Netlify Forms

Netlify Forms collects HTML form submissions without server-side code. Form detection must be enabled in the Netlify UI (Forms section).

Basic Setup

Add

data-netlify="true"

and a unique

name

to the form:

html

<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true">
  <label>Name: <input type="text" name="name" /></label>
  <label>Email: <input type="email" name="email" /></label>
  <label>Message: <textarea name="message"></textarea></label>
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Netlify's build system detects the form and injects a hidden

form-name

input automatically. For a custom success page, add

action="/thank-you"

to the form tag. Use paths without

.html

extension — Netlify serves

thank-you.html

/thank-you

by default, and the

.html

path returns 404.

JavaScript-Rendered Forms (React, Vue, SSR Frameworks)

For forms rendered by JavaScript frameworks (React, Vue, TanStack Start, Next.js, SvelteKit, Remix, Nuxt), Netlify's build parser cannot detect the form in static HTML. You MUST create a static HTML skeleton file for build-time form detection:

Create a static HTML file in

public/

(e.g.

public/__forms.html

) containing a hidden copy of each form:

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <body>
    <form name="contact" data-netlify="true" netlify-honeypot="bot-field" hidden>
      <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />
      <input type="text" name="name" />
      <input type="email" name="email" />
      <textarea name="message"></textarea>
      <input name="bot-field" />
    </form>
  </body>
</html>

Rules:

The form
```
name
```
must exactly match the
```
form-name
```
value used in your component's fetch call
Include every field your component submits — Netlify validates field names against the registered form
Without this file, Netlify cannot detect the form and submissions will silently fail

Your component must also include a hidden

form-name

input:

jsx

<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true">
  <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />
  {/* ... fields ... */}
</form>

AJAX Submissions

Vanilla JavaScript

javascript

const form = document.querySelector("form");
form.addEventListener("submit", async (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();
  const formData = new FormData(form);
  await fetch("/", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" },
    body: new URLSearchParams(formData).toString(),
  });
});

SSR frameworks (TanStack Start, Next.js, SvelteKit, Remix, Nuxt): The
fetch
URL must target the static skeleton file path (e.g.
"/__forms.html"
), not
"/"
. In SSR apps,
fetch("/")
is intercepted by the SSR catch-all function and never reaches Netlify's form processing middleware. See the React example and troubleshooting section below.

React Example

tsx

function ContactForm() {
  const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    const formData = new FormData(e.currentTarget);
    // For SSR apps, use the skeleton file path instead of "/" (e.g. "/__forms.html")
    const response = await fetch("/__forms.html", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" },
      body: new URLSearchParams(formData as any).toString(),
    });
    if (response.ok) {
      // Show success feedback
    }
  };

  return (
    <form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true" onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
      <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />
      <input type="text" name="name" placeholder="Name" />
      <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Email" />
      <textarea name="message" placeholder="Message" />
      <button type="submit">Send</button>
    </form>
  );
}

SSR troubleshooting: If form submissions appear to succeed (200 response) but nothing shows in the Netlify Forms UI, the POST is likely being intercepted by the SSR function. Ensure
fetch
targets the skeleton file path (e.g.
"/__forms.html"
), not
"/"
. The skeleton file path routes through the CDN origin where Netlify's form handler runs.

Spam Filtering

Netlify uses Akismet automatically. Add a honeypot field for extra protection:

html

<form name="contact" method="POST" netlify-honeypot="bot-field" data-netlify="true">
  <p style="display:none">
    <label>Don't fill this out: <input name="bot-field" /></label>
  </p>
  <!-- visible fields -->
</form>

For reCAPTCHA, add

data-netlify-recaptcha="true"

to the form and include

<div data-netlify-recaptcha="true"></div>

where the widget should appear.

File Uploads

html

<form name="upload" enctype="multipart/form-data" data-netlify="true">
  <input type="text" name="name" />
  <input type="file" name="attachment" />
  <button type="submit">Upload</button>
</form>

For AJAX file uploads, use

FormData

directly — do not set

Content-Type

(the browser sets it with the correct boundary):

javascript

await fetch("/", { method: "POST", body: new FormData(form) });

Limits: 8 MB max request size, 30-second timeout, one file per input field.

Notifications

Configure in the Netlify UI under Project configuration > Notifications:

Email: Auto-sends on submission. Add
```
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Contact form" />
```
for custom subject lines.
Slack: Via Netlify App for Slack.
Webhooks: Trigger external services on submission.

Submissions API

Access submissions programmatically:

GET /api/v1/forms/{form_id}/submissions
Authorization: Bearer <PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN>

Key endpoints:

Action	Method	Path
List forms	GET	`/api/v1/sites/{site_id}/forms`
Get submissions	GET	`/api/v1/forms/{form_id}/submissions`
Get spam	GET	`/api/v1/forms/{form_id}/submissions?state=spam`
Delete submission	DELETE	`/api/v1/submissions/{id}`

netlify-forms

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Netlify Forms

Basic Setup

JavaScript-Rendered Forms (React, Vue, SSR Frameworks)

AJAX Submissions

Vanilla JavaScript

React Example

Spam Filtering

File Uploads

Notifications

Submissions API