Stable Component Criteria

Stable component criteria define the requirements components must meet to be designated production-ready. These criteria ensure that stable components are reliable, well-documented, accessible, and backed by stability commitments. Clear criteria enable consistent promotion decisions and communicate what stable means.

What Are Stable Component Criteria

Stable criteria are the checklist of requirements for component production readiness. Criteria typically span API stability, documentation completeness, test coverage, accessibility compliance, performance acceptability, and successful beta period completion. Meeting all criteria qualifies a component for stable designation.

Criteria serve multiple purposes. They guide component development toward stability requirements. They enable consistent promotion decisions. They communicate to consumers what stable status guarantees. They establish quality standards for the component library.

How Stable Component Criteria Work

API stability requirements ensure interfaces are settled. Criteria might require APIs unchanged for specified duration, no planned breaking changes, and complete TypeScript definitions. API stability enables consumer confidence in long-term usage.

Documentation requirements ensure consumers have needed information. Criteria might require usage examples, prop documentation, accessibility guidance, and common pattern coverage. Documentation completeness enables self-service adoption.

Testing requirements ensure reliability. Criteria might specify unit test coverage thresholds, visual regression test coverage, accessibility test automation, and cross-browser verification. Testing coverage enables confident updates and maintenance.

Accessibility requirements ensure inclusive design. Criteria might require WCAG AA compliance, keyboard navigation support, screen reader compatibility, and focus management. Accessibility compliance is often non-negotiable for stable status.

Performance requirements ensure acceptable efficiency. Criteria might specify bundle size limits, rendering performance benchmarks, and memory usage bounds. Performance requirements prevent problematic components from reaching stable status.

Usage requirements validate real-world readiness. Criteria might require successful production usage during beta, no critical issues outstanding, and positive consumer feedback. Usage validation confirms that theoretical quality translates to practical success.

Key Considerations

• Criteria should be achievable without being trivially easy
• All stable components should meet consistent criteria; exceptions undermine the designation
• Criteria should be documented publicly so consumers understand what stable means
• Criteria may evolve as standards rise; existing stable components may need reassessment
• Meeting criteria should be verifiable, not subjective

Common Questions

How strict should stable criteria be?

Strictness should balance quality assurance with practical achievability. Overly strict criteria that few components can meet create large unstable libraries. Overly loose criteria that most components easily meet provide little quality signal. Criteria should represent genuine production readiness standards that consumers can rely on. Starting moderately and tightening based on experience is often preferable to starting extremely strict.

What happens to stable components that later fail to meet updated criteria?

Criteria evolution creates legacy considerations. Options include grandfathering existing stable components under old criteria, requiring existing components to meet new criteria within a deadline, or reassessing stable status through periodic audits. Transparency about approach is important: consumers should know whether stable status is permanent or subject to reassessment. Most organizations take incremental approaches, applying new criteria to new promotions while gradually bringing existing components into compliance.

Summary

Stable component criteria define production readiness through API stability, documentation completeness, testing coverage, accessibility compliance, performance acceptability, and validated usage requirements. Criteria enable consistent promotion decisions and communicate stable status guarantees. Strictness should balance quality assurance with achievability. Criteria evolution requires clear handling of existing stable components, whether through grandfathering, reassessment deadlines, or periodic audits.