Validation

React Bootstrap 5 Validation

Provide valuable, actionable feedback to your users with HTML5 form validation, via browser default behaviors or custom styles and JavaScript.

Note: We currently recommend using custom validation styles, as native browser default validation messages are not consistently exposed to assistive technologies in all browsers (most notably, Chrome on desktop and mobile).

Basic example

For custom MDB form validation messages, you’ll need to add the noValidate boolean prop to your <MDBValidation>. This disables the browser default feedback tooltips, but still provides access to the form validation APIs in JavaScript. Try to submit the form below; our JavaScript will intercept the submit button and relay feedback to you. When attempting to submit, you’ll see the :invalid and :valid styles applied to your form controls.

Custom feedback styles apply custom colors, borders, focus styles, and background icons to better communicate feedback.

Show code

import React, { useState } from 'react';
import {
  MDBValidation,
  MDBValidationItem,
  MDBInput,
  MDBInputGroup,
  MDBBtn,
  MDBCheckbox
} from 'mdb-react-ui-kit';

export default function App() {
  const [formValue, setFormValue] = useState({
    fname: 'Mark',
    lname: 'Otto',
    email: '',
    city: '',
    state: '',
    zip: '',
  });

  const onChange = (e: any) => {
    setFormValue({ ...formValue, [e.target.name]: e.target.value });
  };

  return (
    <MDBValidation className='row g-3'>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.fname}
          name='fname'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom01'
          required
          label='First name'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.lname}
          name='lname'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom02'
          required
          label='Last name'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem feedback='Please choose a username.' invalid className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInputGroup textBefore='@'>
          <input
            type='text'
            className='form-control'
            id='validationCustomUsername'
            placeholder='Username'
            required
          />
        </MDBInputGroup>
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-md-6' feedback='Please provide a valid city.' invalid>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.city}
          name='city'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom03'
          required
          label='City'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-md-6' feedback='Please provide a valid zip.' invalid>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.zip}
          name='zip'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom05'
          required
          label='Zip'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-12' feedback='You must agree before submitting.' invalid>
        <MDBCheckbox label='Agree to terms and conditions' id='invalidCheck' required />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <div className='col-12'>
        <MDBBtn type='submit'>Submit form</MDBBtn>
        <MDBBtn type='reset'>Reset form</MDBBtn>
      </div>
    </MDBValidation>
  );
}

How it works

Here’s how form validation works with MDB:

HTML form validation is applied via CSS’s two pseudo-classes, :invalid and :valid. It applies to <input> and <textarea> elements.
MDB scopes the :invalid and :valid styles to parent .was-validated class, usually applied to the <form>. Otherwise, any required field without a value shows up as invalid on page load. This way, you may choose when to activate them (typically after form submission is attempted).
As a fallback, .is-invalid and .is-valid classes may be used instead of the pseudo-classes for server-side validation. They do not require a .was-validated parent class.
Due to constraints in how CSS works, we cannot (at present) apply styles to a <label> that comes before a form control in the DOM without the help of custom JavaScript.
All modern browsers support the constraint validation API, a series of JavaScript methods for validating form controls.
Feedback messages may utilize the browser defaults (different for each browser, and unstylable via CSS) or our custom feedback styles with additional HTML and CSS.
You may provide custom validity messages with setCustomValidity in JavaScript.

With that in mind, consider the following demos for our custom form validation styles, optional server-side classes, and browser defaults.

Browser defaults

Not interested in custom validation feedback messages or writing JavaScript to change form behaviors? All good, you can use the browser defaults. Try submitting the form below. Depending on your browser and OS, you’ll see a slightly different style of feedback.

While these feedback styles cannot be styled with CSS, you can still customize the feedback text through JavaScript.

Show code

import React, { useState } from 'react';
import {
  MDBInput,
  MDBBtn,
  MDBCheckbox,
  MDBRow,
  MDBCol
} from 'mdb-react-ui-kit';

export default function App() {
  const [formValue, setFormValue] = useState({
    fname: 'Mark',
    lname: 'Otto',
    email: '',
    city: '',
    state: '',
    zip: '',
  });

  const onChange = (e: any) => {
    setFormValue({ ...formValue, [e.target.name]: e.target.value });
  };

  return (
    <MDBRow tag="form" className='g-3'>
      <MDBCol md="4">
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.fname}
          name='fname'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom01'
          required
          label='First name'
        />
      </MDBCol>
      <MDBCol md="4">
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.lname}
          name='lname'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom02'
          required
          label='Last name'
        />
      </MDBCol>
      <MDBCol md="4">
        <div className='input-group has-validation'>
          <span className='input-group-text' id='inputGroupPrepend'>
            @
          </span>
          <input
            type='text'
            className='form-control'
            id='validationCustomUsername'
            placeholder='Username'
            required
          />
          <div className='invalid-feedback'>Please choose a username.</div>
        </div>
      </MDBCol>
      <MDBCol md="6">
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.city}
          name='city'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom03'
          required
          label='City'
        />
      </MDBCol>
      <MDBCol md="6">
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.zip}
          name='zip'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom05'
          required
          label='Zip'
        />
      </MDBCol>
      <MDBCol size="12">
        <MDBCheckbox label='Agree to terms and conditions' id='invalidCheck2' required />
      </MDBCol>
      <MDBCol size="12">
        <MDBBtn type='submit'>Submit form</MDBBtn>
      </MDBCol>
    </MDBRow>
  );
}

Server side

We recommend using client-side validation, but in case you require server-side validation, you can indicate invalid and valid form fields with .is-invalid and .is-valid. Note that .invalid-feedback is also supported with these classes.

