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feat(ui): Add unified ui prop with RSC support via conditional exports#7664

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jacekradko merged 60 commits intomainfrom
jrad/ui-prop-cleanup
Feb 9, 2026
Merged

feat(ui): Add unified ui prop with RSC support via conditional exports#7664
jacekradko merged 60 commits intomainfrom
jrad/ui-prop-cleanup

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@jacekradko jacekradko commented Jan 23, 2026

Summary

Refactors the UI loading architecture so users only interact with an opaque ui prop from @clerk/ui. Each SDK internally decides whether to use the bundled UI constructor or load from CDN.

Key addition: Added react-server conditional export so the ui prop works directly in Next.js App Router server components without requiring a client wrapper.

Key Changes

  • Public API: Users pass ui={ui} - the object is opaque and branded
  • Removed clerkUiCtor from public IsomorphicClerkOptions (kept internally as ui.ClerkUI for SDK use)
  • Default behavior: Bundled UI is used when available (ui.ClerkUI)
  • React Server Components support: Added react-server conditional export that provides a server-safe marker
  • Version pinning: CDN loading uses ui.version to pin the UI version

How It Works

The @clerk/ui package uses conditional exports:

".": {
  "react-server": "./dist/server.js",  // Server-safe marker (no ClerkUI)
  "default": "./dist/index.js"          // Full export (with ClerkUI)
}
Context Export Contains
Next.js RSC server.js { __brand, version }
Client / Other SDKs index.js { __brand, version, ClerkUI }

When IsomorphicClerk receives the ui prop:

  1. If ui.ClerkUI exists → use directly (bundled)
  2. If ui.__brand === '__clerkUI' but no ClerkUI → dynamic import from @clerk/ui/entry
  3. Otherwise → load from CDN

SDK Behavior

SDK UI Loading Implementation
Chrome Extension Bundled Passes ui={ui} directly
React Bundled Uses ui.ClerkUI directly
Next.js App Router Bundled Server gets marker, client dynamically imports
Vue Bundled Uses ui.ClerkUI directly
Astro Bundled Uses ui.ClerkUI directly

Usage

Next.js App Router (server component):

// app/layout.tsx - Works directly, no client wrapper needed!
import { ClerkProvider } from '@clerk/nextjs';
import { ui } from '@clerk/ui';

export default function Layout({ children }) {
  return <ClerkProvider ui={ui}>{children}</ClerkProvider>;
}

Other SDKs:

import { ClerkProvider } from '@clerk/react';
import { ui } from '@clerk/ui';

<ClerkProvider ui={ui}>{children}</ClerkProvider>

Test plan

  • Build passes
  • Unit tests pass
  • Integration test for bundled UI in Next.js App Router added
  • Verify Chrome Extension works with bundled UI
  • Verify React uses bundled UI by default
  • Verify Next.js App Router uses bundled UI via dynamic import
  • Verify Vue uses bundled UI by default
  • Verify Astro uses bundled UI by default

Summary by CodeRabbit

  • New Features

    • Providers gain a public ui prop to bundle the Clerk UI; preloading is skipped when bundled.
    • Added a server-safe ui marker and a react-server export for server components.
    • Support for clerkUIVersion / PUBLIC_CLERK_UI_VERSION and a version field on the ui shape.
  • Breaking / Public API

    • UI wiring now uses a nested ui.ClerkUI option instead of the previous top-level option.
  • Tests

    • Expanded coverage for bundled UI loading, providers, plugins, and server builds.

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changeset-bot bot commented Jan 23, 2026

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 3987c28

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 20 packages
Name Type
@clerk/ui Minor
@clerk/react Minor
@clerk/nextjs Minor
@clerk/vue Minor
@clerk/astro Minor
@clerk/chrome-extension Minor
@clerk/shared Minor
@clerk/expo Patch
@clerk/react-router Patch
@clerk/tanstack-react-start Patch
@clerk/nuxt Patch
@clerk/agent-toolkit Patch
@clerk/backend Patch
@clerk/clerk-js Patch
@clerk/expo-passkeys Patch
@clerk/express Patch
@clerk/fastify Patch
@clerk/localizations Patch
@clerk/msw Patch
@clerk/testing Patch

Not sure what this means? Click here to learn what changesets are.

