Add active anchors to ActionBar actions

[mattcosta7]

Closes #

Adds a dedicated active-anchor ref to ActionBar actions so consumers can track the physical button that currently represents an action as it moves between the inline bar and overflow menu. Open overlays now react to anchor replacement for positioning and focus return.

Motivation

github/github-ui#30256 delegates ListView action clipping, overflow rendering, and focus management to Primer React instead of maintaining a separate measurement engine. Some actions render stateful overlays such as SelectPanel; those overlays must remain mounted as the action moves into or out of overflow so filter state is preserved.

During that transition, the physical trigger changes between the inline action button and ActionBar's More items button. The normal forwarded ref must continue to identify the action's own button, while overlay positioning and focus return need the currently visible trigger. activeAnchorRef provides that second contract directly, replacing a consumer-side bridge that otherwise has to coordinate multiple refs and discover the overflow button through DOM selectors.

Changelog

New

• Add activeAnchorRef to ActionBar.Button and ActionBar.IconButton.
• Pass a reactive anchor ref as the second argument to AnchoredOverlay's renderAnchor callback.

Changed

• Keep open overlays positioned against the current anchor when an ActionBar action moves into or out of overflow.
• Return focus to the current active anchor when an overlay closes.
• Include ActionBar in React Compiler validation.

Removed

• None.

Rollout strategy

• Patch release
• Minor release
• Major release; if selected, include a written rollout or migration plan
• None; if selected, include a brief description as to why

The new APIs are additive and covered by a minor changeset.

Testing & Reviewing

• npm test -- ActionBar/ActionBar.test.tsx AnchoredOverlay/AnchoredOverlay.test.tsx hooks/__tests__/useOpenAndCloseFocus.test.tsx
• npm run type-check --workspace packages/react
• npm run lint:react-compiler --workspace packages/react
• npx eslint for changed TypeScript files
• git diff --check

Review the ActionBar tests for inline/overflow transitions, pointer and keyboard activation, disabled/grouped actions, callback and object refs, focus restoration, and Button/IconButton parity. Review the AnchoredOverlay test for live repositioning when the rendered anchor changes.

[changeset-bot]

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 997b0b6

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package

Name	Type
@primer/react	Minor

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[github-actions]

⚠️ Action required

👋 Hi, this pull request contains changes to the source code that github/github-ui depends on. If you are GitHub staff, test these changes with github/github-ui using the integration workflow. Check the integration testing docs for step-by-step instructions. Or, apply the integration-tests: skipped manually label to skip these checks.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds a dedicated “active anchor” ref for ActionBar action triggers and updates overlay anchoring/focus behavior so overlays can track and react to the currently visible trigger as actions move between the inline bar and overflow menu.

Changes:

• Added activeAnchorRef to ActionBar.Button and ActionBar.IconButton, publishing either the inline button element or the overflow (“More items”) button depending on overflow state.
• Updated AnchoredOverlay’s renderAnchor callback to receive a reactive anchorRef (2nd argument) and re-position while open when the physical anchor element changes.
• Updated focus-return behavior to focus the current returnFocusRef target at cleanup time, and expanded tests/docs/React Compiler coverage accordingly.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.tsx	Passes through the new (props, anchorRef) renderAnchor signature so SelectPanel anchors can use reactive refs.
packages/react/src/hooks/useOpenAndCloseFocus.ts	Focuses the current returnFocusRef.current on cleanup to support moving targets while open.
packages/react/src/hooks/tests/useOpenAndCloseFocus.test.tsx	Adds coverage for return-focus target changes before effect cleanup.
packages/react/src/deprecated/ActionMenu.tsx	Updates deprecated ActionMenu wrapper to forward (props, anchorRef) to its renderAnchor.
packages/react/src/AnchoredOverlay/AnchoredOverlay.types.test.tsx	Updates type test to use new renderAnchor signature and attach the provided ref.
packages/react/src/AnchoredOverlay/AnchoredOverlay.tsx	Introduces reactive anchor element tracking and re-positioning when the anchor DOM node changes.
packages/react/src/AnchoredOverlay/AnchoredOverlay.test.tsx	Adds a test ensuring repositioning when the rendered anchor is replaced while open.
packages/react/src/AnchoredOverlay/AnchoredOverlay.docs.json	Documents the updated renderAnchor signature and the reactive ref behavior.
packages/react/src/ActionBar/ActionBar.tsx	Implements activeAnchorRef plumbing and makes overflow menu state controlled to coordinate selection/close behavior.
packages/react/src/ActionBar/ActionBar.test.tsx	Adds tests covering activeAnchorRef, overflow transitions, and overlay focus/position behavior via SelectPanel.
packages/react/src/ActionBar/ActionBar.docs.json	Documents the new activeAnchorRef prop on ActionBar buttons.
packages/react/script/react-compiler.mjs	Removes ActionBar from the React Compiler unsupported list.
.changeset/actionbar-active-anchor.md	Adds a minor changeset for the new ActionBar/AnchoredOverlay API surface.

Review details

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• Files reviewed: 13/13 changed files
• Comments generated: 1
• Review effort level: Lite

[primer-integration]

Integration test results from github/github-ui PR:

  CI Failed
  VRT Running
  Projects Waiting

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