react-video-kit

A composable video player for React with a shadcn/ui-style API. Built for flexibility, accessibility, and SSR compatibility.

Features

• Composable primitives for building custom video UIs
• Declarative sources and tracks (no DOM manipulation)
• Imperative ref API for programmatic control
• Accessible with ARIA labels and keyboard support
• SSR-safe for Next.js and other frameworks
• Fully typed with TypeScript
• Isolated styling with Tailwind CSS (rv- prefix)

Installation

bun add react-video-kit
# or
pnpm add react-video-kit
# or
npm install react-video-kit
# or
yarn add react-video-kit

Styling and Tailwind

• The library ships precompiled CSS with an rv- prefix for all utilities and components. No global resets are injected.
• Works seamlessly in apps using Tailwind v3 or v4 — and also in apps without Tailwind at all.
• Because styles are precompiled and prefixed, there are no class name or preflight conflicts with your app’s styling.

Notes:

• If your application relied on Tailwind’s preflight/base from this library, include your own base styles in the app instead.
• You do not need to process this library through your Tailwind build.

Quick Start

import { Video } from "react-video-kit";

export default function App() {
  return (
    <Video.Root src="https://example.com/video.mp4">
      <Video.Media />
      <Video.Center>
        <Video.PlayPause />
      </Video.Center>
    </Video.Root>
  );
}

API Overview

Layout Components

• Video.Root - Provider component that manages state and context
• Video.Media - Renders the HTML video element with sources and tracks
• Video.Backdrop - Gradient overlay backdrop
• Video.Header - Top control bar container
• Video.Center - Center control area container
• Video.Footer - Bottom control bar container

Typography

• Video.Title - Video title display
• Video.Subtitle - Video subtitle display

Controls

• Video.PlayPause - Toggle play/pause button
• Video.SeekBack - Seek backward button (customizable seconds)
• Video.SeekForward - Seek forward button (customizable seconds)
• Video.FullscreenToggle - Fullscreen mode toggle
• Video.PipToggle - Picture-in-picture toggle
• Video.CaptionsMenu - Dropdown menu for selecting captions/subtitles
• Video.QualityMenu - Dropdown menu for switching video quality
• Video.Volume.Button - Mute/unmute button
• Video.Volume.Slider - Volume level slider
• Video.Timeline - Video progress slider
• Video.Time.Current - Current time display
• Video.Time.Remaining - Remaining time display
• Video.Loading - Loading indicator

Menus and Fullscreen

• Menus automatically portal into the fullscreen element when the player is fullscreen, and portal to document.body otherwise. This prevents clipping from parent overflow and ensures menus open correctly in both modes.

Examples

Full-Featured Player

import { Video } from "react-video-kit";

export default function Player() {
  return (
    <Video.Root
      src="https://example.com/video.mp4"
      title="My Video"
      subtitle="Video description"
      autoPlay
    >
      <Video.Media />
      <Video.Backdrop />

      <Video.Header>
        <div className="rv-w-full rv-flex">
          <Video.FullscreenToggle />
          <Video.PipToggle />
        </div>
        <div className="rv-w-full rv-flex rv-justify-end rv-items-center rv-h-fit">
          <Video.Volume.Button />
          <Video.Volume.Slider />
        </div>
      </Video.Header>

      <Video.Center>
        <Video.SeekBack seconds={10} />
        <Video.PlayPause />
        <Video.SeekForward seconds={10} />
        <Video.Loading />
      </Video.Center>

      <Video.Footer>
        <div className="rv-flex rv-flex-col">
          <Video.Subtitle />
          <Video.Title />
        </div>
        <Video.Timeline />
        <div className="rv-flex rv-justify-between rv-w-full">
          <Video.Time.Current />
          <Video.Time.Remaining negative />
        </div>
      </Video.Footer>
    </Video.Root>
  );
}

Multiple Sources & Quality Switching

Provide multiple video sources for different quality levels. The QualityMenu component allows users to switch between quality levels while preserving currentTime and play state:

