Skip to content

No.154 · AI & Chat

Branch Switcher

Editing a message starts a branch instead of overwriting it; step between versions and the question and answer slide together, with a tiny branch tree.

The prompt

The design brief behind this component — reuse it to regenerate, remix, or explain it.

Build message versioning for an AI chat. A user message bubble sits above an assistant answer; under the bubble, an edit button, a pager ("‹ 2 / 3 ›", disabled at the ends, the count announced politely) and a tiny SVG branch tree: a short trunk splitting into one curved branch per version, each ending in a dot, the current one filled in the accent (clickable to jump). Stepping to another version slides the bubble and answer in from the direction you moved (36px, with a 4px blur, 460ms; the answer 70ms behind) — only those two parts re-mount, so focus stays on the pager. Editing swaps the bubble for a textarea with Cancel and "Save as new branch"; saving appends a new version with a new answer and moves to it, so nothing is ever overwritten.

Notes

Interaction
Use ‹ › or the tree to move between versions; Edit to write a new version, which becomes a new branch.
Motion
Version change: slide and unblur 460ms, answer 70ms later.
Accessibility
The pager is a nav with labelled buttons and a polite position readout; the textarea is labelled; focus stays on the pager while switching. Reduced motion swaps versions without the slide.
Responsive
A card up to about 40rem wide that fills narrower screens; dense rows and side columns stack on phones.
On touch
Everything is tap-driven; hover hints have tap or focus equivalents.

Featured

01Glassbreak ButtonA solid plate that fractures from one impact point, cracks racing outward as the shards drift apart.04Liquid GlassA capsule of glass that bends what's behind it, carries a specular highlight around its rim toward your pointer, and squashes like a drop of liquid when pressed.07Phosphor Glass ButtonA liquid-glass pill that senses you coming: its rim light turns to face the cursor and the pill leans in to meet it.08Iris ShutterAn async button with a camera iris for a status light — blades close and turn while it works, then open onto the result.
81Atmosphere CardSmoked-glass link cards: colour pooled in the corners, slow contour currents underneath, a field that leans toward you.93Eclipse Event CardAn editorial event plate with an oversized date and an orbital eclipse bleeding in from the right, alive with slow drift.94Specimen CardAn object mounted under glass: hover lifts the pane with a sweep of reflection and swings out a paper catalogue tag.
95Silk FieldDomain-warped light that pours like liquid silk, with an optional glass lens that refracts the flow under your cursor.106IsobarA living weather map — contour lines traced over a drifting pressure field, with your cursor as a system of its own.
151Prompt ComposerA chat composer where attached files tuck into its top edge like tabs in a folder — they rise from behind it when added and sink back when removed. Send turns into stop while the reply streams.157Aura FieldA writing field where colour only exists while the AI is touching your text: the edge becomes a turning band of light and the words are rewritten in place, one by one, out of a soft blur.
205Halftone CTAA tall CTA banner where slow gold paint drifts beneath a fixed halftone grid, visible only through the dots.
212Nocturne Sign-inA single quiet column on near-black with a breathing seam of frost light behind it — email, password, magic link, nothing more.222Sigil Sign-inA split sign-in whose left half grows a geometric mark from your email — the same address always draws the same sigil.
275Voices CarouselA testimonial exhibition: one large quote at a time on frosted glass, crossfading between voices without ever resizing.
279Feral TitleA brutal condensed wordmark — heartbeat in the dark, letters slam in, a gash tears through and the word bleeds.
301 components