A Select control built with and for ReactJS
react-select is a production-grade dropdown component library that replaces the native HTML
The library addresses common requirements in modern web applications: searching through large option lists, loading data asynchronously from APIs, allowing multiple selections, and creating custom options on the fly. Its component-based architecture integrates seamlessly with React's state management patterns, supporting both controlled and uncontrolled component workflows. The options API uses a simple object structure with label and value properties, making it straightforward to map data from backend responses.
react-select prioritizes accessibility with full ARIA support and keyboard navigation, making it suitable for enterprise applications with compliance requirements. The library provides extensive customization through style props, CSS classes, and component replacement APIs. For performance-critical scenarios, it includes virtualization support for rendering thousands of options efficiently and integrates well with React's optimization hooks like useMemo and useCallback.
Developers choose react-select when they need more than a basic dropdown: dynamic filtering, remote data fetching with debouncing, tagging interfaces, or heavily customized UI components. While the API surface is larger than simpler alternatives, the investment pays off in applications where select inputs are central to the user experience.
import { useState } from 'react';
import Select from 'react-select';
import AsyncSelect from 'react-select/async';
const frameworks = [
{ value: 'react', label: 'React' },
{ value: 'vue', label: 'Vue.js' },
{ value: 'angular', label: 'Angular' },
{ value: 'svelte', label: 'Svelte' }
];
const fetchUsers = async (inputValue) => {
const response = await fetch(
`https://api.github.com/search/users?q=${inputValue}&per_page=5`
);
const data = await response.json();
return data.items.map(user => ({
value: user.id,
label: user.login
}));
};
function ProjectForm() {
const [selectedFrameworks, setSelectedFrameworks] = useState([]);
const [assignedUser, setAssignedUser] = useState(null);
return (
<form>
<label>Tech Stack</label>
<Select
isMulti
options={frameworks}
value={selectedFrameworks}
onChange={setSelectedFrameworks}
placeholder="Select frameworks..."
isSearchable
/>
<label>Assign Developer</label>
<AsyncSelect
cacheOptions
defaultOptions
loadOptions={fetchUsers}
value={assignedUser}
onChange={setAssignedUser}
placeholder="Search GitHub users..."
/>
<button type="submit">
Create Project
</button>
</form>
);
}Multi-tenant admin dashboards where users need to filter data by multiple categories simultaneously. The isMulti prop enables checkbox-style selection of teams, projects, or tags, with the onChange handler receiving an array of all selected values for immediate state updates or API queries.
Search-driven forms with large datasets like country selectors or product catalogs. The built-in search automatically filters options client-side, or you can implement custom filterOption logic. For datasets with 10,000+ items, the virtualization feature renders only visible options to maintain 60fps performance.
Autocomplete with API integration for features like user mentions, address lookups, or SKU searches. AsyncSelect accepts a loadOptions function that fetches data from your backend, with built-in debouncing to prevent excessive API calls as users type. The component handles loading states and error boundaries automatically.
Tag creation interfaces where users can select from existing options or create new ones on the fly. Combine isMulti with creatable components to build email recipient fields, skill tag inputs, or category managers. The formatCreateLabel prop lets you customize how new options appear before creation.
Complex form builders requiring conditional dropdowns, cascading selects, or dynamic option sets. react-select's controlled component pattern integrates cleanly with form libraries like Formik or React Hook Form, and the components prop allows replacing individual UI pieces (Option, Menu, Control) to match design systems without forking the library.
🏎 A set of primitives to build simple, flexible, WAI-ARIA compliant React autocomplete, combobox or select dropdown components.
A set of completely unstyled, fully accessible UI components for React, designed to integrate beautifully with Tailwind CSS.
npm install react-selectpnpm add react-selectbun add react-select