build-your-own-component.mdx

title	Build your own UI component
description	Create custom player controls that read state, dispatch actions, and stay accessible.

import FrameworkCase from '@/components/docs/FrameworkCase.astro'; import DocsLink from '@/components/docs/DocsLink.astro'; import DocsLinkCard from '@/components/docs/DocsLinkCard.astro'; import { TabsRoot, TabsList, TabsPanel, Tab } from '@/components/Tabs.tsx';

Custom components subscribe to player state and dispatch actions, like built-in controls.

You might not need a custom component

Before building from scratch, check if an existing approach covers your use case:

<FrameworkCase frameworks={["react"]}>

• Change what a control renders: use the render prop on any built-in component. See UI components.
• Restyle a control: use CSS custom properties and data attributes. See UI components.
• Rearrange or remove controls: eject a skin and modify it. See Customize skins.

<FrameworkCase frameworks={["html"]}>

• Restyle a control: use CSS custom properties and data attributes. See UI components.
• Rearrange or remove controls: eject a skin and modify it. See Customize skins.

Build a custom component when you need new behavior, a new state display, or integration with an external system.

Use player state and actions

Need access to player state or actions? You'll want to familiarize yourself with features. Each feature exposes a set. Here are some features you might reach for first:

State	Actions	Feature
paused, ended	play(), pause()	Playback
currentTime, duration	seek()	Time
volume, muted	setVolume(), toggleMuted()	Volume
fullscreen	requestFullscreen(), exitFullscreen()	Fullscreen

Browse the full list in the Features section of the sidebar.

Each feature also has an availability property ('available', 'unavailable', or 'unsupported') for hiding controls the platform does not support. See Features for details.

<FrameworkCase frameworks={["react"]}>

Access state and actions with usePlayer:

import { usePlayer } from '@videojs/react';

// Subscribe to state — re-renders only when selected values change
const paused = usePlayer((s) => s.paused);
const currentTime = usePlayer((s) => s.currentTime);

// Get the store for dispatching actions (does not subscribe)
const store = usePlayer();

await store.play();
store.setVolume(0.5);
store.seek(30);

<FrameworkCase frameworks={["html"]}>

Access state and actions with PlayerController and a feature selector:

import { PlayerController, playerContext, selectPlayback } from '@videojs/html';

// Subscribe to a feature — triggers update() when its state changes
#playback = new PlayerController(this, playerContext, selectPlayback);

// In update():
const playback = this.#playback.value;
if (playback?.paused) {
  playback.play();
}

Each selector returns both state and actions for that feature. Use separate controllers when you need multiple features (the full example demonstrates this).

Without a selector, PlayerController returns the full store without subscribing to changes:

#store = new PlayerController(this, playerContext);

// Call any action
this.#store.value.play();
this.#store.value.setVolume(0.5);

Place your component in the player

<FrameworkCase frameworks={["react"]}>

Your component needs to be inside <Player.Provider> to access state. Place it inside <Player.Container> if it should also participate in fullscreen and respond to user activity:

<Player.Provider> // [!code focus]
  <Player.Container> // [!code focus]
    <VideoSkin>
      <Video src="video.mp4" />
    </VideoSkin>
    <SkipIntroButton /> // [!code focus]
  </Player.Container> // [!code focus]
</Player.Provider> // [!code focus]

<FrameworkCase frameworks={["html"]}>

Your element needs to be inside <video-player> to access state. Place it inside <media-container> if it should also participate in fullscreen and respond to user activity. <video-skin> slots its children into <media-container>, so a child of the skin works:

<video-player> <!-- [!code focus] -->
  <video-skin> <!-- [!code focus] -->
    <video slot="media" src="video.mp4"></video>
    <skip-intro-button>Skip intro</skip-intro-button> <!-- [!code focus] -->
  </video-skin> <!-- [!code focus] -->
</video-player> <!-- [!code focus] -->

Extend MediaElement from @videojs/html so PlayerController can schedule DOM updates when state changes:

import { MediaElement, PlayerController, playerContext, selectTime, type PropertyValues } from '@videojs/html';

class SkipIntroButtonElement extends MediaElement {
  #player = new PlayerController(this, playerContext, selectTime);

  update(changed: PropertyValues) {
    super.update(changed);
    const time = this.#player.value;
  }
}

Make it accessible

Learn more about accessibility in video players

Full example

A "skip intro" button that appears during the first 30 seconds of playback and seeks past the intro when clicked.

<FrameworkCase frameworks={["react"]}>

SkipIntroButton.tsx SkipIntroButton.css ```tsx import { usePlayer } from '@videojs/react';

function SkipIntroButton() {
  const store = usePlayer();
  const currentTime = usePlayer((s) => s.currentTime);
  const paused = usePlayer((s) => s.paused);

  const visible = currentTime < 30 && !paused;

  return (
    <button
      className="skip-intro-button"
      onClick={() => store.seek(30)}
      aria-label="Skip intro"
      // `undefined` removes the attribute; `false` would render data-visible="false"
      data-visible={visible || undefined}
      tabIndex={visible ? 0 : -1}
    >
      Skip intro
    </button>
  );
}
```

```css .skip-intro-button { position: absolute; bottom: 5rem; right: 1rem; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; transition: opacity 200ms; }

.skip-intro-button[data-visible] {
  opacity: 1;
  pointer-events: auto;
}
```

<FrameworkCase frameworks={["html"]}>

skip-intro-button.ts skip-intro-button.css ```ts import { MediaElement, PlayerController, playerContext, selectTime, selectPlayback, type PropertyValues, } from '@videojs/html';

class SkipIntroButtonElement extends MediaElement {
  #time = new PlayerController(this, playerContext, selectTime);
  #playback = new PlayerController(this, playerContext, selectPlayback);
  #disconnect: AbortController | null = null;

  connectedCallback() {
    super.connectedCallback();
    this.#disconnect?.abort();
    this.#disconnect = new AbortController();
    const { signal } = this.#disconnect;

    this.setAttribute('role', 'button');
    this.setAttribute('aria-label', 'Skip intro');
    this.setAttribute('tabindex', '0');
    this.addEventListener('click', this.#handleActivate, { signal });
    this.addEventListener('keydown', this.#handleKeydown, { signal });
    this.addEventListener('keyup', this.#handleKeyup, { signal });
  }

  disconnectedCallback() {
    super.disconnectedCallback();
    // Removes all listeners registered with this signal
    this.#disconnect?.abort();
    this.#disconnect = null;
  }

  update(changed: PropertyValues) {
    super.update(changed);
    const time = this.#time.value;
    const playback = this.#playback.value;

    // Features are configured per-player, so a feature may not be available
    if (!time || !playback) return;

    const visible = time.currentTime < 30 && !playback.paused;
    this.toggleAttribute('data-visible', visible);
    this.setAttribute('tabindex', visible ? '0' : '-1');
  }

  #handleActivate = () => {
    this.#time.value?.seek(30);
  };

  #handleKeydown = (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
    if (event.key === 'Enter') {
      event.preventDefault();
      this.#handleActivate();
    } else if (event.key === ' ') {
      // Prevent Space from scrolling the page
      event.preventDefault();
    }
  };

  // ARIA button pattern: Space activates on keyup, not keydown
  #handleKeyup = (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
    if (event.key === ' ') {
      this.#handleActivate();
    }
  };
}

customElements.define('skip-intro-button', SkipIntroButtonElement);
```

```css skip-intro-button { position: absolute; bottom: 5rem; right: 1rem; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; transition: opacity 200ms; }

skip-intro-button[data-visible] {
  opacity: 1;
  pointer-events: auto;
}
```