Specular Button
A button with a specular highlight that follows the pointer across its surface, a rounded body from an inner shadow, and a press that ripples out from the pointer.
- Category: Inputs
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Specular Button
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
variant | "primary" | "glass" | "ember" | "primary" | |
size | "sm" | "md" | "lg" | "md" | |
children | ReactNode | — | |
...props | HTMLMotionProps<"button"> | — |
About Specular Button
Specular Button looks like a physical, rounded button: a specular highlight tracks the pointer across its surface, an inner shadow gives it a body, and a press ripples out from where you clicked.
Specular Button is an input 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 Specular Button
- Hero calls to action that should look premium.
- Glass-style interfaces over images or gradients.
- Product pages for hardware or design-led brands.
- Onboarding steps with one big Continue button.
How it works
Pointer position is written to CSS variables, so the highlight moves without React re-rendering. Variants cover a solid, a glass and an accent finish, and the ripple is a short Motion scale that respects reduced motion.
It is a real form control: it has an accessible name, works with the keyboard alone, shows a visible focus ring and announces its state to screen readers. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Specular Button
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 variant, size, label live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.
- variant ("primary" | "glass" | "ember", default "primary").
- size ("sm" | "md" | "lg", default "md").
Goes well with Specular Button
These inputs pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.
- Magnetic: Make any React element lean toward the pointer and spring home: a magnetic hover in one wrapper
- Color Picker: An animated React swatch colour picker with a ring that glides to the selection
- Rating: An animated React star rating with hover preview and a ripple of popping stars
- File Dropzone: An animated React file dropzone that lifts on hover and lists uploads with progress
- Like Button: An animated React like button: the heart pops, sparks burst and the count rolls
Install Specular Button
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/specular-buttonSpecular Button 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 specular-button.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 Specular Button?
- Specular Button is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/specular-button. It copies specular-button.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Specular Button free for commercial use?
- Specular Button 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 Specular Button 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 Specular Button?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Specular Button's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.