How do I install Particles?

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

Is Particles free for commercial use?

Particles 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 Particles 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 Particles?

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

Particles

Soft points drifting upward at three depths, each with its own size, alpha and wobble. The field shifts with the pointer, deeper layers less, so it reads as space rather than a flat sheet.

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

Examples

Particles

Move the pointer across the box to see the parallax.

API reference

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`count`	`number`	`80`	Particles alive at once.
`speed`	`number`	`1`	Drift speed multiplier.
`size`	`number`	`3`	Largest radius in px; the rest scale down with depth.
`color`	`string`	`var(--ember)`	Any CSS colour, including var(--token).
`parallax`	`number`	`1`	How far the field shifts with the pointer; 0 disables it.
`className`	`string`	—

About Particles

Particles drifts soft points upward at three depths, each with its own size, alpha and wobble. The field shifts with the pointer, deeper layers less, so it reads as real depth.

Particles 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 Particles

Calm hero sections.
Space and night themes.
Behind pricing and sign-up.
Wellness and meditation sites.

How it works

Particle count scales with area, and parallax is scaled per depth layer. 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 Particles

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

count (number, default 80): Particles alive at once.
speed (number, default 1): Drift speed multiplier.
size (number, default 3): Largest radius in px; the rest scale down with depth.
color (string, default var(--ember)): Any CSS colour, including var(--token).
parallax (number, default 1): How far the field shifts with the pointer; 0 disables it.

The example on this page

Particles: Move the pointer across the box to see the parallax.

Goes well with Particles

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

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
Meteors: A React meteor shower background: streaks falling diagonally, CSS only

Install Particles

npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/particles

Particles 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 particles.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 Particles?: Particles is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/particles. It copies particles.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
Is Particles free for commercial use?: Particles 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 Particles 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 Particles?: Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Particles's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Particles as Markdown · llms.txt