angular / angular/components

bug(MatChipGrid): Chips form controls do not update values until focus is achieved and lost

Open
#28,065 3 comments 6 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
area: material/chips P2
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Description

### Is this a regression?

- [ ] Yes, this behavior used to work in the previous version

### The previous version in which this bug was not present was

_No response_

### Description

There are several scenarios where this is a breaking bug:
* With a form that has a required chips field and a conditionally disabled element, the element will remain disabled even after the field is valid until it loses focus. This is confusing to users if they don't realize they need to remove focus from the chips field in order for the element to become enabled.
* When a required chips component is the last field in a form, followed by a conditionally disabled submit button and a cancel button, a user may accidentally hit the cancel button if they attempt to tab to the submit button.
* With chips that can be dragged and dropped, the chips field does not necessarily receive focus when chips are moved around. This results in chips being visibly moved, but the form control value does not get updated. Since order generally matters for chips that can be dragged and dropped, a user could get the desired order visually, while a different order gets persisted upon submission.

### Reproduction

StackBlitz link: https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-material-chips-bug-f6octd?file=src%2Fmain.ts
Steps to reproduce:
1. Create a required chips field followed by a submit button conditionally enabled by the validation of the preceding field
2. Focus on chips input
3. Select option or type out input
4. Hit **Enter** key on keyboard
5. Hit **Tab** key on keyboard

### Expected Behavior

The submit button should receive focus because it is enabled after hitting **Enter** in the chips field. The chips form control value should be updated immediately when a chip is created.

### Actual Behavior

The submit button does not receive focus.

### Environment

- Angular: 16.2.12
- CDK/Material: 16.2.11
- Browser(s): Tested in Chrome and Firefox, likely reproducible in others
- Operating System (e.g. Windows, macOS, Ubuntu): Tested in Windows, likely reproducible in others

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the linked StackBlitz reproduction at src/main.ts and trace MatChipGrid's form-control update behavior. Compare the Enter, Tab, and drag-and-drop scenarios with the expected immediate value propagation and focus behavior. Done means the control value and dependent button state update immediately without requiring focus to be lost.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
angular, typescript
Domain
frontend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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