About
Syntax highlighted code that streams in as an agent writes it, with a caret, file tabs, highlighted lines, wrap and copy. Here a route, its query and its test arrive one tab at a time.
Built with React and Tailwind. Copy the prompt and paste it into Claude Code, Cursor or Lovable: your agent adds Code Block to your project and fits it to your theme.
Code
How Code Block is used: the demo's code. The component's own source comes with a free account.
Usage.tsx
"use client"
import * as React from "react"
import { CodeBlockTabs } from "@/components/ui/code-block"
/** Opens partway into the first file, so the first frame already shows code landing. */
const START_MS = 600
/** How long a choice holds a tour before it carries on. */
const RESUME_MS = 1800
/** True until `RESUME_MS` after the last `hold()`, for tours with their own state. */
function useHold() {
const [held, setHeld] = React.useState(false)
const timer = React.useRef(0)
React.useEffect(() => () => window.clearTimeout(timer.current), [])
const hold = React.useCallback(() => {
setHeld(true)
window.clearTimeout(timer.current)
timer.current = window.setTimeout(() => setHeld(false), RESUME_MS)
}, [])
return [held, hold] as const
}
/** An agent writing a small API route, its query and its test, one file after another. */
const FILES = [
{
name: "route.ts",
language: "ts",
highlight: "4",
code: `import { getRuns } from "@/lib/runs"
export async function GET(request: Request) {
const limit = Number(new URL(request.url).searchParams.get("limit") ?? 20)
const runs = await getRuns({ limit: Math.min(limit, 100) })
return Response.json({ runs })
}`,
},
{
name: "runs.ts",
language: "ts",
highlight: "5-8",
code: `import { db } from "@/lib/db"
export function getRuns({ limit = 20 }: { limit?: number } = {}) {
return db.run.findMany({
take: limit,
orderBy: { createdAt: "desc" },
select: { id: true, status: true, createdAt: true },
})
}`,
},
{
name: "runs.test.ts",
language: "ts",
highlight: "6",
code: `import { expect, test } from "vitest"
import { GET } from "./route"
test("caps the limit at 100", async () => {
const res = await GET(new Request("http://localhost/api/runs?limit=500"))
const { runs } = await res.json()
expect(runs.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(100)
})`,
},
]
const reducedMotion = () => window.matchMedia("(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)").matches
/** Each file streams for WRITE_MS, rests with its highlight for REST_MS, then the next tab opens. */
const WRITE_MS = 1500
const REST_MS = 1100
const FILE_MS = WRITE_MS + REST_MS
const FIT_CSS = "html,body{overflow:hidden}[data-fit-small] [data-fit-hide]{display:none!important}"
/**
* 21st shows a demo in a small frame: about 674 by 421 on a component page, 358 by 224 on a
* phone and 245 by 139 on a profile card. A demo taller than its frame gets scrollbars, which
* render white on dark pages. FitFrame fills the frame exactly instead.
*
* - "scale": the content shrinks until it fits, centered. For visuals such as orbs.
* - "crop": the content stays at full size from the top and fades out at the bottom. For text
* that streams in, where a changing scale would make the page breathe.
*
* `minWidth` lays out a wide demo (a table, a two column panel) at that width and scales it down
* to the frame, instead of letting it collapse to a narrow layout. The frame centers it, so it
* shrinks evenly on both sides.
*
* Anything marked `data-fit-hide` (state buttons, the chatcn.dev line) drops out in frames
* shorter than `hideBelow`, so a profile card shows the visual alone.