Show code

import React, { useState } from 'react';
import {
  MDBInput,
  MDBInputGroup,
  MDBBtn,
  MDBCheckbox,
  MDBValidation,
  MDBValidationItem
} from 'mdb-react-ui-kit';

export default function App() {
  const [formValue, setFormValue] = useState({
    fname: 'Mark',
    lname: 'Otto',
    email: '',
    city: '',
    state: '',
    zip: '',
  });

  const onChange = (e: any) => {
    setFormValue({ ...formValue, [e.target.name]: e.target.value });
  };

  return (
    <MDBValidation className='row g-3' isValidated>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.fname}
          name='fname'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom01'
          required
          label='First name'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.lname}
          name='lname'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom02'
          required
          label='Last name'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem feedback='Please choose a username.' invalid className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInputGroup textBefore='@'>
          <input
            type='text'
            className='form-control'
            id='validationCustomUsername'
            placeholder='Username'
            required
          />
        </MDBInputGroup>
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-md-6' feedback='Please provide a valid city.' invalid>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.city}
          name='city'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom03'
          required
          label='City'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-md-6' feedback='Please provide a valid zip.' invalid>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.zip}
          name='zip'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom05'
          required
          label='Zip'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='col-12' feedback='You must agree before submitting.' invalid>
        <MDBCheckbox label='Agree to terms and conditions' id='invalidCheck' required />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <div className='col-12'>
        <MDBBtn type='submit'>Submit form</MDBBtn>
      </div>
    </MDBValidation>
  );
}

Supported elements

Show code

import React from 'react';
import {
  MDBInput,
  MDBBtn,
  MDBCheckbox,
  MDBTextArea,
  MDBRadio,
  MDBValidation,
  MDBValidationItem,
} from 'mdb-react-ui-kit';

export default function App() {
  return (
    <MDBValidation isValidated>
      <MDBValidationItem className='mb-3 pb-1' feedback='Please enter a message in the textarea.' invalid>
        <MDBTextArea
          label='Textarea'
          id='validationTextarea'
          placeholder='Required example textarea'
          required
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem className='mb-2 pb-1' invalid feedback='Example invalid feedback text.'>
        <MDBCheckbox label='Check this checkbox' id='validationFormCheck1' required />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBRadio label='Toggle this radio' required id='validationFormCheck2' name='radio-stacked' />
      <MDBValidationItem invalid feedback='More example invalid feedback text.'>
        <MDBRadio
          label='Or toggle this other radio'
          required
          id='validationFormCheck3'
          name='radio-stacked'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>

      <MDBValidationItem
        className='mt-3 mb-5'
        feedback='Example invalid form file feedback'
        invalid
      >
        <input type='file' className='form-control' aria-label='file example' required />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <div>
        <MDBBtn type='submit' disabled>
          Submit form
        </MDBBtn>
      </div>
    </MDBValidation>
  );
}

Tooltips

Add validationTooltip prop to display validation feedback in a styled tooltip. Be sure to have a parent with position: relative on it for tooltip positioning. In the example below, our column classes have this already, but your project may require an alternative setup.

Show code

import React, { useState } from 'react';
import {
  MDBInput,
  MDBInputGroup,
  MDBBtn,
  MDBCheckbox,
  MDBValidation,
  MDBValidationItem
} from 'mdb-react-ui-kit';

export default function App() {
  const [formValue, setFormValue] = useState({
    fname: 'Mark',
    lname: 'Otto',
    email: '',
    city: '',
    state: '',
    zip: '',
  });

  const onChange = (e: any) => {
    setFormValue({ ...formValue, [e.target.name]: e.target.value });
  };

  return (
    <MDBValidation className='row g-3'>
      <MDBValidationItem tooltip className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.fname}
          name='fname'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom01'
          required
          label='First name'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem tooltip className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.lname}
          name='lname'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom02'
          required
          label='Last name'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem tooltip feedback='Please choose a username.' invalid className='col-md-4'>
        <MDBInputGroup textBefore='@'>
          <input
            type='text'
            className='form-control'
            id='validationCustomUsername'
            placeholder='Username'
            required
          />
        </MDBInputGroup>
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem tooltip className='col-md-6' feedback='Please provide a valid city.' invalid>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.city}
          name='city'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom03'
          required
          label='City'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <MDBValidationItem tooltip className='col-md-6' feedback='Please provide a valid zip.' invalid>
        <MDBInput
          value={formValue.zip}
          name='zip'
          onChange={onChange}
          id='validationCustom05'
          required
          label='Zip'
        />
      </MDBValidationItem>
      <div className='col-12'>
        <MDBBtn type='submit'>Submit form</MDBBtn>
      </div>
    </MDBValidation>
  );
}

Validation - API

Import

Show code

import { MDBValidation } from 'mdb-react-ui-kit';

Properties

MDBValidation

Name	Type	Default	Description	Example
`formRef`	React.MutableRefObject<any>	`false`	Reference to form element	`<MDBValidation formRef={reference} />`
`isValidated`	boolean	`false`	Set `MDBValidation` form validated	`<MDBValidation isValidated />`

MDBValidationItem

Name	Type	Default	Description	Example
`feedback`	React.ReactNode	`'Looks good!'`	Feedback displayed on validation	`<MDBValidationItem feedback='Correct!' />`
`invalid`	boolean	`false`	Sets input validation to invalid mode	`<MDBValidationItem invalid />`
`tag`	string	`'div'`	`MDBValidationItem` tag element	`<MDBValidationItem tag="span" />`
`tooltip`	boolean	`false`	Enables tooltip mode	`<MDBValidationItem tooltip />`

Validation

React Bootstrap 5 Validation

Basic example

How it works

Browser defaults

Server side

Supported elements

Tooltips

Related resources

Validation - API

Import

Properties

MDBValidation

MDBValidationItem