Flowbite (free, open-source)

DESIGN.md for AI coding agents

Copy this into your repo or agent context. OFFICIAL and ESTIMATED values are labelled.

# DESIGN.md · Flowbite (free, open-source) (MK-001)

> Written for AI coding agents. Values marked **OFFICIAL** come from the documented source named below; values marked **ESTIMATED** were measured by us from our own screenshots and are approximate. Never treat ESTIMATED values as official brand tokens.

## Overview
- Type: UI Kit / Template · Category: E. Mockups and Templates
- Platforms: Web, Tailwind CSS, React, Vue, Svelte, Angular
- Color theme: Monochrome light · Layout pattern: Documentation · Mood: Friendly, practical, Tailwind
- License / terms: MIT (Flowbite open-source code, © Bergside Inc./Themesberg); documentation code examples CC BY 3.0; Flowbite Pro blocks and Figma Pro are under a separate paid EULA and are excluded here
- Industry: Open-source design assets
- Patterns: Live component demo, Docs with code tabs

An open-source Tailwind CSS component library (MIT): 68+ interactive components with a small vanilla-JS file for dropdowns, modals and drawers, ports for React, Vue, Svelte and Angular, and a separate paid Pro tier of blocks and Figma files. We built our own dashboard mockup with the free files.

### Analysis (ours)
Flowbite sits between a component library and a template store. The free, MIT-licensed core is a set of Tailwind class recipes plus one vanilla-JS file that wires up dropdowns, modals, drawers, tabs and tooltips through data- attributes, so it works in plain HTML or with the React/Vue/Svelte ports. The docs pages are themselves the demo: each component shows a live preview and its markup with a copy button, in light and dark. Its weakness is the one most Tailwind kits share: everything defaults to the same blue-700 primary and rounded-lg cards, so screens built from it look alike unless you set your own theme. Lessons: treat the free components as a structural starting point, swap the colour and type tokens first, and keep Pro (EULA) blocks out of anything you open-source.

### Best practices (ours)
- Set your own colour, font and radius theme before using components so screens don’t look like default Flowbite.
- Load only flowbite.min.js (about 134 KB) where you need interactive components, or use the framework port instead.
- Copy component markup from the free docs and check each one in dark mode (dark: variants are included).
- Keep Pro blocks and Figma Pro files out of open-source repos; they are under a paid EULA.
- Add your own focus, error and disabled states where a block only shows the default state.
- Pin the version (we used flowbite 4.0.2) because class names change between major versions.

### Deep analysis
Values marked OFFICIAL come from the cited official page, terms page or package file, fetched 2026-10-25 (UTC+8), logged out. ESTIMATED values were measured by us that day (file sizes, class counts). OURS is our interpretation, not legal advice.

#### What it is (OFFICIAL) · source: https://flowbite.com/
- “An open-source library of over 600+ UI components, sections, and pages … built with the utility classes from Tailwind CSS and designed in Figma” (flowbite.com, 2026-10-25); “over 68 open-source UI components”.
- Ports for React, Vue, Svelte, Angular and other frameworks; Blocks page: “459 free and premium UI components” in Marketing, Application, Publisher and E-commerce UI.

#### Licence split (OFFICIAL) · source: https://flowbite.com/docs/getting-started/license/
- Released code: MIT, © Themesberg (Bergside Inc.).
- Documentation code examples: CC BY 3.0 (forked from Bootstrap docs).
- Flowbite Pro (premium blocks, Figma Pro): separate EULA. The Flowbite name and logos are trademarks of Bergside Inc.

#### Files we used (ESTIMATED) · source: https://github.com/themesberg/flowbite
- flowbite 4.0.2 from npm (MIT): dist/flowbite.min.css 190,981 bytes, dist/flowbite.min.js 134,185 bytes.
- Our mockup uses only those MIT files plus Tailwind’s browser build; no Pro blocks or Figma Pro files were opened or copied.

#### Setup (OFFICIAL) · source: https://flowbite.com/docs/getting-started/quickstart/
- Tailwind v4: @import "tailwindcss"; @plugin "flowbite/plugin"; @source "../node_modules/flowbite"; then include flowbite.min.js for interactive components.
- Interactive behaviour is wired with data attributes such as data-dropdown-toggle, data-modal-target and data-drawer-target.

#### UX analysis (OURS) · source: https://flowbite.com/
- The docs are the demo: every component has a live preview, light/dark toggle and copyable markup, which shortens the loop from browsing to shipping.
- Defaults (blue-700 primary, rounded-lg cards, gray-50 surfaces) are pleasant but generic; most of the design work is replacing them with your tokens.
- States are uneven: many examples show only the default state, so add hover, focus, error and disabled yourself.

### Usage terms at a glance (our summary, not legal advice)
- Commercial use: Yes for the free open-source library (MIT). Flowbite Pro blocks and Figma files are paid and under a separate EULA, which we did not use
- Attribution: Keep the MIT notice; documentation code examples are CC BY 3.0, so credit Flowbite if you reuse docs snippets
- Redistribution: Free code yes (MIT); Pro no; Flowbite name and logos are Bergside Inc. trademarks
- How you get it: npm (flowbite, flowbite-react, flowbite-svelte…), CDN, GitHub

## Color tokens
No official color tokens documented for this entry.

ESTIMATED · dominant colors measured from our screenshot(s) of the source site (median-cut quantization; share = % of pixels). Approximate, not official:

- `#FFFFFF` ~55%
- `#3C4E74` ~6%
- `#0A3563` ~5%
- `#A3AFBC` ~5%
- `#E8E5E5` ~3%

## Typography
No official type scale documented for this entry; use the product’s own typography guidance.

## Spacing, radii, shadows
Not documented for this entry. Do not invent values; derive from your own design system.

## Components
- Navbar, sidebar, footer
- Buttons, button group
- Dropdown, mega menu
- Modal, drawer
- Tabs, accordion, carousel
- Forms: input, select, checkbox, radio, toggle, file input, range
- Datepicker
- Tables, pagination
- Alerts, toast, badge
- Cards, list group
- Tooltip, popover
- Progress, spinner, skeleton
- Charts (ApexCharts plugin)
- Blocks: marketing, application, e-commerce (free + Pro)

## Layout rules
- Observed layout pattern: **Documentation** (from our captures).

## Usage
```
npm install flowbite
/* Tailwind v4 */ @import "tailwindcss"; @plugin "flowbite/plugin"; @source "../node_modules/flowbite";
<script src="../node_modules/flowbite/dist/flowbite.min.js"></script>
<button data-dropdown-toggle="menu" class="text-white bg-blue-700 hover:bg-blue-800 rounded-lg px-5 py-2.5">Menu</button>
```

## Do’s and don’ts
- Do: Keep chrome neutral and let content (images, icons, type) carry color.
- Don’t: Don’t introduce decorative color that competes with content.
- Do: follow the source’s license/terms listed above.
- Don’t: present ESTIMATED colors as official tokens.

## Related entries (ours)
- DS-004: Primer shows how a mature system documents states; check Flowbite components against that bar. · https://design-library-byt.pages.dev/entry/DS-004
- MK-002: Present your Flowbite screens inside a device frame for case studies. · https://design-library-byt.pages.dev/entry/MK-002
- IC-002: Heroicons is the natural icon set for Tailwind-based Flowbite layouts. · https://design-library-byt.pages.dev/entry/IC-002
- GP-002: 98.css is the opposite approach: a CSS-only kit with a strong retro look and no build step. · https://design-library-byt.pages.dev/entry/GP-002

## Sources
- https://flowbite.com/
- Library entry: https://design-library-byt.pages.dev/entry/MK-001