Click here if you're a maintainer who wants to add another changeset to this PR

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pkg-pr-new bot commented Jan 23, 2026

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@clerk/agent-toolkit

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@clerk/astro

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commit: 3987c28

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Adds a public ui API and a server-safe ui marker export containing UI_BRAND and optional version. Introduces an optional ClerkUI constructor on the ui object and exposes a ui prop across provider/integration surfaces. Migrates runtime wiring to pass UI via a nested ui: { ClerkUI } option, renames symbols/types from ClerkUi*ClerkUI*, and adds clerkUIVersion / PUBLIC_CLERK_UI_VERSION plumbing for Astro. Adds a react-server export for the UI package, client-side lazy resolution for bundled UI, and expands related test coverage.

Possibly related PRs

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 2 | ❌ 1
❌ Failed checks (1 warning)
Check name Status Explanation Resolution
Docstring Coverage ⚠️ Warning Docstring coverage is 30.43% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.
✅ Passed checks (2 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Description Check ✅ Passed Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check ✅ Passed The pull request title accurately describes the main change: adding a unified ui prop with React Server Component support via conditional exports. This is the central focus across all file modifications.

✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.


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Actionable comments posted: 0

Caution

Some comments are outside the diff and can’t be posted inline due to platform limitations.

⚠️ Outside diff range comments (1)
packages/vue/src/plugin.ts (1)

81-91: Misleading comment on fallback behavior.

The comment states "fall back to clerkUiCtor (deprecated)" but the actual fallback is loading from CDN via loadClerkUiScript, not checking a clerkUiCtor property. Consider updating the comment to accurately reflect the behavior:

-          // Check for ui.ctor first (new API), then fall back to clerkUiCtor (deprecated)
+          // Check for ui.ctor first (bundled UI), then fall back to loading from CDN
🧹 Nitpick comments (1)
packages/astro/src/internal/create-clerk-instance.ts (1)

118-122: Misleading comment: fallback is CDN loading, not clerkUiCtor.

The comment mentions "fall back to clerkUiCtor (deprecated)" but the actual fallback is loading from CDN via loadClerkUiScript. The clerkUiCtor option path was removed from this function.

Suggested fix
-  // Check for ui.ctor first (new API), then fall back to clerkUiCtor (deprecated)
+  // If ui.ctor is provided (bundled UI), use it directly; otherwise load from CDN
   const ctorFromUi = options?.ui?.ctor;
   if (ctorFromUi) {
     return ctorFromUi;
   }

Adds `ui` prop to ClerkProvider for specifying UI metadata.
Each SDK decides whether to use `ui.ctor` based on support level.

- `@clerk/ui` exports only `{ ui }` with version and ctor
- Chrome extension uses `ui.ctor` (verified to work)
- React, Vue, Astro use CDN loading (not verified for bundling yet)
- Omit `clerkUiCtor` from public ClerkProviderProps type
@jacekradko jacekradko force-pushed the jrad/ui-prop-cleanup branch from 431aa50 to c5ff0d1 Compare January 23, 2026 20:05
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Actionable comments posted: 1

Caution

Some comments are outside the diff and can’t be posted inline due to platform limitations.

⚠️ Outside diff range comments (1)
packages/astro/src/internal/create-clerk-instance.ts (1)

111-124: ui.ctor is not being used when provided.

The PR objective states that when ui.ctor is provided, it should be used instead of loading from CDN. However, getClerkUiEntryChunk always loads the UI script from CDN and ignores options.ui?.ctor. This contradicts the JSDoc in packages/astro/src/types.ts (lines 39-43) which states: "When provided with a bundled UI via ui.ctor, it will be used instead of loading from CDN."

