fix(Modal): allow Escape to close ContextualMenu before closing Modal

[koushik717]

Problem

Fixes #1305

When a ContextualMenu is open inside a Modal, pressing Escape closes the Modal immediately rather than the menu first. This breaks the expected layered-dismiss UX and is an accessibility issue.

Root cause

Modal.tsx called stopImmediatePropagation() unconditionally. Because ContextualMenu renders via a Portal (a DOM sibling, not a React child), its own document keydown listener was silenced before it could fire.

Fix — component-agnostic global LIFO escape-key stack

Following @edlerd's exploration in #1305, this implements the global handler-stack approach used by every major overlay library (Radix UI, Headless UI, Chakra UI).

New: src/hooks/useEscapeStack.ts

A module-level LIFO array of callbacks. A single document keydown listener calls only the top-of-stack handler and then calls stopImmediatePropagation() — no component needs to know about any other.

// low-level imperative API (used internally)
const unregister = pushEscapeHandler(() => closeMyOverlay());

// React hook API (for consumers)
useEscapeStack(() => closeMyOverlay(), { isActive: isOpen });

useOnEscapePressed — delegates to pushEscapeHandler

No API change; existing call-sites are unaffected.

Modal — uses useOnEscapePressed

The Escape branch is removed from Modal's manual keydown map. Modal now registers via the stack, so it naturally yields to any overlay opened after it.

usePortal — registers on the stack only while open

A new useEffect([isOpen, closeOnEsc, …]) registers the handler when the portal opens and pops it when it closes. The stack always reflects the current visual overlay depth.

Result

The most recently opened overlay handles Escape first, regardless of component type, DOM position, or whether it is a consumer-defined overlay (consumers can call useEscapeStack or pushEscapeHandler to join the same stack).

Two-step dismiss for Modal + ContextualMenu:

1. First Escape → ContextualMenu closes (top of stack)
2. Second Escape → Modal closes (now top of stack)

Changes

• src/hooks/useEscapeStack.ts — New: LIFO stack + useEscapeStack hook + pushEscapeHandler
• src/hooks/useEscapeStack.test.ts — New: unit tests for stack ordering and propagation
• src/hooks/useOnEscapePressed.ts — Delegates to pushEscapeHandler
• src/components/Modal/Modal.tsx — Uses useOnEscapePressed; Escape removed from keydown map
• src/components/Modal/Modal.test.tsx — Updated + regression test for ContextualMenu cannot be closed with ESCAPE key when inside a Modal #1305
• src/external/usePortal.ts — Registers on escape stack only while portal is open
• src/hooks/index.ts / src/index.ts — Export new hook and utility

Testing

yarn lint  ✓  (0 errors)
yarn test  ✓  (837 tests, 103 suites)

[webteam-app]

koushik717 is not a collaborator of the repo

[jmuzina]

Thanks for the contribution @koushik717 and apologies that this slipped beneath the radar - leaving a comment below with a suggestion for improvement!

[koushik717]

@jmuzina — branch rebased onto latest main (853 tests pass) and ready for re-review. Happy to adjust anything further!

[koushik717]

@jmuzina — just a gentle follow-up in case this got lost in the queue. The LIFO escape-stack approach from the last revision fully addresses the coupling concern, and the branch is rebased on current main with all 853 tests passing. Whenever you have a moment for a second look it would be much appreciated!

[koushik717]

@kimanhou @Ninfa-Jeon — apologies for the extra ping, but in case it's helpful: this PR fixes a real accessibility bug (#1305) where pressing Escape inside a Modal dismisses the Modal instead of the open ContextualMenu first. The fix uses a component-agnostic LIFO escape-key stack (same pattern as Radix UI / Headless UI), all 853 tests pass, and the branch is rebased on current main. If either of you has a moment to take a look it would be greatly appreciated!

[jmuzina]

Hi, apologies for the delay. I'll get you a re-review today!

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR fixes Escape-key dismissal ordering for nested overlays (e.g., ContextualMenu inside Modal) by introducing a global LIFO “escape handler stack” so only the topmost overlay handles Escape, independent of DOM/portal structure.

