# Dropdown anatomy

URL: https://lbliii.github.io/chirp-ui/docs/components/dropdowns/
Section: components
Tags: components, navigation, alpine

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Dropdown anatomy Chirp UI ships three dropdown macros from chirpui/dropdown_menu.html: dropdown_menu(trigger, items, id="chirpui-dropdown") dropdown_select(trigger_label, items, selected=none, id="chirpui-dropdown-select") dropdown_split(primary_label, primary_href=none, primary_action=none, items=[], icon=none) dropdown_menu and dropdown_split use the chirpuiDropdown() Alpine controller. Item selection is dispatched through chirpui:dropdown-selected, with payloads read from escaped data-label, data-href, and data-action attributes. dropdown_select uses chirpuiDropdownSelect() and emits chirpui:dropdown-selected with { label, value }. Dropdown select vs combobox dropdown_select(...) is the current Chirp UI combobox-like surface. It is published as the dropdown-select registry/manifest component and renders a role="combobox" trigger with a role="listbox" menu. Use it for command choices, filters, density switches, and other app-state selections that should not submit a normal HTML form. Use select_field(...) from chirpui/forms.html when the value belongs to a form payload or should use the platform picker on mobile. The full rendered contract, ARIA roles, focus behavior, keyboard behavior, HTMX link behavior, and proof locations live in the canonical source guide: docs/components/dropdown-anatomy.md.

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