Exclusivebeta
As Stored <mv-as-stored>
Shows, before saving, exactly how each value will be stored when the system behind the form reshapes it, instead of letting it be stretched or cut silently. Wrap a form and give fields their storage rules (data-as-stored="trim nfc max-bytes:20"): length limits in characters, UTF-8 bytes or UTF-16 units, charsets (ASCII, Latin-1, BMP, no emoji) that replace, drop or transliterate, trim / collapse / case / NFC/NFKC normalization, diacritics stripping (plain or ICAO passport spelling: ü → UE), removal of apostrophes and hyphens, number and currency rounding (decimal-exact, half-up, half-even or down), phone numbers to E.164 (extensions dropped, 35 countries), time zone conversion and truncation to the day, plus custom rules. When the stored value would differ, a quiet “Will be saved as” preview appears under the field with the stored value and every change marked in place (replaced, removed, the cut tail after a dashed line), each change spelled out in words (“é” will become “e”, “2 emoji removed”, “Cut after “Kowalczyk-Brzęczysz”: “czykiewicz” will be lost. The limit is 20 bytes (UTF-8) and this is 30. ę counts as 2 bytes.”, “The day changes from Oct 15 to Oct 16, because the time is converted to UTC”), a byte or character meter, and three ways out: Fix it myself (focuses the field and selects the exact part), Accept (acknowledge, or apply the stored value to the field) and app-provided alternatives. Cosmetic changes (spaces, invisible normalization) stay silent unless show="all". On submit, a form-level summary lists every field that will be reshaped and holds the save once, with Accept all and save; submit-stored makes the form send exactly the values shown. The engine is pure and DOM-free (MvAsStored.transform(value, rules)), so the same rules run on the server and in tests.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| Type | Web Component (<mv-as-stored>) |
| Status | beta |
| Kit | Forms that don't lose people |
| Also installs | button |
| Keywords | exclusive, culture, form, validation, normalization, truncation, maxlength, bytes, utf-8, charset, encoding, latin-1, ascii, emoji, diacritics, transliteration, i18n, names, phone, e164, rounding, currency, timezone, utc, preview, data-integrity |
When to use
- A form feeds a legacy system or database column that truncates, re-encodes or rounds what people type
- People with international names (accents, apostrophes, CJK, long hyphenated names) must see how a system will spell them
- A value is converted before storage (UTC day, E.164 phone, cents) and a silent shift would cause real mistakes
- Client and server must agree on one normalization and the preview has to match what the backend really stores
Avoid when
- The input must be formatted while typing (a card number, a phone mask) rather than previewed as stored → use Input instead
- The value is invalid and must be fixed before anything is sent, not reshaped → use One More Thing instead
- The problem is invisible or look-alike characters pasted into a field, not the storage rules → use Invisibles instead
Install
node scripts/add.mjs as-stored --out ./src/marvelousAI agent with the Marvelous UI MCP server: install_components({ slugs: ["as-stored"], target_dir: "<absolute path>/src/marvelous", framework: "react" }).
Files copied (dependencies included): tokens/tokens.css, core/base.css, core/dom.js, core/element.js, core/motion.js, core/observe.js, components/as-stored/as-stored.js, components/as-stored/as-stored.css, components/button/button.css.
