How do I install Card Nav?

Card Nav is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/card-nav. It copies card-nav.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.

Is Card Nav free for commercial use?

Card Nav needs a Charcoal UI Pro seat, monthly or a one-time lifetime price. A seat covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, including client work, and every future Pro component.

Does Card Nav work with Next.js?

Yes. It is a client component for React 19 styled with Tailwind CSS 4, so it works in the Next.js App Router and Pages Router, Vite, Remix and Astro.

Can an AI coding agent install Card Nav?

Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Card Nav's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Card Nav

A compact top bar whose menu button expands it into a stack of cards, one per section, with the links rising in one after another.

Category: Navigation
Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge

Examples

Card Nav

API reference

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`items`	`{ label: string; links: { label: string; href: string; description?: string }[] }[]`	—
`logo`	`ReactNode`	—
`cta`	`ReactNode`	—
`stagger`	`number`	`0.06`	Seconds between each card's rise.
`open`	`boolean`	—
`onOpenChange`	`(open: boolean) => void`	—
`onNavigate`	`(link, event) => void`	—
`className`	`string`	—

About Card Nav

Card Nav is a compact top bar whose menu button expands it into a stack of cards, one per section, with links rising in one after another. It holds a lot of navigation without a mega menu.

Card Nav is a navigation component for React 19, styled with Tailwind CSS 4 and animated with Motion. It drops into Next.js, Vite, Remix or Astro through the shadcn CLI as a single file you own.

When to use Card Nav

Marketing sites with several product areas.
Agency and studio sites.
Mobile-first navigation.
Docs with grouped sections.

How it works

The bar animates its height with Motion layout and the cards rise with a stagger. Focus moves into the first link, Escape collapses it, and every link is a real anchor.

Links and buttons keep their roles, arrow keys move where a group is expected, the current item is marked with aria-current, and focus is always visible. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.

Customizing Card Nav

Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.

The Customize panel next to the preview lets you change logo, ctaLabel, stagger live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.

items.
logo (ReactNode).
cta (ReactNode).
stagger (number, default 0.06): Seconds between each card's rise.
open (boolean).

Goes well with Card Nav

These navigation pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.

Dock: A macOS-style React dock whose icons swell with pointer distance and show labels
Expandable Tabs: Compact React icon tabs where the active tab expands to reveal its label
Floating Nav: A floating React pill nav that hides on scroll down and returns on scroll up
Context Menu: A React right-click context menu that opens at the pointer and stays on screen
Bottom Nav: An animated React mobile tab bar with a sliding pill, hopping icons and badges

Install Card Nav

npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/card-nav

Card Nav is part of Charcoal UI Pro. One seat unlocks all 300 Pro components, 107 landing-page sections and 100 full templates, for every personal and client project, with updates included. Add the @charcoal registry once with your access token, then the command above copies card-nav.tsx into components/ui and installs clsx, tailwind-merge.

You own the file you install: no runtime package, no lock-in, nothing to keep in sync. Change it however your product needs.

See Charcoal UI Pro pricing · Pro setup

Frequently asked questions

How do I install Card Nav?: Card Nav is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/card-nav. It copies card-nav.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
Is Card Nav free for commercial use?: Card Nav needs a Charcoal UI Pro seat, monthly or a one-time lifetime price. A seat covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, including client work, and every future Pro component.
Does Card Nav work with Next.js?: Yes. It is a client component for React 19 styled with Tailwind CSS 4, so it works in the Next.js App Router and Pages Router, Vite, Remix and Astro.
Can an AI coding agent install Card Nav?: Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Card Nav's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Card Nav as Markdown · llms.txt