Replacing a native cursor is a small change with outsized consequences. Done well, it makes the entire interface feel like a single deliberate object. Done poorly, it tanks frame rates and frustrates anyone with a trackpad. Here's what we shipped.
The three layers
Layer one: a ghost trail of twelve dots, each spring-followed with progressively heavier mass and lower stiffness. They give the cursor a sense of weight without ever feeling sluggish.
Layer two: an outer ring that adapts size, fill, and content based on what's under it. Layer three: a tight inner dot using mix-blend-mode difference, so it inverts against any background.
Contextual variants
Buttons grow the ring to 80px. Magnetic elements pull the cursor toward themselves while pulling the element toward the cursor. Headlines turn the ring into a precision crosshair. Media shows a "+". Each variant is opt-in via a data attribute, so the system stays composable.
Performance discipline
A single window listener feeds a module-level pointer cache. No React re-renders per frame. Trail dots use Framer Motion springs (RAF-driven). The whole system disables itself on touch devices and respects prefers-reduced-motion.
“Hobbyist craft demands hobbyist-grade software.”