Dashboard Development Guide

This skill encodes the exact patterns and conventions used in this Next.js 16 + shadcn/ui admin dashboard template.

Quick Reference: What Goes Where

Task	Location
New page	src/app/dashboard/<name>/page.tsx
New feature module	src/features/<name>/
Feature components	src/features/<name>/components/
API types	src/features/<name>/api/types.ts
Service layer	src/features/<name>/api/service.ts
Query options	src/features/<name>/api/queries.ts
Mutation options	src/features/<name>/api/mutations.ts
Zod schemas	src/features/<name>/schemas/<name>.ts
Filter/select options	src/features/<name>/constants/
Nav config	src/config/nav-config.ts
Types	src/types/index.ts
Mock data	src/constants/mock-api-<name>.ts
Search params	src/lib/searchparams.ts
Query client	src/lib/query-client.ts
Theme CSS	src/styles/themes/<name>.css
Theme registry	src/components/themes/theme.config.ts
Custom hook	src/hooks/
Icons registry	src/components/icons.tsx

---

Adding a New Feature (End-to-End)

When a user asks to add a feature (e.g., "add an orders page"), follow these steps in order. Each step below shows the minimal pattern — see reference files for full templates.

Step 1: Mock API (src/constants/mock-api-<name>.ts)

See references/mock-api-guide.md for the complete template. Key structure:

import { faker } from '@faker-js/faker';
import { matchSorter } from 'match-sorter';
import { delay } from './mock-api';

export type Order = {
  id: number;
  customer: string;
  status: string;
  total: number;
  created_at: string;
  updated_at: string;
};

export const fakeOrders = {
  records: [] as Order[],
  initialize() {
    /* generate with faker */
  },
  async getOrders({ page, limit, search, sort }) {
    /* filter, sort, paginate, return { items, total_items } */
  },
  async getOrderById(id: number) {
    /* find by id */
  },
  async createOrder(data) {
    /* push to records */
  },
  async updateOrder(id, data) {
    /* merge into record */
  },
  async deleteOrder(id) {
    /* filter out */
  }
};
fakeOrders.initialize();

Every method should call await delay(800) to simulate network latency. Use matchSorter for search. Return { items, total_items } from list methods.

Step 2: API Layer (src/features/<name>/api/)

Each feature has 4 API files: types → service → queries → mutations.

Types (api/types.ts) — re-export the entity type from mock API, plus filter/response/payload types:

export type { Order } from '@/constants/mock-api-orders';
export type OrderFilters = { page?: number; limit?: number; search?: string; sort?: string };
export type OrdersResponse = { items: Order[]; total_items: number };
export type OrderMutationPayload = { customer: string; status: string; total: number };

Service (api/service.ts) — data access layer. One exported function per operation:

import { fakeOrders } from '@/constants/mock-api-orders';
import type { OrderFilters, OrdersResponse, OrderMutationPayload } from './types';

export async function getOrders(filters: OrderFilters): Promise<OrdersResponse> {
  return fakeOrders.getOrders(filters);
}
export async function getOrderById(id: number) {
  return fakeOrders.getOrderById(id);
}
export async function createOrder(data: OrderMutationPayload) {
  return fakeOrders.createOrder(data);
}
export async function updateOrder(id: number, data: OrderMutationPayload) {
  return fakeOrders.updateOrder(id, data);
}
export async function deleteOrder(id: number) {
  return fakeOrders.deleteOrder(id);
}

Queries (api/queries.ts) — query key factory + query options:

import { queryOptions } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { getOrders, getOrderById } from './service';
import type { Order, OrderFilters } from './types';

export type { Order };

export const orderKeys = {
  all: ['orders'] as const,
  list: (filters: OrderFilters) => [...orderKeys.all, 'list', filters] as const,
  detail: (id: number) => [...orderKeys.all, 'detail', id] as const
};

export const ordersQueryOptions = (filters: OrderFilters) =>
  queryOptions({
    queryKey: orderKeys.list(filters),
    queryFn: () => getOrders(filters)
  });

export const orderByIdOptions = (id: number) =>
  queryOptions({
    queryKey: orderKeys.detail(id),
    queryFn: () => getOrderById(id)
  });

