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feat(portal)!: dismiss only the topmost modal on back or Escape - #5127

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konstmar wants to merge 12 commits into
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konstmar:overlay-dismiss-stack
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konstmar wants to merge 12 commits into
callstack:mainfrom
konstmar:overlay-dismiss-stack

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@konstmar

@konstmar konstmar commented Sep 16, 2026 •

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Motivation

Some of our overlay components have their own dismiss logic (back on native, Escape on web), and none of them route it to the topmost overlay. This PR moves dismissal logic into Portal, so any overlay built on a modal portal gets it.

  • Each Portal.Host asks only its topmost modal portal to close.
  • Modal and Dialog are the first to use it. Menu will adopt it separately, in another PR.
  • A Modal stops being the topmost modal as soon as it starts closing.

Breaking changes

  • Modal's dismissable now controls the back button, Escape, the screen reader's escape gesture and the hidden dismiss button. dismissable={false} blocks every way of closing.
  • Modal's dismissableBackButton prop is removed.
  • Modal's new dismissableOverlay prop controls an outside tap, and applies only when the modal is dismissable.

The migration guide is updated.

Related issue

Notion

Screenshots / Videos

No visual change.

Test plan

yarn test covers the hook (ranking, one press per overlay, absorbed presses, Escape) and a back-press test on Modal.

Konstantin Marushchak added 3 commits September 15, 2026 10:07
Re-provide `ReduceMotionContext` in `Portal`, alongside the settings, locale and
theme contexts already forwarded across the portal boundary, so portal content
stops falling back to the context default of `false`.
Compare the key when looking up the queued `mount` to replace, so an update that
arrives before the `PortalManager` ref is attached no longer overwrites an
unrelated queued portal.
Add an opt-in `overlay` prop to `Portal` that hides every layer below it -- the
app content and any portal mounted earlier -- from assistive technology and from
the web focus order, while portals mounted on top stay reachable.
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github-actions Bot commented Sep 16, 2026 •

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Found potential problems with the pull request:

  • The description is too long. Please keep it under 1000 characters.
  • Screenshot or video evidence is missing. Make sure to include one if it affects the UI.

Konstantin Marushchak added 5 commits September 17, 2026 15:17
Address review feedback on callstack#5126:

- rename the `overlay` prop to `modal`
- rename `PortalManager`'s `pageContent` prop to `children` and make it
  required, since a portal host doesn't render a page
- move the `collapsable` comment onto the prop it explains
- rewrite the `modal` prop documentation
A `Modal` is an overlay, so it always needs a `Portal` with `modal` set
to hide the content behind it. Render one itself instead of asking every
call site to wrap the modal and pass the prop.

BREAKING CHANGE: `Modal` and `Dialog` no longer need to be wrapped in a
`Portal`.
Every dialog now hides the content behind it, so the dedicated "Inert
background" example no longer has anything of its own to show.
`Dialog` renders itself in a `Portal`, so the examples no longer need to
wrap it in one.
# Conflicts:
#	src/components/Modal.tsx
#	src/components/Portal/PortalHost.tsx
#	src/components/Portal/PortalManager.tsx
#	src/components/__tests__/Portal.test.tsx
#	src/components/__tests__/__snapshots__/Modal.test.tsx.snap
# Conflicts:
#	src/components/Modal.tsx
#	src/components/__tests__/Modal.test.tsx
Comment thread src/utils/useOverlayDismiss.tsx Resolved
Comment thread src/utils/useOverlayDismiss.tsx Resolved
Comment thread src/utils/useOverlayDismiss.tsx Resolved
Comment thread src/components/Modal.tsx Resolved
Comment on lines 175 to 219
describe('DialogActions', () => {
it('renders passed children', async () => {
await render(
<Dialog.Actions>
<Button testID="button-cancel">Cancel</Button>
<Button testID="button-ok">Ok</Button>
</Dialog.Actions>
<Portal.Host>
<Dialog.Actions>
<Button testID="button-cancel">Cancel</Button>
<Button testID="button-ok">Ok</Button>
</Dialog.Actions>
</Portal.Host>
);

expect(screen.getByTestId('button-cancel')).toBeOnTheScreen();
expect(screen.getByTestId('button-ok')).toBeOnTheScreen();
});

