Dead UI CLI

Dead simple animations for React.

The deadui CLI installs production-ready animation components into React, Next.js, and Vite projects. Run init once, add the components you want, then own the copied source in your app.

Documentation · npm · GitHub

Quick Start

Initialize Dead UI in your project:

npx deadui@latest init

Add a component:

npx deadui@latest add cinematic-text

Import and use it:

import { CinematicText } from "@/components/ui/cinematic-text"

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <CinematicText variant="blur-in" className="text-6xl font-bold">
      Dead simple animations.
    </CinematicText>
  )
}

What init Does

deadui init prepares an existing project for Dead UI components. It detects your project layout and applies the setup needed by the registry components:

• Installs core runtime dependencies when they are missing.
• Creates or reuses the cn() utility.
• Adds Dead UI theme tokens, keyframes, animations, and rainbow color variables.
• Configures the @/* path alias for projects with or without a src/ directory.
• Keeps repeated runs idempotent, so it will not double-inject generated blocks.

Commands

npx deadui@latest init

Initialize a project with Dead UI dependencies, utility files, Tailwind tokens, and aliases.

npx deadui@latest add <component>

Install a Free component from the public registry.

npx deadui@latest add <component> --pro

Install a Pro component. The CLI validates your license key before fetching any Pro files.

npx deadui@latest add <component> --pro --token <license-key> --github-token <pat>

Install a Pro component non-interactively. The GitHub token must have access to the private Pro registry repository.

Available Components

Free

| Name | Install | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | Cinematic Text Reveal | cinematic-text | GSAP SplitText + ScrollTrigger letter-by-letter reveal. | | Infinite Blur Marquee | marquee | GPU-accelerated marquee with edge blur, vertical mode, pause-on-hover, and reverse. | | Spotlight Hover Card | spotlight-card | Mouse-tracking spotlight card with border glow and optional 3D tilt. | | Scroll-Linked Media Scrub | scroll-scrub | Scroll-linked image sequence or video timeline scrubbing. | | Gradient Border Glow | gradient-border | Animated gradient borders with rotating, pulsing, static, and spotlight variants. | | Magnetic Elastic Button | magnetic-button | Physics-based button that pulls toward the cursor and snaps back elastically. | | Rainbow Button | rainbow-button | Animated rainbow button with outline, gradient-text, and glow variants. | | CSS Image Trail | image-trail | Lightweight DOM image trail with six cursor-following effects and no WebGL. |

Pro

| Name | Install | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | WebGL Image Trail | webgl-image-trail | React Three Fiber image trail with liquid, distortion, pixelate, and wave shader effects. | | Text Fill Animation | text-fill-animation | Scroll-linked sticky text fill with a velocity-reactive gradient. |

Pro Components

Pro components require two credentials:

• A Dead UI license key, passed with --token or entered at the prompt.
• A GitHub personal access token with access to the private Pro registry, passed with --github-token or entered at the prompt.

Example:

npx deadui@latest add webgl-image-trail --pro --token <license-key> --github-token <pat>

The public repository may include Pro source files so the documentation site can build, but reading the source is not a license. The CLI still validates your license before installing Pro components.

Configuration

The CLI supports these environment variables for local development and testing:

| Variable | Purpose | | --- | --- | | DEADUI_API_URL | Override the API host used for license validation. | | DEADUI_REGISTRY_BASE_URL | Override the registry base URL or point to a local registry checkout. |

Troubleshooting

Could not find package.json

Run the command from the root of your React, Next.js, or Vite project.

Component not found

Check the install name in the component tables above. The CLI prints all available registry component names when a lookup fails.

Pro install fails

Confirm that your license key is valid and that your GitHub account has access to the private Pro registry. For non-interactive installs, pass both --token and --github-token.

License

Free components are MIT licensed.

Pro components are commercially licensed and require a valid Dead UI license.