Documentation

Introduction

Plain UI is a copy-paste collection of accessible, framework-agnostic UI primitives crafted with pure HTML5 and Tailwind CSS v4.

Core Architecture Principles

⚡️ Zero-Runtime Bundle

No heavy React or JS bundles shipped to users. Interactive primitives leverage HTML5 native tags (

,
, popover).
🎨 Tailwind CSS v4 Native

Styled with modern CSS custom variables, @theme directives, and full dark-mode color schemes.

Tailwind CSS v4 Setup

Add the CSS import to your main stylesheet:

src/styles/global.css css
@import "tailwindcss";

CLI Installation

Add any component directly to your project using the Plain UI CLI:

terminal bash
npx plain-ui add button dialog popover

Available Primitives

Components
#
Button
Interactive button primitives with rich visual variants, loading spinners, icons, and keyboard accessibility.
Core Primitives
#
Dialog
Native HTML <dialog> modal with backdrop blur, @starting-style entry animations, and accessible focus trapping.
Overlays & Modals
#
Popover
Native HTML Popover API (popover='auto') with zero JavaScript, CSS anchor positioning, and automatic light dismiss.
Overlays & Modals
#
Floating Label Input
Modern animated floating label form controls utilizing HTML5 placeholder-shown pseudo-class and Tailwind peer selectors.
Forms & Inputs
#
Border Beam
Dynamic glowing animated border beam gradient traveling continuously around cards and containers using pure CSS animations.
Motion & Effects
#
Shimmer Button
High-performance glowing shimmer button with animated radial light sweep across the surface.
Motion & Effects
#
Dock
macOS-inspired interactive dock with smooth pointer proximity magnification physics, hover tooltips, and app status dots.
Layout & Navigation
#
Bento Grid
Modern modular 12-column asymmetric bento box layout with spotlight card glow, metric widgets, and responsive auto-fitting.
Layout & Surfaces
#
Accordion
Pure HTML <details> and <summary> accordion with smooth height expansion animation and animated rotating chevrons.
Core Primitives
#
Tabs
Accessible, keyboard-navigable tab system with animated indicator slider and light-DOM panels.
Layout & Navigation
Getting Started
📖
Getting Started & Tailwind v4 Setup
Quick start guide and architecture overview
Navigate Select
Plain UI Search