Nova Components React

Nova Components React provides an easy way to use Nova’s native Web Components within your React applications.

Key Features

• Lightweight Integration: Leverage Nova Web Components with minimal configuration in React.
• Customizable Styling: Use Tailwind’s utility classes with the Nova Tailwind theme and plugin for token-driven styling and layouts.
• Dark Mode Ready: Toggle dark mode by adding the dark class to your body element.
• Nova Font Pro Support: Easily integrate Nova’s custom font for a consistent design experience.

Installation

Install the necessary packages using the package manager of your choice:

[!IMPORTANT] If you want to set it up in NextJS, please refer to the NextJS Integration Guide.

npm install @nova-design-system/nova-webcomponents @nova-design-system/nova-base @nova-design-system/nova-react

or

yarn add @nova-design-system/nova-webcomponents @nova-design-system/nova-base @nova-design-system/nova-react

In some case, you might experience SSL certificate issues when working on Developers' VM. As documented in the Developers' setup guide, you need to turn off the SSL certificate verification:

npm config set strict-ssl false

Note for Yarn Users Yarn does not automatically install peer dependencies. You must install the following peer dependency manually:

yarn add @stencil/react-output-target

Setting up Tailwind

Nova React requires Tailwind CSS for styling. Tailwind provides a powerful utility-first workflow and an optimized bundle size. Nova includes a dedicated Tailwind theme and plugin that map Nova’s design tokens to Tailwind’s theme and utilities, enabling consistent, token-driven styling across your app.

Tailwind Version This guide is written for Tailwind v4. While compatible with v3, some features may not work as expected.

About Tailwind and the Nova Plugin

• What is Tailwind? A utility-first CSS framework with low-level, composable classes (flex, grid, spacing, color, typography) to rapidly build UIs.
• Nova Tokens: Nova ships design tokens as CSS variables (via the Spark and Ocean themes) covering colors, spacing, typography, radii, shadows, and more.
• Integration:
  • novaTailwindTheme wires Nova tokens into Tailwind’s theme scales.
  • The Nova Tailwind plugin exposes utilities and variants that reference those tokens, so your Tailwind classes resolve to Nova’s token values at runtime.
• Why import tokens CSS? Import one token CSS file (spark.css or ocean.css) so the underlying CSS variables exist at runtime. The Tailwind utilities generated by the plugin read from these variables.
• How to use:
  • Build responsive layouts with standard Tailwind utilities (flex, grid, gap, spacing).
  • Customize Nova components by applying classes to nv-* elements and their slotted content.
  • Centralize repeated patterns using Tailwind’s @apply.
• Do not mix with legacy utilities: When using Tailwind, do not import @nova-design-system/nova-base/dist/css/nova-utils.css to avoid redundant CSS and larger bundles.

Below is an example setup using Vite + React. If you’re using another framework or bundler, please refer to the Tailwind Installation Guide.

1. Install Tailwind CSS and the Vite Plugin

npm install tailwindcss @tailwindcss/vite

Use the Tailwind CSS IntelliSense Extension to get full autocomplete support for Tailwind and Nova tokens.

2. Configure the Vite Plugin

Add the tailwindcss plugin to your vite.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import tailwindcss from '@tailwindcss/vite'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    tailwindcss(),
  ],
})

3. Create tailwind.config.ts

In the root of your project, create a tailwind.config.ts (or .js) file and include the Nova theme:

import type { Config } from 'tailwindcss'
import { novaTailwindTheme } from "@nova-design-system/nova-base/theme"

export default {
  theme: novaTailwindTheme,
} satisfies Config

4. Configure Tailwind and Nova Plugin in index.css

@import 'tailwindcss';

@config "../tailwind.config.ts";
@plugin "@nova-design-system/nova-base/theme/plugin";
@custom-variant dark (&:where(.dark, .dark *));

Dark Mode To enable dark mode, add the dark class to the <body> element.

5. Include the Nova Tokens (Spark or Ocean)

In your main entry point (main.tsx or index.tsx), import one of the Nova tokens CSS files:

import { StrictMode } from 'react'
import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'

import "@nova-design-system/nova-base/dist/css/spark.css"; // or ocean.css
import './index.css'

import App from './App.tsx'

createRoot(document.getElementById('root')!).render(
  <StrictMode>
    <App />
  </StrictMode>
)

When using Tailwind, do not import @nova-design-system/nova-base/dist/css/nova-utils.css.

6. Use Nova Components with Tailwind Utilities

import { useState } from 'react'
import { NvButton } from "@nova-design-system/nova-react"

const MyComponent: React.FC = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0)

  return (
    <div className="flex items-center justify-center">
      <NvButton danger onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>
        Count is {count}
      </NvButton>
    </div>
  )
}

export default MyComponent

• Apply Tailwind classes to build layouts (e.g., flex, grid, gap-*, p-*, m-*).
• Compose classes to customize the look and spacing of Nova components and their content.

7. Setup the Nova Font

Follow the steps in the Nova Font Pro Integration section below.

Creating Your Own Style Components with Tailwind

If you find you’re repeating the same set of utility classes for certain UI elements (e.g., a card component), you can group them using Tailwind’s @apply keyword:

/* any css file */
.card {
  @apply bg-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-500 p-4 rounded-md shadow-sm;
}

Then in your markup, instead of:

<div className="bg-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-500 p-4 rounded-md shadow-sm">
  {/* Content */}
</div>
<div className="bg-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-500 p-4 rounded-md shadow-sm">
  {/* Content */}
</div>

You can use your new card class:

<div className="card">
  {/* Content */}
</div>
<div className="card">
  {/* Content */}
</div>

This ensures consistent styling and keeps your markup clean. Any colors or spacing used will reference the correct Nova Tokens.

Nova Font Pro Integration

[!WARNING] Nova Fonts is a protected asset and is not included in the Nova Base package. You need to include the Nova Fonts CSS file in your project. To get the Nova Fonts URL, please contact us via Teams or get the URL in the Nova Design System internal wiki.

Once you have the URL, you can integrate it using any of these methods:

Option 1: Import in Global CSS (Recommended)

In your main CSS file (e.g., src/index.css):

@import url('contact-us-for-URL/nova-fonts-pro.css');

Option 2: HTML Integration

In your index.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="contact-us-for-URL/nova-fonts-pro.css">
</head>
<body>
  <div id="root"></div>
</body>
</html>

The nova-fonts-pro.css file includes both font definitions and the font-family rule for the body, automatically applying the fonts across your React application.