@shopify/draggable — Drag & Drop Interaction Skill

Implement drag-and-drop interactions with @shopify/draggable. Supports Draggable (basic drag), Sortable (reordering), Droppable (drop zones), Swappable (swapping), Plugins (mirror/snapping/collision/scroll, etc.), Sensors (mouse/touch/force touch).

Built on Shopify's @shopify/draggable (MIT license, v1.2.1). Pure JS library, zero runtime dependencies, supports ES modules and UMD.

Use cases

sortable lists, droppable panels, custom drag interactions, kanban/grid drag-and-drop reorganization. No longer maintained, now community-maintained.

Install

npm install @shopify/draggable

Or via CDN (recommended for prototyping):

<script type="module">
import { Draggable, Sortable, Droppable, Swappable } from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable/build/esm/index.mjs';
</script>

Module Overview

Module	Class	Purpose
Base	Draggable	Core drag engine, manages mirror, sensors, and events
Sorting	Sortable	Reorder on drag, tracks old and new indices
Drop Zone	Droppable	Drag elements into/out of specific dropzones
Swap	Swappable	Swap two element positions on drag (no sorting)

Quick Start

Basic Drag

import Draggable from '@shopify/draggable';

const draggable = new Draggable(document.querySelectorAll('.container'), {
  draggable: '.draggable-source',
});

draggable.on('drag:start', (event) => {
  console.log('Started dragging:', event.source);
});

draggable.on('drag:stop', () => {
  console.log('Drag ended');
});

Sortable List

import Sortable from '@shopify/draggable';

const sortable = new Sortable(document.querySelectorAll('.list'), {
  draggable: '.list-item',
  delay: { mouse: 200, touch: 300 },
});

sortable.on('sortable:stop', (event) => {
  console.log(`Moved from index ${event.oldIndex} to ${event.newIndex}`);
});

Drag into Drop Zone

import Droppable from '@shopify/draggable';

const droppable = new Droppable(document.querySelectorAll('.source-container'), {
  draggable: '.card',
  dropzone: '.dropzone',
});

droppable.on('droppable:dropped', (event) => {
  console.log('Dropped into dropzone:', event.dropzone);
});

droppable.on('droppable:returned', (event) => {
  console.log('Returned to original position');
});

Element Swap

import Swappable from '@shopify/draggable';

const swappable = new Swappable(document.querySelectorAll('.grid'), {
  draggable: '.grid-item',
});

swappable.on('swappable:swapped', (event) => {
  console.log('Swapped element:', event.swappedElement);
});

Configuration Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
draggable	String	'.draggable-source'	CSS selector for draggable elements
handle	String|null	null	CSS selector for drag handle
delay	Object	{}	Delay before drag starts ({ mouse: ms, touch: ms })
distance	Number	0	Minimum pixels to move before dragging
placedTimeout	Number	800	Delay before removing placed CSS classes (ms)
plugins	Array	[]	Additional plugins
sensors	Array	[]	Additional sensors
classes	Object	see below	Custom CSS class names
announcements	Object	see below	Accessibility announcements

CSS Class Map

const defaultClasses = {
  'container:dragging': 'draggable-container--is-dragging',
  'source:dragging':    'draggable-source--is-dragging',
  'source:placed':      'draggable-source--placed',
  'container:placed':   'draggable-container--placed',
  'body:dragging':      'draggable--is-dragging',
  'draggable:over':     'draggable--over',
  'container:over':     'draggable-container--over',
  'source:original':    'draggable--original',
  mirror:               'draggable-mirror',
};

Droppable additional classes:

Identifier	Default Class	Description
droppable:active	draggable-dropzone--active	Accepting drop zones
droppable:occupied	draggable-dropzone--occupied	Occupied drop zones

Excluding Default Plugins/Sensors

new Draggable(containers, {
  exclude: {
    plugins: [],     // List of plugin constructors
    sensors: [],     // List of sensor constructors
  },
});

Events API

Base Events (All Modules)

Event	Trigger
drag:start	Drag started
drag:move	Drag moving
drag:over	Hovering over another draggable element
drag:over:container	Hovering over another container
drag:out	Moved out of an element
drag:out:container	Moved out of a container
drag:stop	Drag stopped
drag:pressure	Pressure change (Force Touch)
drag:stopped	Drag fully ended

Common Event Properties

draggable.on('drag:start', (event) => {
  event.source;           // Cloned source element
  event.originalSource;   // Original element (display:none)
  event.sourceContainer;  // Source container
  event.sensorEvent;      // Original sensor event
  event.cancel();         // Cancel the drag
});