Usage
Quick start, the smallest working markup:
<mv-as-stored>
<form>
<label>First name <input name="first_name" value="Chloé" data-as-stored="charset:ascii:transliterate"></label>
<button>Save</button>
</form>
</mv-as-stored>Canonical markup, to start from and customize with attributes, data-* and CSS variables:
<div id="as-demo" style="width:min(100%,50rem);margin-inline:auto">
<style>
#as-demo { display:grid; gap:1rem; align-content:start }
#as-demo .as-top { display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:space-between; gap:.5rem 1rem; flex-wrap:wrap }
#as-demo .as-top p { margin:0; color:var(--mv-fg-muted); font-size:.8125rem; flex:1 1 20rem }
#as-demo .as-top strong { color:var(--mv-fg); font-weight:600 }
#as-demo .as-switches { display:flex; gap:.5rem 1.125rem; flex-wrap:wrap }
#as-demo .mv-choice { font-size:.8125rem }
#as-demo .as-row { display:grid; grid-template-columns:repeat(2,minmax(0,1fr)); gap:1rem 1.25rem; align-items:start }
#as-demo .as-log { margin:0; min-height:1.25rem; color:var(--mv-fg-subtle); font:.75rem/1.45 var(--mv-font-mono); overflow-wrap:anywhere }
#as-demo .as-legend { display:flex; align-items:center; gap:.5rem }
#as-demo .mv-fieldset { margin:0 }
@media (max-width:40rem) { #as-demo .as-row { grid-template-columns:minmax(0,1fr) } }
</style>
<div class="as-top">
<p>This CRM syncs every customer to a <strong>legacy billing system</strong> with byte limits, an ASCII-only first name, cents and UTC days. Before saving, each field shows how it will really be stored.</p>
<span class="as-switches">
<label class="mv-choice"><input type="checkbox" role="switch" class="mv-switch" data-size="sm" id="as-all"> Show cosmetic changes</label>
<label class="mv-choice"><input type="checkbox" role="switch" class="mv-switch" data-size="sm" id="as-live"> Live summary</label>
</span>
</div>
<!-- Main: a customer form synced to a legacy billing system -->
<mv-as-stored id="as-main" time-zone="America/Los_Angeles" country="US" submit-stored>
<form id="as-form" autocomplete="off">
<fieldset class="mv-fieldset" data-variant="card">
<legend class="as-legend">New customer <span class="mv-badge" data-variant="secondary" data-shape="pill">Syncs to billing</span></legend>
<div class="mv-field-group">
<div class="as-row">
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-first">First name</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-first" name="first_name" value="Chloé" data-as-stored="trim charset:ascii:transliterate">
</div>
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-last">Last name</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-last" name="last_name" value="Kowalczyk-Brzęczyszczykiewicz" data-as-stored="trim nfc max-bytes:20">
</div>
</div>
<div class="as-row">
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-email">Work email</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-email" name="email" type="email" value="[email protected]" data-as-stored="trim lowercase">
</div>
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-phone">Phone</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-phone" name="phone" type="tel" value="(415) 555-0132 ext. 204" data-as-stored="phone:e164">
</div>
</div>
<div class="as-row">
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-company">Company</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-company" name="company" value="Northwind Traders " data-as-stored="trim collapse max-bytes:40">
</div>
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-limit">Credit limit</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-limit" name="credit_limit" inputmode="decimal" value="$2,499.995" data-as-stored="currency:USD">
</div>
</div>
<div class="as-row">
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-start">Contract start (Pacific time)</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-start" name="contract_start" type="datetime-local" value="2026-10-15T20:30" data-as-stored="timezone:UTC date">
</div>
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-note">Delivery note</label>
<textarea class="mv-textarea" id="as-note" name="delivery_note" rows="2" data-as-stored="charset:no-emoji collapse trim">Leave at the front desk 📦 thanks! 🙏</textarea>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="mv-fieldset-footer">
<button type="reset" class="mv-button" data-variant="ghost">Reset</button>
<button type="submit" class="mv-button">Save customer</button>
</div>
</fieldset>
</form>
</mv-as-stored>
<p class="as-log" id="as-log" aria-live="polite">Stored values are sent as shown (submit-stored).</p>
<!-- Variant: airline passenger names, printed on a boarding pass -->
<mv-as-stored id="as-pax" summary="none" accept="apply">
<form onsubmit="event.preventDefault()">
<fieldset class="mv-fieldset" data-variant="card">
<legend>Passengers <span class="mv-badge" data-variant="secondary" data-shape="pill">As on the boarding pass</span></legend>
<div class="as-row">
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-p1">Passenger 1 · full name</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-p1" name="pax1" value="Seán O’Brien-Müller" data-as-stored="strip-diacritics:icao uppercase strip:'’- charset:ascii max:30">
</div>
<div class="mv-field">
<label class="mv-label" for="as-p2">Passenger 2 · full name</label>
<input class="mv-input" id="as-p2" name="pax2" value="王小明" data-as-stored="strip-diacritics:icao uppercase strip:'’- charset:ascii max:30">
</div>
</div>
</fieldset>
</form>
</mv-as-stored>
<script type="module">
const main = document.getElementById("as-main");
const pax = document.getElementById("as-pax");
const form = document.getElementById("as-form");
const log = document.getElementById("as-log");
const say = (t) => { log.textContent = t; };
// App-provided alternatives: a shorter legal name that fits, a passport spelling on file.
