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Overview

Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll often need to handle multiple drop containers. This guide shows you how to create a drag and drop interface where items can be moved between multiple containers, like a kanban board or card organizer.

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What You’ll Build

A multi-container drag and drop interface featuring:
  • Multiple drop zones with unique identities
  • Ability to drag items between any container
  • Visual feedback showing which container will receive the item
  • State management for tracking items across containers

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Prerequisites

This guide assumes you understand the basics from the Simple Drag and Drop guide.

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Implementation

1
Define Your Container Structure
2
Start by defining your containers and their initial state. Use an object where keys are container IDs and values are arrays of item IDs.
3
import { useState } from 'react';

function App() {
  const [items, setItems] = useState({
    A: ['A1', 'A2', 'A3'],
    B: ['B1', 'B2', 'B3'],
    C: ['C1', 'C2', 'C3'],
    D: []
  });

  // Containers can be derived from the items object
  const containers = Object.keys(items); // ['A', 'B', 'C', 'D']
}
4
Key concepts:
5
  • Each container has a unique ID (A, B, C, D)
  • Items are stored as arrays within each container
  • Empty arrays represent empty containers
  • This structure makes it easy to move items between containers
    • 6
    Create Reusable Draggable Items
    7
    Create draggable items that know which container they belong to. This is important for proper state management.
    8
    import { useDraggable } from '@dnd-kit/react';

function DraggableItem({ id, container }: { id: string; container: string }) {
  const { ref, isDragging } = useDraggable({ 
    id,
    data: { container } // Store container info for later use
  });

  return (
    <div 
      ref={ref} 
      className="item"
      style={{ opacity: isDragging ? 0.5 : 1 }}
    >
      {id}
    </div>
  );
}
    9
    Key concepts:
    10
  • Store the container ID in the data object
  • Use isDragging to provide visual feedback
  • The item ID should be unique across all containers
    • 11
    Create Container Components
    12
    Each container acts as both a drop zone and a list of items.
    13
    import { useDroppable } from '@dnd-kit/react';

function Container({ 
  id, 
  items 
}: { 
  id: string; 
  items: string[];
}) {
  const { ref, isDropTarget } = useDroppable({ id });

  return (
    <div 
      ref={ref} 
      className={`container ${isDropTarget ? 'active' : ''}`}
    >
      <h3>Container {id}</h3>
      <div className="items">
        {items.map((itemId) => (
          <DraggableItem 
            key={itemId} 
            id={itemId} 
            container={id}
          />
        ))}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}
    14
    Key concepts:
    15
  • Each container is a droppable zone
  • Items are rendered from the container’s item array
  • Visual feedback shows when a container is a valid drop target
    • 16
    Handle Cross-Container Moves
    17
    Update your state when items are dropped into different containers.
    18
    import { DragDropProvider } from '@dnd-kit/react';

function App() {
  const [items, setItems] = useState({
    A: ['A1', 'A2', 'A3'],
    B: ['B1', 'B2', 'B3'],
    C: ['C1', 'C2', 'C3'],
    D: []
  });

  return (
    <DragDropProvider
      onDragEnd={(event) => {
        if (event.canceled) return;

        const { source, target } = event.operation;
        if (!source || !target) return;

        const sourceContainer = source.data?.container as string;
        const targetContainer = target.id as string;

        setItems((prev) => {
          const newItems = { ...prev };
          
          // Remove from source container
          newItems[sourceContainer] = newItems[sourceContainer].filter(
            (id) => id !== source.id
          );
          
          // Add to target container
          newItems[targetContainer] = [
            ...newItems[targetContainer],
            source.id as string
          ];
          
          return newItems;
        });
      }}
    >
      <div className="grid">
        {Object.entries(items).map(([containerId, containerItems]) => (
          <Container 
            key={containerId} 
            id={containerId} 
            items={containerItems}
          />
        ))}
      </div>
    </DragDropProvider>
  );
}
    19
    Key concepts:
    20
  • Access source container from source.data.container
  • Target container is target.id
  • Remove item from source array
  • Add item to target array
  • Use functional state updates for reliability

