shadcn ui : Selectors Decision Tree

The shadcn ui catalogue exposes four primitives that all answer the same user need ("let me pick one or more values from a list"). They are NOT interchangeable. Choosing the wrong one creates predictable UX failures (frozen dropdowns, swallowed form state, lost focus, scroll traps on mobile, missing a11y names). This skill is the decision tree.

The four selectors :

1. Native <select> : the browser's built-in element ; shadcn ships a tiny styled wrapper but the semantics are unchanged.
2. shadcn Select : Radix Select wrapped with shadcn theming ; 10-primitive composition surface ; styled like a custom dropdown but the underlying contract is Radix's controlled-state pattern.
3. Combobox : a RECIPE, NOT a single primitive. Built by composing Popover + Command (the cmdk wrapper) by hand, or the new 2026 dedicated Combobox primitive surface (ComboboxInput / ComboboxContent / ComboboxList / ComboboxItem / ComboboxEmpty).
4. Command palette : the same Command primitive as Combobox, but wrapped in <CommandDialog> and triggered by a global hotkey (Cmd+K / Ctrl+K) ; used for app-wide action launching, NOT for picking a value in a form field.

Quick Reference

Decision table