Which side do the rays come from?

Left or right, set with side. Each ray slides along that edge on its own slow cycle.

How do I install Side Rays?

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

Is Side Rays free for commercial use?

Side Rays 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 Side Rays 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 Side Rays?

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

Side Rays

Thin diagonal rays entering from one side and fading before the centre, each sliding along the edge on its own slow cycle, like light through blinds.

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

Examples

Side Rays

API reference

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`side`	`"left" \| "right" \| "top" \| "bottom"`	`"left"`	Edge the rays enter from.
`count`	`number`	`9`
`color`	`string`	`"var(--ember)"`
`speed`	`number`	`1`	Drift speed multiplier.
`blur`	`number`	`10`	Softness in px, done by rendering smaller and upscaling rather than a filter.

About Side Rays

Side Rays brings thin diagonal rays in from one side, fading before the centre, each sliding along the edge on its own slow cycle, like light through blinds.

Side Rays 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 Side Rays

Calm editorial heroes.
Interiors and hospitality.
Photography portfolios.
Morning and wellness themes.

How it works

Rays are blurred gradients on independent keyframes. It is pure CSS, so it costs almost nothing to keep running, and it stops under reduced motion.

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 Side Rays

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

side (default "left"): Edge the rays enter from.
count (number, default 9).
color (string, default "var(--ember)").
speed (number, default 1): Drift speed multiplier.
blur (number, default 10): Softness in px, done by rendering smaller and upscaling rather than a filter.

Goes well with Side Rays

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 Side Rays

npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/side-rays

Side Rays 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 side-rays.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

Which side do the rays come from?: Left or right, set with side. Each ray slides along that edge on its own slow cycle.
How do I install Side Rays?: Side Rays is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/side-rays. It copies side-rays.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
Is Side Rays free for commercial use?: Side Rays 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 Side Rays 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 Side Rays?: Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Side Rays's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Side Rays as Markdown · llms.txt