The compound component pattern lets you build APIs that feel like native HTML. Think of how <select> and <option> work together — each element is meaningless alone, but together they form a complete interaction. You can bring this same expressiveness to your React components.

Context as the Glue

The parent component creates a context provider that holds shared state. Child components consume that context to read and update state. The consumer never passes props manually between siblings — the context handles coordination. This inversion of control gives the consumer full layout flexibility while the library maintains behavioral guarantees.