Bylaw.Credo.Check.HEEx.PreferLinkForNavigation (bylaw_credo v0.1.1)

Basics

This check has a base priority of high and works with any version of Elixir.

Explanation

Prefers link semantics over button semantics for durable HEEx/HTML navigation.

Examples

Embedded ~H templates are checked during normal Credo runs over Elixir files. Standalone .html.heex templates require enabling Bylaw.Credo.Plugin.HEExSources in Credo's plugins configuration. Avoid:

  ~H"""
  <button phx-click={JS.navigate(~p"/settings")}>Settings</button>
  <div phx-click={JS.patch(~p"/users")}>Users</div>
  <.button phx-click={JS.navigate(~p"/billing")}>Billing</.button>
  <button phx-click={Phoenix.LiveView.JS.patch("/users")}>Users</button>
  """

Prefer:

  ~H"""
  <a href={~p"/settings"}>Settings</a>
  <.link patch={~p"/users"}>Users</.link>
  <.link navigate={~p"/billing"}>Billing</.link>
  """

Notes

Embedded ~H templates in .ex and .exs files are checked by Credo's normal source traversal. Standalone .html.heex templates are checked when Bylaw.Credo.Plugin.HEExSources is enabled in .credo.exs.

This check uses Phoenix LiveView's undocumented HEEx tokenizer when it is available. Add phoenix_live_view to applications that enable this check.

This check uses static HEEx token analysis, so it reports only patterns visible in the template source.

This check enforces link semantics for durable navigation so users keep native browser behaviors such as opening a destination in a new tab, copying the URL, and using standard link interactions.

This check reports non-link HEEx tags and components whose phx-click expression contains an explicit JS.navigate/1-3, JS.patch/1-3, Phoenix.LiveView.JS.navigate/1-3, or Phoenix.LiveView.JS.patch/1-3 call. Native <a> tags and the standard <.link> component are allowed here as link primitives. The check does not attempt to infer event-name strings or dynamic expressions that do not contain one of those explicit navigation calls.

Options

This check has no check-specific options. Configure it with an empty option list.

Usage

Add this check to Credo's checks: list in .credo.exs:

%{
  configs: [
    %{
      name: "default",
      checks: [
        {Bylaw.Credo.Check.HEEx.PreferLinkForNavigation, []}
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Check-Specific Parameters

There are no specific parameters for this check.

General Parameters

Like with all checks, general params can be applied.

Parameters can be configured via the .credo.exs config file.