Scroll Area

Overview

ScrollArea is a Radix-backed wrapper that swaps the native scrollbar for a styled overlay you control via tokens. Use it when the default OS scrollbar would clash with the surface around it: a card with rounded corners, a dark theme on macOS where the native bar bleaches, a sidebar that needs the bar to stay flush with brand chrome.

For everyday overflow inside the body or a generic panel, native scroll is still the right answer. ScrollArea costs an extra wrapper and an event handler, so reach for it only when the default look-and-feel would break the surface.

Preview

Installation

Usage

import { ScrollArea } from "@gremorie/rx-containers";

export function TagList({ tags }) {
  return (
    <ScrollArea className="h-72 w-48 rounded-md border">
      <div className="p-4">
        {tags.map((tag) => (
          <div key={tag} className="py-2 text-sm">
            {tag}
          </div>
        ))}
      </div>
    </ScrollArea>
  );
}

API

<ScrollArea>

The root and the most common entry point. Composes a Radix Root with a Viewport for the scrollable content, an auto-mounted vertical ScrollBar, and a Corner for the bottom-right intersection. Pass children directly - they end up inside the viewport.

<ScrollBar>

The styled track plus thumb. The root mounts a vertical bar automatically. Mount a second ScrollBar with orientation="horizontal" whenever the content scrolls sideways.

Composition

1. <ScrollArea> is the container. Give it a height (h-72, max-h-96, etc.) and an optional rounded border to match the surrounding card.
2. Children sit inside an automatic viewport that fills the root and rounds with rounded-[inherit] so the scrolling content cannot bleed past the border.
3. <ScrollBar orientation="horizontal" /> is added as a sibling whenever the content scrolls horizontally.
4. The corner between two scrollbars is rendered automatically.

The root scopes focus styling: when the viewport receives keyboard focus, the focus ring uses focus-visible:ring-ring/50 so the scroll surface is itself a discoverable target.

Variations

Vertical scroll inside a card

<ScrollArea className="h-72 w-full rounded-md border p-4">
  <div className="flex flex-col gap-2 text-sm">
    {teams.map((team) => (
      <div key={team.id}>{team.name}</div>
    ))}
  </div>
</ScrollArea>

The most common shape. Default type="hover" keeps the scrollbar quiet until the user reaches in.

Horizontal strip

<ScrollArea className="w-full whitespace-nowrap rounded-md border">
  <div className="flex w-max gap-3 p-4">
    {covers.map((cover) => (
      <figure key={cover.id} className="shrink-0">
        <img
          src={cover.src}
          alt={cover.alt}
          className="h-32 w-48 rounded-md object-cover"
        />
      </figure>
    ))}
  </div>
  <ScrollBar orientation="horizontal" />
</ScrollArea>

For carousel-style strips. Mount the horizontal bar explicitly and wrap the row in w-max so it can overflow the container.

Always-visible scrollbar for code blocks

<ScrollArea type="always" className="h-72 w-full rounded-md border bg-muted">
  <pre className="p-4 text-sm">{snippet}</pre>
</ScrollArea>

Use type="always" when the absence of a scrollbar would imply the content fits, even when it does not - common with code blocks and long log output.

Accessibility

• Native semantics preserved: the viewport keeps overflow scrolling, so keyboard scroll (PageUp/PageDown, Arrow keys, Home/End) works without extra wiring.
• Focusable surface: the viewport sets outline-none plus focus-visible:ring-[3px] focus-visible:ring-ring/50 so users navigating by Tab get a clear ring when the scroll region receives focus.
• Pointer dragging: the thumb is draggable with the pointer. Touch users get native momentum scrolling on the viewport itself.
• Screen readers: Radix exposes the scrollbar with proper roles. Provide a meaningful aria-label on the root if the scroll surface needs an announcement of its own (e.g. "Team list").
• Reduced motion: scroll behaviour respects prefers-reduced-motion via the underlying browser scroll, including smooth-scroll cues.

Related

• Resizable - sibling layout primitive when the user should control the panel size, not just scroll it.
• Card - the canonical host for a constrained ScrollArea.
• Table - large tables often live inside a ScrollArea with a horizontal bar.