Add labelTextDirection handling in InputDecorator by Mairramer · Pull Request #182477 · flutter/flutter

Mairramer · 2026-02-16T19:56:10Z

This PR introduces labelTextDirection property to InputDecoration.

Pre-launch Checklist

I read the Contributor Guide and followed the process outlined there for submitting PRs.
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I read and followed the Flutter Style Guide, including Features we expect every widget to implement.
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Code Review

This pull request effectively unifies text direction handling in InputDecorator, TextField, and TextFormField by introducing a new textDirection property on InputDecoration. This change correctly deprecates the old hintTextDirection property, promoting consistency for labelText and hintText directionality. The implementation is solid, well-supported by new tests, and includes a data-driven fix for migration. My review includes one suggestion to improve code clarity and performance.

Renzo-Olivares

Hi @Mairramer, thank you for the contribution! I definitely agree we should try to make textDirection consistent across text field's components like input decorator. I left a small comment but the change and approach looks good to me overall.

Renzo-Olivares · 2026-02-27T23:09:45Z

          strutStyle: widget.strutStyle,
          textAlign: widget.textAlign,
-          textDirection: widget.textDirection,
+          textDirection: widget.decoration?.textDirection ?? widget.textDirection,


This feels like it might be a breaking change if someone had has TextField.textDirection and TextField.hintTextDirection as different and then they migrate away from hintTextDirection. Previously the text field and input decorator could have a different text direction but after this change they cannot. I don't think this is a blocker since I think unifying the handling here is the right decision but definitely something to keep an eye out for.

Renzo-Olivares

LGTM, thank you for the contribution @Mairramer!

…tDirection'

Renzo-Olivares · 2026-03-02T19:58:40Z

There are some valid google testing failures I need to investigate further.

Renzo-Olivares · 2026-03-12T20:42:22Z

@mdebbar Do you have any thoughts on whether a user might want to define different text directions for labels within the same component, i.e. InputDecorator in this case.

Renzo-Olivares · 2026-03-16T22:09:08Z

@mdebbar pointed out that in cases like phone numbers which should always follow LTR, it may be expected for the TextField and InputDecorator to have differing textDirections. This change is breaking if a user explicitly set their TextField.textDirection expecting to override the only the fields text direction, after this change the text direction between decorator and field become unified so setting the TextField.textDirection also sets the decoration textDirection.

I think we should probably keep the existing TextField behavior the same, i.e. input decoration should not inherit text direction from text field if not set.

We should keep the InputDecoration.textDirection, if a user currently has hintTextDirection set then it should take precedence over InputDecoration.textDirection. hintTextDirection should not be deprecated, i'd point to the use-case that introduced the parameter as reasoning #69534, i.e. a user may want to their hintTextDirection match the textDirection of their text field, while keeping their label text direction as rtl. Another option we could do is simply a labelTextDirection.

If we did want to continue this unification, the migration for existing users setting their TextField.textDirection explicitly but expecting their input decoration to use a different text direction would be for them to explicitly set their InputDecoration.textDirection.

If we did not want to continue with the unification but still enable users to change the text direction of their label or entire input decoration, then a InputDecoration.textDirection or InputDecoration.labelTextDirection would be appropriate. Keeping directionality in this state puts the onus on the developer to be explicit about the directionality of their text field and input decoration.

Generally it does make sense to me that setting TextField.textDirection explicitly, without explicitly setting my own InputDecoration would result in said InputDecoration having the same textDirection. I tried input on the web and this is how it behaves with regards to Input.placeholder.

I'm leaning towards not breaking existing users since their apps rely on this existing behavior. The addition of textDirection or labelTextDirection sounds reasonable as convenience. We should probably also add a section or a note to InputDecoration about its directionality implications (interactions with TextField), and how to override all of its components directionalities using Directionality. And a section to TextField.textDirection that notes it does not influence the input decoration components. What do you think?

One open question is If we introduce textDirection or labelTextDirection and later decide we want to unify the TextField and InputDecoration text direction will it be harder to do?

Other note: In the original issue, a workaround the user could have used is wrap their subtree with a Directionality widget and set RTL there.

Renzo-Olivares

Mostly LGTM just had a small comment regarding the test. Thank you for the changes @Mairramer!

Renzo-Olivares · 2026-03-31T19:58:34Z

+              decoration: InputDecoration(
+                hintText: hintText,
+                labelText: labelText,
+                labelTextDirection: TextDirection.rtl,


I think this test should either explicitly wrap with a Directionality widget set to ltr or leave a comment regarding it being the default. Then labelTextDirection and hintTextDirection should both be set to rtl to make it clear between the default ltr direction set by Directionality and the explicit rtl direction set by the InputDecoration.

loic-sharma

Thanks for the excellent contribution!

