Component Story Format (CSF)

CSF Factories are the next evolution of Storybook's Component Story Format (CSF). This new API uses a pattern called factory functions to provide full type safety to your Storybook stories, making it easier to configure addons correctly and unlocking the full potential of Storybook's features.

This reference will provide an overview of the API and a migration guide to upgrade from CSF 3.

Overview

The CSF Factories API is composed of four main functions to help you write stories. Note how three of the functions operate as factories, each producing the next function in the chain (definePreview → preview.meta → meta.story), providing full type safety at each step.

defineMain

With CSF Factories, your main Storybook config is specified by the defineMain function. This function is type-safe and will automatically infer types for your project.

// Replace your-framework with the framework you are using (e.g., react-vite, nextjs, experimental-nextjs-vite)
import { defineMain } from '@storybook/your-framework/node';
 
export default defineMain({
  framework: '@storybook/your-framework',
  stories: ['../src/**/*.mdx', '../src/**/*.stories.@(js|jsx|mjs|ts|tsx)'],
  addons: ['@storybook/addon-a11y'],
});

definePreview

Similarly, the definePreview function specifies your project's story configuration. This function is also type-safe and will infer types throughout your project.

Importantly, by specifying addons here, their types will be available throughout your project, enabling autocompletion and type checking.

You will import the result of this function, preview, in your story files to define the component meta.

// Replace your-framework with the framework you are using (e.g., react-vite, nextjs, experimental-nextjs-vite)
import { definePreview } from '@storybook/your-framework';
import addonA11y from '@storybook/addon-a11y';
 
export default definePreview({
  // 👇 Add your addons here
  addons: [addonA11y()],
  parameters: {
    // type-safe!
    a11y: {
      options: { xpath: true },
    },
  },
});

preview.meta

The meta function on the preview object is used to define the metadata for your stories. It accepts an object containing the component, title, parameters, and other story properties.

// Learn about the # subpath import: https://storybook.js.org/docs/api/csf/csf-factories#subpath-imports
import preview from '#.storybook/preview';
 
import { Button } from './Button';
 
const meta = preview.meta({
  component: Button,
  parameters: {
    // type-safe!
    layout: 'centered',
  }
});
export default meta;

meta.story

Finally, the story function on the meta object defines the stories. This function accepts an object containing the name, args, parameters, and other story properties.

// ...from above
const meta = preview.meta({ /* ... */ });
 
export const Primary = meta.story({
  args: {
    // type-safe!
    primary: true,
  },
});

Subpath imports

CSF Factories leverages subpath imports to simplify importing constructs from the preview file. While you can still use relative path imports, subpath imports offer a more convenient and maintainable approach:

// ✅ Subpath imports won't break if you move story files around
import preview from '#.storybook/preview';
 
// ❌ Relative imports will break if you move story files around
import preview from '../../../.storybook/preview';

See the manual migration steps for details about configuring the necessary subpath imports.

For more details, refer to the subpath imports documentation.

Upgrading from CSF 1, 2, or 3

You can upgrade your project's story files to CSF Factories incrementally or all at once. However, before using CSF Factories in a story file, you must upgrade your .storybook/main.js|ts and .storybook/preview.js|ts files.

1. Add subpath import in package.json

To be able to consistently import the preview file from any location in your project, you need to add a subpath import in your package.json. For more information, refer to the subpath imports documentation.

{
  "imports": {
    "#*": ["./*", "./*.ts", "./*.tsx"],
  },
}

2. Update your main Storybook config file

Update your .storybook/main.js|ts file to use the new defineMain function.

// Replace your-framework with the framework you are using (e.g., react-vite, nextjs, experimental-nextjs-vite)
+ import { defineMain } from '@storybook/your-framework/node';
- import { StorybookConfig } from '@storybook/your-framework';
 
+ export default defineMain({
- export const config: StorybookConfig = {
    // ...current config
+ });
- };
- export default config;

3. Update your preview config file

Update your .storybook/preview.js|ts file to use the new definePreview function.

