react-webgl-fluid-play

Fluid simulation in React with WebGL, pure TypeScript, and zero runtime dependencies.

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Installation

npm install react-webgl-fluid-play
# or
yarn add react-webgl-fluid-play
# or
pnpm add react-webgl-fluid-play

Requires React 17+ and ReactDOM 17+ as peer dependencies.

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Quick start

import Canvas from 'react-webgl-fluid-play';

export default function App() {
  return (
    <div style={{ position: 'fixed', inset: 0 }}>
      <Canvas initialAnimation={{ path: 'oval' }} />
    </div>
  );
}

The component fills 100 % of its parent, so wrap it in a positioned container that defines the size you want.

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Public exports

import Canvas, {
  PathFollower,
  PREDEFINED_PATHS,
  PREDEFINED_PATH_IDS,
  cloneFluidPath,
  createPredefinedPath,
  getPredefinedPath,
  getPredefinedPaths,
  isPredefinedPathId,
  type CanvasAnimationOptions,
  type CanvasInitialAnimation,
  type CanvasProps,
  type CanvasRef,
  type FluidPath,
  type FluidPathOverrides,
  type PathColor,
  type PathPoint,
  type PredefinedPathId,
} from 'react-webgl-fluid-play';

• Canvas default export (and named export)
• PathFollower class export
• predefined path exports: PREDEFINED_PATHS, PREDEFINED_PATH_IDS, createPredefinedPath, getPredefinedPath, getPredefinedPaths, isPredefinedPathId, cloneFluidPath
• path/type exports: FluidPath, FluidPathOverrides, PathPoint, PathColor, PredefinedPathId
• canvas API types: CanvasRef, CanvasProps, CanvasAnimationOptions, CanvasInitialAnimation

Predefined path ids

oval, infinity, spiral, wave, star, heart

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Props

Prop	Type	Default	Description
width	number	window width	Fixed pixel width of the canvas. Omit to auto-track the viewport.
height	number	window height	Fixed pixel height of the canvas. Omit to auto-track the viewport.
className	string	—	CSS class applied to the outer wrapper <div>.
style	React.CSSProperties	—	Inline styles merged into the outer wrapper <div>.
onLoad	() => void	—	Called once the WebGL fluid simulation has successfully initialised.
onError	(error: string) => void	—	Called if WebGL initialisation fails, with a human-readable error message.
showPathManager	boolean	false	Show the built-in path-selector button and panel. Omit or set false for a completely bare canvas.
initialAnimation	{ path: FluidPath | PredefinedPathId; options?: CanvasAnimationOptions }	—	Starts a path animation automatically once the simulation is ready.
loadingFallback	React.ReactNode	spinning ring	Rendered while the simulation is initialising. Pass null to show nothing.
errorFallback	(error: string, retry: () => void) => React.ReactNode	minimal error + retry button	Rendered when initialisation fails. Receives the error message and a retry callback.

CanvasAnimationOptions

• maxLoops?: number (-1 or omitted = infinite)
• predefinedOverrides?: FluidPathOverrides (used when path is a predefined id)

CanvasRef

• playPath(path, options?)
• playPredefinedPath(pathId, options?)
• stopPath()
• clearPath() (alias of stopPath())
• isPlayingPath()
• getCurrentPath()

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Examples

Bare canvas — no UI whatsoever

<Canvas />

With the built-in path manager

<Canvas showPathManager />

Start a predefined path on init

<Canvas initialAnimation={{ path: 'heart', options: { maxLoops: 1 } }} />

Fixed size

<Canvas width={800} height={600} />

Lifecycle callbacks

<Canvas
  onLoad={() => console.log('simulation ready')}
  onError={(msg) => console.error('WebGL failed:', msg)}
/>

Custom loading indicator

<Canvas loadingFallback={<MySpinner />} />

// hide loading UI entirely
<Canvas loadingFallback={null} />

Custom error UI

<Canvas
  errorFallback={(error, retry) => (
    <div>
      <p>{error}</p>
      <button onClick={retry}>Try again</button>
    </div>
  )}
/>

Styled wrapper

<Canvas
  className="my-fluid-canvas"
  style={{ borderRadius: '12px', overflow: 'hidden' }}
/>

Use forwardRef to trigger animations imperatively

import { useRef } from 'react';
import Canvas, { type CanvasRef, createPredefinedPath } from 'react-webgl-fluid-play';

export default function App() {
  const canvasRef = useRef<CanvasRef>(null);

  return (
    <>
      <button onClick={() => canvasRef.current?.playPredefinedPath('infinity')}>Infinity</button>
      <button onClick={() => canvasRef.current?.playPredefinedPath('heart', { maxLoops: 1 })}>
        Heart Once
      </button>
      <button
        onClick={() => {
          const custom = createPredefinedPath('wave', { duration: 3, loop: false });
          canvasRef.current?.playPath(custom);
        }}
      >
        Custom Wave Variant
      </button>
      <button onClick={() => canvasRef.current?.stopPath()}>Stop</button>
      <Canvas ref={canvasRef} />
    </>
  );
}

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Notes

• Mobile: the component automatically uses window.visualViewport for accurate dimensions on mobile browsers and prevents default touch scroll/zoom behaviour on the canvas.
• Dimensions: when width/height props are omitted the canvas tracks window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight (and visualViewport on mobile), reacting to resize and orientation-change events.
• Path coordinates: custom paths use normalized coordinates (x/y in [0,1]).
• WebGL: requires a browser with WebGL support and hardware acceleration enabled. The onError callback (or the default error UI) is shown when the context cannot be created.
• Layout: the component renders as position: relative; width: 100%; height: 100%. Place it inside a container that defines the actual size (e.g. position: fixed; inset: 0 for full-screen).

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Development scripts

• pnpm start - run the demo app in development mode.
• pnpm build - build the demo app (react-scripts build).
• pnpm build:lib - build library artifacts to dist/ (CJS, ESM, and .d.ts).
• pnpm lint - lint src/ and scripts/ with ESLint.
• pnpm lint:fix - lint with auto-fixes.
• pnpm prepublishOnly - build library artifacts before publishing.

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Package metadata

• Module formats: ships both CommonJS (main) and ESM (module) builds.
• Type declarations: includes bundled TypeScript definitions (types).
• Tree-shaking: no side effects, so bundlers can safely drop unused imports.

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License

MIT © Maifee Ul Asad