Storybook for Angular
Storybook for Angular is a framework that makes it easy to develop and test UI components in isolation for Angular applications. It uses Angular builders and integrates with Compodoc to provide automatic documentation generation.
Install
To install Storybook in an existing Angular project, run this command in your project's root directory:
npm create storybook@latestYou can then get started writing stories, running tests and documenting your components. For more control over the installation process, refer to the installation guide.
Requirements
Angular โฅ 18.0 < 21.0
Webpack 5
Run Storybook
To run Storybook for a particular project, run the following:
ng run <your-project>:storybookTo build Storybook, run:
ng run <your-project>:build-storybookYou will find the output in the configured outputDir (default is dist/storybook/<your-project>).
Configure
To make the most out of Storybook in your Angular project, you can set up Compodoc integration and Storybook decorators based on your project needs.
Compodoc
You can include JSDoc comments above components, directives, and other parts of your Angular code to include documentation for those elements. Compodoc uses these comments to generate documentation for your application. In Storybook, it is useful to add explanatory comments above @Inputs and @Outputs, since these are the main elements that Storybook displays in its user interface. The @Inputs and @Outputs are elements you can interact with in Storybook, such as controls.
Automatic setup
When installing Storybook via npx storybook@latest init, you can set up Compodoc automatically.
Manual setup
If you have already installed Storybook, you can set up Compodoc manually.
Install the following dependencies:
npm install --save-dev @compodoc/compodocAdd the following option to your Storybook Builder:
{
"projects": {
"your-project": {
"architect": {
"storybook": {
"builder": "@storybook/angular:start-storybook",
"options": {
// ๐ Add these
"compodoc": true,
"compodocArgs": [
"-e",
"json",
"-d",
// Where to store the generated documentation. It's usually the root of your Angular project. It's not necessarily the root of your Angular Workspace!
"."
],
}
},
"build-storybook": {
"builder": "@storybook/angular:build-storybook",
"options": {
// ๐ Add these
"compodoc": true,
"compodocArgs": [
"-e",
"json",
"-d",
"."
],
}
}
}
}
}
}Go to your .storybook/preview.ts and add the following:
import type { Preview } from '@storybook/angular';
// ๐ Add these
import { setCompodocJson } from '@storybook/addon-docs/angular';
import docJson from '../documentation.json';
setCompodocJson(docJson);
const preview: Preview = {};
export default preview;Application-wide providers
If your component relies on application-wide providers, like the ones defined by BrowserAnimationsModule or any other modules that use the forRoot pattern to provide a ModuleWithProviders, you can apply the applicationConfig decorator to all stories for that component. This will provide them with the bootstrapApplication function, used to bootstrap the component in Storybook.
import { Meta, applicationConfig, StoryObj } from '@storybook/angular';
import { BrowserAnimationsModule, provideAnimations } from '@angular/platform-browser/animations';
import { importProvidersFrom } from '@angular/core';
import { ChipsModule } from './angular-src/chips.module';
const meta: Meta<ChipsModule> = {
component: ChipsModule,
decorators: [
// Apply application config to all stories
applicationConfig({
// List of providers and environment providers that should be available to the root component and all its children.
providers: [
...
// Import application-wide providers from a module
importProvidersFrom(BrowserAnimationsModule)
// Or use provide-style functions if available instead, e.g.
provideAnimations()
],
}),
],
};
export default meta;
type Story = StoryObj<ChipsModule>;
export const WithCustomApplicationProvider: Story = {
render: () => ({
// Apply application config to a specific story
applicationConfig: {
// The providers will be merged with the ones defined in the applicationConfig decorator's providers array of the global meta object
providers: [...],
}
})
}Angular dependencies
If your component has dependencies on other Angular directives and modules, these can be supplied using the moduleMetadata decorator either for all stories of a component or for individual stories.
import { Meta, moduleMetadata, StoryObj } from '@storybook/angular';
import { YourComponent } from './your.component';
const meta: Meta<YourComponent> = {
component: YourComponent,
decorators: [
// Apply metadata to all stories
moduleMetadata({
// import necessary ngModules or standalone components
imports: [...],
// declare components that are used in the template
declarations: [...],
// List of providers that should be available to the root component and all its children.
providers: [...],
}),
],
};
export default meta;
type Story = StoryObj<YourComponent>;
export const Base: Story = {};
export const WithCustomProvider: Story = {
decorators: [
// Apply metadata to a specific story
moduleMetadata({
imports: [...],
declarations: [...],
providers: [...],
}),
],
};FAQ
How do I manually install the Angular framework?
The easiest way to install the Angular framework is to run the upgrade command, but you can also set it up manually. First, install the framework:
npm install --save-dev @storybook/angularThen, update your .storybook/main.js|ts to change the framework property:
import { StorybookConfig } from '@storybook/angular';
const config: StorybookConfig = {
// ...
framework: '@storybook/angular', // ๐ Add this
};
export default config;Finally, update your angular.json to include the Storybook builder:
{
"projects": {
"your-project": {
"architect": {
"storybook": {
"builder": "@storybook/angular:start-storybook",
"options": {
// The path to the storybook config directory
"configDir": ".storybook",
// The build target of your project
"browserTarget": "your-project:build",
// The port you want to start Storybook on
"port": 6006
// More options available, documented here:
// https://github.com/storybookjs/storybook/tree/next/code/frameworks/angular/src/builders/start-storybook/schema.json
}
},
"build-storybook": {
"builder": "@storybook/angular:build-storybook",
"options": {
"configDir": ".storybook",
"browserTarget": "your-project:build",
"outputDir": "dist/storybook/your-project"
// More options available, documented here:
// https://github.com/storybookjs/storybook/tree/next/code/frameworks/angular/src/builders/build-storybook/schema.json
}
}
}
}
}
}How do I migrate to an Angular Storybook builder?
