Vendure Admin UI Writing

Purpose

Guide creation of Vendure Admin UI extensions following React patterns and official conventions.

When NOT to Use

• Plugin structure only (use vendure-plugin-writing)
• GraphQL schema only (use vendure-graphql-writing)
• Reviewing UI code (use vendure-admin-ui-reviewing)

FORBIDDEN Patterns

• Using Angular patterns (Vendure v2+ uses React)
• Direct fetch calls (use Vendure GraphQL hooks)
• Missing useInjector for services
• Hardcoded routes without registerReactRouteComponent
• Missing page metadata (title, breadcrumbs)
• Inline styles without CSS variables
• Missing loading and error states
• Direct DOM manipulation

REQUIRED Patterns

• @vendure/admin-ui/react hooks for data fetching
• useInjector(NotificationService) for notifications
• usePageMetadata() for titles and breadcrumbs
• registerReactRouteComponent() for routes
• addNavMenuSection() for navigation
• Proper TypeScript types from generated GraphQL
• Loading states for async operations
• Error handling with user feedback

Workflow

Step 1: Create UI Extension Entry Point

// ui/index.ts
import path from "path";
import { AdminUiExtension } from "@vendure/ui-devkit/compiler";

export const myPluginUiExtension: AdminUiExtension = {
  id: "my-plugin-ui",
  extensionPath: path.join(__dirname),
  routes: [
    {
      route: "my-plugin",
      filePath: "routes.ts",
    },
  ],
  providers: ["providers.ts"],
  translations: {
    en: path.join(__dirname, "translations/en.json"),
  },
};

Step 2: Register Navigation Menu

// ui/providers.ts
import { addNavMenuSection } from "@vendure/admin-ui/core";

export default [
  addNavMenuSection(
    {
      id: "my-plugin",
      label: "My Plugin",
      items: [
        {
          id: "my-items",
          label: "Items",
          routerLink: ["/extensions/my-plugin/items"],
          icon: "list",
        },
        {
          id: "my-settings",
          label: "Settings",
          routerLink: ["/extensions/my-plugin/settings"],
          icon: "cog",
        },
      ],
    },
    "settings",
  ), // Position after 'settings' section
];

Step 3: Register Routes

// ui/routes.ts
import { registerReactRouteComponent } from "@vendure/admin-ui/react";

import { ItemList } from "./components/ItemList";
import { ItemDetail } from "./components/ItemDetail";
import { ItemForm } from "./components/ItemForm";

export default [
  registerReactRouteComponent({
    component: ItemList,
    path: "items",
    title: "Items",
    breadcrumb: "Items",
  }),
  registerReactRouteComponent({
    component: ItemDetail,
    path: "items/:id",
    title: "Item Details",
    breadcrumb: "Details",
  }),
  registerReactRouteComponent({
    component: ItemForm,
    path: "items/new",
    title: "New Item",
    breadcrumb: "New",
  }),
];

Step 4: Create List Component

// ui/components/ItemList.tsx
import { NotificationService } from '@vendure/admin-ui/core';
import {
    Card,
    ActionBar,
    Link,
    usePageMetadata,
    PageBlock,
    useQuery,
    useMutation,
    useInjector
} from '@vendure/admin-ui/react';
import * as React from 'react';

import { GET_ITEMS, DELETE_ITEM } from '../graphql';
import { GetItemsQuery, DeleteItemMutation } from '../gql/graphql';

export function ItemList() {
    const { setTitle, setBreadcrumb } = usePageMetadata();
    const notificationService = useInjector(NotificationService);

    // Pagination state
    const [currentPage, setCurrentPage] = React.useState(1);
    const [itemsPerPage] = React.useState(25);

    // Set page metadata
    React.useEffect(() => {
        setTitle('Items');
        setBreadcrumb([
            { label: 'My Plugin', link: ['/extensions/my-plugin'] },
            { label: 'Items', link: ['/extensions/my-plugin/items'] }
        ]);
    }, [setTitle, setBreadcrumb]);

    // Query
    const { data, loading, error, refetch } = useQuery<GetItemsQuery>(GET_ITEMS, {
        variables: {
            options: {
                skip: (currentPage - 1) * itemsPerPage,
                take: itemsPerPage,
            }
        }
    });

    // Delete mutation
    const [deleteItem] = useMutation<DeleteItemMutation>(DELETE_ITEM);

    const handleDelete = React.useCallback(async (id: string) => {
        try {
            await deleteItem({ input: { id } });
            notificationService.success('Item deleted');
            await refetch();
        } catch {
            notificationService.error('Failed to delete item');
        }
    }, [deleteItem, notificationService, refetch]);

    if (loading) return <div>Loading...</div>;
    if (error) return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;

    return (
        <PageBlock>
            <ActionBar>
                <div className="action-bar-start">
                    <h1>Items</h1>
                </div>
                <div className="action-bar-end">
                    <Link href="/extensions/my-plugin/items/new">
                        <button className="button primary">Add Item</button>
                    </Link>
                </div>
            </ActionBar>

