makepad-2-0-widgets – Coding skill for AI agents

When to Use

• Choose Makepad widgets or diagnose widget properties, list virtualization, dialogs or custom drawing in an existing Makepad project.
• Establish the exact dependency revision and DSL first; these imported dev-branch notes are not a stable 2.0 API contract or a compiled example suite. Check the matching [official Makepad source](https://github.com/makepad/makepad) before changing a working project.

Makepad 2.0 Widget Catalog Skill

> Version: makepad-widgets (dev branch) | Last Updated: 2026-03-03

Overview

Makepad 2.0 provides a rich set of built-in widgets for building UIs. These notes describe a Splash/script_mod-style project; do not assume they apply to every released or older Live DSL project.

Documentation

Refer to the local files for detailed documentation:

• ./references/widget-catalog.md - Complete widget list with properties
• ./references/widget-advanced.md - Advanced patterns: PortalList, Dock, custom widgets, MapView

IMPORTANT: Documentation Completeness Check

Before answering questions, Claude MUST:

1. Read the relevant reference file(s) listed above

2. Incorporate reference content into the answer

---

Widget Categories Quick Reference

Containers (Layout)

| Widget | Description | Key Properties |

|--------|-------------|----------------|

| View | Basic container (transparent) | width, height, flow, spacing, padding, align |

| SolidView | View with solid background | + show_bg: true, draw_bg.color |

| RoundedView | View with rounded corners | + draw_bg.border_radius |

| RoundedAllView | Per-corner radii | Check the vec4 draw_bg.border_radius API in the installed revision |

| GradientXView | Horizontal gradient bg | + draw_bg colors |

| GradientYView | Vertical gradient bg | + draw_bg colors |

| ScrollXView | Horizontal scrolling | scroll property |

| ScrollYView | Vertical scrolling | scroll property |

| ScrollXYView | Both-axis scrolling | scroll property |

Text Widgets

| Widget | Description | Key Properties |

|--------|-------------|----------------|

| Label | Single/multi-line text | text, draw_text.color, draw_text.text_style.font_size |

| H1 - H4 | Heading levels | text (pre-styled) |

| P | Paragraph text | text |

| TextInput | Editable text field | text, empty_text, is_password, is_read_only, is_numeric_only |

| Markdown | Markdown renderer | body |

| Html | HTML renderer | body |

| LinkLabel | Clickable link text | text, url |

Buttons

| Widget | Description | Key Properties |

|--------|-------------|----------------|

| Button | Standard button | text |

| ButtonFlat | Flat style button | text |

| ButtonFlatter | Minimal button | text |

Toggles

| Widget | Description | Key Properties |

|--------|-------------|----------------|

| CheckBox | Check box | text, active |

| Toggle | Toggle switch | text, active |

| RadioButton | Radio button | text, active |

Input Widgets

| Widget | Description | Key Properties |

|--------|-------------|----------------|

| Slider | Horizontal slider | min, max, step, default, precision |

| DropDown | Dropdown select | labels: ["a", "b", "c"] |

Media

| Widget | Description | Key Properties |

|--------|-------------|----------------|

| Image | Image display | src, fit (Stretch/Horizontal/Vertical/Smallest/Biggest/Size) |

| Svg | External SVG file renderer | draw_svg.svg (crate_resource/http_resource), animating, draw_svg.color |

| Icon | SVG icon (tinted) | draw_icon.svg, draw_icon.color, icon_walk |

| Vector | Inline vector graphics | viewbox, Path{d: "..."} |

| LoadingSpinner | Loading indicator | color, rotation_speed |

| MapView | Map widget | center_lon, center_lat, zoom (MUST use fixed height!) |

Layout Helpers

| Widget | Description | Usage |

|--------|-------------|-------|

| Hr | Horizontal rule | Divider line |

| Vr | Vertical rule | Vertical divider |

| Filler | Flexible space | Push siblings apart (use between Fit siblings only!) |

| Splitter | Resizable split | axis: Horizontal/Vertical, a/b children |

| FoldHeader | Collapsible section | header + body children |

Lists

| Widget | Description | Usage |

|--------|-------------|-------|

| PortalList | Virtualized list | For large lists (100+ items), only renders visible items |