The Storybook Angular builder is a way to run Storybook in an Angular workspace. It is a drop-in replacement for running storybook dev and storybook build directly.
You can run npx storybook@latest automigrate to let Storybook detect and automatically fix your configuration. Otherwise, you can follow the next steps to adjust your configuration manually.
With a single project in your Angular workspace
Go to your angular.json and add storybook and build-storybook entries in your project's architect section, as shown above.
Then, adjust your package.json script section, to replace the existing Storybook scripts with the Angular CLI commands:
{
"scripts": {
- "storybook": "start-storybook -p 6006", // or `storybook dev -p 6006`
- "build-storybook": "build-storybook" // or `storybook build`
+ "storybook": "ng run <project-name:storybook",
+ "storybook": "ng run <project-name:storybook",
}
}Note that compodoc is now built into @storybook/angular; you don't have to call it explicitly. If you were running compodoc in your package.json scripts, you can remove the related script:
{
"scripts": {
- "docs:json": "compodoc -p tsconfig.json -e json -d ./documentation",
- "storybook": "npm run docs:json && start-storybook -p 6006",
- "build-storybook": "npm run docs:json && build-storybook"
+ "storybook": "ng run <project-name:storybook",
+ "storybook": "ng run <project-name:storybook",
}
}With multiple projects in your Angular workspace
In case you have multiple projects, you will have to adjust your angular.json and package.json as described above for each project you want to use Storybook with. Please note that each project should have a dedicated .storybook folder placed at the project's root directory.
You can run npx storybook@latest init sequentially for each project to set up Storybook for each of them to automatically create the .storybook folder and create the necessary configuration in your angular.json.
You can then combine multiple Storybooks with Storybook composition.
How do I configure Angular's builder for Storybook?
These are common options you may need for the Angular builder:
| Configuration element | Description |
|---|---|
"browserTarget" | Build target to be served using the following format. "example-project:builder:config" |
"debugWebpack" | Debug the Webpack configuration "debugWebpack": true |
"tsConfig" | Location of the TypeScript configuration file relative to the current workspace. "tsConfig": "./tsconfig.json". |
"preserveSymlinks" | Do not use the real path when resolving modules. If true, symlinks are resolved to their real path; otherwise, they are resolved to their symlinked path. "preserveSymlinks": true |
"port" | Port used by Storybook. "port": 6006 |
"host" | Set up a custom host for Storybook. "host": "http://my-custom-host" |
"configDir" | Storybook configuration directory location. "configDir": ".storybook" |
"https" | Starts Storybook with HTTPS enabled. "https": true Requires custom certificate information. |
"sslCa" | Provides an SSL certificate authority. "sslCa": "your-custom-certificate-authority" Optional usage with "https" |
"sslCert" | Provides an SSL certificate. "sslCert": "your-custom-certificate" Required for https |
"sslKey" | Provides an SSL key to serve Storybook. "sslKey": "your-ssl-key" |
"smokeTest" | Exit Storybook after successful start. "smokeTest": true |
"ci" | Starts Storybook in CI mode (skips interactive prompts and will not open browser window). "ci": true |
"open" | Whether to open Storybook automatically in the browser. "open": true |
"quiet" | Filters Storybook verbose build output. "quiet": true |
"enableProdMode" | Disable Angular's development mode, which turns off assertions and other checks within the framework. "enableProdMode": true |
"docs" | Starts Storybook in documentation mode. "docs": true |
"compodoc" | Execute compodoc before. "compodoc": true |
"compodocArgs" | Compodoc options. Options -p with tsconfig path and -d with workspace root is always given. "compodocArgs": ["-e", "json"] |
"styles" | Provide the location of the application's styles to be used with Storybook. "styles": ["src/styles.css", "src/styles.scss"] |
"stylePreprocessorOptions" | Provides further customization for style preprocessors resolved to the workspace root. "stylePreprocessorOptions": { "includePaths": ["src/styles"] } |
"assets" | List of static application assets. "assets": ["src/assets"] |
"initialPath" | URL path to be appended when visiting Storybook for the first time. "initialPath": "docs/configure-your-project--docs" |
"webpackStatsJson" | Write Webpack Stats JSON to disk. "webpackStatsJson": true |
"previewUrl" | Disables the default storybook preview and lets you use your own. "previewUrl": "iframe.html" |
"loglevel" | Controls level of logging during build. Can be one of: [silly, verbose, info (default), warn, error, silent]. "loglevel": "info" |
"sourceMap" | Configure sourcemaps. "sourceMap": true |
"experimentalZoneless" | Configure zoneless change detection. "experimentalZoneless": true |
The full list of options can be found in the Angular builder schemas:
API
Options
You can pass an options object for additional configuration if needed:
import type { StorybookConfig } from '@storybook/angular';
const config: StorybookConfig = {
framework: {
name: '@storybook/angular',
options: {
// ...
},
},
};The available options are:
builder
Type: Record<string, any>
Configure options for the framework's builder. For this framework, available options can be found in the Webpack builder docs.
