How do I install Pill Nav?

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

Is Pill Nav free for commercial use?

Pill 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 Pill 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 Pill Nav?

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

Pill Nav

A pill-shaped nav where a liquid highlight glides under the hovered link and settles back on the active one, flipping the label colour beneath it.

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

Examples

Pill Nav

API reference

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`items`	`{ label: string; href: string }[]`	—
`activeHref`	`string`	—
`size`	`"sm" \| "md" \| "lg"`	`"md"`
`color`	`string`	`"var(--ember)"`	Highlight colour.
`labelColor`	`string`	`"var(--ember-foreground)"`	Label colour while the highlight sits under a link.
`onNavigate`	`(item, event) => void`	—
`className`	`string`	—

About Pill Nav

Pill Nav is a pill-shaped navigation bar where a liquid highlight glides under the hovered link and settles back on the active one, flipping the label colour beneath it.

Pill 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 Pill Nav

Landing page headers.
Section switchers.
Portfolio navigation.
App top bars.

How it works

The highlight is one shared layout element; the label colour flip is the same text drawn twice, one copy clipped to the highlight. It is a nav with links and aria-current on the active page.

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

items.
activeHref (string).
size ("sm" | "md" | "lg", default "md").
color (string, default "var(--ember)"): Highlight colour.
labelColor (string, default "var(--ember-foreground)"): Label colour while the highlight sits under a link.

Goes well with Pill 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 Pill Nav

npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/pill-nav

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

Pill Nav as Markdown · llms.txt