Add an item and scroll to it — the filter-chips pattern
Click Add filter — the chip appears at the end and the row scrolls to reveal it. The x removes a chip.
Edit this example live in Storybook
How it works
The menu gets an apiRef, which exposes the full API outside the component tree. addItem does two things: stores the new id in a lastAdded ref, then appends the item to state. It deliberately does not scroll — at that moment the chip is only state, not DOM.
Why the scroll lives in an effect
getItemElementById looks the item up in the DOM, so the scroll can only happen after React has committed the new item. A useEffect keyed on items runs at exactly that point: it reads lastAdded, clears it, and calls apiRef.current.scrollToItem(el, ’smooth’, ’end’). Clearing the ref matters — re-renders for any other reason (selection, arrows) hit the effect too, and must not scroll again.
Notes
lastAddedis a ref, not state: writing it must not itself cause a render, and its value is only meaningful to the very next effect run.’end’aligns the new chip with the row’s right edge;’center’works the same way if you want it in the middle.- The arrows here use the
useLeftArrowVisible()anduseRightArrowVisible()hooks — a shorter form of theuseIsVisible(’first’/’last’)pair. - The scrollbar is hidden with plain CSS on the library’s
scroll-containerclass; scrolling itself stays native.
Full source
Complete and copy-paste ready — this is the exact file behind the live-editable Storybook version.
import 'react-horizontal-scrolling-menu/dist/styles.css';
import styled from '@emotion/styled';
import React from 'react';
import {
type publicApiType,
ScrollMenu,
VisibilityContext,
} from 'react-horizontal-scrolling-menu';
export function AddItemAndScrollToItExample() {
const [items, setItems] = React.useState(() => getItems());
const [selected, setSelected] = React.useState<string[]>([]);
const isItemSelected = (id: string): boolean =>
!!selected.find((el) => el === id);
const handleItemClick = (itemId: string) => {
const itemSelected = isItemSelected(itemId);
setSelected((currentSelected: string[]) =>
itemSelected
? currentSelected.filter((el) => el !== itemId)
: currentSelected.concat(itemId),
);
};
const apiRef = React.useRef<publicApiType>(null);
// The id of the item added by the last click; empty on mount and after the
// scroll fires, so re-renders for other reasons don't scroll again.
const lastAdded = React.useRef<string | null>(null);
const addItem = () => {
const newId = getId(items.length);
lastAdded.current = newId;
setItems((currentItems) => currentItems.concat({ id: newId }));
};
// `getItemElementById` looks the item up in the DOM, so the scroll can only
// happen after React has rendered the new item — an effect keyed on `items`
// rather than a call inside the click handler.
React.useEffect(() => {
const newId = lastAdded.current;
if (!newId) {
return;
}
lastAdded.current = null;
const el = apiRef.current?.getItemElementById(newId);
if (el) {
apiRef.current?.scrollToItem(el, 'smooth', 'end');
}
}, [items]);
return (
<div>
<div>
<button onClick={addItem} data-testid="add-item">
Add item
</button>
</div>
<NoScrollbar>
<ScrollMenu
LeftArrow={LeftArrow}
RightArrow={RightArrow}
onWheel={onWheel}
apiRef={apiRef}
>
{items.map(({ id }) => (
<Card
title={id}
itemId={id} // NOTE: itemId is required for track items
key={id}
onClick={() => handleItemClick(id)}
selected={isItemSelected(id)}
/>
))}
</ScrollMenu>
</NoScrollbar>
</div>
);
}
export default AddItemAndScrollToItExample;
const NoScrollbar = styled('div')({
'& .react-horizontal-scrolling-menu--scroll-container::-webkit-scrollbar': {
display: 'none',
},
'& .react-horizontal-scrolling-menu--scroll-container': {
scrollbarWidth: 'none',
'-ms-overflow-style': 'none',
},
});
function LeftArrow() {
const visibility = React.useContext<publicApiType>(VisibilityContext);
const disabled = visibility.useLeftArrowVisible();
return (
<Arrow
disabled={disabled}
onClick={() => visibility.scrollPrev()}
testId="left-arrow"
>
Left
</Arrow>
);
}
function RightArrow() {
const visibility = React.useContext<publicApiType>(VisibilityContext);
const disabled = visibility.useRightArrowVisible();
return (
<Arrow
disabled={disabled}
onClick={() => visibility.scrollNext()}
testId="right-arrow"
>
Right
</Arrow>
);
}
function Arrow({
children,
disabled,
onClick,
className,
testId,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode;
disabled: boolean;
onClick: VoidFunction;
className?: string;
testId: string;
}) {
return (
<ArrowButton
disabled={disabled}
onClick={onClick}
className={'arrow' + `-${className}`}
data-testid={testId}
>
{children}
</ArrowButton>
);
}
const ArrowButton = styled('button')((props) => ({
cursor: 'pointer',
display: 'flex',
flexDirection: 'column',
justifyContent: 'center',
marginBottom: '2px',
opacity: props.disabled ? '0' : '1',
userSelect: 'none',
borderRadius: '6px',
borderWidth: '1px',
}));
function Card({
onClick,
selected,
title,
itemId,
}: {
onClick: (context: publicApiType) => void;
selected: boolean;
title: string;
itemId: string;
}) {
const visibility = React.useContext<publicApiType>(VisibilityContext);
const isVisible = visibility.useIsVisible(itemId, true);
return (
<CardBody
data-cy={itemId}
onClick={() => onClick(visibility)}
onKeyDown={(ev: React.KeyboardEvent) => {
ev.code === 'Enter' && onClick(visibility);
}}
data-testid="card"
role="button"
tabIndex={0}
className="card"
visible={isVisible}
selected={selected}
>
<div className="header">
<div>{title}</div>
<div className="visible">visible: {JSON.stringify(isVisible)}</div>
<div className="selected">selected: {JSON.stringify(!!selected)}</div>
</div>
<div className="background" />
</CardBody>
);
}
const CardBody = styled('div')<{ selected?: boolean; visible?: boolean }>(
(props) => ({
border: '1px solid',
display: 'inline-block',
margin: '0 10px',
width: '160px',
userSelect: 'none',
borderRadius: '8px',
overflow: 'hidden',
'& .header': {
backgroundColor: 'white',
},
'& .visible': {
backgroundColor: props.visible ? 'transparent' : 'gray',
},
'& .background': {
backgroundColor: props.selected ? 'green' : 'bisque',
height: '200px',
},
}),
);
const getId = (index: number) => `${'test'}${index}`;
const getItems = () =>
Array(10)
.fill(0)
.map((_, ind) => ({ id: getId(ind) }));
function onWheel(apiObj: publicApiType, ev: React.WheelEvent): void {
// NOTE: no good standart way to distinguish touchpad scrolling gestures
// but can assume that gesture will affect X axis, mouse scroll only Y axis
// of if deltaY too small probably is it touchpad
const isThouchpad = Math.abs(ev.deltaX) !== 0 || Math.abs(ev.deltaY) < 15;
if (isThouchpad) {
ev.stopPropagation();
return;
}
if (ev.deltaY < 0) {
apiObj.scrollNext();
} else {
apiObj.scrollPrev();
}
}