# Context cards

A React component in [Beamline](https://beamline.io/)'s [AI & agents](https://beamline.io/components/ai) category. Live demo: https://beamline.io/components/context-cards

The knowledge an agent retrieved before it answered: one card per chunk with what it is about, the text it read with the search words marked, how relevant it was and where it came from, filterable by source; optionally each chunk can be left out of the next answer.

## Use it for

- Showing what a retrieval step found, so people can judge an answer's grounding.
- Letting people leave a retrieved chunk out and ask again.

## Not for

- Numbered citations inside the answer text ([citations](https://beamline.io/components/citations)).
- Files the person attached ([attachment](https://beamline.io/components/attachment)).
- A search results page (a list of [item](https://beamline.io/components/item) rows).

## Anatomy

- header: label, "8 chunks from 5 sources · n used in the answer"
- source filter (chip group, All + one per source with counts)
- card: title, relevance meter (segments + word, hatched when none), text with search words marked (a tint that never splits a word), Show more
- source line: type glyph (or connector icon), name (link), location
- Use in answer check (when selectable)

## Variants

- **layout**: grid (two columns from 640px), list (side panels)

## States

- loading (skeleton cards, aria-busy)
- empty (emptyLabel)
- filtered by source
- text clamped / expanded
- relevance not scored
- left out of the answer (unchecked; title and text step down one ink, never faded below 4.5:1)

## Keyboard

- Arrow keys choose the source filter (radio group)
- Show more / Show less is a button with aria-expanded
- Source names are links; Use in answer is a checkbox

## Motion

None; the filter chips animate their own check (ChipGroup).

## Props

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `chunks` (required) | `ContextChunk[]` | — | { id, title, text, source: { name, url?, location?, kind?, icon? }, score?: number \| null } |
| `query` | `string` | — | Words of 3+ letters are marked in every chunk. |
| `selected / defaultSelected / onSelectedChange` | `string[]` | — | Chunks used in the answer; any of these turns the checks on. |
| `onOpenSource` | `(chunk) => void` | — |  |
| `layout / previewLines` | `"grid" \| "list" / number` | — |  |
| `loading / emptyLabel / label` | `boolean / ReactNode / string` | — |  |
| `style / ref` | `CSSProperties / native Ref` | — |  |
| `classNames` | `ContextCardsClassNames` | — |  |

## Built from

- [chip-group](https://beamline.io/components/chip-group)
- checkbox
- [empty-state](https://beamline.io/components/empty-state)
- skeleton
- attachment

## Dependencies

`lucide-react`, `radix-ui`

## Import

```tsx
import { ContextCards } from "@/components/context-cards/context-cards";
```

## Get it

Context cards is part of Beamline: 190 React components and screens your coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or any MCP client) installs into your app through Beamline's MCP server, as a ready-built package or as plain React source you can change. $49 one payment (regular $200), no subscription, a year of updates, one licence for your whole team. [Get Beamline](https://beamline.io/checkout?pack=complete) · [Connect your agent](https://beamline.io/connect)

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