Spotlight Card
An ember glow follows the pointer across the card and its border.
- Category: Display
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Spotlight Card
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
radius | number | 320 | Glow radius in px. |
children | ReactNode | — |
About Spotlight Card
Spotlight Card lights up under the pointer: a soft accent glow follows the cursor across the surface and along the border. It turns a grid of features into something you want to explore.
Spotlight Card is a display 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 Spotlight Card
- Feature grids on landing pages.
- Pricing cards.
- Integration and partner tiles.
- Dashboard widgets.
How it works
The pointer is written to CSS variables, so nothing re-renders as it moves. The glow is a radial gradient, and the border glow is the same gradient masked to the border ring.
Interactive parts are buttons or links with accessible names, decorative layers are hidden from assistive tech, and everything is reachable by keyboard. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Spotlight Card
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 radius live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.
- radius (number, default 320): Glow radius in px.
Goes well with Spotlight Card
Spotlight Card is already composed into 2 ready-made sections, so you can see it in context or install the whole block.
- Features Grid: Features section
- Features Bento: Features section
- Tilt Card: A 3D tilt card for React that leans toward the pointer with a moving glare
- Sortable List: A drag-to-reorder React list with lifted shadows and keyboard sorting
- Card Stack: A swipeable React card stack where the next card rises to meet you
- Image Compare: A React before and after image comparison slider you can drag anywhere
- Flip Card: A 3D React flip card on a springy hinge, by click or hover
Install Spotlight Card
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/spotlight-cardSpotlight Card 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 spotlight-card.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 Spotlight Card?
- Spotlight Card is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/spotlight-card. It copies spotlight-card.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Spotlight Card free for commercial use?
- Spotlight Card 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 Spotlight Card 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 Spotlight Card?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Spotlight Card's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.