Metaballs are blobs defined by a field: each ball adds to a value that falls off with distance, and anything above a threshold is drawn. Where two fields overlap they merge into one smooth shape, which is the liquid look.

How do I install Meta Balls?

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

Is Meta Balls free for commercial use?

Meta Balls 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 Meta Balls 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 Meta Balls?

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

Meta Balls

Blobby balls drift around a box and melt together where they meet; one follows the pointer. A real metaball field summed on a low-resolution canvas, so the merge is smooth and the colour follows the theme.

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

Examples

Meta Balls

Move the pointer near a ball and pull it into the others.

API reference

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`count`	`number`	`6`	Drifting balls, not counting the one on the pointer.
`size`	`number`	`90`	Typical ball diameter in px.
`color`	`string`	`"var(--ember)"`	Any CSS colour.
`speed`	`number`	`1`	Drift speed multiplier.
`follow`	`boolean`	`true`	Add a ball that follows the pointer and merges with the others.
`className`	`string`	—

About Meta Balls

Meta Balls drifts blobby balls around a box that melt together where they meet, with one following the pointer.

Meta Balls is an interactive effect 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 Meta Balls

Liquid and lava-lamp styles.
Playful heroes.
Music visuals.
Behind logos.

How it works

A real metaball field is summed on a low-resolution grid and thresholded.

Pointer effects have a keyboard or static equivalent, and nothing that matters depends on hover alone. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.

Customizing Meta Balls

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 count, size, speed, follow, color live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.

count (number, default 6): Drifting balls, not counting the one on the pointer.
size (number, default 90): Typical ball diameter in px.
color (string, default "var(--ember)"): Any CSS colour.
speed (number, default 1): Drift speed multiplier.
follow (boolean, default true): Add a ball that follows the pointer and merges with the others.

The example on this page

Meta Balls: Move the pointer near a ball and pull it into the others.

Goes well with Meta Balls

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

Hover Reveal List: A React hover reveal list: hovering a row floats its image beside the pointer
Pixel Grid: A React pixel grid: cells light up under the pointer and fade slowly
Draggable Cards: React draggable cards: polaroids scattered on a table you can pick up
Image Accordion: A React image accordion: the hovered panel expands to reveal its caption
Velocity Marquee: A React velocity marquee: big text that speeds up and flips with scroll

Install Meta Balls

npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/meta-balls

Meta Balls 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 meta-balls.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

What are metaballs?: Metaballs are blobs defined by a field: each ball adds to a value that falls off with distance, and anything above a threshold is drawn. Where two fields overlap they merge into one smooth shape, which is the liquid look.
How do I install Meta Balls?: Meta Balls is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/meta-balls. It copies meta-balls.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
Is Meta Balls free for commercial use?: Meta Balls 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 Meta Balls 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 Meta Balls?: Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Meta Balls's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Meta Balls as Markdown · llms.txt