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No.283 · Forms· New

Insert Menu

A page of plain-text blocks where typing / opens a filterable menu of block types under the line; Enter turns the line into a heading, to-do, list, quote, callout or divider.

The prompt

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Written for the variant you picked above: Light

Build a minimal block editor in a calm document style: white page, warm near-black ink #37352f, Inter 16px/1.5, no visible field chrome. Each block is a row with an optional 26px marker column and an auto-growing borderless textarea. Block types: text, Heading 1 (30px, 700), Heading 2 (24px, 600), to-do (a native checkbox; checked rows go faint and struck through), bulleted list (a • marker), quote (3px left rule), callout (a ✳ marker in orange on a warm grey #f7f6f3 panel with 4px corners) and divider (a 1px hairline). The focused block gets a barely-there warm tint; placeholders only show on the focused line ('Write, or press / to insert a block'), but headings always show theirs. Typing '/' at the start of a line or after a space opens a menu 4px under the line: 20rem wide, white, 8px radius, a three-layer soft shadow with a 1px hairline ring. A small grey group label ('Basic blocks', or 'Blocks matching “he”' while filtering), then options as 48px rows: a 40px bordered tile with a glyph (Aa, H1, H2, ☐, •, ❝, ✳, —), the name in 14px and a 12px grey hint beneath. The active row has a 8% ink background. Filter by name prefix, then word prefix, then keywords; show 'No blocks match. Press Esc to keep the text.' when empty. Choosing removes the '/query' text and converts the line, keeping the caret where the slash was; Divider inserts a rule and a fresh line below. Selected variant — Light (light): Light theme: page #ffffff, ink #37352f, muted #787774, faint #a5a29a, hover rgb(55 53 47 / 0.06), active option rgb(55 53 47 / 0.08), hairlines rgb(55 53 47 / 0.12), callout #f7f6f3, checkbox accent #2383e2, menu shadow 0 0 0 1px rgb(15 15 15 / 0.05), 0 3px 6px rgb(15 15 15 / 0.1), 0 9px 24px rgb(15 15 15 / 0.2). This selection takes precedence over references to other themes or options in the general brief. Implement this selected appearance; do not add a variant picker or alternative appearances unless requested. Implementation requirements: Use React and TypeScript. Keep the component self-contained, with uniquely scoped CSS and no animation libraries. Include required imports, styles and font setup in the result. Interaction: Type / then filter; ↑/↓ move through options, Enter or Tab choose, Esc closes and keeps what you typed, and a space or moving the caret before the slash closes it too. Enter splits a block (lists and to-dos continue; Enter on an empty item ends the list), Backspace at the start turns a styled block back into text, removes a divider above, or joins the line onto the previous one, and ↑/↓ at a line's edge move between blocks. onChange receives the block array. Motion: The menu fades in and drops 3px over 140ms; nothing else moves. Reduced motion removes the menu transition. Accessibility: Each textarea is a combobox with aria-expanded, aria-controls and aria-activedescendant pointing into a listbox of options with aria-selected, so focus never leaves the text. A polite live region announces how many block types match. To-dos use real checkboxes labelled 'Done'. Responsive behavior: The menu caps at the column width on narrow containers; textareas wrap and grow with their content at any width. Touch: Tap an option to choose it; options are 48px tall. Typing / on a touch keyboard opens the same menu. Preserve keyboard access, visible focus and reduced-motion behavior. Keep fictional demo data and simulated service calls in a separate usage example; expose callbacks for real actions and recover from rejected requests. Keep usage-example links inside the demo: use local buttons or prevent navigation. Demonstration links must not navigate to Vitrine routes or open other pages; preserve real URL support in the reusable component itself. Verify the result at narrow and wide viewport sizes, with keyboard input and reduced motion enabled.

Notes

Interaction
Type / then filter; ↑/↓ move through options, Enter or Tab choose, Esc closes and keeps what you typed, and a space or moving the caret before the slash closes it too. Enter splits a block (lists and to-dos continue; Enter on an empty item ends the list), Backspace at the start turns a styled block back into text, removes a divider above, or joins the line onto the previous one, and ↑/↓ at a line's edge move between blocks. onChange receives the block array.
Motion
The menu fades in and drops 3px over 140ms; nothing else moves. Reduced motion removes the menu transition.
Accessibility
Each textarea is a combobox with aria-expanded, aria-controls and aria-activedescendant pointing into a listbox of options with aria-selected, so focus never leaves the text. A polite live region announces how many block types match. To-dos use real checkboxes labelled 'Done'.
Responsive
The menu caps at the column width on narrow containers; textareas wrap and grow with their content at any width.
On touch
Tap an option to choose it; options are 48px tall. Typing / on a touch keyboard opens the same menu.

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