diff --git a/datasette/hookspecs.py b/datasette/hookspecs.py
index dcd502af..7c56f882 100644
--- a/datasette/hookspecs.py
+++ b/datasette/hookspecs.py
@@ -159,32 +159,32 @@ def jump_items_sql(datasette, actor, request):
 
 @hookspec
 def row_actions(datasette, actor, request, database, table, row):
-    """Links for the row actions menu"""
+    """Items for the row actions menu"""
 
 
 @hookspec
 def table_actions(datasette, actor, database, table, request):
-    """Links for the table actions menu"""
+    """Items for the table actions menu"""
 
 
 @hookspec
 def view_actions(datasette, actor, database, view, request):
-    """Links for the view actions menu"""
+    """Items for the view actions menu"""
 
 
 @hookspec
 def query_actions(datasette, actor, database, query_name, request, sql, params):
-    """Links for the query and stored query actions menu"""
+    """Items for the query and stored query actions menu"""
 
 
 @hookspec
 def database_actions(datasette, actor, database, request):
-    """Links for the database actions menu"""
+    """Items for the database actions menu"""
 
 
 @hookspec
 def homepage_actions(datasette, actor, request):
-    """Links for the homepage actions menu"""
+    """Items for the homepage actions menu"""
 
 
 @hookspec
diff --git a/datasette/static/app.css b/datasette/static/app.css
index c053f484..5fe4502d 100644
--- a/datasette/static/app.css
+++ b/datasette/static/app.css
@@ -2061,18 +2061,32 @@ svg.dropdown-menu-icon {
 .dropdown-menu a:link,
 .dropdown-menu a:visited,
 .dropdown-menu a:hover,
-.dropdown-menu a:focus
-.dropdown-menu a:active {
+.dropdown-menu a:focus,
+.dropdown-menu a:active,
+.dropdown-menu button.action-menu-button {
     text-decoration: none;
     display: block;
     padding: 4px 8px 2px 8px;
     color: #222;
     white-space: nowrap;
 }
-.dropdown-menu a:hover {
+.dropdown-menu button.action-menu-button {
+    appearance: none;
+    background: none;
+    border: none;
+    box-sizing: border-box;
+    cursor: pointer;
+    font: inherit;
+    text-align: left;
+    width: 100%;
+}
+.dropdown-menu a:hover,
+.dropdown-menu button.action-menu-button:hover,
+.dropdown-menu button.action-menu-button:focus {
     background-color: #eee;
 }
 .dropdown-menu .dropdown-description {
+    display: block;
     margin: 0;
     color: #666;
     font-size: 0.8em;
diff --git a/datasette/templates/_action_menu.html b/datasette/templates/_action_menu.html
index 1ae8c173..86089992 100644
--- a/datasette/templates/_action_menu.html
+++ b/datasette/templates/_action_menu.html
@@ -15,14 +15,22 @@
         <div class="hook"></div>
         <ul role="menu">
             {% for link in action_links %}
-            <li role="none"><a href="{{ link.href }}" role="menuitem" tabindex="-1">{{ link.label }}
-            {% if link.description %}
-                <p class="dropdown-description">{{ link.description }}</p>
-            {% endif %}</a>
+            <li role="none">
+            {% if link.get("type") == "button" %}
+                <button type="button" class="button-as-link action-menu-button" role="menuitem" tabindex="-1"{% for name, value in (link.get("attrs") or {}).items() %} {{ name }}="{{ value }}"{% endfor %}>{{ link.label }}
+                {% if link.description %}
+                    <span class="dropdown-description">{{ link.description }}</span>
+                {% endif %}</button>
+            {% else %}
+                <a href="{{ link.href }}" role="menuitem" tabindex="-1">{{ link.label }}
+                {% if link.description %}
+                    <span class="dropdown-description">{{ link.description }}</span>
+                {% endif %}</a>
+            {% endif %}
             </li>
             {% endfor %}
         </ul>
     </div>
 </details>
 </div>
-{% endif %}
\ No newline at end of file
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/docs/custom_templates.rst b/docs/custom_templates.rst
index aa82a536..8851a841 100644
--- a/docs/custom_templates.rst
+++ b/docs/custom_templates.rst
@@ -288,6 +288,14 @@ element that wraps the HTML for that row. Datasette uses this attribute to find
 the element to remove after a delete, or replace after an edit. Any edit or
 delete controls should be rendered inside that same element.
 
+The ``_action_menu.html`` template renders the action menus used by database,
+table, query and row pages. Plugin-provided actions can be link dictionaries
+with ``href`` and ``label`` keys, or button dictionaries using ``{"type":
+"button", "label": "...", "attrs": {...}}`` for JavaScript-backed interactions.
+Both shapes can include an optional ``description`` key. Custom
+``_action_menu.html`` templates should preserve support for both link and button
+action items.
+
 .. _custom_pages:
 
 Custom pages
diff --git a/docs/plugin_hooks.rst b/docs/plugin_hooks.rst
index 7ae52a68..d2f87e27 100644
--- a/docs/plugin_hooks.rst
+++ b/docs/plugin_hooks.rst
@@ -1909,7 +1909,80 @@ Action hooks
 
 Action hooks can be used to add items to the action menus that appear at the top of different pages within Datasette. Unlike :ref:`menu_links() <plugin_hook_menu_links>`, actions which are displayed on every page, actions should only be relevant to the page the user is currently viewing.
 