            <Card>
                <table className="data-table">
                    <thead>
                        <tr>
                            <th>Name</th>
                            <th>Created</th>
                            <th>Actions</th>
                        </tr>
                    </thead>
                    <tbody>
                        {data?.items.items.map(item => (
                            <tr key={item.id}>
                                <td>{item.name}</td>
                                <td>{new Date(item.createdAt).toLocaleDateString()}</td>
                                <td>
                                    <Link href={`/extensions/my-plugin/items/${item.id}`}>
                                        Edit
                                    </Link>
                                    <button onClick={() => void handleDelete(item.id)}>
                                        Delete
                                    </button>
                                </td>
                            </tr>
                        ))}
                    </tbody>
                </table>
            </Card>
        </PageBlock>
    );
}

Step 5: Create Detail/Form Component

// ui/components/ItemDetail.tsx
import { NotificationService } from '@vendure/admin-ui/core';
import {
    usePageMetadata,
    PageBlock,
    useQuery,
    useMutation,
    useInjector,
    useRouteParams
} from '@vendure/admin-ui/react';
import * as React from 'react';

import { GET_ITEM, UPDATE_ITEM } from '../graphql';

export function ItemDetail() {
    const { setTitle, setBreadcrumb } = usePageMetadata();
    const notificationService = useInjector(NotificationService);
    const { id } = useRouteParams();

    const [name, setName] = React.useState('');

    // Query
    const { data, loading, error } = useQuery(GET_ITEM, {
        variables: { id }
    });

    // Mutation
    const [updateItem, { loading: saving }] = useMutation(UPDATE_ITEM);

    // Populate form when data loads
    React.useEffect(() => {
        if (data?.item) {
            setName(data.item.name);
            setTitle(data.item.name);
            setBreadcrumb([
                { label: 'Items', link: ['/extensions/my-plugin/items'] },
                { label: data.item.name, link: [] }
            ]);
        }
    }, [data, setTitle, setBreadcrumb]);

    const handleSubmit = React.useCallback(async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
        e.preventDefault();
        try {
            await updateItem({ input: { id, name } });
            notificationService.success('Item updated');
        } catch {
            notificationService.error('Failed to update item');
        }
    }, [id, name, updateItem, notificationService]);

    if (loading) return <div>Loading...</div>;
    if (error) return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;

    return (
        <PageBlock>
            <form onSubmit={(e) => void handleSubmit(e)}>
                <div className="form-group">
                    <label htmlFor="name">Name</label>
                    <input
                        id="name"
                        type="text"
                        value={name}
                        onChange={e => setName(e.target.value)}
                        required
                    />
                </div>
                <button type="submit" disabled={saving}>
                    {saving ? 'Saving...' : 'Save'}
                </button>
            </form>
        </PageBlock>
    );
}

Step 6: Set Up GraphQL Queries

// ui/graphql/queries.ts
import { gql } from "graphql-tag";

export const GET_ITEMS = gql`
  query GetItems($options: ItemListOptions) {
    items(options: $options) {
      items {
        id
        name
        createdAt
        updatedAt
      }
      totalItems
    }
  }
`;

export const GET_ITEM = gql`
  query GetItem($id: ID!) {
    item(id: $id) {
      id
      name
      createdAt
      updatedAt
    }
  }
`;

// ui/graphql/mutations.ts
import { gql } from "graphql-tag";

export const CREATE_ITEM = gql`
  mutation CreateItem($input: CreateItemInput!) {
    createItem(input: $input) {
      id
      name
    }
  }
`;

export const UPDATE_ITEM = gql`
  mutation UpdateItem($input: UpdateItemInput!) {
    updateItem(input: $input) {
      id
      name
    }
  }
`;

export const DELETE_ITEM = gql`
  mutation DeleteItem($input: DeleteItemInput!) {
    deleteItem(input: $input)
  }
`;

Step 7: Configure GraphQL Codegen

# ui/codegen.yml
schema: http://localhost:3000/admin-api
documents: "./ui/graphql/**/*.ts"
generates:
  ./ui/gql/graphql.ts:
    plugins:
      - typescript
      - typescript-operations
    config:
      avoidOptionals: true
      maybeValue: T | null

Common Patterns

For detailed patterns with code examples, see references/PATTERNS.md.

Examples

For complete working examples, see references/EXAMPLES.md.

Project Structure

ui/
├── index.ts              # AdminUiExtension entry point
├── providers.ts          # Navigation registration
├── routes.ts             # Route registration
├── codegen.yml           # GraphQL codegen config
├── components/
│   ├── ItemList.tsx
│   ├── ItemDetail.tsx
│   ├── ItemForm.tsx
│   └── common/
│       ├── ConfirmDialog.tsx
│       └── LoadingState.tsx
├── graphql/
│   ├── index.ts          # Re-exports
│   ├── queries.ts
│   ├── mutations.ts
│   └── fragments.ts
├── gql/
│   └── graphql.ts        # Generated types
├── hooks/
│   └── useItems.ts
├── styles/
│   └── common.css
└── translations/
    └── en.json

Troubleshooting

Related Skills

• vendure-admin-ui-reviewing - UI review
• vendure-plugin-writing - Plugin structure
• vendure-graphql-writing - GraphQL schema