }

  return (
    <div style={{ display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: 16 }}>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 36 }}>
        {stepTitles.map((title, index) => (
          <button
            key={index}
            onClick={() => gotoStep(index)}
            style={{
              backgroundColor: currentStep === index ? "lightgray" : "initial",
            }}
          >
            {index + 1} - {title}
          </button>
        ))}
      </div>
      <form autoComplete="off">{renderFormByStep(currentStep)}</form>
      <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 8 }}>
        {currentStep > 0 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep - 1);
            }}
          >
            Previous
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep < stepTitles.length - 1 && (
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              gotoStep(currentStep + 1);
            }}
          >
            Next
          </button>
        )}
        {currentStep === stepTitles.length - 1 && (
          <button onClick={handleSubmit(onFinish)}>Save</button>
        )}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
  // highlight-end
};

interface ICategory {
  id: number;
  title: string;
}

interface IPost {
  id: number;
  title: string;
  content: string;
  status: "published" | "draft" | "rejected";
  category: {
    id: ICategory["id"];
  };
}

Properties

refineCoreProps

All useForm properties also available in useStepsForm. You can find descriptions on useForm docs.

tsx

const stepsForm = useStepsForm({
  refineCoreProps: {
    action: "edit",
    resource: "posts",
    id: "1",
  },
});

stepsProps

The props needed by the manage state steps.

defaultStep

Sets the default starting step number. Counting starts from 0.

tsx

const stepsForm = useStepsForm({
  stepsProps: {
    defaultStep: 0,
  },
});

isBackValidate

When is true, validates a form fields when the user navigates to a previous step. Default is false.

tsx

const stepsForm = useStepsForm({
  stepsProps: {
    isBackValidate: true,
  },
});

autoSave

If you want to save the form automatically after some delay when user edits the form, you can pass true to autoSave.enabled prop.

By default the autoSave feature does not invalidate queries. However, you can use the invalidateOnUnmount prop to invalidate queries upon unmount.

It also supports onMutationSuccess and onMutationError callback functions. You can use isAutoSave parameter to determine whether the mutation is triggered by autoSave or not.

autoSave feature operates exclusively in edit mode. Users can take advantage of this feature while editing data, as changes are automatically saved in editing mode. However, when creating new data, manual saving is still required.

onMutationSuccess and onMutationError callbacks will be called after the mutation is successful or failed.

enabled

To enable the autoSave feature, set the enabled parameter to true. By default, it is set to false.

tsx

useStepsForm({
  refineCoreProps: {
    autoSave: {
      enabled: true,
    },
  },
});

debounce

Set the debounce time for the autoSave prop. By default, it is set to 1000 milliseconds.

tsx

useStepsForm({
  refineCoreProps: {
    autoSave: {
      enabled: true,
      // highlight-next-line
      debounce: 2000,
    },
  },
});

onFinish

If you want to modify the data before sending it to the server, you can use onFinish callback function.

tsx

useStepsForm({
  refineCoreProps: {
    autoSave: {
      enabled: true,
      // highlight-start
      onFinish: (values) => {
        return {
          foo: "bar",
          ...values,
        };
      },
      // highlight-end
    },
  },
});

invalidateOnUnmount

This prop is useful when you want to invalidate the list, many and detail queries from the current resource when the hook is unmounted. By default, it invalidates the list, many and detail queries associated with the current resource. Also, You can use the invalidates prop to select which queries to invalidate. By default, it is set to false.

tsx

useStepsForm({
  refineCoreProps: {
    autoSave: {
      enabled: true,
      // highlight-next-line
      invalidateOnUnmount: true,
    },
  },
});

Return Values

All useForm return values also available in useStepsForm. You can find descriptions on useForm docs.

steps

The return values needed by the manage state steps.

currentStep

Current step, counting from 0.

gotoStep

Is a function that allows you to programmatically change the current step of a form. It takes in one argument, step, which is a number representing the index of the step you want to navigate to.

API Reference

Properties

:::simple External Props

It also accepts all props of useForm hook available in the React Hook Form.

:::

Type Parameters

Property	Description	Type	Default
TQueryFnData	Result data returned by the query function. Extends `BaseRecord`	`BaseRecord`	`BaseRecord`
TError	Custom error object that extends `HttpError`	`HttpError`	`HttpError`
TVariables	Field Values for mutation function	`{}`	`{}`
TContext	Second generic type of the `useForm` of the React Hook Form.	`{}`	`{}`
TData	Result data returned by the `select` function. Extends `BaseRecord`. If not specified, the value of `TQueryFnData` will be used as the default value.	`BaseRecord`	`TQueryFnData`
TResponse	Result data returned by the mutation function. Extends `BaseRecord`. If not specified, the value of `TData` will be used as the default value.	`BaseRecord`	`TData`
TResponseError	Custom error object that extends `HttpError`. If not specified, the value of `TError` will be used as the default value.	`HttpError`	`TError`

Return values

Property	Description	Type
steps	Relevant state and method to control the steps	`StepsReturnValues`
refineCore	The return values of the `useForm` in the core	`UseFormReturnValues`
React Hook Form Return Values	See React Hook Form documentation

Example