[FEAT] Add built-in support for preferences/settings

[nimo23]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Currently, there is no support for a preference page (user settings page).

Describe alternatives you've considered

No response

Additional context

No response

Describe the thing to improve

Would be nice to have build-in support for a preference page (see https://marmelab.com/blog/2023/07/04/react-admin-vs-refine.html#preferences).

[hnujwal]

"Hi! I'd love to contribute to this feature. Do you have a preferred structure or scope in mind for the preference page (e.g., theme, layout, filters)? Should it be part of core or a plugin?"

[nimo23]

Hi

Do you have a preferred structure or scope in mind for the preference page (e.g., theme, layout, filters)?

Yes, theme, layout, language and any other setting which are hooked from a configurable component. The points from https://marmelab.com/blog/2023/07/04/react-admin-vs-refine.html#preferences can be used as an inspiration. For example:

• By inventing hook(s) to be able to add preferences to user defined components (e.g. useConfig-hooks)
• Or by inventing something like https://marmelab.com/react-admin/Configurable.html to be able to make any component configurable (<Config ..)

=> The config options (settings) can then be put into the global preference page.
=> The config options (settings) can be saved/loaded from localStorage (similar to https://marmelab.com/react-admin/Store.html) or by saving/loading JSON (e.g. from/to a REST endpoint).

Should it be part of core or a plugin?

In my opinion, the ability to maintain configs/preferences/settings should be integrated into the core, as for a common dashboard a global settings page makes sense (for example, see the VSCode settings page, where each configurable component is added to the VSCode settings page - Refine can work and look similar.

I think the component should also be called "Configs" (and not "Preferences") since there are also predefined/default settings (which can be customized).

[pcfreak30]

IMO using zustand or jotai might make the most sense here for the state parts of this...

[alicanerdurmaz]

Hey @nimo23. In a basic Refine app, we can change only two settings: Dark/Light mode and Language. Which other settings would you like to add to the preferences page?

Also, we don’t currently plan to add a built-in global store like react-admin’s, because well-known libraries such as zustand and jotai already meet this need.

[nimo23]

Which other settings would you like to add to the preferences page?

Any configurable settings (e.g. user preferences, language, etc.) - see above.

Please read https://marmelab.com/blog/2023/07/04/react-admin-vs-refine.html#preferences for inspiration.

Currently, Refine has no support for user preferences. Only dark/light mode is not sufficient.

For

"internal tools, admin panels, dashboards & B2B apps with unmatched flexibility"

a preference-module should be standard and mandatory, don't you think so?

But yes, we can simply add zustand and jotai. Refine can integrate these libraries and build upon them, as it does with other modules, to provide a seamless solution..

[alicanerdurmaz]

I see your point, and you’re right in some ways. But every app has different needs, settings, and requirements.

Today, thanks to tools like Refine AI or Claude Code, it’s possible to build these kinds of settings pages in just 2–3 hours using the Refine approach.

We think adding this feature to the core library would bring more maintenance work than actual value for most users.

Also, this kind of abstraction could reduce flexibility. In the end, serious projects would likely need to build their own custom solutions anyway.