VA Forms Library 101
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Welcome! This guide is geared towards helping clarify what the Forms Library is and how to use it, as well as quickly connecting folks to relevant resources.
Need to do something specific now?
Head directly to Main topics and actions section below
Have time to explore?
Keep reading or visit the Forms Library Resource on the VA Platform site
What is the VA Forms Library?
The VA Forms Library is where forms are created and enhanced for our customers across the VA. It is a comprehensive system that provides an easy to use and consistent way of creating complex forms for Veterans. Web component based fields and patterns help align the forms library with VA.gov Design System.
The Forms Library consists of several different pieces:
Standardized inputs and field sets for common types of form data
Validation functions used for commonly collected types of data
A standardized data flow within the application that triggers validation and updates conditionally displayed UI
Hooks for custom validation, hiding/showing fields, and writing custom fields and widgets
Save and restore form data using the save in progress and pre-fill APIs
Applications using forms that are created with the Forms Library are created with this general flow:
Introduction Page → Form Pages Start → Form Pages → Review Page → Submission → Confirmation Page
How Does the Forms Library Work?
The Forms Library uses the Yeoman generator script (Yeoman Generator) and allows all files to be created and inserted inside of vets-website project under an application directory. This will also alter the local content-build repo and add an entry to the registry.json file so vets-website knows where your new application is located and how to display it.
The underlying technology of the Forms Library is React JsonSchema Form, and using this framework allows for specifying a “schema” and a “uiSchema” in a single form config file (JSON). This is great for consistency, speed of building, and general ease of use. If you'd like to learn more about these different options go here: Forms Library - About schema and uiSchema.
➡️ Continue learning more in the VA Forms Library Overview
Main Topics and Actions
🤔 Know when and how to use the Forms Library
So you’re moving a paper form online or moving a legacy online form to VA.gov. The next steps can be found in Getting Started with VA Forms.
✨ Set up VA.gov locally and create a new form application
Create a new form and make some simple changes using Yeoman Generator
🔎 Locate specific documentation
Detailed documentation can be found on the VA Platform website under Developer docs / Frontend developer documentation in the VA Forms Library Overview.
➕ Contribute to the Forms Library
Do you have a solution to share, or an idea for improving the forms library?
Suggest an update by submitting a documentation request.
:announcement: Coming soon
If you are looking for information about the VA Forms System Core (VAFSC - the next generation version of the Forms Library), details about the current development status of the package can be found on the VA Forms System Core Docs page.
Help and feedback
Get help from the Platform Support Team in Slack.
Submit a feature idea to the Platform.