main.alternatives = {
last_name: ({ input, transform }) => {
const first = input.split(/[-\s]/)[0];
return first && first !== input && !transform(first).changed ? [{ label: `Use “${first}”`, value: first, description: "Keep only the first part of the name" }] : [];
},
};
pax.alternatives = {
pax2: ({ value }) => (value.includes("?") ? [{ label: "Use passport spelling “WANG XIAOMING”", value: "WANG XIAOMING" }] : []),
};
main.addEventListener("mv-reshape-accept", (e) => say(`Accepted: ${e.detail.label} → “${e.detail.value}”`));
main.addEventListener("mv-reshape-summary", (e) => say(`Held the save: ${e.detail.fields.length} fields will be reshaped.`));
pax.addEventListener("mv-reshape-accept", (e) => say(`Applied to the field: ${e.detail.label} → “${e.detail.value}”`));
form.addEventListener("submit", (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
const data = Object.fromEntries(new FormData(form));
say(`Saved · ${JSON.stringify(data)}`);
});
document.getElementById("as-all").addEventListener("change", (e) => { main.show = e.target.checked ? "all" : "change"; pax.show = main.show; });
document.getElementById("as-live").addEventListener("change", (e) => { main.summary = e.target.checked ? "live" : "hold"; });
</script>
</div>Cultural reference
The myth of Procrustes, Greek myth, as told by Plutarch (Life of Theseus) and Diodorus Siculus (c. 1st century BC, myth). Procrustes offered travelers a bed and then made them fit it exactly, stretching the short and cutting the tall, without ever telling them beforehand. In the UI the system’s fixed shape (byte limits, charsets, rounding, time zones) is revealed before saving: the value is shown exactly as it will be stored, every cut and stretch is named, and the person chooses to fix it, accept it or pick another fit.
API
Attributes
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
for | string (form id) | The form to watch when it is not a child of the element. | |
show | change | loss | all | change | Lowest severity that opens a preview: loss (value lost: cut, replaced, removed, rounded, time dropped), change (visible but lossless: case, phone format, time zone), all (also cosmetic: spaces, invisible normalization). Per field: data-as-stored-show. |
summary | hold | live | none | hold | hold: on submit, if any preview was not accepted, the submission is held once and a summary lists every reshaped field with Accept all and save. live: the summary is also shown permanently while anything will be reshaped. none: never hold, never summarize. |
accept | keep | apply | keep | keep: Accept acknowledges the reshape (the field keeps what was typed and the preview folds to one line). apply: Accept writes the stored value into text-like fields (input/change events dispatched). Per field: data-as-stored-accept. |
time-zone | IANA zone | (browser zone) | Zone in which wall-clock values (datetime-local) were typed, for the timezone rule. Per field: data-as-stored-zone. |
country | ISO 3166 alpha-2 | US | Default country for phone numbers typed without an international prefix. Per field: data-as-stored-country, or phone:e164:GB in the rules. |
submit-stored | boolean | On the form’s formdata event, every reshaped field is sent as its stored value, so the server receives exactly what the preview showed. | |
delay | number (ms) | 160 | Debounce between typing and updating the preview. |
data-as-stored (on fields) | rules | Space-separated rules applied in order: trim, collapse, lowercase, uppercase, nfc, nfd, nfkc, nfkd, strip-diacritics[:icao], strip:<chars|punctuation|symbols|spaces|digits>, charset:<ascii|latin1|bmp|no-emoji>[:replace|drop|transliterate[:char]], max:<n> (characters = code points), max-bytes:<n> (UTF-8), max-utf16:<n>, round:<decimals>[:half-up|half-even|down], currency:<ISO code>[:mode], phone[:e164][:<country>], timezone:<target zone, e.g. UTC>, date[:day|month]. Also data-as-stored-label, -show, -accept, -zone, -country and -anchor (selector of the element the preview is appended to). |
Properties
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
rules | Record<fieldName, string | Array<string | { name, apply(value, ctx), message?, severity?, kind? }>> | Rules per field name, appended to data-as-stored. Custom rules return the new value (or { value, message, severity }); severity is cosmetic | change | loss. |
alternatives | (ctx) => Alternative[] | Record<fieldName, (ctx) => Alternative[]> | Extra choices under a preview (max 3). ctx: { field, name, label, input, value, severity, changes, transform(v) }. Alternative: { label, value?, description?, action?(field) }; a value is written into the field, action runs your own code. |
strings | Partial<Record<string, string>> | Overrides for every visible text and announcement (label, savedAs, accepted, fix, accept, apply, review, empty, more, meter, desc, descAccepted, announce, announceMore, announceAccepted, summaryTitle, summaryTitleOne, summaryText, summaryLive, summaryDone, summaryDoneText, acceptAll, saveNow, reviewFirst, summaryAnnounce). English defaults. |
