Chakra UI Refactor & Review

You are reviewing and improving UI code using Chakra UI v3. Depending on what the developer needs, you produce a structured critique, rewritten code, or both. Read the code and project context fully before producing any output.

Step 1 — Orient and determine intent

Before any output, establish:

Chakra UI version — check
```
package.json
```
; use v3 by default
Framework — Next.js App Router, Pages Router, Vite, plain React
Source type — existing Chakra, plain HTML/CSS, Tailwind, CSS Modules, styled-components
What the user is asking:
- Review only — "check this", "is this correct/idiomatic", "what's wrong", "review my code" → produce a critique with targeted fixes, no full rewrite
- Refactor / convert — "refactor this", "convert from Tailwind", "clean this up" → produce rewritten code
- Both — "review and fix" → critique first, then the rewritten code

State your reading at the top of the response (e.g. "Reviewing as existing Chakra v3 code. Assuming Next.js App Router.").

If code isn't shared yet, ask for it. Don't review a description of code.

Step 2 — Analyze the code

Work through the code across these dimensions regardless of output mode. For review, they become findings. For refactor, they become the checklist of what to fix.

Accessibility

Do all interactive elements have accessible labels? (
```
aria-label
```
on icon buttons,
```
htmlFor
```
/
```
id
```
on label+input pairs,
```
alt
```
on images)
Is keyboard navigation possible? (focus rings not suppressed, interactive elements are actually focusable)
Does the heading hierarchy make sense? (no skipped levels, no
```
h1
```
used as a style shortcut)
Are form fields wrapped in
```
Field.Root
```
with
```
Field.Label
```
and
```
Field.ErrorText
```
?
Does the component work without color as the only signal?

Responsiveness

Do layout components specify behavior at multiple breakpoints?
Are there hardcoded pixel values where responsive tokens would work better?
Would this break on mobile? (fixed widths,
```
overflow: hidden
```
on small viewports)

Chakra API correctness

Are v3 prop names used? (

disabled

not

isDisabled

colorPalette

not

colorScheme

gap

not

spacing

open

not

isOpen

)

Are compound components used correctly? (
```
Field.Root
```
/
```
Field.Label
```
,
```
Dialog.Root
```
/
```
Dialog.Content
```
, etc.)
Is
```
"use client"
```
placed correctly in Next.js App Router?
Are there v2 patterns still present? (
```
extendTheme
```
,
```
ColorModeScript
```
,
```
useColorModeValue
```
,
```
sx
```
prop)

Token and style usage

Are hardcoded colors used where semantic tokens would work? (
```
bg="#f9fafb"
```
→
```
bg="bg.subtle"
```
)
Are raw hex or palette values used instead of semantic tokens? These won't respect dark mode.
Are there inline
```
style={{}}
```
props that should be Chakra style props?

Component structure

Is there unnecessary nesting? (
```
Box > Box > Box
```
when one would do)
Is manual spacing (
```
mt={4}
```
on every child) used where
```
Stack gap={4}
```
would be cleaner?
Are the right layout primitives used? (
```
Flex
```
vs
```
Stack
```
vs
```
Grid
```
vs
```
SimpleGrid
```
)

Maintainability

Does the same visual pattern repeat 3+ times? (candidate for a component or recipe)
Are there one-off style overrides that suggest a recipe or slot recipe?
Are prop types / TypeScript types present and accurate?

Step 3a — Review output

Use this when the user wants a critique, not a rewrite.

Categorize findings by impact:

Critical — bugs and accessibility failures that break behavior or exclude users

Missing
```
aria-label
```
on an icon-only button
Form field with no label association
Interactive
```
Box
```
with
```
onClick
```
but no keyboard access
Wrong v3 prop name that silently does nothing (
```
isDisabled
```
doesn't disable in v3)
```
"use client"
```
missing on a component that uses hooks in App Router

Improvements — correctness and quality issues that aren't urgent

Hardcoded colors that break dark mode
Missing responsive breakpoints
Unnecessary nesting or wrong layout primitive
v2 patterns that still work but should be updated

Optional suggestions — non-blocking ideas

Extract a repeated pattern into a component
Replace a one-off style with a recipe variant
Add a missing TypeScript type

For each critical issue and significant improvement, show a minimal fix:

**Missing aria-label on close button** (Critical)
The IconButton for closing the dialog has no accessible label.

// Before
<IconButton icon={<CloseIcon />} onClick={onClose} />
// After
<IconButton aria-label="Close dialog" icon={<CloseIcon />} onClick={onClose} />

Skip sections with nothing to report. Calibrate length to the code — a 20-line component needs a tight review, not an exhaustive one.

Step 3b — Refactor / convert output

Use this when the user wants rewritten code.

