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v4.0 docs update: CHANGELOG, README, FEATURES, API-REFERENCE, 11 new SOPs, MCP docs, version bumps to 4.0.0, docs cleanup. Closes #229.
58 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
58 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
# Base UI vs Radix UI — Evaluation
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> **Date:** 2026-03-08
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> **Status:** Evaluated — **Recommendation: Stay with Radix**
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## Current State
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VK uses **Radix UI** primitives through shadcn/ui (style: `new-york`, base: `radix`). This has been the default since the project's inception. shadcn v4 introduced a `--base` flag on `shadcn init` that allows choosing between `radix` and `base` (Base UI from MUI).
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**Installed components (16):** alert-dialog, badge, button, checkbox, dialog, input, label, popover, scroll-area, select, sheet, skeleton, switch, tabs, textarea, tooltip.
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## What Is Base UI?
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Base UI is MUI's headless component library — unstyled, accessible primitives similar to Radix but from the Material UI ecosystem. Key characteristics:
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- **Headless/unstyled** — provides behavior + accessibility, you bring the styles
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- **Smaller bundle** — generally lighter than Radix for individual components
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- **React 19 compatible** — actively maintained
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- **Fewer components** — smaller catalog than Radix (no scroll-area, sheet, etc.)
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- **Different API patterns** — slot-based rendering vs Radix's compound component pattern
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## Comparison
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| Factor | Radix UI | Base UI |
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| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
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| **Bundle size** | Moderate (~50-80KB for common set) | Slightly smaller per-component |
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| **Component count** | 30+ primitives | ~15 primitives |
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| **API style** | Compound components (`Dialog.Root`, `Dialog.Trigger`) | Slot-based (`slots={{ root: 'div' }}`) |
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| **Accessibility** | Excellent (WAI-ARIA compliant) | Excellent (WAI-ARIA compliant) |
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| **shadcn integration** | First-class (default base) | Supported via `--base base` flag |
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| **Community/ecosystem** | Large — most shadcn users, tutorials, examples | Smaller — MUI ecosystem overlap |
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| **Animation support** | Built-in presence/animation primitives | Bring your own |
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| **TypeScript** | Full type safety | Full type safety |
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## Migration Effort
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Switching from Radix to Base UI would require:
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1. **Re-init shadcn** with `--base base` flag
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2. **Rewrite all 16 component imports** — different API patterns mean code changes, not just import swaps
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3. **Lose compound component patterns** — Radix's `Dialog.Root > Dialog.Trigger > Dialog.Content` becomes flat slot-based props
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4. **Replace missing components** — Base UI lacks scroll-area, sheet, and others VK uses. These would need custom implementations or alternative libraries.
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5. **Re-test everything** — accessibility, keyboard nav, focus management all need re-verification
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6. **Custom components affected** — MarkdownEditor and MarkdownRenderer may depend on Radix primitives
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**Estimated effort:** 2-3 days for a developer familiar with both libraries. High risk of subtle regressions in accessibility and keyboard navigation.
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## Recommendation
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**Stay with Radix.** The reasons:
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1. **It works.** VK's UI is stable, accessible, and well-tested with Radix.
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2. **shadcn ecosystem alignment.** The vast majority of shadcn examples, templates, and community components assume Radix. Switching introduces friction for every future component addition.
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3. **Migration cost > benefit.** The bundle size savings are marginal (~10-20KB gzipped) and don't justify the effort or regression risk.
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4. **Missing primitives.** Base UI's smaller catalog means we'd need to find replacements for scroll-area, sheet, and potentially others.
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5. **No blocking issue.** There's no pain point with Radix that Base UI solves. This would be change for change's sake.
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**When to revisit:** If shadcn makes Base UI the default in a future major version, or if Radix becomes unmaintained. Neither is on the horizon.
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