it('applies default styles', async () => {
await render(
<Dialog.Actions testID="dialog-actions">
<Button>Cancel</Button>
<Button>Ok</Button>
</Dialog.Actions>
<Portal.Host>
<Dialog.Actions testID="dialog-actions">
<Button>Cancel</Button>
<Button>Ok</Button>
</Dialog.Actions>
</Portal.Host>
);

const dialogActionsContainer = screen.getByTestId('dialog-actions');
const dialogActionButtons = dialogActionsContainer.children;

expect(dialogActionsContainer).toHaveStyle({
paddingBottom: 24,
paddingHorizontal: 24,
});
expect(dialogActionButtons[0]).toHaveStyle({ marginRight: 8 });
expect(dialogActionButtons[1]).toHaveStyle({ marginRight: 0 });
});

it('applies custom styles', async () => {
await render(
<Dialog.Actions testID="dialog-actions">
<Button style={styles.spacing}>Cancel</Button>
<Button style={styles.noSpacing}>Ok</Button>
</Dialog.Actions>
<Portal.Host>
<Dialog.Actions testID="dialog-actions">
<Button style={styles.spacing}>Cancel</Button>
<Button style={styles.noSpacing}>Ok</Button>
</Dialog.Actions>
</Portal.Host>
);

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Portal.Host wrappers are unnecessary around dialog actions.

Comment thread src/components/__tests__/Modal.test.tsx Resolved
Comment thread src/components/__tests__/Modal.test.tsx Resolved
Konstantin Marushchak added 2 commits October 7, 2026 10:07
Each Portal.Host now closes only its topmost modal portal on the Android
back button, the Escape key on web, and the screen reader's escape
gesture, replacing the global useOverlayDismiss stack.

BREAKING CHANGE: Modal and Dialog drop `dismissableBackButton`.
`dismissable` now controls the back button, the Escape key, the screen
reader's escape gesture and the dismiss button, and the new
`dismissableOverlay` prop controls closing on an outside tap.
@konstmar konstmar changed the title feat(modal): dismiss only the topmost overlay on back or escape feat(portal)!: dismiss only the topmost modal on back or Escape Oct 8, 2026
@konstmar
konstmar requested a review from satya164 October 8, 2026 11:34

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Review by Claude

See the inline comments. (via Claude, verify if it makes sense)

const listensForKeys = Platform.OS === 'web' && 'document' in global;

if (listensForKeys) {
document.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);

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Escape and the back button pick different modals when there is more than one Portal.Host.

BackHandler calls the last registered listener first. document calls keydown listeners in the order they were added. Each host has its own topmost modal, so each host has one enabled listener. With a Portal.Host inside a modal:

<Portal.Host>
  <Portal modal onDismiss={closeOuter}>
    <Portal.Host>
      <Portal modal onDismiss={closeInner}>...</Portal>
    </Portal.Host>
  </Portal>
</Portal.Host>

I ran this in a local test. The back button calls closeInner. Escape calls closeOuter, which closes the outer modal and the inner modal on top of it.

A fix is one module level document listener that walks the enabled modals from the last one added to the first, the same order as BackHandler. (via Claude, verify if it makes sense)

Comment on lines 26 to +35
modal?: boolean;
/**
* Callback that is called when the user asks to close a `modal` portal.
* Only the topmost `modal` portal in a `Portal.Host` can be dismissed.
*/
onDismiss?: () => void;
/**
* Whether the user can dismiss a `modal` portal.
*/
dismissable?: boolean;

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The types allow states that do not work:

  • <Portal modal> with no onDismiss consumes the Android back button and Escape and does nothing. On Android the user can't close it or go back. The test "doesn't pass the press on from a modal without onDismiss" locks this in, and the docs don't say that onDismiss is needed.
  • onDismiss and dismissable on a portal that is not modal are ignored with no warning.

React Native's Modal has the same problem with onRequestClose on Android. Consider making onDismiss required when modal is set, for example with a union of { modal: boolean; onDismiss: () => void; dismissable?: boolean } and { modal?: false }. At least document that a modal portal without onDismiss blocks the back button. (via Claude, verify if it makes sense)

Comment on lines +16 to +17
Tapping outside will not close this dialog, however you can still close
it with the back button or the Escape key!

@satya164 satya164 Oct 22, 2026 •

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The button for this dialog now shows on all platforms. iOS has no back button, and Escape is only handled on web. So on iOS the text points to ways of closing that don't exist.

Suggested change
Tapping outside will not close this dialog, however you can still close
it with the back button or the Escape key!
Tapping outside will not close this dialog, however you can still close
it with the Android back button or the Escape key on the web!

(via Claude, verify if it makes sense)

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Review by Claude

See the inline comments. (via Claude, verify if it makes sense)

Comment on lines +78 to +82
onAccessibilityEscape={
index === topmostModalIndex && dismissable
? onDismiss
: undefined
}

@satya164 satya164 Oct 22, 2026 •

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With dismissable={false}, the topmost modal gets no onAccessibilityEscape, so the VoiceOver escape gesture is not handled here. iOS then passes it on to the next ancestor that handles it. The Android back button and Escape on web are consumed in the same case (PortalDismiss returns true and calls preventDefault), so the platforms behave differently.

Where it breaks:

  • A Portal.Host inside a modal, with <Portal modal dismissable={false}> in it. The escape gesture goes to the outer modal layer and calls the outer onDismiss, which also removes the inner modal. The Android back button keeps both open.

Always set the handler on the topmost modal and call onDismiss only when it is dismissable, the same as PortalDismiss:

Suggested change
onAccessibilityEscape={
index === topmostModalIndex && dismissable
? onDismiss
: undefined
}
onAccessibilityEscape={
index === topmostModalIndex
? () => {
if (dismissable) {
onDismiss?.();
}
}
: undefined
}

The Modal snapshots for non-dismissable modals then need an update. (via Claude, verify if it makes sense)

@Doberjohn Doberjohn added this to the 6.0.0 milestone Oct 30, 2026

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Thanks for reworking this around PortalManager,@konstmar. Keeping the stack in one place and exposing modal, onDismiss and dismissable on Portal is what the first round asked for. Before the line-by-line pass:

Blockers:

  1. Rebase now. src/components/__tests__/Dialog.test.tsx conflicts with main in its imports: keep main's import type { ComponentProps } from 'react'; and your narrowed react-native import. The rest merges cleanly, and CI needs a run on the new head.
  2. Escape and Android back pick different modals with more than one Portal.Host (the open thread on PortalDismiss.tsx). With a Portal.Host inside a Modal holding a second Modal, back closes the inner one, but Escape closes the outer one and the inner with it: BackHandler runs the latest listener first, document the earliest. One module-level keydown listener that walks the enabled modals from the latest would make them agree, and a test with two nested hosts for both inputs would keep it that way.
  3. On the web, Escape in a Dialog with an open Menu now closes the Dialog (on main it closes only the Menu), because the Dialog's keydown runs before Menu's keyup. Since this PR adds Escape to Modal and Dialog, please bring the Menu change in here, as you offered in that thread. One way: Menu renders a modal portal with onDismiss and drops its own back and keyup listeners (untried, so check it against Menu's focus handling). That would also stop Android back from closing both. A Menu-inside-Dialog test for back and Escape would cover it.

Also in this PR:

  1. VoiceOver escape on a non-dismissable modal (the thread on PortalManager.tsx): absorb the gesture there, as back and Escape already are, so it doesn't reach an outer modal.
  2. modal without onDismiss (the thread on Portal.tsx): it swallows back and Escape, so on Android the user can't leave. Please type it as suggested there, with onDismiss required when modal is set, and say in the JSDoc what a modal portal does with back and Escape.
  3. Migration guide: one sentence that dismissableBackButton={false} on a dismissable modal has no replacement (on 5.x it had no effect there anyway).
  4. Description: please link #5150 under Related issue instead of the private page.

@Doberjohn Doberjohn added needs pickup Work that has been started but needs someone to pick it up and continue. and removed needs pickup Work that has been started but needs someone to pick it up and continue. labels Nov 6, 2026
@alpharius-ck alpharius-ck mentioned this pull request Nov 6, 2026
4 of 9 tasks
@Doberjohn

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The 6.0 overlay work continues in #5175. Seven of this branch's nine non-merge commits already landed through #5124 and #5126, and #5175 carries your topmost-only dismissal commit from here and your two focus commits from #5129, with your authorship. 6.0 keeps dismissableBackButton, so your last commit here (per-host dismissal, onDismiss and dismissable on Portal, and dismissableOverlay) isn't part of it; it stays available on this PR. The review points that still apply are now on #5175. Closing this one in favour of #5175.

@Doberjohn Doberjohn closed this Nov 6, 2026
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