Stack Cards
Cards pin as you scroll and stack on top of each other, the ones underneath shrinking back.
- Category: Interactive
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Stack Cards
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
cards | { title, body, image }[] | — | |
container | RefObject<HTMLElement> | — |
About Stack Cards
Stack Cards pins cards as you scroll and stacks them on top of each other, with the ones underneath shrinking back.
Stack Cards is an interactive effect 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 Stack Cards
- Feature walkthroughs.
- Process steps.
- Case studies.
- Pricing explanations.
How it works
Each card is sticky with scale mapped to the progress of the card after it.
Pointer effects have a keyboard or static equivalent, and nothing that matters depends on hover alone. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Stack Cards
Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.
Style it with className like any other element. It only uses your theme's tokens, so it follows light and dark mode without extra work.
- cards ({ title, body, image }[]).
- container (RefObject<HTMLElement>).
Goes well with Stack Cards
These interactive pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.
- Hover Reveal List: A React hover reveal list: hovering a row floats its image beside the pointer
- Pixel Grid: A React pixel grid: cells light up under the pointer and fade slowly
- Draggable Cards: React draggable cards: polaroids scattered on a table you can pick up
- Image Accordion: A React image accordion: the hovered panel expands to reveal its caption
- Velocity Marquee: A React velocity marquee: big text that speeds up and flips with scroll
Install Stack Cards
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/stack-cardsStack Cards 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 stack-cards.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 many cards can stack?
- As many as you have. Each card pins as you scroll and the ones underneath shrink back slightly, so a long list becomes a satisfying stack rather than a long scroll.
- How do I install Stack Cards?
- Stack Cards is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/stack-cards. It copies stack-cards.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Stack Cards free for commercial use?
- Stack Cards 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 Stack Cards 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 Stack Cards?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Stack Cards's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.