Suggested fix to honor ui.ctor when provided
 async function getClerkUiEntryChunk<TUi extends Ui = Ui>(
   options?: AstroClerkCreateInstanceParams<TUi>,
 ): Promise<ClerkUiConstructor> {
+  // Use bundled UI constructor if provided
+  if (options?.ui?.ctor) {
+    return options.ui.ctor;
+  }
+
   await loadClerkUiScript(options);

   if (!window.__internal_ClerkUiCtor) {
     throw new Error('Failed to download latest Clerk UI. Contact support@clerk.com.');
   }

   return window.__internal_ClerkUiCtor;
 }
🤖 Fix all issues with AI agents
In `@packages/vue/src/plugin.ts`:
- Around line 81-87: The code always calls loadClerkUiScript and ignores a
provided bundled constructor; update the clerkUiCtorPromise logic to first check
pluginOptions.ui?.ctor (or options.ui?.ctor) and resolve to that ctor if
present, otherwise call loadClerkUiScript and fall back to
window.__internal_ClerkUiCtor; ensure clerkUiCtorPromise returns the provided
ctor when available, and preserve the existing error throw if neither the
provided ctor nor the downloaded window.__internal_ClerkUiCtor is present.

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Actionable comments posted: 1

🤖 Fix all issues with AI agents
In `@packages/chrome-extension/src/react/ClerkProvider.tsx`:
- Around line 38-40: The spread uses an unsafe cast ({...(rest as any)}) to
sneak in clerkUiCtor, hiding a type mismatch; replace this by declaring an
internal extended props type (e.g., InternalClerkProviderProps) that extends
ClerkProviderProps and includes clerkUiCtor with the correct type, update the
component signature to use that internal type, remove the as any cast, and pass
clerkUiCtor={ui.ctor} and Clerk={clerkInstance} with proper typing so TypeScript
enforces compatibility (locate symbols: ClerkProvider.tsx, rest, clerkUiCtor,
ui.ctor, ClerkReactProvider, ClerkProviderProps, clerkInstance).
♻️ Duplicate comments (1)
packages/vue/src/plugin.ts (1)

81-87: ui.ctor is not being used when provided.

Same issue as in the Astro integration: the code always loads the UI from CDN via loadClerkUiScript and ignores pluginOptions.ui?.ctor. This contradicts the documented behavior that bundled UI via ui.ctor should be used instead of CDN loading.

🧹 Nitpick comments (1)
.changeset/shiny-owls-dance.md (1)

10-23: Consider adding migration guidance.

The changeset describes the new ui prop but doesn't mention the deprecation or removal of clerkUiCtor. Since the PR objectives state "Omits clerkUiCtor from public ClerkProviderProps," consider adding explicit migration guidance to help users transition from the old API.

📝 Suggested addition for migration guidance
 Usage:
 ```tsx
 import { ui } from '@clerk/ui';
 
 <ClerkProvider ui={ui}>
   ...
 </ClerkProvider>

+Migration note: The clerkUiCtor prop has been removed from public types. Use the ui prop instead by importing the ui object from @clerk/ui.

</details>

</blockquote></details>

</blockquote></details>

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Actionable comments posted: 0

Caution

Some comments are outside the diff and can’t be posted inline due to platform limitations.

⚠️ Outside diff range comments (1)
packages/react/src/isomorphicClerk.ts (1)

511-535: Add tests for the new bundled ui.ctor path and CDN fallback.

Line 511 introduces a new early-return path for ui.ctor. I don’t see tests in this PR; please add (or point to) coverage that validates the bundled constructor path and the CDN fallback to prevent regressions.

The dynamic import('@clerk/ui/entry') in @clerk/react caused tsup to bundle
the entire @clerk/ui package into the dist (30MB, 219 files). Externalizing it
broke Vite-based apps that don't have @clerk/ui installed.

Move the RSC resolution to @clerk/nextjs where bundle:false preserves the
import as-is, and it's only consumed by Next.js (webpack/turbopack) which
handles unresolvable dynamic imports gracefully.
Replace the duplicate __PKG_VERSION__ constant with PACKAGE_VERSION
to match the naming convention used by all other packages in the
monorepo. Remove redundant defines from rspack, tsdown, and vitest
configs.
@jacekradko jacekradko merged commit 3983cf8 into main Feb 9, 2026
39 checks passed
@jacekradko jacekradko deleted the jrad/ui-prop-cleanup branch February 9, 2026 01:38
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