Dot Grid
Dot grid whose dots swell and warm up near the pointer.
- Category: Backgrounds
- Licence: Free, MIT
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Dot Grid
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
gap | number | 22 | |
radius | number | 140 | Pointer influence in px. |
About Dot Grid
Dot Grid is a calm field of dots that swell and warm to the accent colour near the pointer. It adds texture and a hint of interactivity to any section without distracting from the content.
Dot Grid is an animated background 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 Dot Grid
- Behind feature grids and stats.
- Developer tool and docs sites.
- Empty states and placeholders.
- Subtle hero backgrounds.
How it works
Each dot's size eases toward a target based on pointer distance, and only redraws while something is changing. It runs on a canvas capped at 2x pixel density, pauses when scrolled off screen, and reads its colours from your theme tokens so it follows dark mode.
The whole layer is decorative and aria-hidden, sits behind your content without taking pointer events it does not need, and pauses when scrolled off screen. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Dot Grid
Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.
Style it with className like any other element. It only uses your theme's tokens, so it follows light and dark mode without extra work.
- gap (number, default 22).
- radius (number, default 140): Pointer influence in px.
Goes well with Dot Grid
These backgrounds pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.
- Grain: A React film grain overlay that removes gradient banding
- Ember Field: An animated React ember background: glowing embers drift up and flicker as they cool
- Smoke: A slow React smoke background: blurred plumes drifting over dark sections, CSS only
- Aurora: An animated React aurora background: soft light bands drifting across a section
- Grid Beams: A React grid background with beams of light running along its lines
Install Dot Grid
npx shadcn@latest add https://charcoalui.com/r/dot-grid.jsonDot Grid is free and MIT licensed. The command copies dot-grid.tsx into components/ui and installs clsx, tailwind-merge; you can also copy the source from the Code tab by hand.
It pairs well with Particle Network, a Pro piece: Drifting nodes that link up when close and gather around the pointer, lines warming to ember nearby.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I install Dot Grid?
- Run npx shadcn@latest add https://charcoalui.com/r/dot-grid.json. The shadcn CLI copies dot-grid.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge. You can also copy the source from this page by hand.
- Is Dot Grid free for commercial use?
- Yes. Dot Grid is MIT licensed: use it in any personal or commercial project and change it however you like.
- Does Dot Grid 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 Dot Grid?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Dot Grid's props and source and get_install_command returns the exact command.