# `react-doctor/html-no-nested-interactive`

Hoist the inner interactive element out, or make the outer one a non-interactive wrapper: change <a><a/></a> to <a/> next to <a/>, or wrap with <div>/<span>

- **Status:** Active
- **Category:** Correctness
- **Assessment:** Evidence-required risk
- **Required evidence:** source code
- **Default configuration:** Enabled
- **Default severity:** warn
- **Scope:** All supported frameworks
- **Active when:** always
- **Priority:** 38 (P3)
- **Source:** oxlint-plugin-react-doctor
- **Rule set:** oxlint-plugin-react-doctor 0.9.3 (prompt schema 2)
- **Documentation:** [Official documentation](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Content_categories#interactive_content)

## Validation prompt

Confirm the detector match and collect the required evidence before deciding whether an edit is warranted.

Fires on a JSXOpeningElement whose name is the JSXIdentifier "a" or "button" (only those two tags) when findEnclosingSameTag walks up from the opening element's grandparent and finds any JSXElement ancestor with the SAME tag name: so <a href><a/></a> and <button><span><button/></span></button> both fire, since the walk recurses through arbitrary intermediate elements AND straight through user-component boundaries (e.g. <a><Wrapper><a/></Wrapper></a> where Wrapper passes children through). False positive boundary, derived from the valid fixtures: a lone <a> with no same-tag ancestor; a <button> nested inside an <a> (different interactive types never cross-trigger: the inner tag must match the outer); and adjacent same-tag siblings like two <a> elements under a shared <div> (siblings are not ancestors). Also note the rule only sees in-component JSX ancestry, so an <a> rendered by a child component that is itself wrapped in an outer <a> is not caught here (preact/debug catches that cross-component case at runtime instead).

## Evidence boundary

The diagnostic proves only that the detector's modeled source pattern matched. It does not prove runtime impact, product intent, rendered failure, or that one remediation is correct.

Establish the environment, explicit repository policy, relevant exceptions, and required rendered or runtime evidence before deciding the occurrence. This page’s Assessment and Required evidence fields define the review contract.

Default severity is registry metadata. Use the occurrence's JSON severity after repository configuration when ordering real findings.

Record one outcome:

- **Confirmed failure:** The required evidence establishes the violation.
- **Rejected:** A documented exception or false-positive predicate applies.
- **Needs evidence:** Named evidence can still be collected.
- **Unavailable:** Required evidence cannot be collected in this run.
- **Waived with evidence:** An authorized, scoped exception applies to an established failure.
- **Observation:** The review records an optional tradeoff without claiming a defect.

A waiver records its scope, authority, evidence, and review or expiry condition. It is not a pass or false positive.

## Fix prompt

Apply this candidate correction only after the required evidence confirms the risk.

The HTML parser auto-closes the outer interactive element when it hits a same-type nested one, so the rendered DOM splits apart from the JSX and breaks event delegation, focus order, and screen-reader landmarks. Fix by removing the nesting: hoist the inner <a>/<button> to be a sibling of the outer one rather than its descendant, or replace the OUTER interactive element with a non-interactive wrapper: turn <a href><a/></a> into a <div>/<span> wrapper containing the single real <a>, and split a <button> wrapping a <button> into two independent buttons or a button beside a non-button container. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Content_categories#interactive_content

## Repository-wide copy prompt

Use this only for a repository-wide pass after validating each occurrence. For one occurrence, use the occurrence-level guidance above.

````text
Fix every confirmed `react-doctor/html-no-nested-interactive` diagnostic in the current repository.

Required change:
- The HTML parser auto-closes the outer interactive element when it hits a same-type nested one, so the rendered DOM splits apart from the JSX and breaks event delegation, focus order, and screen-reader landmarks. Fix by removing the nesting: hoist the inner <a>/<button> to be a sibling of the outer one rather than its descendant, or replace the OUTER interactive element with a non-interactive wrapper: turn <a href><a/></a> into a <div>/<span> wrapper containing the single real <a>, and split a <button> wrapping a <button> into two independent buttons or a button beside a non-button container. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Content_categories#interactive_content.

Validation before editing:
Fires on a JSXOpeningElement whose name is the JSXIdentifier "a" or "button" (only those two tags) when findEnclosingSameTag walks up from the opening element's grandparent and finds any JSXElement ancestor with the SAME tag name: so <a href><a/></a> and <button><span><button/></span></button> both fire, since the walk recurses through arbitrary intermediate elements AND straight through user-component boundaries (e.g. <a><Wrapper><a/></Wrapper></a> where Wrapper passes children through). False positive boundary, derived from the valid fixtures: a lone <a> with no same-tag ancestor; a <button> nested inside an <a> (different interactive types never cross-trigger: the inner tag must match the outer); and adjacent same-tag siblings like two <a> elements under a shared <div> (siblings are not ancestors). Also note the rule only sees in-component JSX ancestry, so an <a> rendered by a child component that is itself wrapped in an outer <a> is not caught here (preact/debug catches that cross-component case at runtime instead).

Constraints:
- Make the smallest change that fixes the root cause.
- Preserve behavior and interfaces unrelated to this diagnostic.
- Reuse existing project components, utilities, and conventions.
- Adapt identifiers and framework details instead of copying blindly.
- Do not disable the rule or suppress matching code.

Assessment:
- Record detector evidence, applicability facts, assumptions, missing evidence, and the rule class for this occurrence.
- Return one outcome: Confirmed failure, Rejected, Needs evidence, Unavailable, Waived with evidence, or Observation.
- A waiver records the established failure, scope, authority, evidence, and review or expiry condition. It is not a pass or false positive.

Verification:
- Run focused tests for the changed behavior.
- Run React Doctor and confirm this diagnostic no longer appears from changed code.
- Run an unfiltered scan of the affected scope before claiming no cross-category regression.
- Report the files changed and any checks you could not run.
````