@dnd-grid/react

@dnd-grid/react

A drag-and-drop (DnD), resizable grid layout with responsive breakpoints for React.

Installation

npm install @dnd-grid/react

Usage

import { useState } from "react";
import { DndGrid, type Layout } from "@dnd-grid/react";
import "@dnd-grid/react/styles.css";

const layout: Layout = [
  { i: "a", x: 0, y: 0, w: 2, h: 2 },
  { i: "b", x: 2, y: 0, w: 2, h: 2 },
  { i: "c", x: 4, y: 0, w: 2, h: 2 },
];

function MyGrid() {
  const [currentLayout, setLayout] = useState(layout);

  return (
    <DndGrid
      layout={currentLayout}
      cols={12}
      rowHeight={30}
      width={1200}
      onLayoutChange={(newLayout) => setLayout(newLayout)}
    >
      <div key="a">A</div>
      <div key="b">B</div>
      <div key="c">C</div>
    </DndGrid>
  );
}

Measuring container width

If you want the grid to measure its container width and avoid width jumps on load, use useContainerWidth and render once measured:

import { DndGrid, type Layout, useContainerWidth } from "@dnd-grid/react";

const layout: Layout = [
  { i: "a", x: 0, y: 0, w: 2, h: 2 },
  { i: "b", x: 2, y: 0, w: 2, h: 2 },
];

function MyGrid() {
  const { width, containerRef, mounted } = useContainerWidth({
    measureBeforeMount: true,
    initialWidth: 600,
  });

  return (
    <div ref={containerRef} className="w-full" style={{ maxWidth: 600 }}>
      {mounted && width > 0 && (
        <DndGrid layout={layout} cols={12} rowHeight={30} width={width}>
          <div key="a">A</div>
          <div key="b">B</div>
        </DndGrid>
      )}
    </div>
  );
}

If you prefer a convenience wrapper, AutoWidthDndGrid exposes the same behavior with measureBeforeMount (default true) and initialWidth.

Features

• 100% React - no jQuery
• Compatible with server-rendered apps
• Drag-and-drop widgets
• Resizable widgets
• Auto-scroll near edges while dragging
• State-aware styling via data attributes and item hooks
• Static widgets
• Configurable packing: horizontal, vertical, or off
• Bounds checking for dragging and resizing
• Widgets may be added or removed without rebuilding grid
• Layout can be serialised and restored
• Grid items placed using CSS transforms

Props

Prop	Type	Default	Description
layout	Layout	[]	Array of layout items
cols	number	12	Number of columns
rowHeight	number	150	Height of a row in pixels
width	number	required	Width of the grid container
autoSize	boolean	true	Auto-size the container height
maxRows	number	Infinity	Maximum number of rows
margin	number | { top: number; right: number; bottom: number; left: number }	10	Margin around items
containerPadding	number | { top: number; right: number; bottom: number; left: number } | null	null	Container padding (null uses margin)
isDraggable	boolean	true	Enable dragging
isResizable	boolean	true	Enable resizing
autoScroll	boolean | AutoScrollOptions	true	Auto-scroll when dragging near scroll edges
isBounded	boolean	false	Keep items within container bounds
isDroppable	boolean	false	Enable dropping items from outside
compactor	Compactor	verticalCompactor	Compaction strategy
constraints	LayoutConstraint[]	defaultConstraints	Constraints applied during drag/resize
resizeHandles	ResizeHandleAxis[]	["se"]	Resize handle positions
transformScale	number	1	Scale factor for CSS transforms
dragTouchDelayDuration	number	250	Touch delay before drag starts (ms)

Layout must be defined via the layout prop; data-grid on children is not supported.

Responsive layouts

Compose responsive behavior with hooks:

import { DndGrid, useContainerWidth, useDndGridResponsiveLayout } from "@dnd-grid/react";

const layouts = {
  lg: [{ i: "a", x: 0, y: 0, w: 3, h: 2 }],
  md: [{ i: "a", x: 0, y: 0, w: 4, h: 2 }],
};

function ResponsiveGrid() {
  const { width, containerRef, mounted } = useContainerWidth({
    measureBeforeMount: true,
  });

  const { gridProps, handleLayoutChange } = useDndGridResponsiveLayout({
    width,
    layouts,
    margin: { lg: 16, md: { top: 12, right: 16, bottom: 12, left: 16 } },
    containerPadding: 16,
  });

  return (
    <div ref={containerRef}>
      {mounted && (
        <DndGrid width={width} {...gridProps} onLayoutChange={handleLayoutChange}>
          <div key="a">A</div>
          <div key="b">B</div>
        </DndGrid>
      )}
    </div>
  );
}