form | HTMLFormElement | null | The watched form (read-only). |
MvAsStored.transform(value, rules, options?) | static | Pure, DOM-free engine (also exported as transform). options: { timeZone, country }. Returns { input, value, changed, severity (none | cosmetic | change | loss), changes: [{ rule, kind, severity, message, detail? }], segments: [{ type: same | replace | add | remove | cut, text, was, start, end }], display (diff | plain), meter: { size, limit, unit } | null }. Also static parseRules, byteLength, measure(value, unit). |
Methods
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
check() | Re-evaluates every field (after setting values from code) and returns reshaped(). |
reshaped() | Fields that will be reshaped: [{ field, name, label, input, value, severity, changes, accepted }]. |
stored() | { name: storedValue } for every tracked field, as the system will store them. |
acceptField(fieldOrName) | Accepts one reshape (emits mv-reshape-accept). Returns false if vetoed. |
acceptAll() | Accepts every pending reshape. Returns how many are still pending (vetoed). |
review(fieldOrName) | Focuses the field and selects the part that will be reshaped (Fix it myself). |
Events
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
mv-reshape | Cancelable. A field’s value will be stored differently (fired when the stored value or its changes differ from last time). detail: { field, name, label, input, value, severity, changes, accepted }. preventDefault() hides this preview so the app can present it its own way. |
mv-reshape-clear | A field that was reshaped will now be stored as typed. detail: { field, name, value }. |
mv-reshape-accept | Cancelable, before a reshape is accepted (button, acceptField, Accept all). detail: same as mv-reshape plus apply (boolean). |
mv-reshape-alternative | Cancelable, before an app-provided alternative is applied. detail: { field, name, alternative }. |
mv-reshape-summary | Cancelable, before a submission is held for the summary. detail: { fields, submitter }. preventDefault() lets the submission through. |
CSS classes
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
mv-as-stored-preview | Preview under a field (appended to its .mv-field, or after it): data-severity (cosmetic | change | loss), data-state (open | accepted). Parts: -head, -icon, -label, -meter (data-over), -value (data-display diff | plain), -changes, -change (data-kind, data-severity), -change-detail, -actions, -fix, -accept, -alt, -compact, -review. |
mv-as-stored-mark / mv-as-stored-cut | Marks inside the stored value: <mark data-kind="replace|add"> (underlined), <del data-kind="remove"> (struck, whitespace shown as ␣), the cut tail after a dashed line. |
mv-as-stored-summary | Form-level summary inserted before the submit row (or inside [data-as-stored-summary]): data-severity (change | loss | done), data-held. Parts: -summary-head, -summary-title, -summary-text, -summary-list, -summary-item (data-accepted), -summary-field, -summary-value, -summary-reason, -summary-go, -summary-actions. |
CSS variables
| Name | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
--mv-as-stored-loss | var(--mv-warning) | Tone of previews where information is lost (cut, replaced, removed, rounded). |
--mv-as-stored-change | var(--mv-info) | Tone of previews where the value changes without loss (case, phone format, time zone). |
Accessibility
Each preview is linked to its field with aria-describedby (added only while it is visible) through a visually hidden sentence that says everything in words: “Will be saved as “Kowalczyk-Brzęczysz”. Cut after …: “czykiewicz” will be lost.”; the visual stored value with its marks is aria-hidden so it is never read twice, and every change is also listed as real text under it, never conveyed by color alone (marks use underline, strike-through and a dashed cut line, which survive forced colors). While typing, announcements are debounced (1.1 s after the last change, only for the focused field, only when the stored result actually changed) in a polite live region: “Last name will be saved as “…”. Cut after … 1 more change is listed under the field.”. Fix it myself focuses the field and selects the exact characters that will be reshaped (the overflow, the replaced letter); Accept returns focus to the field and announces the result; the accepted line keeps a Review button (labelled with the field name) that reopens the preview. Held submissions move focus to the summary (a labelled region, tabindex -1) and announce it; each summary item has a Review button that goes to its field. All controls are native buttons in document order right after their field, so Tab reaches them naturally. Appear and fold animations are opacity-only and skipped under reduced motion (OS or data-motion="reduce").