diff --git a/autocomplete/autocomplete.py b/autocomplete/autocomplete.py
index ff0b6cf..964878e 100644
--- a/autocomplete/autocomplete.py
+++ b/autocomplete/autocomplete.py
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ class Meta:
     placeholder (str or None):    The placeholder text used on the component
                                   Defaults to None.
 
+    required (bool):              If set the control is marked as required.
+
     no_result_text (str):         The string displayed when no results are found.
                                   Defaults to "No results found."
 
@@ -108,6 +110,9 @@ class Meta:
     # The placeholder text.  (Typically something like "Type to search...")
     placeholder = None
 
+    # If set to True the HTML control will be marked as required
+    required = False
+
     # The minimum search length to perform a search and show the dropdown.
     minimum_search_length = 3
 
@@ -428,11 +433,12 @@ def put(self, request, method):
                 template.render(
                     {
                         "name": self.name,
+                        "required": self.required,
                         "no_result_text": self.no_result_text,
                         "narrow_search_text": self.narrow_search_text,
                         "route_name": self.get_route_name(),
                         "multiselect": self.multiselect,
-                        "values": self.item_values(items, True),
+                        "values": list(self.item_values(items, True)),
                         "item": target_item,
                         "toggle": items,
                         "swap_oob": data.get("remove", False),
@@ -497,12 +503,13 @@ def get(self, request, method):
                 template.render(
                     {
                         "name": self.name,
+                        "required": self.required,
                         "route_name": self.get_route_name(),
                         "label": self.label,
                         "placeholder": self.placeholder,
                         "multiselect": self.multiselect,
-                        "values": self.item_values(selected_options),
-                        "selected_items": selected_options,
+                        "values": list(self.item_values(selected_options)),
+                        "selected_items": list(selected_options),
                         "no_result_text": self.no_result_text,
                         "narrow_search_text": self.narrow_search_text,
                     },
@@ -527,11 +534,12 @@ def get(self, request, method):
                 template.render(
                     {
                         "name": self.name,
+                        "required": self.required,
                         "no_result_text": self.no_result_text,
                         "narrow_search_text": self.narrow_search_text,
                         "route_name": self.get_route_name(),
                         "show": show,
-                        "items": items,
+                        "items": list(items),
                         "total_results": total_results,
                     },
                     request,
diff --git a/autocomplete/static/autocomplete/css/autocomplete.css b/autocomplete/static/autocomplete/css/autocomplete.css
index 0e72f77..1b9b84c 100644
--- a/autocomplete/static/autocomplete/css/autocomplete.css
+++ b/autocomplete/static/autocomplete/css/autocomplete.css
@@ -101,6 +101,11 @@
     border-radius: 0;
 }
 
