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Plasma UI
- Type
- component library
- Verdict
- Niche
- Licence
- Ship licence, open source permissive
open-source-permissiveThe public repository's MIT licence covers its software and associated documentation; keep its copyright and permission notice when reusing it. No paid plan was shown at review. - Agent channels
- llms-txt
- Pricing
- free
- Reviewed
What it is
Plasma UI is a React container library that draws connected material surfaces behind ordinary HTML using WebGL2. Its documentation and playground demonstrate the library through their own interface, rather than collecting unrelated websites.
When to open it
Open it for an experimental desktop workspace, draggable panels or a glass-like surface treatment. Use the playground to compare materials before deciding whether the effect suits your content; it is a focused container system rather than a complete control library.
Most useful
- Material comparison: the inspected Lumen view has translucent panels, colored rims and a large serif heading over a dark contour background. Switching to Slate made the surfaces opaque and removed the prominent shine.
- Playground: adding a panel changed the visible total from five to six and showed joined states. Layout actions and separate material, motion and snapping controls make variations easy to compare.
- Workspace example: a dock, inbox, reader, task list and player show denser content within the material. Selecting another inbox item updated the reader heading and message during review.
- Component reference: consult provider settings and surface props after choosing the visual treatment.
Using it with agents
The repository publishes the package @cruxgarden/plasma-ui and an AGENTS.md handoff covering architecture and maintenance. That guide is the verified agent-readable channel; no MCP, HTTP API or installable skill was found. The standard llms.txt route could not be read. Pin a package version and check its matching documentation.
Watch out for
- The project warns about GPU cost on mobile and recommends desktop use; mobile performance was not measured here.
- Refraction samples the library's background layer, not arbitrary live HTML behind it. Overlaps within a canvas merge; clipping inside scrolling containers and dedicated resize handles remain documented limitations.
- The repository documents a CSS fallback and reduced-motion handling. Those paths were not exercised in this browser review.
- Version labels differ between the live documentation footer and the repository README at review; do not assume every deployed example matches the latest package.
- The MIT licence requires preserving its notice.
Reusable ideas
- Offer a quiet, opaque treatment beside a reflective one so visitors can compare legibility using the same content.
- Pair a material playground with a content-rich example; attractive empty panels do not establish how a workspace reads.
- Keep text and controls as HTML while letting a separate visual layer connect the surfaces.