Layout item

Each item in the layout array has these properties:

interface LayoutItem {
  i: string;      // Unique identifier
  x: number;      // X position in grid units
  y: number;      // Y position in grid units
  w: number;      // Width in grid units
  h: number;      // Height in grid units
  minW?: number;  // Minimum width
  maxW?: number;  // Maximum width
  minH?: number;  // Minimum height
  maxH?: number;  // Maximum height
  resizeHandles?: ResizeHandleAxis[]; // Override resize handle positions
  constraints?: LayoutConstraint[]; // Per-item constraints
  static?: boolean;     // Cannot be moved or resized
  isDraggable?: boolean; // Override grid isDraggable
  isResizable?: boolean; // Override grid isResizable
  isBounded?: boolean;   // Override grid isBounded
}

Styles

The default stylesheet ships as layout + theme layers. Import the combined file, or split them as needed:

import "@dnd-grid/react/styles.css";

import "@dnd-grid/react/base.css";
import "@dnd-grid/react/theme.css";

Theme variables are exposed as CSS custom properties:

:root {
  --dnd-grid-scale: 1;
  --dnd-grid-radius: 24px;
  --dnd-grid-placeholder-bg: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.012);
  --dnd-grid-placeholder-shadow: inset 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06);
  --dnd-grid-handle-size: 16px;
  --dnd-grid-handle-bg: rgb(255, 255, 255);
  --dnd-grid-handle-shadow: 0 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06),
    0 9px 9px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.04),
    0 5.83333px 5.27083px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03),
    0 3.46667px 2.86667px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.024),
    0 1.8px 1.4625px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.02),
    0 0.733333px 0.733333px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.016);
  --dnd-grid-transition-duration: 200ms;
  --dnd-grid-transition-easing: cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1);
}

Compactors

Compactors control how items are packed after drag/resize. You can use the built-ins or provide your own:

import {
  verticalCompactor,
  horizontalCompactor,
  noCompactor,
  wrapCompactor,
  fastVerticalCompactor,
} from "@dnd-grid/react";

<DndGrid compactor={verticalCompactor} />;
<DndGrid compactor={horizontalCompactor} />;
<DndGrid compactor={noCompactor} />;
<DndGrid compactor={wrapCompactor} />;
<DndGrid compactor={fastVerticalCompactor} />;

Constraints

Constraints let you enforce rules during drag/resize:

import { defaultConstraints, aspectRatio, gridBounds } from "@dnd-grid/react";

<DndGrid constraints={[gridBounds, aspectRatio(16 / 9)]} />;

Item state hook

Read the layout item and interaction state from within a child component:

import { useDndGridItemState } from "@dnd-grid/react";

function Card() {
  const { item, state } = useDndGridItemState();
  return (
    <div className={state.resizing ? "is-resizing" : ""}>
      Item {item.i}
    </div>
  );
}

The hook must be used inside a DndGrid item (it throws if rendered elsewhere).

Callbacks

Callback	Type	Description
onLayoutChange	(layout: Layout) => void	Called when layout changes
onDragStart	(layout, oldItem, newItem, placeholder, e, node) => void	Called when drag starts
onDrag	(layout, oldItem, newItem, placeholder, e, node) => void	Called during drag
onDragStop	(layout, oldItem, newItem, placeholder, e, node) => void	Called when drag stops
onResizeStart	(layout, oldItem, newItem, placeholder, e, node) => void	Called when resize starts
onResize	(layout, oldItem, newItem, placeholder, e, node) => void	Called during resize
onResizeStop	(layout, oldItem, newItem, placeholder, e, node) => void	Called when resize stops
onDrop	(layout, item, e) => void	Called when item is dropped
onDropDragOver	(e) => { w?: number; h?: number } | false	Customise dropping item

CSS classes

Common CSS classes include:

• .dnd-grid - Grid container
• .dnd-grid-item - Grid item
• .dnd-grid-item-content - Non-placeholder grid item
• .dnd-grid-placeholder - Placeholder during drag/resize
• .dnd-draggable - Draggable item
• .dnd-draggable-dragging - Item being dragged
• .resizing - Item currently being resized
• .static - Static (locked) item
• .dnd-grid-animating - Item settling after drag
• .dropping - Dropping placeholder item
• .dnd-grid-resize-handle - Resize handle element
• body.dnd-grid-dragging - Global dragging state
• body.dnd-grid-resizing - Global resizing state

Data attributes

The grid sets data-* attributes for stateful styling:

• data-dnd-grid on the container
• data-dnd-grid-item on each item
• data-dnd-grid-handle and data-handle-axis on resize handles
• data-dragging, data-resizing, data-settling, data-disabled, data-draggable, data-resizable on items when true

[data-dnd-grid-item][data-resizing] {
  z-index: 10;
}

[data-dnd-grid-handle][data-handle-axis="sw"] {
  cursor: sw-resize;
}

Acknowledgements

This project is based on react-grid-layout by Samuel Reed (STRML). The original project provided the foundation for the grid layout algorithms and core functionality.

Licence

MIT Licence - Copyright (c) 2025 Matthew Blode