Can I change the strand colour and count?

Yes. Count, length, stiffness and colour are props. Each strand is a short Verlet chain, so they bend naturally and recover on their own.

How do I install Strands?

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

Is Strands free for commercial use?

Strands 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 Strands 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 Strands?

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

Strands

Hair-like strands rooted along the bottom edge sway in a slow breeze and bend away from the pointer. Verlet chains on a canvas, so they keep their length and spring back naturally.

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

Examples

Strands

Sweep the pointer low across the box and watch the strands part.

API reference

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`count`	`number`	`70`	Strands rooted along the bottom edge.
`length`	`number`	`140`	Rest length in px; each strand varies a little.
`stiffness`	`number`	`0.08`	How hard each strand pulls back to standing: 0.02 (limp) to 0.3 (bristly).
`color`	`string`	`"var(--ember)"`	Any CSS colour.
`className`	`string`	—

About Strands

Strands grows hair-like strands from the bottom edge that sway in a slow breeze and bend away from the pointer.

Strands 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 Strands

Nature and outdoor brands.
Calm interactive heroes.
Agriculture and food.
Art pieces.

How it works

Each strand is a short Verlet chain on a canvas with stiffness and a pointer force.

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 Strands

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

count (number, default 70): Strands rooted along the bottom edge.
length (number, default 140): Rest length in px; each strand varies a little.
stiffness (number, default 0.08): How hard each strand pulls back to standing: 0.02 (limp) to 0.3 (bristly).
color (string, default "var(--ember)"): Any CSS colour.

The example on this page

Strands: Sweep the pointer low across the box and watch the strands part.

Goes well with Strands

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 Strands

npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/strands

Strands 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 strands.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

Can I change the strand colour and count?: Yes. Count, length, stiffness and colour are props. Each strand is a short Verlet chain, so they bend naturally and recover on their own.
How do I install Strands?: Strands is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/strands. It copies strands.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
Is Strands free for commercial use?: Strands 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 Strands 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 Strands?: Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Strands's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Strands as Markdown · llms.txt