Popover

Connect an authored trigger to a native popover. Custom element

Choosing between components

Popover opens from a click and can hold interactive content. For hover or focus intent, use Hover Card; for a modal that blocks the page, use Dialog.

Popover

Copy this markup

<ui-popover>
  <button class="ui-button" data-ui-part="trigger" type="button" popovertarget="release-popover" aria-controls="release-popover" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="dialog">Release status</button>
  <div id="release-popover" popover="auto" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="release-popover-title" aria-describedby="release-popover-description">
    <h2 id="release-popover-title">Ready to publish</h2>
    <p id="release-popover-description">All required package checks passed.</p>
  </div>
</ui-popover>

Install

Styles and registration

import '@timelessui/components/css/tokens.css'
import '@timelessui/components/css/button.css'
import '@timelessui/components/css/popover.css'
import '@timelessui/components/define/ui-popover'

Anatomy

Parts are authored in your own markup and identified by the selector below, so your CSS can target the same anatomy without loading Timeless styles. Required parts must be present for the component to work. Private data-ui-internal-* hooks are written by the runtime and must never be authored.

Part	Required	Selector	Purpose
trigger	Yes	[data-ui-part~='trigger']	Native button that opens the surface.
content	Yes	[popover]	The surface. Author the popover attribute so it stays hidden before enhancement.

Attributes

Every value below is implemented by the stylesheets this component ships. Boolean attributes are presence-based: author the attribute with no value, or omit it.

Attribute	Values	Default	Description
placement	bottom · top · right · left	bottom	Preferred side of the trigger. Positioning uses CSS anchor positioning, so the browser may flip the surface to keep it on screen.
role	dialog · menu · listbox · tooltip	dialog	Semantics applied to the surface, and the aria-haspopup value set on the trigger. Choose it from the interaction, not the appearance.

Element API

Attributes above are the authoring surface. These are the DOM properties and events the registered element adds once it upgrades.

<ui-popover>

Property	Type	Notes
placement	'bottom' | 'top' | 'right' | 'left'	Reflects the placement attribute, documented above.
roleValue	'dialog' | 'menu' | 'listbox' | 'tooltip'	Reflects the role attribute, documented above.

This element dispatches no component events.

Styling

Root identity: ui-popover. Required stylesheets: tokens.css, button.css, popover.css.

This component adds no custom properties of its own. Restyle it through the design tokens or your own CSS.

Design tokens this component reads (29)

These are global Atmosphere tokens. Change them once at the theme level rather than per component.

--ui-accent · --ui-bg-accent · --ui-bg-accent-active · --ui-bg-accent-hover · --ui-bg-control · --ui-bg-control-active · --ui-bg-control-hover · --ui-bg-control-muted · --ui-bg-danger · --ui-bg-danger-active · --ui-bg-danger-hover · --ui-bg-surface · --ui-duration-fast · --ui-ease-standard · --ui-fg · --ui-fg-muted · --ui-focus · --ui-line · --ui-radius-control · --ui-radius-lg · --ui-radius-md · --ui-shadow-control-accent · --ui-shadow-control-active · --ui-shadow-control-danger · --ui-shadow-floating · --ui-shadow-outline-control · --ui-space-2 · --ui-space-3 · --ui-space-4

Accessibility

Keep the native elements, roles, and relationships shown in the example. Timeless adds only the state and keyboard coordination the platform does not already provide, and it never supplies your accessible names — those depend on your content.

Follows the Disclosure pattern from the ARIA Authoring Practices Guide.

Key	Action
Escape	Close the surface. Handled by the Popover API, not by Timeless.

Light dismiss, Escape, and top-layer stacking come from the Popover API. Timeless wires popovertarget, aria-controls, aria-expanded, and aria-haspopup, and gives the surface the role you asked for. Name the surface yourself when it is a dialog.

Verify in context

Automated checks cover axe WCAG 2.2 A and AA rules on every documented route. Keyboard, zoom, forced-colors, and screen-reader review still belong to your application.

Before JavaScript runs

The markup above is complete and usable on its own: native controls submit, labels associate, and authored ARIA is already correct. Registration adds state synchronisation, focus management, and keyboard coordination on top of it.

More examples

Open Popover in StoryLite for variants, controls, and manual testing.