Renzo-Olivares

LGTM

dkwingsmt · 2026-04-08T18:40:34Z

Thanks for your contribution! This PR has reached completion, although we will not land this PR for now due to the material/cupertino code freeze (#184093). As soon as the decoupling is complete, we will post a way to migrate this PR to the new packages.

dkwingsmt · 2026-04-08T20:10:03Z

In the meantime, I'll convert this PR to a draft and apply a label so that we can quickly find it when the freeze is lifted.

mdebbar

FYI: this PR looks good to me. Thanks for the contribution!

Piinks · 2026-06-24T19:40:55Z

I've marked this PR as not ready to port to flutter/packages yet.
We'll provide instructions to move this change over to material_ui/cupertino_ui once ready to receive PRs. Thank you!

github-actions · 2026-08-23T19:57:40Z

This pull request contains changes to Material or Cupertino, which are currently frozen in this repository.

Changes should be made in material_ui and/or cupertino_ui in the flutter/packages repository.

Please refer to #188444 for instructions.

Mairramer · 2026-08-23T20:02:14Z

Ported to flutter/packages#12607.

This PR introduces `labelTextDirection` property to InputDecoration. Closes flutter/flutter#41324 Port of flutter/flutter#182477 ## Pre-Review Checklist **Note**: The Flutter team is currently trialing the use of [Gemini Code Assist for GitHub](https://developers.google.com/gemini-code-assist/docs/review-github-code). Comments from the `gemini-code-assist` bot should not be taken as authoritative feedback from the Flutter team. If you find its comments useful you can update your code accordingly, but if you are unsure or disagree with the feedback, please feel free to wait for a Flutter team member's review for guidance on which automated comments should be addressed. [^1]: Regular contributors who have demonstrated familiarity with the repository guidelines only need to comment if the PR is not auto-exempted by repo tooling.

github-actions Bot added a: text input Entering text in a text field or keyboard related problems framework flutter/packages/flutter repository. See also f: labels. p: material_ui material_ui package in flutter/packages c: tech-debt Technical debt, code quality, testing, etc. labels Feb 16, 2026

Mairramer marked this pull request as ready for review February 16, 2026 22:11

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Mairramer force-pushed the feat/unified-input-text-direction branch from 872502b to 720fd08 Compare February 17, 2026 17:10

dkwingsmt requested a review from Renzo-Olivares February 18, 2026 19:19

Mairramer force-pushed the feat/unified-input-text-direction branch from 720fd08 to 20ac14b Compare February 23, 2026 16:52

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Mairramer force-pushed the feat/unified-input-text-direction branch from f135465 to c4a6c1c Compare February 26, 2026 21:29

Mairramer requested a review from Renzo-Olivares February 27, 2026 09:38

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Mairramer added 4 commits February 28, 2026 11:09

feat: unify text direction handling in InputDecorator and TextField

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feat: update InputDecoration to replace 'hintTextDirection' with 'tex…

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…tDirection'

small improve

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small improve

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Mairramer force-pushed the feat/unified-input-text-direction branch from c4a6c1c to 5d50f75 Compare February 28, 2026 14:09

Renzo-Olivares requested review from justinmc and mdebbar March 12, 2026 20:41

Mairramer and others added 3 commits March 17, 2026 08:03

Merge branch 'master' into feat/unified-input-text-direction

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Merge branch 'master' into feat/unified-input-text-direction

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adjustments

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Mairramer dismissed Renzo-Olivares’s stale review via 7c8d55e March 18, 2026 11:55

github-actions Bot removed a: text input Entering text in a text field or keyboard related problems c: tech-debt Technical debt, code quality, testing, etc. labels Mar 18, 2026

small improves

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loic-sharma reviewed Mar 31, 2026

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Comment thread packages/flutter/lib/src/material/input_decorator.dart

small improves

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Comment thread packages/flutter/lib/src/material/input_decorator.dart Outdated

Mairramer added 2 commits March 31, 2026 13:31

fix

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improve docs

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Mairramer changed the title ~~Add textDirection handling in InputDecorator~~ Add labelTextDirection handling in InputDecorator Mar 31, 2026

Merge branch 'master' into feat/unified-input-text-direction

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loic-sharma added the CICD Run CI/CD label Mar 31, 2026

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improve test

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dkwingsmt marked this pull request as draft April 8, 2026 20:10

dkwingsmt added the waiting for code freeze This PR is waiting for a code freeze to resolve. label Apr 8, 2026

mdebbar approved these changes Jun 12, 2026

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Piinks added the Decoupling: Not ready to port yet Instructions will be provided when this is ready to move to flutter/packages. label Jun 24, 2026

Merge branch 'master' into feat/unified-input-text-direction

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Mairramer mentioned this pull request Aug 23, 2026

[material_ui] Add labelTextDirection handling in InputDecorator flutter/packages#12561

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Mairramer mentioned this pull request Aug 25, 2026

[material_ui] Add labelTextDirection handling in InputDecorator flutter/packages#12607

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