+.phac_aspc_form_autocomplete .ac_required_input {
+    opacity: 0;
+    position: absolute;
+}
+
 .phac_aspc_form_autocomplete ul.ac_container li.search-indicator svg{
     max-width:25px;
     max-height:25px;
diff --git a/autocomplete/static/autocomplete/js/autocomplete.js b/autocomplete/static/autocomplete/js/autocomplete.js
index ae656fc..f54ed9c 100644
--- a/autocomplete/static/autocomplete/js/autocomplete.js
+++ b/autocomplete/static/autocomplete/js/autocomplete.js
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@ function phac_aspc_autocomplete_blur_handler(name, sync=false) {
             if (!sync)  {
                 el.value = '';
             } else {
-                console.log('setting value!');
                 el.value = data_el.getAttribute('data-phac-aspc-autocomplete');
-                console.log(el.value);
             }
             document.getElementById(name + '__items').classList.remove('show');
         }
diff --git a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/chip.html b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/chip.html
index 69cd996..e59b153 100644
--- a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/chip.html
+++ b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/chip.html
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@
     <span>{{ item.label }}</span>
     <a
         hx-put="{% url route_name method='toggle' %}"
-        hx-vals='{"remove": true, "item": "{{ item.value|urlencode }}"}'
-        hx-include="#{{ route_name }} > input[name='{{ name }}']"
+        hx-params="{{ route_name }},item,remove"
+        hx-vals='{"remove": true, "item": "{{ item.value|escapejs }}"}'
+        hx-include="#{{ route_name }}"
         hx-swap="delete"
         tabindex="-1"
     >
@@ -17,4 +18,4 @@
             </path>
         </svg>
     </a>
-</li>
\ No newline at end of file
+</li>
diff --git a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/component.html b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/component.html
index d179343..2cccb20 100644
--- a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/component.html
+++ b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/component.html
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 <div
     id="{{ route_name }}__container"
     class="phac_aspc_form_autocomplete"
+    hx-include="unset"
 >
     {# Hidden input elements used to maintain the component's state #}
     {# and used when submitting forms #}
@@ -40,9 +41,6 @@
         </li>
     </ul>
     <div class="dropdown-menu" id="{{ route_name }}__items"></div>
-    {% comment %} <div class="htmx-indicator">
-        <img src="https://htmx.org/img/bars.svg" />
-    </div> {% endcomment %}
 </div>
 {# This code snippet loads the required CSS and JS if not already loaded. #}
 <script>
@@ -58,5 +56,13 @@
         if (!Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('link')).map(s => s.href).includes(ln.href)) {
             document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(ln);
         }
+        document.querySelector('#{{ route_name }}__container .ac_container').addEventListener(
+            'click',
+            function(evt) {
+                if (evt.target === this) {
+                    document.getElementById('{{ route_name }}__textinput').focus();
+                }
+            }
+        );
     })();
 </script>
diff --git a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/item.html b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/item.html
index 2d36f0c..3270cc4 100644
--- a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/item.html
+++ b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/item.html
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
+{% load autocomplete %}
 <a
-    id="{{ route_name }}__item__{{ item.value|urlencode }}"
+    id="{{ route_name }}__item__{{ item.value|make_id }}"
     class="item {{ item.selected|yesno:'selected,' }}"
     onblur="phac_aspc_autocomplete_blur_handler('{{ route_name }}', {{ multiselect|yesno:'false,true' }})"
     {% if not item.selected %}
     href="#"
     hx-put="{% url route_name method='toggle' %}"
-    hx-include="#{{ route_name }} > input[name='{{ name }}']"
-    hx-vals='{"item": "{{ item.value|urlencode }}"}'
+    hx-params="{{ route_name }},item"
+    hx-include="#{{ route_name }}"
+    hx-vals='{"item": "{{ item.value|escapejs }}"}'
     {% endif %}
     hx-swap="outerHTML"
     {% if swap_oob %}
-    hx-swap-oob="outerHTML:#{{ route_name }}__item__{{ item.value|urlencode }}"
+    hx-swap-oob="outerHTML:#{{ route_name }}__item__{{ item.value|make_id }}"
     {% endif %}
 >
     {{ item.label }}
diff --git a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/textinput.html b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/textinput.html
index 04e0efb..f7e62e9 100644
--- a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/textinput.html
+++ b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/textinput.html
@@ -11,9 +11,12 @@
     {% if not multiselect and selected_items|length == 1 %}
     value="{{ selected_items.0.label }}"
     {% endif %}
+    {% if selected_items|length == 0 %}
+    required
+    {% endif %}
     hx-get="{% url route_name method='items' %}"
     hx-trigger="keyup changed delay:250ms,click,focus,search"
-    hx-include="#{{ route_name }} > input[name='{{ name }}']"
+    hx-include="#{{ route_name }}"
     hx-target="#{{ route_name }}__items"
     hx-swap="outerHTML"
     {% if swap_oob %}
diff --git a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/values.html b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/values.html
index e5eda84..758735d 100644
--- a/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/values.html
+++ b/autocomplete/templates/autocomplete/values.html
@@ -3,3 +3,6 @@
 {% for value in values %}
         <input type="hidden" name="{{ name }}" value="{{ value }}" />
 {% endfor %}
+{% if required and values|length == 0 %}
+<input type="text" name="{{ name }}" required class="ac_required_input">
+{% endif %}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/autocomplete/templatetags/autocomplete.py b/autocomplete/templatetags/autocomplete.py
index 621ecda..aca5ebb 100644
--- a/autocomplete/templatetags/autocomplete.py
+++ b/autocomplete/templatetags/autocomplete.py
@@ -1,14 +1,22 @@
 """
 Django template tags to facilitate rendering of the component
 """
+import hashlib
+
 from django import template
 from django import urls
 from django.utils.html import format_html
 from django.utils.http import urlencode
 from django.template import loader
+from django.template.defaultfilters import stringfilter
 
 register = template.Library()
 
+@register.filter
+@stringfilter
+def make_id(value):
+    """Generate an ID given a string, to use as element IDs in HTML"""
+    return hashlib.sha1(value.encode('utf-8')).hexdigest()
 
 @register.simple_tag
 def autocomplete(name, selected=None):
diff --git a/autocomplete/widgets.py b/autocomplete/widgets.py
index 945587a..57e77c6 100644
--- a/autocomplete/widgets.py
+++ b/autocomplete/widgets.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ class Autocomplete(Widget):
         name (str):   The name of the component (must be unique)
         options (dict): See [autocomplete.py](../autocomplete.py) for more info
             label                   (str)
+            required                (bool) Defaults to false
             placeholder             (str)
             no_result_text          (str) Defaults to "No results found."
             narrow_search_text      (str) Defaults to
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ def __init__(
         super().__init__(attrs)
         config = {
             'name': name,
+            'required': opts.get('required', None),
             'route_name': opts.get('route_name', None),
             'label': opts.get('label', None),
             'placeholder': opts.get('placeholder', None),
@@ -98,11 +100,12 @@ def get_context(self, name, value, attrs):
         )
 
         context['name'] = self.a_c.name
+        context['required'] = self.a_c.required
         context['route_name'] = self.a_c.get_route_name()
         context['label'] = self.a_c.label
         context['placeholder'] = self.a_c.placeholder
         context['multiselect'] = self.a_c.multiselect
-        context['values'] = self.a_c.item_values(self.a_c, selected_options)
-        context['selected_items'] = selected_options
+        context['values'] = list(self.a_c.item_values(self.a_c, selected_options))
+        context['selected_items'] = list(selected_options)
 
         return context
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 0a1f137..f3871f5 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [metadata]
 name = django-htmx-autocomplete
-version = 0.1.1
+version = 0.1.2
 description = A Django autocomplete component powered by htmx
 long_description = file: README.md
 long_description_content_type = text/markdown