RTL

Overview

ReUI is a standard shadcn registry. It ships the same style families the shadcn CLI supports (base-nova, radix-nova and the rest), so everything the CLI does for RTL on shadcn's own components, it does for ReUI components, blocks and Motion Icons in exactly the same way. There is no ReUI-specific RTL mode to enable and nothing to configure beyond the standard shadcn setup.

Set RTL up once, following the official guide: shadcn/ui RTL documentation. That page is the source of truth for the components.json flag, the DirectionProvider, and the framework-specific wiring for Next.js, Vite and TanStack Start. This page only covers what is specific to ReUI.

What the CLI converts

With RTL enabled in components.json, the shadcn CLI rewrites physical Tailwind utilities into logical ones as the code is written into your project. It applies to anything installed from a registry, ReUI included:

• Positioning: left-* and right-* become start-* and end-*
• Spacing: ml-*, mr-*, pl-*, pr-* become ms-*, me-*, ps-*, pe-*
• Text alignment: text-left and text-right become text-start and text-end
• Borders and radii: border-l, rounded-r and friends become their -s / -e equivalents
• Directional animations: slide-in-from-right becomes slide-in-from-end

This is why you do not need ReUI source to be written in logical properties: the conversion happens at install time, on the copy that lands in your repository.

What the CLI cannot convert

Class conversion is mechanical and it is only half of RTL. The other half is behavior, and no CLI can infer it:

• Drag and drop. Pointer deltas are signed. A grid, Kanban or Gantt that reorders on a positive x delta needs that sign flipped under RTL.
• Scroll position. Horizontal scroll origin differs in RTL, which affects virtualized grids, timelines and anything that restores a saved scrollLeft.
• Charts. Axis placement and series direction come from the charting library's own configuration, not from Tailwind classes.
• Icons that encode direction. Chevrons and arrows need rtl:rotate-180; a check mark or a spinner must not be flipped.
• Content order. Whether a sidebar belongs on the start or end edge is a product decision, not a styling one.

Where ReUI stands today

Being straight about this is more useful than a blanket claim.

Primitives are written predominantly with logical properties already, so they degrade well before any conversion runs. The exceptions are the ones with real geometry: the Data Grid table, and the Gantt drag layer, both of which compute positions in JavaScript and are the first places to look if something reads wrong.

Blocks are presentational compositions built on those primitives and shadcn components. They are authored the way shadcn's own examples are, with physical utilities in places, and the CLI's RTL transform is what converts them on install. Because a block is layout rather than logic, class conversion covers most of what a block needs.

Not yet done, so budget for it. We do not currently ship an RTL preview toggle on block pages, an RTL test suite, or a per-block certification list. The interactive primitives - Data Grid, Gantt, Event Calendar, Kanban, Filters, App Shell - have not been formally verified in RTL, and those are exactly the ones where the behavioral issues above live. If you are building an Arabic-first or Hebrew-first product, treat static blocks as low-risk and plan a review pass over the interactive ones: verify column order, sidebar edge, drag direction, horizontal scroll and chart axes against your own designs.

Checklist for an RTL app

pnpm dlx shadcn@latest add @reui/c-data-grid-30

Further reading

• shadcn/ui RTL documentation - setup, the DirectionProvider, the full conversion list and known caveats
• Styling - ReUI's extended token system, which is direction-independent