Dash Particles

dash-particles brings tsParticles backgrounds to Dash with a Python-first API. Instead of building one giant nested dict, you can compose configs with dp.Options(...), dp.Particles(...), dp.Interactivity(...), and curated dp.presets.* helpers.

Live demo

Why Use It

• Build particle configs with Python classes instead of raw JSON-shaped dicts.
• Start quickly with dp.presets.*, then override only the sections you need.
• Drop animated backgrounds into full pages, hero sections, login screens, and dashboards.

Installation

pip install dash-particles

The current stable Python package release is v1.0.0.

60-Second Quickstart

This is the fastest path to a visible background while still showing the structured API clearly.

import dash
from dash import html
import dash_particles as dp

app = dash.Dash(__name__)

background_particles = dp.DashParticles(
    id="page-particles",
    config=dp.Options(
        background=dp.Background(color=dp.Color("transparent")),
        particles=dp.Particles(
            color=dp.Color("#2563eb"),
            number=dp.ParticleNumber(value=80),
            links=dp.Links(
                enable=True,
                color="#2563eb",
                opacity=0.35,
                distance=140,
            ),
            move=dp.Move(
                enable=True,
                speed=2,
                direction="none",
                out_modes=dp.OutModes(default="bounce"),
            ),
            size=dp.Size(value=3),
        ),
    ),
    height="100%",
    width="100%",
)

app.layout = html.Div(
    [
        html.Div(
            background_particles,
            style={
                "position": "fixed",
                "inset": 0,
                "zIndex": 0,
            },
        ),
        html.Div(
            [
                html.H1("Dash Particles"),
                html.P("Your app content stays above the animated background."),
            ],
            style={
                "position": "relative",
                "zIndex": 1,
                "padding": "4rem",
            },
        ),
    ],
    style={"minHeight": "100vh"},
)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=True)

The Main Mental Model

The recommended entry point is:

import dash_particles as dp

config = dp.Options(
    background=dp.Background(color=dp.Color("transparent")),
    fps_limit=60,
    detect_retina=True,
    full_screen=dp.FullScreen(enable=False, z_index=0),
    particles=dp.Particles(
        color=dp.Color("#0075FF"),
        number=dp.ParticleNumber(
            value=80,
            density=dp.Density(enable=True, area=800),
        ),
        size=dp.Size(value=dp.RangeValue(min=1, max=5)),
        opacity=dp.Opacity(value=0.5),
        links=dp.Links(enable=True, color="#0075FF", opacity=0.5, width=1),
        move=dp.Move(
            enable=True,
            speed=3,
            direction="none",
            random=False,
            straight=False,
            out_modes=dp.OutModes(default="bounce"),
        ),
        shape=dp.Shape(type="circle"),
    ),
    interactivity=dp.Interactivity(
        events=dp.Events(
            on_click=dp.Action(enable=True, mode="push"),
            on_hover=dp.Action(enable=True, mode="repulse"),
        ),
    ),
)

particles = dp.DashParticles(id="particles", config=config, height="400px")

You can also override top-level sections directly in the component call:

import dash_particles as dp

dp.DashParticles(
    id="particles",
    background=dp.Background(color=dp.Color("#0f172a")),
    particles=dp.Particles(color=dp.Color("#ffffff")),
    interactivity=dp.Interactivity(
        events=dp.Events(on_hover=dp.Action(enable=True, mode="grab"))
    ),
)

Built-In Presets

dp.presets.* gives you fast, readable starting points:

import dash_particles as dp

hero_particles = dp.DashParticles(
    id="hero-particles",
    config=dp.presets.stars(),
    height="100%",
    width="100%",
)

That includes both general-purpose presets and richer sample-inspired ones such as dp.presets.among_us(), dp.presets.parallax(), dp.presets.fontawesome(), dp.presets.blurred_particles(), dp.presets.hypno_squares(), and dp.presets.multiple_images().

You can still layer overrides on top of a preset:

import dash_particles as dp

hero_particles = dp.DashParticles(
    id="hero-particles",
    config=dp.presets.connect(),
    particles=dp.Particles(
        color=dp.Color("#22c55e"),
        links=dp.Links(enable=True, color="#22c55e", opacity=0.25),
    ),
)

Public Python API

Support Boundaries

dash-particles auto-loads the smallest packaged tsParticles runtime tier it can infer from your config. Simple scenes use the lighter basic or slim runtime, while configs that need emitters, text or character particles, canvas masks, or click-pop interactions load the full runtime chunk on demand.

• The structured Python API is the default and recommended way to author configs.
• Raw dicts remain supported through config={...} and options={...}.
• extra={...} is the escape hatch for tsParticles keys that do not yet have a dedicated Python helper.
• extra and raw dicts can select packaged runtime tiers, but they do not load plugins outside the package.
• Common advanced features like emitters, backgroundMask, canvasMask, and Font Awesome or character-style particles work with the packaged full tier.
• The bundled presets cover emitters, image particles, background masks, character particles, themeable blur effects, and animated geometric effects through auto runtime selection.
• Use runtime="full" when you want to force the broadest packaged runtime instead of relying on automatic detection.

Compatibility And Precedence

• config= accepts dp.Options(...), dp.ParticlesOptions(...), or raw dictionaries.
• options= is still supported for backward compatibility, but new code should prefer config=.
• options= and config= cannot be used together in the same component call.
• Explicit top-level sections like particles=..., background=..., or full_screen=... override overlapping keys from config=.
• Use extra={...} on any structured config object for unsupported tsParticles keys inside the packaged runtime tiers.

Example escape hatch:

import dash_particles as dp

config = dp.Options(
    particles=dp.Particles(
        color=dp.Color(["#ff5722", "#ff9800", "#ffeb3b"]),
        extra={"shadow": {"enable": True, "blur": 8, "color": "#ff9800"}},
    ),
    extra={"fullScreen": {"enable": False}},
)

Where To Go Next

• Docs Landing Page
• Getting Started
• Config Model
• Recipes
• Migration Guide
• Troubleshooting

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.