Paperlab: Instructions file for Codex

Paperlab — for coding agents

Paperlab renders physical, realistic paper as a React component. Content is a texture on a mesh that genuinely bends — text and imagery curl with perfect continuity. This file is the dense reference for agents integrating Paperlab into a project or contributing to this repo.

Reading as a human rather than as an agent? The reference is the same catalogue with everything rendering live.

Integrating Paperlab into a project

npm i paperlab three @react-three/fiber gsap

Peer requirements: React ≥ 19, three ≥ 0.160. TypeScript types ship with the package.

import { Paper } from 'paperlab'

// Simplest: a built-in preset. <Paper> owns its own <Canvas> and fills its
// parent — THE PARENT MUST HAVE A HEIGHT or the canvas renders 0px tall.
<Paper preset="receipt-unroll" />

// Or configure inline (all fields optional, validated by zod):
<Paper
  sheet={{ width: 1, height: 2.6, thickness: 0.3 }}
  stock="thermal"          // printer | thermal | kraft | newsprint | vellum | photo-gloss | sticker
  content={{ type: 'receipt', store: 'acme.dev', items: [{ name: 'Widget', price: 9.99 }] }}
  behavior={{ type: 'unroll', progress: 0.6, tightness: 0.5, sway: 0.3 }}
  surface={{ grain: 0.3, deckle: { edges: ['bottom'], roughness: 0.5 } }}
  physics="none"           // 'none' | float | tumble | dangle | taped | breeze | 'cloth' | 'strip' | {type:…}
  interactive              // drag handles / grab cloth
  autoplay                 // play the behavior loop on mount
/>

Inside an existing React Three Fiber scene use <PaperMesh /> (same props, no Canvas). For galleries use <PaperField />:

import { PaperField } from 'paperlab'

<PaperField
  images={['/a.jpg', '/b.jpg', '/c.jpg']}
  preset="photo-print"
  layout="ring"            // ring | fan | spread | pile | wall | spill | sweep | book | accordion | rack | colonnade | sheet
  layoutOptions={{ radius: 3, tiltDeg: 8 }}
  motion={{ driver: 'autoplay', speed: 0.5 }}   // autoplay | drag | none
  entrance={{ type: 'rise', stagger: 0.06 }}    // rise | scatter | none
/>