<Video.Root
  src={[
    { src: "/video-1080p.mp4", type: "video/mp4", label: "HD" },
    { src: "/video-720p.mp4", type: "video/mp4", label: "SD" },
  ]}
  defaultQualityIndex={0}
  onQualityChange={(index, source) => {
    console.log("Quality changed to:", source.label);
  }}
>
  <Video.Media />
  <Video.Footer>
    <Video.QualityMenu />
  </Video.Footer>
</Video.Root>

When switching quality:

• Current playback time is preserved
• Play state is maintained (if playing, resumes after switch)
• Minimal buffering/stutter during transition

Text Tracks (Captions/Subtitles)

Add captions or subtitles using the tracks prop:

<Video.Root
  src="https://example.com/video.mp4"
  tracks={[
    {
      src: "/captions-en.vtt",
      kind: "captions",
      srclang: "en",
      label: "English",
      default: true,
    },
    {
      src: "/captions-es.vtt",
      kind: "captions",
      srclang: "es",
      label: "Spanish",
    },
  ]}
>
  <Video.Media />
  <Video.Footer>
    <Video.CaptionsMenu />
  </Video.Footer>
</Video.Root>

The CaptionsMenu component automatically lists all available tracks plus an "Off" option. You can also provide callbacks to track changes:

<Video.Root
  src="https://example.com/video.mp4"
  tracks={tracks}
  defaultTrackIndex={0}
  onTrackChange={(index, track) => {
    console.log("Active track:", index, track);
  }}
>
  <Video.Media />
  <Video.Footer>
    <Video.CaptionsMenu />
  </Video.Footer>
</Video.Root>

Custom Styling

All components accept className props for custom styling:

<Video.Root className="max-w-4xl mx-auto">
  <Video.Media className="rounded-2xl" />
  <Video.Header className="bg-gradient-to-b from-black/70">
    <Video.FullscreenToggle className="text-blue-500" />
  </Video.Header>
  <Video.Timeline
    className="my-timeline"
    trackClassName="bg-gray-700"
    rangeClassName="bg-blue-500"
    thumbClassName="bg-blue-600"
  />
</Video.Root>

Custom Elements with asChild

Button-based controls support the asChild prop, allowing you to use your own custom elements while preserving the control's behavior:

<Video.Root src="https://example.com/video.mp4">
  <Video.Media />
  <Video.Center>
    {/* Use a custom button element */}
    <Video.PlayPause asChild>
      <button className="my-custom-play-button">
        {isPlaying ? "⏸" : "▶"}
      </button>
    </Video.PlayPause>
  </Video.Center>
  <Video.Footer>
    {/* Custom fullscreen button */}
    <Video.FullscreenToggle asChild>
      <div className="custom-fullscreen-toggle">Toggle FS</div>
    </Video.FullscreenToggle>
  </Video.Footer>
</Video.Root>

Components with asChild support:

• Video.PlayPause
• Video.SeekBack / Video.SeekForward
• Video.FullscreenToggle
• Video.PipToggle
• Video.Volume.Button

Imperative Control

Access video controls programmatically using a ref:

import { useRef } from "react";
import { Video, VideoHandle } from "react-video-kit";

export default function ControlledPlayer() {
  const videoRef = useRef<VideoHandle>(null);

  return (
    <div>
      <Video.Root ref={videoRef} src="https://example.com/video.mp4">
        <Video.Media />
        <Video.Center>
          <Video.PlayPause />
        </Video.Center>
      </Video.Root>

      <div className="controls">
        <button onClick={() => videoRef.current?.play()}>Play</button>
        <button onClick={() => videoRef.current?.pause()}>Pause</button>
        <button onClick={() => videoRef.current?.seek(30)}>Skip to 30s</button>
        <button onClick={() => videoRef.current?.setVolume(0.5)}>
          50% Volume
        </button>
        <button onClick={() => videoRef.current?.mute()}>Mute</button>
        <button onClick={() => videoRef.current?.enterFullscreen()}>
          Fullscreen
        </button>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