    • ​
    Complete Example

    Here’s a full working implementation with multiple containers: 
    import React, { useState } from 'react';
import { DragDropProvider, useDraggable, useDroppable } from '@dnd-kit/react';

function Draggable({ id }: { id: string }) {
  const { ref } = useDraggable({ id });
  return <button ref={ref} className="btn">draggable</button>;
}

function Droppable({ id, children }: { id: string; children?: React.ReactNode }) {
  const { ref, isDropTarget } = useDroppable({ id });
  
  return (
    <div ref={ref} className={isDropTarget ? "droppable active" : "droppable"}>
      <h3>Container {id}</h3>
      {children}
    </div>
  );
}

export default function App() {
  const [parent, setParent] = useState<string | undefined>(undefined);
  const draggable = <Draggable id="draggable" />;
  const droppables = ['A', 'B', 'C'];

  return (
    <DragDropProvider
      onDragEnd={(event) => {
        if (event.canceled) return;
        setParent(event.operation.target?.id as string);
      }}
    >
      <div className="grid">
        <div className="start-zone">
          {parent == null ? draggable : null}
        </div>
        {droppables.map((id) => (
          <Droppable key={id} id={id}>
            {parent === id ? draggable : null}
          </Droppable>
        ))}
      </div>
    </DragDropProvider>
  );
}

    ​
    Styling

    .grid {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(200px, 1fr));
  gap: 20px;
  padding: 40px;
  max-width: 900px;
  margin: 0 auto;
}

.container {
  min-height: 200px;
  padding: 16px;
  border: 2px solid #e0e0e0;
  border-radius: 8px;
  background: white;
  transition: all 0.2s;
}

.container.active {
  border-color: #0070f3;
  background: #f0f7ff;
  box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 112, 243, 0.1);
}

.container h3 {
  margin: 0 0 12px 0;
  font-size: 14px;
  font-weight: 600;
  color: #666;
  text-transform: uppercase;
}

.items {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  gap: 8px;
}

.item {
  padding: 12px;
  background: #0070f3;
  color: white;
  border-radius: 6px;
  cursor: grab;
  user-select: none;
  transition: opacity 0.2s;
}

.item:active {
  cursor: grabbing;
}

.start-zone {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  min-height: 200px;
  padding: 16px;
  border: 2px dashed #ccc;
  border-radius: 8px;
  background: #fafafa;
}

    ​
    Advanced: Using the Move Helper

    For sortable lists within containers, dnd-kit provides a move helper from @dnd-kit/helpers: 
    import { move } from '@dnd-kit/helpers';
import { useSortable } from '@dnd-kit/react/sortable';

// In your onDragEnd handler:
onDragEnd={(event) => {
  if (event.canceled) return;
  
  setItems((items) => move(items, event));
}}
    This automatically handles moving items between containers and reordering within containers.

    ​
    Key Takeaways

    • Structure your state as an object mapping container IDs to item arrays
    • Store container information in the draggable’s data property
    • Use event.operation.source and event.operation.target to identify containers
    • Remove items from the source container and add to the target container
    • The move helper from @dnd-kit/helpers can simplify state updates
    • Visual feedback helps users understand where items can be dropped

    ​
    Common Patterns

    ​
    Preventing Drops in Certain Containers

    onDragEnd={(event) => {
  if (event.canceled) return;
  
  const targetContainer = event.operation.target?.id;
  
  // Don't allow drops in container D
  if (targetContainer === 'D') return;
  
  // Continue with state update
}}

    ​
    Limiting Items Per Container

    onDragEnd={(event) => {
  const targetContainer = event.operation.target?.id as string;
  const targetItems = items[targetContainer];
  
  // Max 5 items per container
  if (targetItems.length >= 5) {
    return; // Don't update state
  }
  
  // Continue with state update
}}

    ​
    Next Steps

    • Explore Nested Contexts for hierarchical structures
    • Learn about sortable lists for ordering within containers
    • Add animations with drag overlays for smoother interactions

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