Mutations (api/mutations.ts) — use mutationOptions + getQueryClient() (not custom hooks with useQueryClient()):

import { mutationOptions } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { getQueryClient } from '@/lib/query-client';
import { createOrder, updateOrder, deleteOrder } from './service';
import { orderKeys } from './queries';
import type { OrderMutationPayload } from './types';

export const createOrderMutation = mutationOptions({
  mutationFn: (data: OrderMutationPayload) => createOrder(data),
  onSuccess: () => {
    getQueryClient().invalidateQueries({ queryKey: orderKeys.all });
  }
});

export const updateOrderMutation = mutationOptions({
  mutationFn: ({ id, values }: { id: number; values: OrderMutationPayload }) =>
    updateOrder(id, values),
  onSuccess: () => {
    getQueryClient().invalidateQueries({ queryKey: orderKeys.all });
  }
});

export const deleteOrderMutation = mutationOptions({
  mutationFn: (id: number) => deleteOrder(id),
  onSuccess: () => {
    getQueryClient().invalidateQueries({ queryKey: orderKeys.all });
  }
});

mutationOptions is the right abstraction because it works outside React (event handlers, tests, utilities), composes via spread at the call site, and uses getQueryClient() which handles both SSR (fresh per request) and client (singleton) correctly. See references/query-abstractions.md for the full rationale.

Step 3: Zod Schema (src/features/<name>/schemas/<name>.ts)

import { z } from 'zod';

export const orderSchema = z.object({
  customer: z.string().min(2, 'Customer name must be at least 2 characters'),
  status: z.string().min(1, 'Please select a status'),
  total: z.number({ message: 'Total is required' })
});

export type OrderFormValues = z.infer<typeof orderSchema>;

Step 4: Feature Components

Create src/features/<name>/components/ with:

Listing page (server component — <name>-listing.tsx):

import { HydrationBoundary, dehydrate } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { getQueryClient } from '@/lib/query-client';
import { searchParamsCache } from '@/lib/searchparams';
import { ordersQueryOptions } from '../api/queries';
import { OrderTable, OrderTableSkeleton } from './orders-table';
import { Suspense } from 'react';

export default function OrderListingPage() {
  const page = searchParamsCache.get('page');
  const search = searchParamsCache.get('name');
  const pageLimit = searchParamsCache.get('perPage');
  const sort = searchParamsCache.get('sort');

  const filters = {
    page,
    limit: pageLimit,
    ...(search && { search }),
    ...(sort && { sort })
  };

  const queryClient = getQueryClient();
  void queryClient.prefetchQuery(ordersQueryOptions(filters));

  return (
    <HydrationBoundary state={dehydrate(queryClient)}>
      <Suspense fallback={<OrderTableSkeleton />}>
        <OrderTable />
      </Suspense>
    </HydrationBoundary>
  );
}

Table + skeleton (client component — orders-table/index.tsx):

'use client';
import { useSuspenseQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { parseAsInteger, parseAsString, useQueryStates } from 'nuqs';
import { getSortingStateParser } from '@/lib/parsers';
import { useDataTable } from '@/hooks/use-data-table';
import { DataTable } from '@/components/ui/table/data-table';
import { DataTableToolbar } from '@/components/ui/table/data-table-toolbar';
import { Skeleton } from '@/components/ui/skeleton';
import { ordersQueryOptions } from '../../api/queries';
import { columns } from './columns';

const columnIds = columns.map((c) => c.id).filter(Boolean) as string[];

export function OrderTable() {
  const [params] = useQueryStates({
    page: parseAsInteger.withDefault(1),
    perPage: parseAsInteger.withDefault(10),
    name: parseAsString,
    sort: getSortingStateParser(columnIds).withDefault([])
  });

  const filters = {
    page: params.page,
    limit: params.perPage,
    ...(params.name && { search: params.name }),
    ...(params.sort.length > 0 && { sort: JSON.stringify(params.sort) })
  };

  const { data } = useSuspenseQuery(ordersQueryOptions(filters));

  const { table } = useDataTable({
    data: data.items,
    columns,
    pageCount: Math.ceil(data.total_items / params.perPage),
    shallow: true,
    debounceMs: 500,
    initialState: { columnPinning: { right: ['actions'] } }
  });

  return (
    <DataTable table={table}>
      <DataTableToolbar table={table} />
    </DataTable>
  );
}

export function OrderTableSkeleton() {
  return (
    <div className='space-y-4 p-4'>
      <Skeleton className='h-10 w-full' />
      <Skeleton className='h-96 w-full' />
    </div>
  );
}

