Dotted Wave Border: CSS Border Animation

Dotted Wave Border

A ring of small dots with a wave of larger, brighter dots traveling around it. The big dots sit under an SVG mask whose soft dash circles the outline, so dots swell in place instead of sliding.

Also known as: css dotted border animation, animated dotted border, dot ripple border.

Listening

Color Base size 16px Dark background Hold hover state

HTML

<div class="bdr-dotted-wave-border">
  <svg class="bdr-dotted-wave-border-svg" aria-hidden="true">
    <defs>
      <mask id="bdr-dotted-wave-border-mask"><rect class="bdr-dotted-wave-border-sweep" width="100%" height="100%" pathLength="100"/></mask>
    </defs>
    <rect class="bdr-dotted-wave-border-dots" width="100%" height="100%" pathLength="100"/>
    <rect class="bdr-dotted-wave-border-big" width="100%" height="100%" pathLength="100" mask="url(#bdr-dotted-wave-border-mask)"/>
  </svg>
  Listening
</div>

CSS

.bdr-dotted-wave-border {
  --c: var(--bdr-color, #3b82f6);
  font-size: var(--bdr-size, 16px);
  position: relative;
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
  width: 15em;
  height: 8.5em;
  border-radius: 1em;
  font-family: system-ui, sans-serif;
  font-weight: 600;
  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--c) 5%, transparent);
}
.bdr-dotted-wave-border-svg {
  position: absolute;
  inset: 0;
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  overflow: visible;
  pointer-events: none;
}
.bdr-dotted-wave-border-svg rect {
  rx: 1em;
  fill: none;
  stroke-linecap: round;
}
.bdr-dotted-wave-border-dots {
  stroke: color-mix(in srgb, var(--c) 55%, transparent);
  stroke-width: 0.24em;
  stroke-dasharray: 0 2.5;
}
.bdr-dotted-wave-border-big {
  stroke: var(--c);
  stroke-width: 0.5em;
  stroke-dasharray: 0 2.5;
}
.bdr-dotted-wave-border-sweep {
  stroke: #fff;
  stroke-width: 1.2em;
  stroke-dasharray: 24 76;
  filter: blur(0.7em);
  animation: bdr-dotted-wave-border-sweep 2.8s linear infinite;
}
@keyframes bdr-dotted-wave-border-sweep {
  to { stroke-dashoffset: -100; }
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .bdr-dotted-wave-border, .bdr-dotted-wave-border *, .bdr-dotted-wave-border::before, .bdr-dotted-wave-border::after, .bdr-dotted-wave-border *::before, .bdr-dotted-wave-border *::after {
    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
  }
}

Customizing this snippet

Color: set --bdr-color on the element or a parent. Currently previewing #3b82f6.
Base size: set --bdr-size. Every other dimension is in em, so the whole thing scales together. Currently previewing 16px.
Speed: change the duration on the transition or animation shorthand. Staggered delays are relative, so they keep their rhythm.
Reduced motion: the rule at the end of the CSS turns the motion off for people who asked their OS for less of it. Keep it.

Dotted Wave Border

HTML

CSS

Customizing this snippet

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