Float Rail
Freev1.0.0A floating toolbar for canvases and editors, as a horizontal bar or a vertical rail.
Build for your project
Code/install build
Usage
Import it and pass your content. The props that matter most are listed next.
Example
"use client";
import * as React from "react";
import { FloatRail, FloatRailButton, FloatRailKey, FloatRailNotch, FloatRailReadout } from "@/components/ui/notchset/float-rail";
export function BoardBar({ undo, redo, step, steps }: { undo: () => void; redo: () => void; step: number; steps: number }) {
const [presenting, setPresenting] = React.useState(false);
return (
<FloatRail aria-label="Board">
<FloatRailKey label="Undo" kbd="⌘Z" icon={<span>↶</span>} disabled={step === 0} onClick={undo} />
<FloatRailReadout label="STEP" value={step} />
<FloatRailKey label="Redo" kbd="⇧⌘Z" icon={<span>↷</span>} disabled={step === steps} onClick={redo} />
<FloatRailNotch />
<FloatRailButton live={presenting} onClick={() => setPresenting((p) => !p)}>
{presenting ? "LIVE" : "PRESENT"}
</FloatRailButton>
</FloatRail>
);
}Props
FloatRail orientation–"horizontal" | "vertical"A bar (tags drop below) or a rail (tags sit beside it; ↑ ↓ move focus).
FloatRailKey label / icon / kbd–string / ReactNode / stringAn icon key: its name (accessible name and tag), the icon, and a shortcut shown and announced (bind it yourself).
FloatRailKey pressed–booleanA latching key: stays down while true (aria-pressed).
FloatRailButton children / icon–string / ReactNodeA labelled key; the label flips when it changes ("SHARE" → "LINK COPIED").
FloatRailButton live / reading–boolean / ReactNodeLive: signal fill, a blinking node and a reading such as a clock (presenting, recording).
FloatRailReadout label / value–string / string | numberA reading on the rail; digits roll when it changes.
Show all 7 propsShow fewer
FloatRailNotch–-Cuts the rail into groups.
Anatomy
- The Notchset instrument parts: plate, node, rolling number and glyph flip.
- Toolbar's roving focus; native buttons; one file serves both builds.
- Plays tap, latch, signal and tick through beautiful-ui-sound.
FloatRaildata-slot="float-rail"The floating toolbar on its plate.
FloatRailKey / FloatRailButtondata-slot="float-rail-key"Icon keys with tags, and labelled keys that can go live.
FloatRailReadoutdata-slot="float-rail-readout"A rolling reading.
FloatRailNotchdata-slot="float-rail-notch"A group divider with its notch.
Source
components/ui/notchset/float-rail.tsx
Loading the code
Build for your project
Code/install build
Installation
Base UI
pnpm dlx shadcn@latest add https://beautiful-ui.dev/r/float-rail.jsonRadix
pnpm dlx shadcn@latest add https://beautiful-ui.dev/r/radix-nova/float-rail.jsonFree, no account or key. Use the command for your project's primitives: a radix-*, new-york or default style in components.json is Radix, a base-* style is Base UI. With the @beautiful-ui registry added, @beautiful-ui/<name> picks for you.
Install by hand
- 1. No extra packages: React and Tailwind CSS v4 are enough.
- 2. Copy the files to these paths (the source, or save them all as a .zip)
- components/ui/notchset/float-rail.tsx
- lib/beautiful-ui/notchset/roving.tsx
- lib/beautiful-ui/notchset/instrument.tsx
- lib/beautiful-ui/notchset/root.ts
- 3. No stylesheet needed.
- 4. Install what it builds on first: shadcn's cn helper (lib/utils.ts, from npx shadcn init), the theme foundation (its tokens and base styles)
Styles didn't apply?
The CLI adds the styles to the CSS file named in components.json (tailwind.css). Check that it points at your global stylesheet, that the project uses Tailwind CSS v4, and that the file is imported in your root layout. Installed by hand: paste styles.css into that file.
For coding agents
Give your coding assistant the Markdown guide instead of screenshots.
Use it for
- A canvas, board or editor toolbar with undo, share and present
- A vertical tool rail with zoom and view toggles
Use something else when
- A toolbar fixed in the page flow: use Toolbar
- Choosing one view: use Segmented Control
- More actions than fit in one bar: put the rest in a Dropdown Menu
Mistakes to avoid
- Keep a latching key's label constant: the pressed state is announced, the name shouldn't flip
- Bind the shortcuts you show
- Position the rail yourself (absolute over your canvas); it doesn't place itself
Agents find it by
- floating toolbar, floating button group, canvas toolbar, editor toolbar, vertical tool rail, zoom controls, present button, Notchset
Where agents read it
- Guide for this component: https://beautiful-ui.dev/md/float-rail.md
- Every component, for tools without MCP: /llms.txt
- MCP server:
https://beautiful-ui.dev/api/mcp(setup)
Behaviour
Keyboard
- ← → / ↑ ↓
- Move between keys (bar / rail)
- Home / End
- First or last key
- Esc
- Hide the tags until the pointer moves
Accessibility
- A toolbar with its orientation and one tab stop; ← → (or ↑ ↓ on a rail), Home and End move between keys
- Icon keys are named by their label; latching keys and the live key report aria-pressed
- Readouts are polite status regions; tags are decoration for sighted users (the name is on the key); Esc hides them
Motion
- Tag
- The leader draws after 300ms on hover (at once on keyboard focus); the tag fades and settles 3px after 390ms (90ms on focus)
- Readout
- Digits roll 620ms, the ones digit first
- Live
- The key fills with signal, its node blinks and its label flips
- Press
- The icon drops 1px and scales to .9, springing back over 240ms
Responsive
- A bar of seven keys is about 320px; on narrow screens prefer the vertical rail or fewer labelled keys.
- 44px keys on touch screens.
Performance
- Plain buttons and CSS; readouts animate with transforms only.
Changelog
v1.0.0 · 2026-10-03
First release