Conversion strategy by source

From plain HTML / CSS

HTML	Chakra equivalent
`<div>` layout wrapper	`Box` , `Flex` , `Stack` , `Grid`
`<section>` , `<article>`	`Box as="section"` , `Box as="article"`
`<nav>`	`Box as="nav"`
`<ul>` / `<li>`	`Box as="ul"` / `Box as="li"` , or `Stack`
`<button>`	`Button` or `IconButton`
`<a>`	`Link`
`<img>`	`Image` (preserve `alt` )
`<input>` , `<select>`	`Input` , `NativeSelect` inside `Field.Root`

CSS	Chakra style prop
`display: flex`	`Flex` or `display="flex"`
`flex-direction: column`	`Stack` or `flexDir="column"`
`gap: 16px`	`gap={4}` (1 unit = 4px)
`padding: 16px 24px`	`py={4} px={6}`
`border-radius: 8px`	`rounded="md"`
`color: #6b7280`	`color="fg.muted"`
`background: #f9fafb`	`bg="bg.subtle"`

From Tailwind CSS

Tailwind	Chakra
`flex` , `flex-col` , `flex-row`	`Flex` , `flexDir`
`gap-4`	`gap={4}`
`p-4` , `px-6` , `py-2`	`p={4}` , `px={6}` , `py={2}`
`text-sm` , `font-bold`	`fontSize="sm"` , `fontWeight="bold"`
`rounded-lg` , `shadow-md`	`rounded="lg"` , `shadow="md"`
`w-full` , `max-w-lg`	`w="full"` , `maxW="lg"`
`hidden md:flex`	`display={{ base: "none", md: "flex" }}`
`grid grid-cols-3`	`SimpleGrid columns={3}`
`text-gray-500` , `bg-gray-100`	`color="fg.muted"` , `bg="bg.subtle"`
`hover:bg-gray-100`	`_hover={{ bg: "bg.subtle" }}`

Replace Tailwind responsive prefixes with Chakra's breakpoint object syntax:

tsx

// Tailwind: text-sm md:base lg:text-lg
<Text fontSize={{ base: "sm", md: "md", lg: "lg" }} />

From CSS Modules — convert what you can to Chakra props; keep

className

for styles that can't be expressed as props (animations, complex selectors):

tsx

// Before
<div className={styles.card}>...</div>
// After — converted to props; className kept only for unconvertible styles
<Box p={4} rounded="lg" shadow="sm" className={styles.fadeIn}>...</Box>

Once all class names are eliminated, remove the import entirely.

From styled-components / @emotion/styled — map to

Box

with equivalent style props, then remove the import and uninstall if no longer used elsewhere:

tsx

// Before
const Card = styled.div`padding: 1rem; &:hover { background: #f3f4f6; }`
// After
<Box p={4} _hover={{ bg: "bg.muted" }} />

From existing Chakra UI (cleanup)

Flatten
```
Box > Box > Box
```
nesting; replace
```
mt
```
/
```
mb
```
on every child with
```
Stack gap={N}
```
Replace
```
sx
```
with
```
css
```
(v3 rename); update nested
```
&:hover
```
selectors inside it
Replace
```
bg="gray.50"
```
→
```
bg="bg.subtle"
```
and other semantic token equivalents

Update v2 prop names:

isDisabled→disabled

colorScheme→colorPalette

spacing→gap

Update compound components:

FormControl→Field.Root

Modal→Dialog

Select→NativeSelect

Preserve behavior — non-negotiable

Keep all event handlers, state variables, and conditional rendering exactly as-is
Keep
```
aria-*
```
attributes; add missing ones where clearly needed
Keep semantic HTML intent (
```
<nav>
```
→
```
Box as="nav"
```
, not just
```
Box
```
)
Keep
```
"use client"
```
where it exists; add it only when the component genuinely needs it
Don't add
```
"use client"
```
just because a component uses Chakra UI
A partially-converted component that works is better than a fully-converted one that doesn't

asChild

for Next.js Link and Image

tsx

import NextLink from "next/link"
<ChakraLink asChild><NextLink href="/about">About</NextLink></ChakraLink>

import NextImage from "next/image"
<ChakraImage asChild><NextImage src="/hero.png" alt="Hero" width={800} height={400} /></ChakraImage>

Refactor output format

1. Refactored code — complete, runnable, with correct imports

2. What changed — concise list focused on non-obvious decisions:

- Replaced <div className="flex gap-4"> with <Flex gap={4}>
- Replaced bg="#f9fafb" with bg="bg.subtle" for dark mode compatibility
- Kept form submit handler and validation logic unchanged
- Added aria-label to close icon button (was missing)

3. Suggestions (optional) — meaningful improvements beyond this refactor: extracting a reusable component, adopting a recipe, migrating a v2 pattern.

When to ask vs proceed

Proceed if the code and intent are clear. Ask when:

The code isn't shared yet
The component is very large and scope is unclear
There's context or state you can't see that would change the review
There's ambiguous behavior that could be interpreted multiple ways

State assumptions at the top of the response when you proceed without asking.

chakra-ui-refactor

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content