Storybook Helpers

These helpers are designed to make integrating Web Components with Storybook easier.

There are a number of things that this helper library does to provide developers a better experience with Storybook and Web Components:

1. Uses types to provide better controls
2. Prevents name collisions when attributes, properties, slots, and CSS shadow parts share the same name
3. Provides a template with bindings for attributes, properties, CSS custom properties, and CSS shadow parts.
4. Provides two-way binding for controls and attributes in the template to help keep control values in sync with the component

Be sure to check out the official docs for more information on how to configure and use this.

Before You Install

1. If you don’t already have it installed, follow the installation steps in the Storybook docs for web components

npm create storybook@latest

1. Generate a Custom Elements Manifest (CEM) for your web components. If you’re not already generating one, here are some tools you can use.

2. Load your custom elements manifest into Storybook in the .storybook/preview.ts (or .js) file:

.storybook/preview.ts

import { setCustomElementsManifest } from "@storybook/web-components-vite";
// Import from your project root or build output
import manifest from "../custom-elements.json" with { type: "json" };

setCustomElementsManifest(manifest);

4. Add the expanded controls to your config in the .storybook/preview.ts (or .js) file:

export const parameters = {
  ...
  controls: {
    expanded: true,
    ...
  },
}

Installation

Now that you have Storybook installed, you can install the helpers:

npm i -D @wc-toolkit/storybook-helpers

Next, if you have global configurations, set those in your Storybook config in the .storybook/preview.ts (or .js) file:

preview.ts

import { setStorybookHelpersConfig, type Options } from "@wc-toolkit/storybook-helpers";

const options: Options = {...}

setStorybookHelpersConfig(options);

Setup

Import the storybook helpers into your story and get the appropriate helpers by passing your element’s tag name into the Storybook helper function. the function will return the helper data you can assign to the Storybook meta object.

my-element.stories.ts

import type { Meta, StoryObj } from "@storybook/web-components-vite";
import { getStorybookHelpers } from "@wc-toolkit/storybook-helpers";
import type { MyElement } from "./my-element.js"; // Import your element's type
import "./my-element.js"; // Import your element

// The type parameter helps TypeScript understand your component's API
const { args, argTypes, template } =
  getStorybookHelpers<MyElement>("my-element");

const meta: Meta<MyElement> = {
  title: "Components/My Element",
  component: "my-element",
  args,
  argTypes,
  render: (args) => template(args),
};
export default meta;

Returned Values

The getStorybookHelpers function returns an object with the following properties:

• args: Default values for all component properties, attributes, slots, CSS properties, and parts
• argTypes: Configuration object for Storybook controls based on your Custom Elements Manifest
• template: Function that renders your component with two-way data binding between Storybook controls and your component’s API
• logEvent: Function to manually log events in the Actions panel
• events (deprecated): Array of event names - use logEvent instead in Storybook v10+

Story Options

You can pass options as the second parameter to customize individual stories:

const { args, argTypes, template } = getStorybookHelpers<MyElement>(
  "my-element",
  {
    excludeCategories: ["methods", "cssStates"], // Hide specific categories
    setComponentVariable: true, // Access element via `component` variable
  }
);

Available options:

• excludeCategories: Array of categories to hide ("attributes", "properties", "slots", "cssProps", "cssParts", "cssStates", "methods", "events")
• setComponentVariable: Creates a global component variable for the element instance

Usage Examples

Creating Story Variations

export const Default: Story = {};

export const WithCustomLabel: Story = {
  args: {
    label: "Custom Label",
    count: 10,
  },
};

export const Disabled: Story = {
  args: {
    disabled: true,
  },
};

Using Slots

The template function accepts a second parameter for slot content:

import { html } from "lit";

export const WithSlotContent: Story = {
  render: (args) => template(args, html`<p>This content goes in the default slot</p>`),
};

Customizing CSS Properties

CSS custom properties appear as controls and can be modified:

export const CustomStyling: Story = {
  args: {
    "--card-border-color": "#ff0000",
    "--card-border-size": "2px",
    "--card-border-radius": "16px",
  },
};

Using CSS Shadow Parts

CSS shadow parts allow styling internal elements from outside:

export const StyledParts: Story = {
  args: {
    "button-part": "background: blue; color: white;",
  },
};

Manually Logging Events

If you’re not using the template helper, manually log events for the “Actions” panel:

const { logEvent } = getStorybookHelpers<MyElement>("my-element");

export const CustomRender: Story = {
  render: (args) => html`
    <my-element
      @my-event=${(e: Event) => logEvent('my-event', e)}
      @count=${(e: Event) => logEvent('count', e)}>
    </my-element>
  `,
};

Accessing the Component Instance

Enable setComponentVariable to access the element in your browser console:

const { args, argTypes, template } = getStorybookHelpers<MyElement>(
  "my-element",
  {
    setComponentVariable: true
  }
);

// In your browser console, you can now access:
// component.someMethod()
// component.someProperty = value

Troubleshooting

”Custom Elements Manifest not found” Error

This error means the Custom Elements Manifest hasn’t been loaded. Ensure you:

1. Generated a custom-elements.json file using @custom-elements-manifest/analyzer
2. Imported and set the manifest in .storybook/preview.ts using setCustomElementsManifest(manifest)

Controls Not Showing Up

Make sure you:

1. Set controls: { expanded: true } in your Storybook config
2. Your Custom Elements Manifest includes JSDoc comments for your component’s properties, attributes, events, etc.

TypeScript Errors with Template

If you get TypeScript errors, ensure:

1. You’re importing your element’s type: import type { MyElement } from './my-element.js'
2. You’re passing the type to getStorybookHelpers<MyElement>("my-element")
3. Your element class is exported from its module