Sortable Events

Event	Additional Properties
sortable:start	startIndex, startContainer
sortable:sort	currentIndex, source, over
sortable:sorted	oldIndex, newIndex, oldContainer, newContainer
sortable:stop	oldIndex, newIndex, oldContainer, newContainer

Droppable Events

Event	Additional Properties
droppable:start	dragEvent, dropzone
droppable:dropped	dragEvent, dropzone
droppable:returned	dragEvent, dropzone
droppable:stop	dragEvent, dropzone

Swappable Events

Event	Additional Properties
swappable:start	dragEvent
swappable:swap	dragEvent, over, overContainer
swappable:swapped	dragEvent, swappedElement
swappable:stop	dragEvent

Plugins

Plugin	Class	Function
Announcement	Draggable.Plugins.Announcement	Live accessibility announcements during drag
Focusable	Draggable.Plugins.Focusable	Keyboard focus management
Mirror	Draggable.Plugins.Mirror	Shows mirror element while dragging (enabled by default)
Scrollable	Draggable.Plugins.Scrollable	Auto-scroll container when dragging near edge
Collidable	Plugins.Collidable	Collision detection (requires separate import)
ResizeMirror	Plugins.ResizeMirror	Auto-resize mirror element
Snappable	Plugins.Snappable	Snap to specific positions
SwapAnimation	Plugins.SwapAnimation	Swap animation
SortAnimation	Plugins.SortAnimation	Sort animation

Collidable

import { Plugins } from '@shopify/draggable';
import Collidable from '@shopify/draggable/build/esm/Plugins/Collidable';

new Draggable(containers, {
  plugins: [Collidable],
});

Collidable events: collidable:in (entered collision), collidable:out (left collision).

Snappable

import Snappable from '@shopify/draggable/build/esm/Plugins/Snappable';
new Draggable(containers, {
  plugins: [Snappable],
});

Sensors

Sensor	Description	Default
MouseSensor	Mouse drag	✅
TouchSensor	Touch drag	✅
ForceTouchSensor	Force Touch pressure	❌
DragSensor	Native HTML5 Drag & Drop	❌

import { Draggable } from '@shopify/draggable';
import ForceTouchSensor from '@shopify/draggable/build/esm/Draggable/Sensors/ForceTouchSensor';

new Draggable(containers, {
  sensors: [ForceTouchSensor],
});

Instance Methods

Method	Description
addPlugin(...plugins)	Add plugins
removePlugin(...plugins)	Remove plugins
addSensor(...sensors)	Add sensors
removeSensor(...sensors)	Remove sensors
addContainer(...containers)	Dynamically add containers
removeContainer(...containers)	Dynamically remove containers
on(type, ...callbacks)	Bind event listener
off(type, callback)	Unbind event listener
trigger(event)	Trigger an event
isDragging()	Check if currently dragging
getDraggableElements()	Get all draggable elements
cancel()	Immediately cancel current drag
destroy()	Destroy the instance

Common Patterns

Drag with Handle

new Sortable(document.querySelectorAll('.list'), {
  draggable: '.list-item',
  handle: '.drag-handle',   // Only .drag-handle can trigger drag
});

Delay & Minimum Distance (Prevent Accidental Drag)

new Draggable(containers, {
  delay: { mouse: 100, touch: 200 },
  distance: 5,            // Must move 5px before dragging
});

Cross-Container Sorting

const sortable = new Sortable(document.querySelectorAll('.column'), {
  draggable: '.card',
  delay: { touch: 200 },
});
// Cross-container drag is supported automatically

Prevent Specific Drags

draggable.on('drag:start', (event) => {
  if (event.source.dataset.draggable === 'false') {
    event.cancel();
  }
});

Custom Mirror Style

import Draggable from '@shopify/draggable';

const draggable = new Draggable(containers, {
  classes: {
    mirror: 'my-custom-mirror',
  },
});

// Or customize via CSS
// .draggable-mirror { opacity: 0.7; transform: scale(1.05); }

Lifecycle

constructor()
  ↓
draggable:initialized
  ↓
drag:start ──→ drag:move ──→ drag:stop ──→ drag:stopped
  ↓              ↓              ↓
Plugin events  sortable:sorted  sortable:stop
  ↓           droppable:       droppable:stop
cancel()      dropped          swappable:stop
              swappable:
              swapped
  ↓
destroy()

Notes

• Draggable does not perform sorting by itself — Sortable, Droppable, and Swappable are its subclasses
• The source element is set to display: none during drag; the mirror takes its visual place
• No longer maintained by the original Shopify authors; now community-maintained. Evaluate risk for production use
• TypeScript type definitions are bundled — no need to install @types separately
• Does not support IE11; targets ES6 modern browsers
• Use jsdelivr for CDN; avoid unpkg (incompatible paths)