This was one of those tiny issues I ended up spending way too much time troubleshooting—until I finally stumbled across the solution after a lot of searching. In my case, the problem was React in ListViewCommandSet for the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) not playing nicely due to a version mismatch.
It’s just long enough between each time I work with ListViewCommandSets that I remember having this problem before… but never quite remember how I fixed it. And of course, when I do need to fix it again, I end up going down a rabbit hole of forum posts, GitHub issues, and old documentation before finding the right answer.
This time, I’m writing it down, partly to save myself the headache next time, and partly in case it helps someone else.
The Problem
The issue came down to a version mismatch between the React version I had in my project and the one required by the ListViewCommandSet in the SharePoint Framework (SPFx).
I was using React 17.0.2, but the ListViewCommandSet specifically needs React 17.0.1. Even though these versions look almost identical, the SPFx build pipeline can be very picky about exact dependency versions. A minor mismatch like this can lead to cryptic errors, broken components, or commands that simply don’t appear in the list view.
And here’s the kicker—you can’t just rely on the existing React version in your project. You have to explicitly install the correct one, along with matching type definitions, or it still won’t work.
The fix
Here’s the exact command that solved the problem for me:
npm i react@17.0.1 react-dom@17.0.1 @types/react@17.0.45 @types/react-dom@17.0.17 --save-exact
The --save-exact flag is important—it ensures your package.json pins these dependencies to the exact versions, avoiding accidental upgrades that might break things again later.
Why This Matters
Working with SPFx (and especially ListViewCommandSets) often means playing nicely with Microsoft’s chosen dependency versions. While newer versions of React might work in other contexts, SPFx tends to lag behind slightly, and the tooling expects a very specific setup.
So, next time I start a project with ListViewCommandSets—whether it’s months or years from now—I’ll know exactly what to check first.
Here’s hoping this saves someone from the same headache. If nothing else, future me will thank me for writing this down!
If you are interested in Microsoft 365 Development you might also like my other blogposts in this category.
Also, if you have any feedback or questions, please let me know in the comments below. 🙂
Thank you for reading, and happy coding!
/Eli
If you want to support my content you can