Changes:

• Added a module-level Escape handler stack (pushEscapeHandler, useEscapeStack) and tests.
• Updated useOnEscapePressed, usePortal, and Modal to register Escape handling via the global stack.
• Added/updated regression tests to ensure nested overlay Escape dismisses in LIFO order.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 8 out of 8 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/index.ts	Exports the new escape-stack APIs from the package entrypoint.
src/hooks/useOnEscapePressed.ts	Migrates Escape handling to the global escape-stack.
src/hooks/useEscapeStack.ts	Introduces the global LIFO Escape handler stack + React hook wrapper.
src/hooks/useEscapeStack.test.ts	Adds unit tests for LIFO ordering and propagation behavior.
src/hooks/index.ts	Re-exports the new escape-stack APIs from the hooks barrel.
src/external/usePortal.ts	Registers Escape-to-close for portals via the global stack only while open.
src/components/Modal/Modal.tsx	Removes Modal’s manual Escape handling and uses useOnEscapePressed instead.
src/components/Modal/Modal.test.tsx	Updates Escape propagation test and adds regression coverage for #1305.

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[koushik717]

Thanks @Copilot all four points addressed in the latest commit (16813f7):

• Capture phase: pushEscapeHandler now registers with { capture: true } so the stack fires before any bubble-phase listener and cannot be bypassed by stopPropagation() on a child element.
• SSR guard: pushEscapeHandler no-ops when document is undefined.
• Stable ref pattern: Both useEscapeStack and useOnEscapePressed now keep the latest callback in a ref and register a stable wrapper, so inline callbacks do not cause re-registration on every render.
• closePortal ref in usePortal: The escape-stack effect no longer lists closePortal as a dependency a ref tracks the latest value so identity changes to onClose don't re-register and reorder the stack.
• Test updated: The regression test now clicks to open the ContextualMenu after the Modal mounts, which accurately reflects real-world usage and correct LIFO registration order.

[koushik717]

Thanks @jmuzina — really appreciate the careful re-review! All addressed in the latest commit (82eb54b):

• Naming: Renamed isActive -> isEnabled in useEscapeStack to match useOnEscapePressed.
• Navigation/SearchAndFilter regression: Great catch, and you were right, this was a real bug. Both components now pass isEnabled tied to their actual open state (searchOpen for Navigation, !filterPanelHidden for SearchAndFilter), so they only occupy a slot on the stack while their own overlay is actually visible. Added regression tests to both test files reproducing the scenario from your example.
• pushEscapeHandler export: Agreed it was an outlier — removed it from the public package exports (hooks/index.ts / src/index.ts). Only useEscapeStack (the hook) is part of the public API now, consistent with the rest of the hooks folder. pushEscapeHandler stays as an internal primitive used by useOnEscapePressed/usePortal. Happy to explore a context-provider approach as a follow-up for pragma if that's still useful, but wanted to keep this fix minimal and non-breaking for now.

All 856 tests pass, lint and typecheck are clean. Let me know if you'd like anything else adjusted!

[jmuzina]

this was a real bug. Both components now pass isEnabled tied to their actual open state (searchOpen for Navigation, !filterPanelHidden for SearchAndFilter), so they only occupy a slot on the stack while their own overlay is actually visible. Added regression tests to both test files reproducing the scenario from your example.

@koushik717 This works for these two components within React Components, but it would still be a breaking change for consumers of useOnEscapePressed who are outside of this repo (see projects).

Before we write any more code: how would you recommend proceeding? Can this fix can be implemented without a breaking change to useOnEscapePressed?

