docs: add api guidelines doc

contributor-docs/api.md

@@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+# API Guidelines
+
+## Overview
+
+## React
+
+### Writing a component
+
+**Checklist**
+
+- [ ] Create entrypoint file
+- [ ] Create component file
+- [ ] Create test file
+- [ ] Create stories
+  - [ ] Create default stories with playground
+  - [ ] Create feature stories
+- [ ] Create e2e test
+  - [ ] Add support for VRT
+  - [ ] Add support for AAT
+
+```tsx
+type ExampleComponentProps = {}
+
+function ExampleComponent(props: ExampleComponent) {
+  // Setup, state
+  const [state, setState] = useState(defaultValue)
+  const value = 1
+
+  // Handlers
+
+  // Effects
+  useEffect(() => {
+    // ...
+  }, [])
+
+  // Output
+  return <ExampleComponentOutput state={state} />
+}
+```
+
+<table>
+<thead><tr><th>Unpreferred</th><th>Preferred</th></tr></thead>
+<tbody>
+<tr><td>
+
+```tsx
+const ExampleComponent: React.FC<ExampleProps = () => {
+    // ...
+};
+```
+
+</td><td>
+
+```tsx
+function ExampleComponent(props: ExampleComponentProps) {
+  // ...
+}
+```
+
+</td></tr>
+</tbody></table>
+
+#### When to use `React.forwardRef`
+
+- This might not be needed anymore with React 19?
+
+### Server-side rendering
+
+- Components should support SSR by default
+- Components should not rely on client-side state for layout (avoid layout
+  thrashing)
+- Components should progressively enhance as JavaScript loads on a page
+
+### Props
+
+#### Container props
+
+These are props that are provided consistently across components and are applied
+to the containing element rendered by the component.
+
+- `className`
+- `data-testid`
+- `React.ComponentPropsWithoutRef<...>`, typically seen as spread props: `{...rest}`
+
+The position of these props should be consistently applied to the same element
+across major versions. These should be tested.
+
+#### Controllable props
+
+- Works with and without props being passed
+- There should be a `value` and `onChange` or `onValueChange` prop when
+  controlled (naming doesn't have to be `value`)
+- Do we support mixing between modes?
+- `useControllableState` hook
+
+#### Naming boolean props
+
+- Boolean props could be tracking a state value or are opt-in to behavior or
+  appearance
+  - State behavior: `<ExampleComponent open={isOpen} />`
+  - Opt-in: `<ExampleComponent fullWidth />`
+- When naming "opt-in" variants, consider the default value and what it should
+  be. Name the prop according to what they will "opt-in" to.
+
+#### Naming variant props
+
+- Any specific naming conventions?
+- Should they always have a default value? (Maybe the one we expect to be most
+  used?)
+
+#### `useCallback` and `useMemo`
+
+- Be intentional about when you apply these to a value
+- These can often deopt if a dependency passed in is not stable
+  - For example, if a prop is passed in whose value is a function that changes
+    every render then the `useCallback` and `useMemo` will also change every
+    render
+
+#### Deriving state from props
+
+- Avoid using effects to synchronize state with props
+
+### Effects
+
+- Only synchronize effects with values it should re-synchronize with
+  - This can cause weird side-effects like focus stealing unintentionally
+- When possible, apply side-effects in event handlers
+- When you need to use an unstable value in an effect, consider stabilizing the
+  value behind a ref or helper hook and calling that intstead of adding it as a
+  dependency to the effect array
+
+### Hooks
+
+#### Hooks that make use of a `ref`
+
+When designing hooks that require a reference to a DOM node (using a `ref`) you
+should design the hook to take in a `ref` as an argument instead of creating a
+`ref` on behalf of the caller.
+
+This is important when a caller decides to use multiple hooks that rely on a
+`ref`. For example,
+
+```tsx
+function MyComponent() {
+  const [ref1, isHovering] = useHover()
+  const [ref2, isDragging] = useDrag()
+
+  // How should the caller merge these two refs?
+}
+```
+
+If, instead, these hooks took in a `ref` we could have the caller manage the
+`ref` and pass it into the hooks.
+
+```tsx
+function MyComponent() {
+  const ref = useRef(null)
+  const isHovering = useHover(ref)
+  const isDragging = useDrag(ref)
+
+  // Caller has to add `ref` to a node below
+}
+```
+
+#### Hooks that use a callback
+
+- It can be convenient to allow consumers of a hook to pass an unmemoized
+  callback to hooks
+- Technique: create a stable reference to the callback that is called instead of
+  synchronizing the value with the effect
+
+### Focus management
+
+- Prefer managing focus in event handlers over effects
+- Technique: how to manage focus when visibility is managed by state
+  - Use `flushSync()`
+  - Use custom hook for this (`useFocus`)
+
+### When to provide default props
+
+## CSS
+
+### Use `clsx` for conditional class names
+
+### Use `data-*` attributes for variants and conditions
+
+### Prefer CSS Custom Properties as the bridge between JavaScript and CSS
+
+## Techniques
+
+## Links & Resources
+
+- [Multiple Layers of Abstraction in Design Systems](https://engineering.atspotify.com/2023/05/multiple-layers-of-abstraction-in-design-systems/)
+- [API design approach](https://mui.com/material-ui/guides/api/)