Column definitions (orders-table/columns.tsx):

Each column needs id, accessorKey (or accessorFn), header with DataTableColumnHeader, and optionally meta for filtering + enableColumnFilter: true.

export const columns: ColumnDef<Order>[] = [
  {
    id: 'customer',
    accessorKey: 'customer',
    header: ({ column }) => <DataTableColumnHeader column={column} title='Customer' />,
    meta: { label: 'Customer', placeholder: 'Search...', variant: 'text', icon: Icons.text },
    enableColumnFilter: true
  },
  {
    id: 'status',
    accessorKey: 'status',
    header: ({ column }) => <DataTableColumnHeader column={column} title='Status' />,
    cell: ({ cell }) => (
      <Badge variant='outline' className='capitalize'>
        {cell.getValue<string>()}
      </Badge>
    ),
    enableColumnFilter: true,
    meta: { label: 'Status', variant: 'multiSelect', options: STATUS_OPTIONS }
  },
  { id: 'actions', cell: ({ row }) => <CellAction data={row.original} /> }
];

Filter meta.variant options: text, number, range, date, dateRange, select, multiSelect, boolean. For multiSelect, provide options: { value, label, icon? }[].

Cell actions (orders-table/cell-action.tsx):

Pattern: DropdownMenu with edit/delete items + AlertModal for delete confirmation + useMutation for the delete API call.

import { deleteOrderMutation } from '../../api/mutations';

export const CellAction: React.FC<{ data: Order }> = ({ data }) => {
  const [deleteOpen, setDeleteOpen] = useState(false);
  const deleteMutation = useMutation({
    ...deleteOrderMutation,
    onSuccess: () => {
      toast.success('Deleted');
      setDeleteOpen(false);
    }
  });
  return (
    <>
      <AlertModal
        isOpen={deleteOpen}
        onClose={() => setDeleteOpen(false)}
        onConfirm={() => deleteMutation.mutate(data.id)}
        loading={deleteMutation.isPending}
      />
      <DropdownMenu modal={false}>
        <DropdownMenuTrigger asChild>
          <Button variant='ghost' className='h-8 w-8 p-0'>
            <Icons.ellipsis className='h-4 w-4' />
          </Button>
        </DropdownMenuTrigger>
        <DropdownMenuContent align='end'>
          <DropdownMenuLabel>Actions</DropdownMenuLabel>
          <DropdownMenuItem onClick={() => router.push(`/dashboard/orders/${data.id}`)}>
            <Icons.edit className='mr-2 h-4 w-4' /> Edit
          </DropdownMenuItem>
          <DropdownMenuItem onClick={() => setDeleteOpen(true)}>
            <Icons.trash className='mr-2 h-4 w-4' /> Delete
          </DropdownMenuItem>
        </DropdownMenuContent>
      </DropdownMenu>
    </>
  );
};

For sheet-based editing (like Users), replace router.push with opening a <FormSheet> — see the Forms section below.

Step 5: Page Route (src/app/dashboard/<name>/page.tsx)

import PageContainer from '@/components/layout/page-container';
import OrderListingPage from '@/features/orders/components/order-listing';
import { searchParamsCache } from '@/lib/searchparams';
import type { SearchParams } from 'nuqs/server';

export const metadata = { title: 'Dashboard: Orders' };
type PageProps = { searchParams: Promise<SearchParams> };

export default async function Page(props: PageProps) {
  const searchParams = await props.searchParams;
  searchParamsCache.parse(searchParams);

  return (
    <PageContainer
      scrollable={false}
      pageTitle='Orders'
      pageDescription='Manage your orders.'
      pageHeaderAction={/* Add button — Link or SheetTrigger */}
    >
      <OrderListingPage />
    </PageContainer>
  );
}

PageContainer props: scrollable, pageTitle, pageDescription, pageHeaderAction (React node for the top-right button), infoContent (help sidebar), access + accessFallback (RBAC gating).

