Cursors & Pointer

Blob Cursor

A gooey metaball cursor built from an SVG goo filter — lead and follower blobs fuse into a liquid ligament on fast moves and squish together on press.

Install

npx shadcn@latest add @paragon/blob-cursor

blob-cursor.tsx

"use client";

import * as React from "react";
import {
  animate,
  motion,
  useMotionValue,
  useReducedMotion,
  useSpring,
  type SpringOptions,
} from "motion/react";
import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";

/**
 * BlobCursor — a gooey metaball cursor. A crisp lead blob tracks the pointer
 * while a laggier follower blob trails behind; an SVG `feGaussianBlur` +
 * `feColorMatrix` "goo" filter fuses them, so they stretch into a liquid
 * ligament on fast moves and pinch apart as they catch up. Pressing squishes
 * the blobs together. Wrap any content: `<BlobCursor>…surface…</BlobCursor>`.
 *
 * Native cursor hidden only within the surface; layer is pointer-events-none.
 * Gated on fine-pointer devices. Reduced motion → single static blob, no goo.
 */
export interface BlobCursorProps extends React.ComponentProps<"div"> {
  /** Blob fill color. Defaults to the primary token. */
  color?: string;
  /** Lead blob diameter in px. */
  size?: number;
  /** Goo strength — higher fuses the blobs into longer ligaments. 0–1. */
  gooeyness?: number;
}

const LEAD_SPRING: SpringOptions = { stiffness: 500, damping: 30, mass: 0.6 };
const FOLLOW_SPRING: SpringOptions = { stiffness: 180, damping: 20, mass: 0.9 };
const PRESS_SPRING: SpringOptions = { stiffness: 500, damping: 26, mass: 0.5 };

export function BlobCursor({
  color = "var(--color-primary)",
  size = 26,
  gooeyness = 0.7,
  className,
  children,
  ...props
}: BlobCursorProps) {
  const hostRef = React.useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
  const filterId = React.useId().replace(/[:]/g, "");
  const [fine, setFine] = React.useState(false);
  const [inside, setInside] = React.useState(false);
  const reduced = useReducedMotion();

  const x = useMotionValue(-9999);
  const y = useMotionValue(-9999);
  const leadX = useSpring(x, LEAD_SPRING);
  const leadY = useSpring(y, LEAD_SPRING);
  const followX = useSpring(x, reduced ? LEAD_SPRING : FOLLOW_SPRING);
  const followY = useSpring(y, reduced ? LEAD_SPRING : FOLLOW_SPRING);
  const press = useMotionValue(1);

  // Goo blur radius scales with the requested gooeyness and blob size.
  const blur = Math.max(2, Math.round((0.2 + gooeyness * 0.6) * size));

  React.useEffect(() => {
    if (typeof window === "undefined" || !window.matchMedia) return;
    const mql = window.matchMedia("(hover: hover) and (pointer: fine)");
    const sync = () => setFine(mql.matches);
    sync();
    mql.addEventListener("change", sync);
    return () => mql.removeEventListener("change", sync);
  }, []);

  React.useEffect(() => {
    const el = hostRef.current;
    if (!el || !fine) return;
    const onMove = (e: PointerEvent) => {
      const rect = el.getBoundingClientRect();
      x.set(e.clientX - rect.left);
      y.set(e.clientY - rect.top);
    };
    const onEnter = () => setInside(true);
    const onLeave = () => setInside(false);
    const onDown = () => animate(press, 0.72, PRESS_SPRING);
    const onUp = () => animate(press, 1, PRESS_SPRING);
    el.addEventListener("pointermove", onMove);
    el.addEventListener("pointerenter", onEnter);
    el.addEventListener("pointerleave", onLeave);
    el.addEventListener("pointerdown", onDown);
    el.addEventListener("pointerup", onUp);
    return () => {
      el.removeEventListener("pointermove", onMove);
      el.removeEventListener("pointerenter", onEnter);
      el.removeEventListener("pointerleave", onLeave);
      el.removeEventListener("pointerdown", onDown);
      el.removeEventListener("pointerup", onUp);
    };
  }, [fine, press, x, y]);

  const followSize = size * 0.82;

  return (
    <div
      ref={hostRef}
      className={cn(
        "relative overflow-hidden",
        fine && "[&_*]:cursor-none",
        className,
      )}
      style={fine ? { cursor: "none" } : undefined}
      {...props}
    >
      {children}

      {fine && (
        <div
          aria-hidden
          className="pointer-events-none absolute inset-0 z-50"
          style={{ opacity: inside ? 1 : 0, transition: "opacity 160ms ease" }}
        >
          <svg
            width="0"
            height="0"
            className="absolute"
            aria-hidden
            focusable="false"
          >
            <defs>
              <filter id={`goo-${filterId}`}>
                <feGaussianBlur
                  in="SourceGraphic"
                  stdDeviation={reduced ? 0 : blur}
                  result="blur"
                />
                <feColorMatrix
                  in="blur"
                  mode="matrix"
                  values="1 0 0 0 0  0 1 0 0 0  0 0 1 0 0  0 0 0 20 -9"
                  result="goo"
                />
                <feBlend in="SourceGraphic" in2="goo" />
              </filter>
            </defs>
          </svg>

          <div
            className="absolute inset-0"
            style={{ filter: reduced ? undefined : `url(#goo-${filterId})` }}
          >
            {!reduced && (
              <motion.span
                className="absolute top-0 left-0 rounded-full"
                style={{
                  x: followX,
                  y: followY,
                  width: followSize,
                  height: followSize,
                  marginLeft: -followSize / 2,
                  marginTop: -followSize / 2,
                  background: color,
                  scale: press,
                }}
              />
            )}
            <motion.span
              className="absolute top-0 left-0 rounded-full"
              style={{
                x: leadX,
                y: leadY,
                width: size,
                height: size,
                marginLeft: -size / 2,
                marginTop: -size / 2,
                background: color,
                scale: press,
              }}
            />
          </div>
        </div>
      )}
    </div>
  );
}