// Replace your-framework with the framework you are using (e.g., react-vite, nextjs, experimental-nextjs-vite)
+ import { definePreview } from '@storybook/your-framework';
- import { Preview } from '@storybook/your-renderer';
// 👇 Import the addons you are using
+ import addonA11y from '@storybook/addon-a11y';
 
+ export default definePreview({
- export const preview: Preview = {
    // ...current config
    // 👇 Add your addons here
+   addons: [addonA11y()],
+ });
- };
- export default preview;

4. Update your story files

Story files have been updated for improved usability. With the new format:

• Import the preview construct from the Storybook preview file
• The meta object is now created via the preview.meta function and does not have to be exported as a default export
• Stories are now created from the meta object, via the meta.story function

// Learn about the # subpath import: https://storybook.js.org/docs/api/csf/csf-factories#subpath-imports
+ import preview from '#.storybook/preview';
- import { Meta, StoryObj } from '@storybook/your-renderer';
 
import { Button } from './Button';
 
+ const meta = preview.meta({
- const meta = {
    // ...current meta
+ });
- } satisfies Meta<typeof Button>;
- export default meta;
 
- type Story = StoryObj<typeof meta>;
 
+ export const Primary = meta.story({
- export const Primary: Story = {
    // ...current story
+ });
- };

Note that importing or manually applying any type to the meta or stories is no longer necessary. Thanks to the factory function pattern, the types are now inferred automatically.

4.1 Reusing story properties

Previously, story properties such as Story.args or Story.parameters were accessed directly when reusing them in another story. While accessing them like this is still supported, it is deprecated in CSF Factories.

All of the story properties are now contained within a new property called composed and should be accessed from that property instead. For instance, Story.composed.args or Story.composed.parameters.

// ...rest of file
 
+ export const Primary = meta.story({
- export const Primary: Story = {
    args: { primary: true },
+ });
- };
 
+ export const PrimaryDisabled = meta.story({
- export const PrimaryDisabled: Story = {
    args: {
+     ...Primary.composed.args,
-     ...Primary.args,
      disabled: true,
    }
+ });
- };

5. Update your Vitest setup file

Whether you're using Storybook's Test addon or portable stories in Vitest, you may use a Vitest setup file to configure your stories. This file must be updated to use the new CSF Factories format.

import { beforeAll } from 'vitest';
// 👇 No longer necessary
- import { setProjectAnnotations } from '@storybook/react';
- import * as addonAnnotations from 'my-addon/preview';
+ import preview from './.storybook/preview';
- import * as previewAnnotations from './.storybook/preview';
 
// No longer necessary
- const annotations = setProjectAnnotations([previewAnnotations, addonAnnotations]);
 
// Run Storybook's beforeAll hook
+ beforeAll(preview.composed.beforeAll);
- beforeAll(annotations.beforeAll);

6. Reusing stories in test files

Storybook's Test addon allows you to test your components directly inside Storybook. All the stories are automatically turned into Vitest tests, making integration seamless in your testing suite.

If you cannot use Storybook Test, you can still reuse the stories in your test files using portable stories. In prior story formats, you had to compose the stories before rendering them in your test files. With CSF Factories, you can now reuse the stories directly.

import { test, expect } from 'vitest';
import { screen } from '@testing-library/react';
- import { composeStories } from '@storybook/react';
 
// Import all stories from the stories file
import * as stories from './Button.stories';
 
+ const { Primary } = stories;
- const { Primary } = composeStories(stories);
 
test('renders primary button with default args', async () => {
  // The run function will mount the component and run all of Storybook's lifecycle hooks
  await Primary.run();
  const buttonElement = screen.getByText('Text coming from args in stories file!');
  expect(buttonElement).not.toBeNull();
});

The Story object also provides a Component property, enabling you to render the component with any method you choose, such as Testing Library. You can also access its composed properties (args, parameters, etc.) via the composed property.

Here's an example of how you can reuse a story in a test file by rendering its component:

import { test, expect } from 'vitest';
import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
 
// Import all stories from the stories file
import * as stories from './Button.stories';
 
const { Primary, Secondary } = stories;
 
test('renders primary button with default args', async () => {
  // Access the story's component via the .Component property
  render(<Primary.Component />);
  const buttonElement = screen.getByText('Text coming from args in stories file!');
  expect(buttonElement).not.toBeNull();
});
 
test('renders primary button with overridden props', async () => {
  // You can override props by passing them directly to the story's component
  render(<Primary.Component>Hello world</Primary.Component>);
  const buttonElement = screen.getByText(/Hello world/i);
  expect(buttonElement).not.toBeNull();
});

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Will I have to migrate all of my stories to this new format?

Storybook will continue to support CSF 1, CSF 2, and CSF 3 for the foreseeable future. None of these prior formats are deprecated.

While using CSF Factories, you can still use the older formats, as long as they are not mixed in the same file. If you want to migrate your existing files to the new format, refer to the upgrade section, above.

Will this format work with MDX docs pages?

Yes, the doc blocks used to reference stories in MDX files support the CSF Factories format with no changes needed.

How can I know more about this format and provide feedback?

For more information on this experimental format's original proposal, refer to its RFC on GitHub. We welcome your comments!