# TextField FocusNode attach location change

> EditableText.focusNode is no longer attached to EditableTextState's BuildContext.




:::important
These breaking change docs are accurate, as of the release
under which they are published. Over time, the
workarounds described here might become inaccurate.
We don't, in general, keep these breaking change docs up
to date as of each release.

The [breaking change index file](/release/breaking-changes)
lists the docs created for each release.
:::


## Summary

`EditableText.focusNode` is now attached to
a dedicated `Focus` widget below `EditableText`.

## Context

A text input field widget (`TextField`, for example)
typically owns a `FocusNode`.
When that `FocusNode` is the primary focus of the app,
events (such as key presses) are sent to the `BuildContext`
to which the `FocusNode` is attached.

The `FocusNode` also plays a roll in shortcut handling:
The `Shortcuts` widget translates key sequences into an `Intent`, and
tries to find the first suitable handler for that `Intent` starting from
the `BuildContext` to which the `FocusNode` is attached, to
the root of the widget tree. This means an `Actions` widget (that provides
handlers for different `Intent`s) won't be able to
handle any shortcut `Intent`s when the `BuildContext` that
has the primary focus is above it in the tree.

Previously for `EditableText`, the `FocusNode` was attached to
the `BuildContext` of `EditableTextState`.
Any `Actions` widgets defined in `EditableTextState` (which will be inflated
below the `BuildContext` of the `EditableTextState`) couldn't handle
shortcuts even when that `EditableText` was focused, for
the reason stated above.

## Description of change

`EditableTextState` now creates a dedicated `Focus` widget to
host `EditableText.focusNode`.
This allows `EditableTextState`s to define handlers for shortcut `Intent`s.
For instance, `EditableText` now has a handler that
handles the "deleteCharacter" intent
when the <kbd>DEL</kbd> key is pressed.

This change does not involve any public API changes but
breaks codebases relying on that particular implementation detail to
tell if a `FocusNode` is associated with a text input field.

This change does not break any builds but can introduce runtime issues, or
cause existing tests to fail.

## Migration guide

The `EditableText` widget takes a `FocusNode` as a parameter, which was
previously attached to its `EditableText`'s `BuildContext`. If you are relying
on runtime typecheck to find out if a `FocusNode` is attached to a text input
field or a selectable text field like so:

- `focusNode.context.widget is EditableText`
- `(focusNode.context as StatefulElement).state as EditableTextState`

Then please read on and consider following the migration steps to avoid breakages.

If you're not sure whether a codebase needs migration,
search for `is EditableText`, `as EditableText`, `is EditableTextState`, and
`as EditableTextState` and verify if any of the search results are doing
a typecheck or typecast on a `FocusNode.context`.
If so, then migration is needed.

To avoid performing a typecheck, or downcasting
the `BuildContext` associated with the `FocusNode` of interest, and
depending on the actual capabilities the codebase is trying to
invoke from the given `FocusNode`, fire an `Intent` from that `BuildContext`.
For instance, if you wish to update the text of the currently focused
`TextField` to a specific value, see the following example:

Code before migration:

```dart
final Widget? focusedWidget = primaryFocus?.context?.widget;
if (focusedWidget is EditableText) {
  widget.controller.text = 'Updated Text';
}
```

Code after migration:

```dart
final BuildContext? focusedContext = primaryFocus?.context;
if (focusedContext != null) {
  Actions.maybeInvoke(focusedContext, ReplaceTextIntent('UpdatedText'));
}
```

For a comprehensive list of `Intent`s supported by the `EditableText` widget,
refer to the documentation of the `EditableText` widget.

## Timeline

Landed in version: 2.6.0-12.0.pre<br>
In stable release: 2.10.0

## References

API documentation:

* [`EditableText`][]

Relevant PR:

* [Move text editing Actions to EditableTextState][]

[`EditableText`]: https://api.flutter.dev/flutter/widgets/EditableText-class.html
[Move text editing Actions to EditableTextState]: https://github.com/flutter/flutter/pull/90684