Invoker Commands API

Baseline 2025

Newly available

Since December 2025, this feature works across the latest devices and browser versions. This feature might not work in older devices or browsers.

The Invoker Commands API provides a way to declaratively assign behaviors to buttons, allowing control of interactive elements when the button is enacted (clicked or invoked via a keypress, such as the spacebar or return key).

Concepts and usage

A common pattern on the web is to have <button> elements control various aspects of the page, such as opening and closing popovers or <dialog> elements, formatting text, and more.

Historically creating these kinds of controls has required JavaScript event listeners added to the button which can then call the APIs on the element they control. The commandForElement and command properties provide a way to do this declaratively for a limited set of actions. This can be advantageous for built-in commands as the user does not have to wait for JavaScript to download and execute to make these buttons interactive.

HTML attributes

commandfor

Turns a <button> element into a command invoker, controlling the given interactive element; takes the ID of the element to control as its value.

command

Specifies the action to be performed on an element being controlled by a control <button>, specified via the commandfor attribute.

HTMLButtonElement.command

Gets and sets the action to be performed on the element being controlled by the button. Reflects the value of the command HTML attribute.

html
<button commandfor="mypopover" command="toggle-popover">
  Toggle the popover
</button>
<div id="mypopover" popover>
  <button commandfor="mypopover" command="hide-popover">Close</button>
  Popover content
</div>

Creating declarative dialogs

html
<button commandfor="mydialog" command="show-modal">Show modal dialog</button>
<dialog id="mydialog">
  <button commandfor="mydialog" command="close">Close</button>
  Dialog Content
</dialog>

Creating custom commands

html
<button commandfor="my-img" command="--rotate-left">Rotate left</button>
<button commandfor="my-img" command="--rotate-right">Rotate right</button>
<img id="my-img" src="photo.jpg" alt="[add appropriate alt text here]" />

js
const myImg = document.getElementById("my-img");

myImg.addEventListener("command", (event) => {
  if (event.command === "--rotate-left") {
    myImg.style.rotate = "-90deg";
  } else if (event.command === "--rotate-right") {
    myImg.style.rotate = "90deg";
  }
});