Recommended way to implement a static menu?

[ReturnMeVoid]

Hello. I'm trying to understand the recommended way to implement a static menu (rendered in place, not a dropdown).

I see components like DropdownMenu, ContextMenu, and Menubar, but I couldn't find a pattern for a menu that is always visible, such as a sidebar menu or a list of actions/settings, with possible nested items.

What is the intended approach for this use case?

Thanks.

[MILLERMARRU]

DropdownMenu, ContextMenu and Menubar are all built around Presence + Popper, they're fundamentally popover components (something you trigger, that floats and positions itself relative to an anchor), so trying to force one into an always-visible sidebar fights the component's whole design, even with forceMount (which exists, but it's meant for controlling exit animations with something like Vue's <Transition>, not for turning a floating menu into a static one).

For a persistently rendered menu with nested items, NavigationMenu is the primitive built for that case, it's a separate export from the Menu/DropdownMenu family specifically for embedded, always-visible navigation rather than a popover:

<NavigationMenuRoot orientation="vertical">
  <NavigationMenuList>
    <NavigationMenuItem>
      <NavigationMenuLink href="/settings/profile">Profile</NavigationMenuLink>
    </NavigationMenuItem>
    <NavigationMenuItem>
      <NavigationMenuTrigger>Settings</NavigationMenuTrigger>
      <NavigationMenuContent>
        <NavigationMenuLink href="/settings/billing">Billing</NavigationMenuLink>
        <NavigationMenuLink href="/settings/security">Security</NavigationMenuLink>
      </NavigationMenuContent>
    </NavigationMenuItem>
  </NavigationMenuList>
</NavigationMenuRoot>

orientation="vertical" gets you sidebar-style keyboard navigation (up/down instead of left/right), and nested NavigationMenuTrigger/NavigationMenuContent pairs handle the "list of actions/settings with nested items" part you described, still with proper roving focus and ARIA roles, but without any of the floating/positioning machinery you don't want for a sidebar.