A breaking change is OK if absolutely necessary, we just need to be sure of it amongst ourselves and within Canonical's React Working Group

[koushik717]

@jmuzina good question, and yes this can be done with zero breaking change to useOnEscapePressed. Pushed in 99f88d1:

• useOnEscapePressed is reverted to its exact pre-PR implementation a plain per-component document keydown listener, completely independent of the new stack. Behavior for every existing consumer (internal or external, with or without isEnabled) is byte-for-byte identical to before this PR. No one needs to change anything.
• Modal now joins the LIFO stack via useEscapeStack directly instead of going through useOnEscapePressed. Modal is the component that actually needs LIFO ordering against Portal-based overlays (ContextualMenu via usePortal, etc.), so it opts in explicitly.
• usePortal already used pushEscapeHandler directly (unchanged).
• The isEnabled-based changes to Navigation/SearchAndFilter from the last commit are harmless either way (the original useOnEscapePressed already supported isEnabled and just skips registering the listener), so I left those in as a small hygiene improvement, but they're no longer load-bearing for correctness.

So in short: the new LIFO stack (useEscapeStack/pushEscapeHandler) is purely additive and currently only opted into by Modal and usePortal. useOnEscapePressed is untouched/non-breaking, so there's no change in behavior for SearchAndFilter, Navigation, or any external consumer of that hook.

All 856 tests pass, lint and typecheck clean. Let me know if this addresses the concern or if you'd like the LIFO opt-in surfaced differently!

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

[koushik717]

@jmuzina @Copilot — Copilot's two new comments were both legit, and the first one in particular gets right at the heart of your "before we write any more code" question, so let me address it properly here rather than with another drive-by patch.

Copilot's finding #1 was correct, and worse than it sounds. I reproduced it locally before fixing: a single open ContextualMenu (no Modal anywhere) was silently blocking an unrelated useOnEscapePressed-based listener elsewhere on the page, because pushEscapeHandler's onKeyDown called stopImmediatePropagation() whenever the stack was non-empty — not just when nested overlays were involved. That's a much bigger blast radius than the original bug (#1305 was specifically about ContextualMenu inside Modal).

One nuance though: Copilot's framing ("reintroduces the original layered-dismiss issue") isn't quite right for Modal — Modal has always called stopImmediatePropagation() in capture phase while open, even on its own (that's pre-existing behavior, covered by the "should stop immediate Esc press propagation to other document listeners" test that predates this PR). The genuinely new over-blocking came from usePortal adopting the same exclusive behavior, which it never had before.

Fix (pushed in d5bc53b): each escape-stack entry now has an exclusive flag:

• Modal (via useEscapeStack) stays exclusive: true — unchanged, long-standing behavior.
• usePortal (ContextualMenu, Dropdown, etc., via pushEscapeHandler) is now exclusive: false — it handles its own dismissal but does not call stopImmediatePropagation(), so it no longer silences anything else when used standalone.
• When a non-exclusive entry sits on top of an exclusive one (ContextualMenu opened inside Modal), the first Escape is handled by the ContextualMenu only and the Modal underneath is skipped for that press — the two-step dismiss for ContextualMenu cannot be closed with ESCAPE key when inside a Modal #1305 still works.

This also directly answers your open question: useOnEscapePressed remains completely untouched and non-breaking — it's not part of the stack at all, so this exclusive flag is purely an internal detail of useEscapeStack/pushEscapeHandler, which are brand new in this PR (no external consumers yet).

Copilot's finding #2 (lastIndexOf(handler) could remove the wrong entry if the same function reference were pushed twice) is also fixed — pushEscapeHandler now wraps each registration in a unique entry object, so unregistering always removes the exact entry that was pushed, regardless of reference equality.

New tests cover: exclusive vs non-exclusive ordering, the duplicate-reference unregister case, and a regression test (ContextualMenu.test.tsx) reproducing Copilot's exact scenario — a standalone open ContextualMenu no longer blocks an unrelated useOnEscapePressed listener.

All 860 tests pass, lint and typecheck clean.

@jmuzina — given this addresses both the breaking-change question and Copilot's findings without touching useOnEscapePressed at all, does this seem like a reasonable place to land, or would you prefer a different shape (e.g. surfacing exclusive differently, or going further toward unifying useOnEscapePressed onto the stack as a separate, deliberate breaking change for a future major version)? Happy to go either way — just want to make sure we're aligned before any further changes.