-Each of these hooks should return return a list of ``{"href": "...", "label": "..."}`` menu items, with optional ``"description": "..."`` keys describing each action in more detail.
+Each of these hooks should return a list of menu items, with optional ``"description": "..."`` keys describing each action in more detail.
+
+The most common action item is a link to another page:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    {
+        "href": datasette.urls.path("/-/custom-action"),
+        "label": "Custom action",
+        "description": "Run this action on a separate page.",
+    }
+
+Plugins can also return button actions for JavaScript-backed interactions:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    {
+        "type": "button",
+        "label": "Open custom dialog",
+        "description": "Show a dialog without leaving this page.",
+        "attrs": {
+            "aria-label": "Open custom dialog",
+            "data-plugin-action": "open-custom-dialog",
+        },
+    }
+
+These are rendered as ``<button type="button" class="button-as-link action-menu-button" role="menuitem" tabindex="-1">``. The optional ``attrs`` dictionary is added to the button, and is useful for ``data-*`` attributes that your plugin's JavaScript can use to attach event handlers.
+
+Here is a minimal plugin example that adds a button to a table page and loads JavaScript to handle clicks on that button:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    from datasette import hookimpl
+
+
+    @hookimpl
+    def table_actions(datasette, database, table):
+        return [
+            {
+                "type": "button",
+                "label": "Show table name",
+                "description": "Open a JavaScript-powered plugin action.",
+                "attrs": {
+                    "aria-label": "Show table name",
+                    "data-plugin-action": "show-table-name",
+                    "data-database": database,
+                    "data-table": table,
+                },
+            }
+        ]
+
+
+    @hookimpl
+    def extra_js_urls(datasette):
+        return [
+            datasette.urls.static_plugins(
+                "datasette_show_table",
+                "show-table.js",
+            )
+        ]
+
+The ``static/show-table.js`` file in that plugin could look like this:
+
+.. code-block:: javascript
+
+    document.addEventListener("click", (event) => {
+      const button = event.target.closest(
+        "button[data-plugin-action='show-table-name']"
+      );
+      if (!button) {
+        return;
+      }
+      alert(`${button.dataset.database}.${button.dataset.table}`);
+    });
 
 They can alternatively return an ``async def`` awaitable function which, when called, returns a list of those menu items.
 
diff --git a/tests/plugins/my_plugin.py b/tests/plugins/my_plugin.py
index 1d2378b4..c89ad0a3 100644
--- a/tests/plugins/my_plugin.py
+++ b/tests/plugins/my_plugin.py
@@ -357,15 +357,30 @@ def menu_links(datasette, actor, request):
 
 
 @hookimpl
-def table_actions(datasette, database, table, actor):
+def table_actions(datasette, database, table, actor, request):
     if actor:
-        return [
+        actions = [
             {
                 "href": datasette.urls.instance(),
                 "label": f"Database: {database}",
             },
             {"href": datasette.urls.instance(), "label": f"Table: {table}"},
         ]
+        if request.args.get("_button"):
+            actions.append(
+                {
+                    "type": "button",
+                    "label": "Plugin button",
+                    "description": "Runs JavaScript from a plugin",
+                    "attrs": {
+                        "aria-label": "Plugin button for {}".format(table),
+                        "data-plugin-action": "plugin-button",
+                        "data-database": database,
+                        "data-table": table,
+                    },
+                }
+            )
+        return actions
 
 
 @hookimpl
diff --git a/tests/test_plugins.py b/tests/test_plugins.py
index cf753c9e..da14c714 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugins.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugins.py
@@ -1062,6 +1062,7 @@ async def test_hook_menu_links(ds_client):
 async def test_hook_table_actions(ds_client):
     response = await ds_client.get("/fixtures/facetable")
     assert get_actions_links(response.text) == []
+    assert get_actions_buttons(response.text) == []
     response_2 = await ds_client.get("/fixtures/facetable?_bot=1&_hello=BOB")
     assert ">Table actions<" in response_2.text
     assert sorted(
@@ -1071,6 +1072,23 @@ async def test_hook_table_actions(ds_client):
         {"label": "From async BOB", "href": "/", "description": None},
         {"label": "Table: facetable", "href": "/", "description": None},
     ]
+    response_3 = await ds_client.get("/fixtures/facetable?_bot=1&_button=1")
+    assert get_actions_buttons(response_3.text) == [
+        {
+            "label": "Plugin button",
+            "description": "Runs JavaScript from a plugin",
+            "attrs": {
+                "aria-label": "Plugin button for facetable",
+                "class": ["button-as-link", "action-menu-button"],
+                "data-database": "fixtures",
+                "data-plugin-action": "plugin-button",
+                "data-table": "facetable",
+                "role": "menuitem",
+                "tabindex": "-1",
+                "type": "button",
+            },
+        }
+    ]
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
@@ -1098,15 +1116,38 @@ def get_actions_links(html):
     links = []
     for a_el in details.select("a"):
         description = None
-        if a_el.find("p") is not None:
-            description = a_el.find("p").text.strip()
-            a_el.find("p").extract()
+        description_el = a_el.find(class_="dropdown-description")
+        if description_el is not None:
+            description = description_el.text.strip()
+            description_el.extract()
         label = a_el.text.strip()
         href = a_el["href"]
         links.append({"label": label, "href": href, "description": description})
     return links
 
 
+def get_actions_buttons(html):
+    soup = Soup(html, "html.parser")
+    details = soup.find("details", {"class": "actions-menu-links"})
+    if details is None:
+        return []
+    buttons = []
+    for button_el in details.select("button.action-menu-button"):
+        description = None
+        description_el = button_el.find(class_="dropdown-description")
+        if description_el is not None:
+            description = description_el.text.strip()
+            description_el.extract()
+        buttons.append(
+            {
+                "label": button_el.text.strip(),
+                "description": description,
+                "attrs": dict(button_el.attrs),
+            }
+        )
+    return buttons
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "path,expected_url",