Detail/Edit page (src/app/dashboard/<name>/[id]/page.tsx):

import PageContainer from '@/components/layout/page-container';
import OrderViewPage from '@/features/orders/components/order-view-page';

export const metadata = { title: 'Dashboard: Order Details' };
type PageProps = { params: Promise<{ id: string }> };

export default async function Page(props: PageProps) {
  const { id } = await props.params;
  return (
    <PageContainer scrollable pageTitle='Order Details'>
      <OrderViewPage orderId={id} />
    </PageContainer>
  );
}

View page component (client — handles new vs edit):

'use client';
import { useSuspenseQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { notFound } from 'next/navigation';
import { orderByIdOptions } from '../api/queries';
import OrderForm from './order-form';

export default function OrderViewPage({ orderId }: { orderId: string }) {
  if (orderId === 'new') return <OrderForm initialData={null} pageTitle='Create Order' />;
  const { data } = useSuspenseQuery(orderByIdOptions(Number(orderId)));
  if (!data) notFound();
  return <OrderForm initialData={data} pageTitle='Edit Order' />;
}

Step 6: Search Params (src/lib/searchparams.ts)

Add any new filter keys. Existing params: page, perPage, name, gender, category, role, sort.

Step 7: Navigation (src/config/nav-config.ts)

{ title: 'Orders', url: '/dashboard/orders', icon: 'product', items: [] }

Step 8: Icons (src/components/icons.tsx)

To register a new icon, import from @tabler/icons-react and add to the Icons object:

import { IconShoppingCart } from '@tabler/icons-react';
export const Icons = { /* ...existing */ cart: IconShoppingCart };

Never import @tabler/icons-react anywhere else. Always use Icons.keyName.

Existing icon keys (partial): dashboard, product, kanban, chat, forms, user, teams, billing, settings, add, edit, trash, search, check, close, clock, ellipsis, text, calendar, upload, spinner, chevronDown/Left/Right/Up, sun, moon, palette, pro, workspace, notification.

---

Forms

Forms use TanStack Form + Zod with useAppForm + useFormFields<T>() and useMutation for submission. See references/forms-guide.md for all field types, validation strategies, multi-step forms, and advanced patterns.

Page Form (Create/Edit on a dedicated route)

The full pattern is shown in Steps 1-4 above. The key structure:

1. Schema — Zod schema + inferred type in schemas/<name>.ts
2. Form component — useAppForm({ defaultValues, validators: { onSubmit: schema }, onSubmit }) + useFormFields<T>() for typed fields
3. Mutations — useMutation({ ...createOrderMutation, onSuccess: () => { toast(); router.push() } }), spread shared mutation options from api/mutations.ts and layer on UI callbacks
4. View page — client component that checks id === 'new' for create vs useSuspenseQuery(byIdOptions) for edit

Sheet Form (Inline create/edit in a side panel)

For features where a separate page is overkill (like Users). The sheet manages open state; the form uses a form attribute to connect to the sheet footer's submit button.

'use client';
import { Sheet, SheetContent, SheetFooter, SheetHeader, SheetTitle } from '@/components/ui/sheet';

export function OrderFormSheet({
  order,
  open,
  onOpenChange
}: {
  order?: Order;
  open: boolean;
  onOpenChange: (open: boolean) => void;
}) {
  const isEdit = !!order;
  const mutation = useMutation({
    ...(isEdit ? updateOrderMutation : createOrderMutation),
    onSuccess: () => {
      onOpenChange(false);
    }
  });
  const form = useAppForm({
    defaultValues: { customer: order?.customer ?? '' /* ... */ } as OrderFormValues,
    validators: { onSubmit: orderSchema },
    onSubmit: async ({ value }) => {
      await mutation.mutateAsync(value);
    }
  });
  const { FormTextField, FormSelectField } = useFormFields<OrderFormValues>();