| FlatList | Simple list | For small lists, renders all items |

Navigation

| Widget | Description | Control |

|--------|-------------|---------|

| Modal | Modal dialog | .open(cx) / .close(cx) from Rust |

| Tooltip | Tooltip popup | Hover-triggered |

| PopupNotification | Toast notification | Timed display |

| SlidePanel | Sliding panel | side (verify installed API) |

| ExpandablePanel | Expandable area | open/close |

| PageFlip | Page switcher | active_page: page_name |

| StackNavigation | Stack nav | push/pop pages |

Dock System

| Widget | Description |

|--------|-------------|

| Dock | Tab container system |

| DockSplitter | Dock split panels |

| DockTabs | Tab bar |

| DockTab | Individual tab |

---

The snippets are illustrative and omit app registration/event wiring. Numeric input and password masking are presentation controls, not validation, encryption or authorization. Treat external Markdown/HTML, SVG, image URLs and map tiles as untrusted resources; restrict allowed schemes/hosts, bound decoding, honor asset licenses/attribution and verify privacy before enabling network fetches. Do not log text-input contents. Test keyboard navigation, focus return/trapping for modals, readable contrast and touch behavior.

Critical Rules

1. height: Fit on Containers

// Possible Fill/Fit constraint mismatch; inspect the parent chain
View{ flow: Down Label{text: "Invisible"} }

// CORRECT
View{ height: Fit flow: Down Label{text: "Visible"} }

2. new_batch for Colored Containers with Text

// WRONG - text behind background
RoundedView{ draw_bg.color: #333 Label{text: "Invisible"} }

// CORRECT
RoundedView{ new_batch: true draw_bg.color: #333 Label{text: "Visible"} }

3. Named Children with :=

// Named (addressable, overridable)
title := Label{text: "Hello"}

// Static (not addressable)
Label{text: "Hello"}

4. Label Default Color is White

// Default text is white (#fff) - set color for light backgrounds
Label{text: "Dark text" draw_text.color: #333}

5. MapView MUST Have Fixed Height

// WRONG
MapView{ width: Fill height: Fill }

// CORRECT
View{ new_batch: true width: Fill height: 400
    MapView{ width: Fill height: 400 center_lat: 40.7 center_lon: -73.9 zoom: 14.0 }
}

6. Label Does NOT Support Animator

// WRONG (silently ignored)
Label{ animator: Animator{...} }

// CORRECT - wrap in View
View{ animator: Animator{...} Label{text: "Animated"} }

---

Common Widget Patterns

Card

RoundedView{
    width: Fill height: Fit
    padding: 16
    new_batch: true
    draw_bg.color: #2a2a3d
    draw_bg.border_radius: 8.0
    flow: Down spacing: 8
    title := Label{text: "Title" draw_text.color: #fff draw_text.text_style.font_size: 16}
    body := Label{text: "Content" draw_text.color: #aaa}
}

Form Input

View{
    width: Fill height: Fit
    flow: Down spacing: 4
    Label{text: "Email" draw_text.color: #aaa draw_text.text_style.font_size: 11}
    email_input := TextInput{
        width: Fill height: 36
        empty_text: "Enter email..."
    }
}

Scrollable List

ScrollYView{
    width: Fill height: Fill
    flow: Down spacing: 4
    new_batch: true
    on_render: || {
        for i, item in items {
            ItemTemplate{label.text: item.name}
        }
    }
}

---

Best Practices

1. Use height: Fit on every container unless you want Fill or fixed pixels

2. Use new_batch: true on any View with background color + text children

3. Use := for children you need to reference or override

4. Use theme colors (theme.color_*) instead of hardcoded colors

5. Use PortalList for large lists (virtualizes rendering)

6. Use ScrollYView for scrollable content areas

7. Use RoundedView for cards and containers (has border_radius)

Examples

User: Apply this skill to my current task.
Assistant: Follow the workflow in this skill, cite limitations, and ask before risky steps.

Limitations

• Imported upstream skill; verify credentials, permissions, and safety boundaries before execution.
• Does not replace environment-specific validation, testing, or maintainer review.