VideoHandle Methods

• play() - Start or resume playback
• pause() - Pause playback
• seek(seconds) - Seek to specific time
• setVolume(value) - Set volume (0-1)
• mute() - Mute audio
• unmute() - Unmute audio
• enterFullscreen() - Enter fullscreen mode
• exitFullscreen() - Exit fullscreen mode
• enterPip() - Enter picture-in-picture
• exitPip() - Exit picture-in-picture

Props Reference

VideoRootProps

| Prop | Type | Description | | --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | src | VideoSource | Video URL or array of source objects | | tracks | VideoTrack[] | Text tracks for captions/subtitles | | poster | string | Poster image URL | | title | string | Video title | | subtitle | string | Video subtitle | | autoPlay | boolean | Whether to autoplay (default: true) | | loop | boolean | Whether to loop playback | | showControls | boolean | Whether to show controls (default: true) | | className | string | Additional CSS classes | | defaultTrackIndex | number \| null | Initial active track index (null = Off) | | defaultQualityIndex | number | Initial quality index when src is array | | onProgress | (time: number) => void | Called on progress update | | onDuration | (duration: number) => void | Called when duration available | | onEnded | () => void | Called when playback ends | | onPlay | () => void | Called when playback starts | | onPause | () => void | Called when paused | | onLoad | () => void | Called when loaded | | onVolumeChange | (volume: number) => void | Called on volume change | | onTrackChange | (index: number \| null, track?: VideoTrack) => void | Called when active caption track changes | | onQualityChange | (index: number, source: {src, type, label}) => void | Called when video quality/source changes |

VideoSource Type

type VideoSource = string | Array<{ src: string; type: string; label: string }>;

VideoTrack Type

type VideoTrack = {
  src: string;
  kind: TextTrackKind;
  srclang?: string;
  label?: string;
  default?: boolean;
};

Accessibility

All controls include proper ARIA labels and keyboard support:

• Space - Play/pause
• Arrow Left/Right - Seek backward/forward 5s
• Arrow Up/Down - Volume up/down
• F - Toggle fullscreen
• M - Toggle mute
• P - Toggle picture-in-picture
• Escape - Exit fullscreen/PiP

Screen Reader Support

• All interactive controls have descriptive aria-label attributes
• Sliders (timeline, volume) include aria-valuetext for meaningful value announcements
• Menu items use role="menuitemradio" and aria-checked for selection state
• Focus management follows WAI-ARIA best practices

Keyboard Navigation

Hotkey scope can be configured per player:

<Video.Root src="video.mp4" hotkeys={{ scope: "focused", enabled: true }}>
  {/* ... */}
</Video.Root>

Scope options:

• "focused" (default) - Hotkeys only work when player is focused
• "hovered" - Hotkeys work when mouse is over player
• "global" - Hotkeys work anywhere on the page

Reduced Motion

The player respects the prefers-reduced-motion media query for animations. All motion effects are automatically disabled when users have this preference enabled.

SSR Compatibility

The component is fully SSR-compatible with Next.js and other frameworks. All DOM operations are guarded within effects and client-side checks.

// Works in Next.js App Router
import { Video } from "react-video-kit";

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <Video.Root src="/video.mp4">
      <Video.Media />
      <Video.Center>
        <Video.PlayPause />
      </Video.Center>
    </Video.Root>
  );
}

Browser Support

Supports all modern browsers with native HTML5 video support.

Cross-Browser Compatibility

• Chrome/Edge - Full support for all features
• Firefox - Full support for all features
• Safari - Full support with webkit-specific fullscreen API fallbacks
• Mobile browsers - Supports native video controls fallback on iOS Safari

Safari-Specific Behavior

Text Tracks:

• Caption tracks are managed via the textTracks API with mode toggling
• The "Off" option properly disables all tracks by setting mode: "disabled"
• defaultTrackIndex applies once on mount; subsequent changes are user-controlled

Quality Switching:

• Quality changes preserve currentTime and play state
• Playback rate is maintained across quality switches
• Error handling reverts to previous working source on load failure

Known Limitations

• Picture-in-picture may not be supported on all mobile devices
• Fullscreen API behavior varies slightly between browsers (handled automatically)
• Some mobile browsers override video controls behavior

License

Apache-2.0