  return (
    <Sheet open={open} onOpenChange={onOpenChange}>
      <SheetContent className='flex flex-col'>
        <SheetHeader>
          <SheetTitle>{isEdit ? 'Edit' : 'New'} Order</SheetTitle>
        </SheetHeader>
        <div className='flex-1 overflow-auto'>
          <form.AppForm>
            <form.Form id='order-sheet-form' className='space-y-4'>
              <FormTextField name='customer' label='Customer' required />
              <FormSelectField name='status' label='Status' required options={STATUS_OPTIONS} />
            </form.Form>
          </form.AppForm>
        </div>
        <SheetFooter>
          <Button variant='outline' onClick={() => onOpenChange(false)}>
            Cancel
          </Button>
          <Button type='submit' form='order-sheet-form' disabled={mutation.isPending}>
            {mutation.isPending ? 'Saving...' : isEdit ? 'Update' : 'Create'}
          </Button>
        </SheetFooter>
      </SheetContent>
    </Sheet>
  );
}

For cell actions, add const [editOpen, setEditOpen] = useState(false) and render <OrderFormSheet order={data} open={editOpen} onOpenChange={setEditOpen} /> with a <DropdownMenuItem onClick={() => setEditOpen(true)}>. For the page header "Add" button, create a trigger component that manages open state and renders the sheet.

Available field components from useFormFields<T>(): FormTextField, FormTextareaField, FormSelectField, FormCheckboxField, FormSwitchField, FormRadioGroupField, FormSliderField, FormFileUploadField.

---

Data Fetching with React Query

The pattern is: server prefetch → HydrationBoundary → client useSuspenseQuery.

1. Server: void queryClient.prefetchQuery(options) — fire-and-forget during SSR streaming
2. Client: useSuspenseQuery(options) — picks up dehydrated data, suspends until resolved
3. HydrationBoundary + dehydrate: bridges server cache → client cache
4. Suspense fallback: skeleton shown while data streams

Why useSuspenseQuery not useQuery: useQuery doesn't integrate with Suspense — it shows loading even when data is prefetched. useSuspenseQuery picks up the dehydrated pending query. Once cached (within staleTime: 60s), subsequent visits are instant.

Mutations use mutationOptions + getQueryClient() in mutations.ts, composed via spread at the call site:

// In mutations.ts — shared config
export const createOrderMutation = mutationOptions({
  mutationFn: (data) => createOrder(data),
  onSuccess: () => {
    getQueryClient().invalidateQueries({ queryKey: orderKeys.all });
  }
});

// In component — spread + layer UI callbacks
const mutation = useMutation({
  ...createOrderMutation,
  onSuccess: () => toast.success('Created')
});

See references/query-abstractions.md for why mutationOptions/queryOptions are the right abstraction over custom hooks.

---

Navigation & RBAC

Configure in src/config/nav-config.ts. Items are filtered client-side in src/hooks/use-nav.ts using Clerk.

Access control properties on nav items:

• requireOrg: boolean — requires active Clerk organization
• permission: string — requires specific Clerk permission
• role: string — requires specific Clerk role
• plan: string — requires subscription plan (server-side)
• feature: string — requires feature flag (server-side)

Items without access are visible to everyone. All client-side checks are synchronous — no loading states.

---

Themes

See references/theming-guide.md for the complete guide. Quick steps:

1. Create src/styles/themes/<name>.css with OKLCH color tokens + @theme inline block
2. Import in src/styles/theme.css
3. Register in THEMES array in src/components/themes/theme.config.ts
4. (Optional) Add Google Fonts in src/components/themes/font.config.ts

---

Code Conventions

• cn() for class merging — never concatenate className strings
• Server components by default — only add 'use client' when needed
• React Query — void prefetchQuery() on server + useSuspenseQuery on client
• API layer — types.ts → service.ts → queries.ts → mutations.ts per feature; queryOptions/mutationOptions as base abstractions (not custom hooks); getQueryClient() in mutations (not useQueryClient()); key factories (entityKeys.all/list/detail); components never import mock APIs directly
• nuqs — searchParamsCache on server, useQueryStates on client with shallow: true
• Icons — only from @/components/icons, never from @tabler/icons-react directly
• Forms — useAppForm + useFormFields<T>() from @/components/ui/tanstack-form
• Page headers — PageContainer props, never import <Heading> manually
• Sort parser — use getSortingStateParser from @/lib/parsers (same parser as useDataTable)
• Formatting — single quotes, JSX single quotes, no trailing comma, 2-space indent