How do I install Magnetic Nav?

Magnetic 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/magnetic-nav. It copies magnetic-nav.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.

Is Magnetic Nav free for commercial use?

Magnetic 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 Magnetic 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 Magnetic Nav?

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

Magnetic Nav

A nav whose underline stretches from the active item toward the hovered one, spanning both, then snaps to the new item on click. Keyboard focus moves it too.

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

Examples

Magnetic Nav

API reference

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`items`	`{ label: string; href: string }[]`	—
`activeHref`	`string`	—
`stretch`	`number`	`1`	How far the bar reaches toward the pointer.
`color`	`string`	`"var(--ember)"`
`onNavigate`	`(item, event) => void`	—
`className`	`string`	—

About Magnetic Nav

Magnetic Nav has an underline that stretches from the active link toward the one you hover, spanning both, then snaps to the new item when you click. Keyboard focus moves it too.

Magnetic 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 Magnetic Nav

Site headers.
Section tabs.
Portfolio navigation.
Product page anchors.

How it works

Link positions are measured with a ResizeObserver, and the bar's left and width animate on a spring. The stretch prop sets how far it reaches, from a subtle lean to a full span.

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 Magnetic 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 activeHref, stretch, color live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.

items.
activeHref (string).
stretch (number, default 1): How far the bar reaches toward the pointer.
color (string, default "var(--ember)").

Goes well with Magnetic 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 Magnetic Nav

npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/magnetic-nav

Magnetic 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 magnetic-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 Magnetic Nav?: Magnetic 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/magnetic-nav. It copies magnetic-nav.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
Is Magnetic Nav free for commercial use?: Magnetic 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 Magnetic 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 Magnetic Nav?: Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Magnetic Nav's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Magnetic Nav as Markdown · llms.txt