Netlify Forms

Netlify Forms collects HTML form submissions without server-side code. Form detection must be enabled in the Netlify UI (Forms section).

Basic Setup

Add data-netlify="true" and a unique name to the form:

<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true">
  <label>Name: <input type="text" name="name" /></label>
  <label>Email: <input type="email" name="email" /></label>
  <label>Message: <textarea name="message"></textarea></label>
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Netlify's build system detects the form and injects a hidden form-name input automatically. For a custom success page, add action="/thank-you" to the form tag.

JavaScript-Rendered Forms (React, Vue, etc.)

For forms rendered by JavaScript frameworks, Netlify's build parser cannot detect the form in static HTML. You must either:

Option A: Add a hidden HTML form to your index.html (or equivalent static file):

<form name="contact" netlify netlify-honeypot="bot-field" hidden>
  <input type="text" name="name" />
  <input type="email" name="email" />
  <textarea name="message"></textarea>
</form>

Option B: Include a hidden form-name input in your component:

<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true">
  <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />
  {/* ... fields ... */}
</form>

AJAX Submissions

Vanilla JavaScript

const form = document.querySelector("form");
form.addEventListener("submit", async (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();
  const formData = new FormData(form);
  await fetch("/", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" },
    body: new URLSearchParams(formData).toString(),
  });
});

React Example

function ContactForm() {
  const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    const formData = new FormData(e.currentTarget);
    const response = await fetch("/", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" },
      body: new URLSearchParams(formData as any).toString(),
    });
    if (response.ok) {
      // Show success feedback
    }
  };

  return (
    <form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true" onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
      <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />
      <input type="text" name="name" placeholder="Name" />
      <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Email" />
      <textarea name="message" placeholder="Message" />
      <button type="submit">Send</button>
    </form>
  );
}

Spam Filtering

Netlify uses Akismet automatically. Add a honeypot field for extra protection:

<form name="contact" method="POST" netlify-honeypot="bot-field" data-netlify="true">
  <p style="display:none">
    <label>Don't fill this out: <input name="bot-field" /></label>
  </p>
  <!-- visible fields -->
</form>

For reCAPTCHA, add data-netlify-recaptcha="true" to the form and include <div data-netlify-recaptcha="true"></div> where the widget should appear.

File Uploads

<form name="upload" enctype="multipart/form-data" data-netlify="true">
  <input type="text" name="name" />
  <input type="file" name="attachment" />
  <button type="submit">Upload</button>
</form>

For AJAX file uploads, use FormData directly — do not set Content-Type (the browser sets it with the correct boundary):

await fetch("/", { method: "POST", body: new FormData(form) });

Limits: 8 MB max request size, 30-second timeout, one file per input field.

Notifications

Configure in the Netlify UI under Project configuration > Notifications:

• Email: Auto-sends on submission. Add <input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Contact form" /> for custom subject lines.
• Slack: Via Netlify App for Slack.
• Webhooks: Trigger external services on submission.

Submissions API

Access submissions programmatically:

GET /api/v1/forms/{form_id}/submissions
Authorization: Bearer <PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN>

Key endpoints: