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docs(sip): draft granular component theming SIP
Draft Superset Improvement Proposal for component-level theming on dashboard grid components (Charts, Markdown, Row, Column, Tabs) with inheritance Instance -> Dashboard -> Tab -> Row/Col -> Chart. Supersedes the closed PR #36749 (became unrebasable after .jsx -> .tsx conversion, React 18 upgrade, and theme-controller churn since 2025-12). This is a living document — kept in lockstep with the work on `feat/granular-theming-v2`. Each phase updates the status / shortcomings / test-plan sections. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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# SIP: Granular (Component-Level) Theming for Dashboard Components
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**Status:** Draft — living doc, kept in lockstep with the work on `feat/granular-theming-v2`.
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**Champion:** @rusackas
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**Supersedes:** Closed PR [#36749](https://github.com/apache/superset/pull/36749) (became unrebasable after the .jsx → .tsx conversion, React 18 upgrade, and theme-controller churn since 2025-12).
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## Motivation
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Superset already supports themes at two levels:
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- **Instance** — the global default theme configured by the deployment.
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- **Dashboard** — a per-dashboard override (managed via `ThemeController.dashboardCrudTheme` + `createDashboardThemeProvider`).
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Users have repeatedly asked to override theme tokens at a finer granularity — for example to make a single chart match a brand color in a sales dashboard, to highlight a tab with a different palette, or to give a Markdown callout a distinct background. Today the only options are to (a) override the entire dashboard or (b) inject custom CSS.
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This SIP proposes a **third level**: per-component theme overrides on dashboard grid components (Charts, Markdown, Row, Column, Tabs), with an inheritance chain:
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```
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Instance Theme (deployment default)
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└── Dashboard Theme (existing per-dashboard override)
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└── Tab Theme ┐
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└── Row/Col Theme │ (new, per-component)
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└── Chart/Markdown Theme
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```
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Each level can override any subset of theme tokens; unspecified tokens are inherited from the parent.
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## Non-goals
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- **Custom CSS replacement.** This isn't trying to subsume CSS injection — only theme-token-level overrides (colors, font sizes, spacing, etc.).
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- **New theme authoring UI.** Users pick from existing themes (the CRUD `theme` resource); creating themes still happens in the existing Themes section.
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- **Backend schema changes.** All persistence lives on existing fields (`position_json` per-component `meta`, see Storage below).
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- **Cross-dashboard reuse of component theme assignments.** A theme can be reused, but an *assignment* of a theme to a specific component lives with that component.
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## Storage
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Dashboard layout items are stored in `position_json` and surfaced in Redux as `LayoutItem`s with a `meta: LayoutItemMeta` field already typed as open-ended:
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```ts
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export type LayoutItemMeta = {
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// ...known fields...
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[key: string]: unknown;
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};
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```
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We add an optional `themeId?: number | null` to `LayoutItemMeta`. No new tables, no migrations, no dashboard `json_metadata` changes.
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A `themeId === null` means "explicitly no override — inherit from parent." A missing key means the same thing semantically; we treat them identically when reading.
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Round-trip:
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- **Read**: `LayoutItem.meta.themeId` is parsed straight from `position_json` like any other meta property.
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- **Write**: dashboard save serializes the entire `position_json` already; storing `themeId` is free.
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- **Backwards compatibility**: pre-feature dashboards have no `themeId` keys, so they fall through to the dashboard/instance theme as today.
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## Architecture
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### `ComponentThemeProvider`
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A wrapper component placed inside each grid component, between the dashboard's existing `ThemeProvider` and the component's body:
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```tsx
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<ComponentThemeProvider layoutId={id}>
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{/* component body */}
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</ComponentThemeProvider>
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```
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Responsibilities:
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1. Read `themeId` from the layout item via Redux selector.
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2. Walk up the layout tree (`parents`) to compute the effective theme — first non-null `themeId` wins; fall back to the dashboard/instance theme.
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3. Call `ThemeController.createDashboardThemeProvider(themeId)` (same code path used for dashboard CRUD themes — themes are themes, regardless of which scope picked them).
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4. Wrap children in `AntdThemeProvider` with the resolved theme.
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Caching: `ThemeController` already memoizes themes by id (`dashboardThemes: Map<string, Theme>`). We reuse that — same theme assigned to 100 charts costs one fetch.
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### `ComponentHeaderControls` (Phase 2, lands first)
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A shared vertical-dots `MenuDotsDropdown` for grid components, replacing the inconsistent per-component patterns:
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- **Chart**: extends today's `SliceHeaderControls` menu (adds an "Apply theme" item).
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- **Markdown**: replaces `MarkdownModeDropdown` (Edit/Preview still works through the same menu).
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- **Row / Column**: replaces today's gear icon.
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- **Tabs**: adds the menu (none today).
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This refactor is **valuable on its own** — converging on one menu component is a cleanup we should do regardless of theming. We land it first so the theming PR has a clean integration point.
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### `ThemeSelectorModal` (Phase 3)
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Modal triggered from "Apply theme" in `ComponentHeaderControls`. Shows:
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- A theme picker populated from the CRUD `/api/v1/theme/` endpoint (same source the dashboard-level picker uses).
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- A "Clear override (inherit)" button when `themeId` is already set.
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- Preview is **deferred** — initial scope is just save/cancel.
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On save it dispatches a Redux action that updates the component's `meta.themeId` and marks the dashboard dirty.
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## Phases
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| Phase | Scope | PR target |
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|---|---|---|
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| **1** | Storage shape (`LayoutItemMeta.themeId`) + `ComponentThemeProvider` skeleton wired to one component (Chart) for proof of concept. No UI. | One PR |
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| **2** | Extract `ComponentHeaderControls` and converge Markdown/Row/Column/Tabs/Chart on it. No theming dependency — pure refactor. | One PR |
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| **3** | `ThemeSelectorModal` + persistence + "Apply theme" menu item. End-to-end demo on Chart. | One PR |
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| **4** | Wire `ComponentThemeProvider` into Markdown, Row, Column, Tabs (one component per PR, ~4 PRs). | ~4 small PRs |
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Each phase is independently revertable. Phase 2 has standalone value.
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## Open questions / shortcomings
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These get refined as the work progresses; do not merge any phase without revisiting this section.
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- [ ] **Theme resolution caching at the component level.** `ThemeController` caches themes by id, but `ComponentThemeProvider` walks the parents tree every render to find the effective `themeId`. Need to confirm the walk is cheap enough at typical dashboard sizes (~50 components), or memoize via Redux reselect.
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- [ ] **Export / screenshot behavior.** The screenshot service (Playwright / WebDriver) reads the same DOM, so theme overrides should "just work" — but we need a screenshot regression test.
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- [ ] **Embedded SDK.** Embedded dashboards default to light mode (#38644). Need to confirm component-level themes still apply in embedded context, since embedded skips `ThemeController.setCrudTheme`.
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- [ ] **Theme deletion** — what happens if a `themeId` references a theme that's been deleted from the CRUD store? Likely fall back silently to parent; need a `useEffect` cleanup path.
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- [ ] **Permission model.** Should `theme_write` be required to assign a theme to a component? Currently any dashboard editor can do it. Probably fine, but worth confirming with @michael-s-molina.
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- [ ] **i18n / a11y of the modal.** Standard checklist — needs labels, focus management, keyboard.
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- [ ] **Mobile** — `ComponentHeaderControls` hover-to-reveal pattern needs a tap-equivalent.
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## Test plan
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Each phase brings its own tests; the cumulative bar:
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### Unit
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- `ComponentThemeProvider`: resolves theme from own `themeId`; resolves from parent when own is null; falls back to dashboard/instance when no ancestor sets one; reacts to Redux meta changes.
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- `useComponentThemeId` (selector / hook the provider uses): correctness on the parents-walk.
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- `ComponentHeaderControls`: shows correct menu items per component type; routes `onClick` for each.
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- `ThemeSelectorModal`: opens populated with available themes; "save" dispatches the right action; "clear override" sets `themeId: null`.
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### Integration (RTL)
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- Dashboard with one chart → assign a theme → chart re-renders with new tokens.
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- Same dashboard → assign theme to the Row containing the chart → chart inherits Row theme (no own override).
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- Set chart override + row override → chart wins (most-specific).
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- Clear chart override → chart inherits row.
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- Reload dashboard (re-render from `position_json`) → state preserved.
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### E2E (Playwright)
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- One scenario per component type: open dashboard → menu → apply theme → save → reload → verify.
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- Permission scenario: editor can apply, viewer cannot see the menu.
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### Manual / screenshot
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- Light theme dashboard with one dark-themed chart and one default-themed chart — visual diff in CI.
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- Embedded dashboard with a component theme — verify no host-CSS bleed.
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## Out-of-scope (potential follow-ups)
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- **Theme presets** — "apply this theme to all charts of viz type X" via a dashboard-level rule.
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- **Live preview** in `ThemeSelectorModal`.
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- **Theme inheritance debugger** — devtools view that shows which level set each token for a hovered component.
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- **Bulk operations** — multi-select components and apply a theme to all.
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## Implementation log
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- _(Phase 1)_ — in progress. See section below for status notes.
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- _(Phase 2)_ — pending.
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- _(Phase 3)_ — pending.
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- _(Phase 4)_ — pending.
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### Phase 1 status
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- [ ] Add optional `themeId` field to `LayoutItemMeta`.
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- [ ] Build `ComponentThemeProvider` (Redux selector + parents walk + AntD theme injection).
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- [ ] Wire into `ChartHolder` as the proof of concept (Chart is the leaf with the most existing theme integration, so it's the riskiest first target).
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- [ ] Add unit tests for the resolution hook.
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- [ ] Update this SIP with any architecture surprises uncovered during the wiring.
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