*/
function FitFrame({
children,
mode = "scale",
hideBelow = 360,
minWidth,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
mode?: "scale" | "crop"
hideBelow?: number
minWidth?: string
}) {
const content = React.useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)
const [cropped, setCropped] = React.useState(false)
React.useLayoutEffect(() => {
const el = content.current
if (!el) return
const measure = () => {
const vw = window.innerWidth
const vh = window.innerHeight
el.toggleAttribute("data-fit-small", vh < hideBelow)
// Layout sizes ignore the transform, so measuring never feeds back.
const w = Math.max(el.offsetWidth, el.scrollWidth)
const h = Math.max(el.offsetHeight, el.scrollHeight)
const scale = mode === "scale" ? Math.min(1, vw / w, vh / h) : 1
el.style.transform = scale < 1 ? `scale(${scale})` : ""
setCropped(mode === "crop" && h > vh + 1)
}
measure()
const observer = new ResizeObserver(measure)
observer.observe(el)
// Content that changes inside a fixed width box (a headline that cycles words) never resizes
// the box itself, so changes below it measure again on the next frame.
let frame = 0
const mutations = new MutationObserver(() => {
cancelAnimationFrame(frame)
frame = requestAnimationFrame(measure)
})
mutations.observe(el, { subtree: true, childList: true, characterData: true })
window.addEventListener("resize", measure)
return () => {
observer.disconnect()
mutations.disconnect()
cancelAnimationFrame(frame)
window.removeEventListener("resize", measure)
}
}, [mode, hideBelow])
const fade = "linear-gradient(to bottom, #000 calc(100% - 40px), transparent)"
return (
<div
className="flex w-full justify-center overflow-hidden"
style={{
height: "100dvh",
alignItems: mode === "crop" ? "flex-start" : "center",
maskImage: cropped ? fade : undefined,
WebkitMaskImage: cropped ? fade : undefined,
}}
>
<style>{FIT_CSS}</style>
<div
ref={content}
className="w-full shrink-0"
style={{ transformOrigin: mode === "crop" ? "top center" : "center", minWidth }}
>
{children}
</div>
</div>
)
}
/** The line under each 21st demo that points back to the kit. */
function MoreOn({ slug, children }: { slug: string; children: React.ReactNode }) {
return (
<p data-fit-hide className="text-[0.75rem]/[1rem] text-(color:--chatcn-fg-faint) text-center text-balance">
{children}{" "}
<a
href={`https://chatcn.dev/docs/components/${slug}`}
target="_blank"
rel="noopener"
className="text-(color:--chatcn-fg-subtle) hover:text-(color:--chatcn-fg) underline underline-offset-2"
>
chatcn.dev
</a>
</p>
)
}
/**
* An agent writes an API route, its query and its test: each file streams into its own tab with
* a caret and syntax colors, the changed lines light up, then the next tab opens. Loops. Pick a
* tab yourself and the tour waits a moment on it.
*/
export default function CodeBlockPreview() {
const [clock, setClock] = React.useState(START_MS)
const [held, hold] = useHold()
const [mine, setMine] = React.useState(FILES[0]!.name)
React.useEffect(() => {
if (reducedMotion()) {
setClock(WRITE_MS)
return
}
if (held) return
const began = performance.now() - clock
const id = window.setInterval(() => setClock(performance.now() - began), 40)
return () => window.clearInterval(id)
// biome-ignore lint/correctness/useExhaustiveDependencies: resumes from the clock it held at.
}, [held])
const index = Math.floor(clock / FILE_MS) % FILES.length
const local = clock % FILE_MS
const reveal = reducedMotion() ? 1 : Math.min(1, local / WRITE_MS)
const active = held ? mine : FILES[index]!.name
const files = FILES.map((file, i) => {
if (held || i !== index) return { name: file.name, language: file.language, code: file.code, highlightLines: file.highlight }
const streaming = reveal < 1
return {
name: file.name,
language: file.language,
code: file.code.slice(0, Math.ceil(file.code.length * reveal)),
streaming,
highlightLines: streaming ? undefined : file.highlight,
}
})
return (
<FitFrame minWidth="44rem">
<div className="flex w-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-4 p-6">
<div className="w-full max-w-2xl [--chatcn-code-sticky-top:-100rem]">
<CodeBlockTabs
className="h-[18.5rem] w-full"
files={files}
value={active}
onValueChange={(name) => {
hold()
setMine(name)
}}
/>
</div>
<MoreOn slug="code-block">Streaming code with tabs, highlights, wrap and copy. On</MoreOn>
</div>
</FitFrame>
)
}








