Add defaultDate prop to DateInput and DatePicker components.

[endaaman]

I've been using this library in production and it's been incredibly helpful. However, I needed the ability to specify a default date for the picker instead of always using new Date().

Changes

• Added defaultDate prop to DateInput component
• Added defaultDate prop to DatePicker component

Usage

<DateInput defaultDate={new Date(2024, 0, 1)} />

[probablykasper]

How is this different than supplying a date to the value prop?

[endaaman]

I'm using this for birthday input. There's an important distinction:

1. Having a default value pre-filled before user input — This means the control already contains an actual value
2. The input value is empty, but the control displays a defaultDate value — This means the field is technically empty, just showing a hint

These are fundamentally different.

To prevent users from forgetting to enter their birthday, the field needs to be empty (no default value). We need defaultDate instead.

[probablykasper]

defaultDate might be a confusing name since it doesn't set the value itself. Internally, browseDate is what controls the date that's being browsed, so maybe it's better to expose that instead? That would also allow you to update the month shown in the picker at any time instead of just when it's opened.

Another thing to note is that defaultDate also impacts the min and max defaults

[endaaman]

Good point about the naming! I see what you mean about defaultDate being confusing.

However, I'm a bit concerned that exposing browseDate directly might cause issues since it's internal state that changes during interaction.

What about renaming it to initialBrowseDate? This would:

• Clearly indicate it only sets the initial month/year when opening the picker
• Avoid confusion with the actual value
• Still make sense for the min/max defaults you mentioned

If that works for you, I can update the PR. Let me know your thoughts!

[probablykasper]

That's fair, let's go with that

[endaaman]

I've pushed the changes.

The CI failure is due to Codecov hitting rate limits (all tests and linting passed).
Please re-run the workflow when possible.