Question 1

What is a shadcn alert dialog?

Accepted Answer

A shadcn alert dialog is a modal confirmation prompt that interrupts the user to confirm a destructive or consequential action — deleting an account, removing a record, submitting an irreversible change. It's built on Radix UI's AlertDialog primitive (focus trap, ESC to cancel, Enter to confirm, ARIA-modal semantics) and styled with shadcn/ui + Tailwind CSS. Each example in this gallery is a single self-contained TSX file — copy, paste, and ship.

Question 2

Are these alert dialog examples free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every alert dialog example on shadcn.io is free to copy and use in personal or commercial projects. There's no gated source, no attribution requirement, and no runtime dependency on shadcn.io. Browse any example, view the code, run the installer, and move on.

Question 3

What's the difference between AlertDialog and Dialog?

Accepted Answer

AlertDialog is for critical, interrupting confirmations with a yes/no outcome — "Are you sure you want to delete this?". Radix applies stricter modality: the dialog can only be dismissed by clicking one of the action buttons (or Esc), never by clicking outside the overlay. Dialog is the generic modal — looser modality, dismissable by backdrop click, suitable for forms, detail views, multi-step flows. Use AlertDialog only when the outcome genuinely deserves a binary decision.

Question 4

When should I use an alert dialog versus a toast, banner, or inline confirm?

Accepted Answer

AlertDialog for destructive or irreversible actions — delete, permanently close, submit a payment. Inline confirm button ("Click again to confirm") for lower-stakes actions where a modal would be too heavy. Banner (Alert component) for passive warnings that don't require a decision. Toast (Sonner) for post-action feedback, never for pre-action confirmation. Pick the least-interrupting pattern that still conveys reversibility risk.

Question 5

Which alert dialog variant should I pick for a delete confirmation?

Accepted Answer

Use the destructive variant — the AlertDialogAction button is styled in the destructive color (red) and the title + description make the consequence explicit ("This will permanently delete the project. This action cannot be undone."). Pair with a destructive button trigger for visual continuity. For soft deletes that can be restored, the confirmation variant with a neutral primary button is friendlier.

Question 6

How do I show a form inside an alert dialog?

Accepted Answer

Use the form variant — the dialog body hosts an Input or Textarea, and the AlertDialogAction is disabled until the input is valid. Keep the form single-step: alert dialogs aren't the right pattern for multi-field forms (use Dialog or a Sheet for those). Good use cases: "Type 'DELETE' to confirm" inputs, single-field renaming, one-off reason-for-action prompts.

Question 7

Can I add custom action buttons beyond Cancel/Confirm?

Accepted Answer

Yes — see the custom-actions variant. You can render any number of buttons inside AlertDialogFooter. Keep it to 2–3 max; more than that and the dialog stops being a confirmation and starts being a choice menu (which warrants a different component). A common pattern is "Cancel / Save draft / Publish" for a three-way choice on unsaved content.

Question 8

Should alert dialogs always have an icon?

Accepted Answer

Not required, but helpful for the destructive and success variants because the color alone (red/green) can be missed by users with color-vision differences. The informational and confirmation variants can go iconless when the copy is clear enough. Icon position: top-center for emphasis (the icon IS the first thing users see), top-left for a more subtle treatment.

Question 9

How do I install an alert dialog example?

Accepted Answer

Run the `npx shadcn@latest add` command shown under the Installation heading on any example's detail page. The shadcn CLI copies the example's TSX source into your project at `components/examples/alert-dialog/…`, plus the shadcn/ui AlertDialog primitive (and its Radix dependency) if you don't already have it. From there it's regular React — wire the open state to your action handler.

Question 10

How do I control when the alert dialog opens?

Accepted Answer

Two patterns. (1) Uncontrolled: wrap the trigger button in AlertDialogTrigger, and Radix handles the open/close state internally. Use this when the dialog opens from a simple button click. (2) Controlled: pass `open` and `onOpenChange` props to AlertDialog. Use this when you need to open the dialog programmatically (e.g., after a fetch error) or keep open state in a parent component.

Question 11

How do I wire the confirm action to my backend?

Accepted Answer

Attach an onClick handler to AlertDialogAction — it fires when the user confirms. The dialog closes automatically after the handler returns. For async operations, wrap the action in a local pending state: disable AlertDialogAction while the fetch is in flight, show a spinner inside it, and call AlertDialog's `onOpenChange(false)` only after success. On error, keep the dialog open and surface the error via a Toast or an inline error state.

Question 12

Can I prevent the dialog from closing when the action fails?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Use the controlled `open` / `onOpenChange` pattern and only call `setOpen(false)` after a successful response. To block ESC/outside-click while the async action is in flight, pair `onEscapeKeyDown` and `onPointerDownOutside` handlers on AlertDialogContent that call `event.preventDefault()` while `isPending`. This keeps the user inside the confirmation context until the operation resolves.

Question 13

Which libraries do alert dialog examples depend on?

Accepted Answer

Radix UI AlertDialog (the behaviour primitive — focus trap, ESC handling, ARIA-modal semantics), shadcn/ui AlertDialog (the styled wrapper generated into your project by the CLI), Tailwind CSS (styling), and Lucide React (icons). TypeScript is assumed. React 19 is the baseline. No state library — dialog state lives in useState or in the Radix primitive itself. Some examples add motion/react for entrance polish; that's optional.

Question 14

Are alert dialog examples accessible for keyboard and screen reader users?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Radix AlertDialog implements the WAI-ARIA Alert Dialog pattern: focus moves to the dialog on open, ESC cancels (fires onOpenChange), Enter confirms, Tab cycles between the two (or more) action buttons with focus trapped inside the dialog. The overlay has `aria-hidden` applied to the rest of the page, and screen readers announce the dialog title + description on open. Every example in this gallery preserves those semantics — we only override visuals.

Question 15

Can I use these alert dialog examples with React Server Components?

Accepted Answer

The AlertDialog primitive is a client component because it holds open/closed state and manages focus. Wrap it inside a Server Component parent and pass static props (title, description) from the server. For dialogs that display server-fetched data (e.g., "Delete post '{title}'?"), pass the data as props into the client boundary — the dialog itself stays client-side but the content can be server-rendered.

Question 16

Do these examples work with Tailwind CSS v3 and v4?

Accepted Answer

Both. shadcn.io is authored on Tailwind v4, so the examples use the v4 class names and design tokens. If you're on Tailwind v3, the classes still apply — Tailwind v4 introduced opt-in features but kept the utility naming compatible. The dialog overlay + content animations (`data-state=open` / `closed`) work identically under both versions, just with different animation-keyframe config locations.

React Alert Dialog Examples for shadcn/ui

Browse every alert dialog example

Frequently Asked Questions