# External Link

> A link that leaves the site says so: a line of ink runs under the words to the ↗, which then springs out towards the corner, its shaft stretching after it. Pure CSS.

Links · link, external, new tab, css · HTML and CSS only · no dependencies · updated 2026-10-21
Demo: https://kodza.dev/components/external-link/

## Files

The code below, served as files: byte for byte what the Kodza site copies (the CSS includes its theme guard).

- [`kodza-external-link.css`](https://kodza.dev/registry/external-link/kodza-external-link.css) · 6.4 KB
- [`kodza-external-link.html`](https://kodza.dev/registry/external-link/kodza-external-link.html) · 0.8 KB · the markup, to adapt and paste into your page

**Can you run shell commands? Download the CSS, don't retype it.** Retyping costs thousands of tokens and can drop or change lines of the CSS. Put the files where your stack expects them (Use it says where: change the `-o` paths):

```bash
curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o kodza/kodza-external-link.css https://kodza.dev/registry/external-link/kodza-external-link.css
```

Then load the file from your page as Use it shows, instead of pasting the content. The HTML is the part you adapt (text, links, modifiers): paste it from the Code section. Copy the CSS from the Code section only if you can't run commands, exactly as it is. (Windows PowerShell: `curl.exe`.)

## API

- Root: `.kodza-external-link`
- Variables (set them on the root element itself: it declares its own defaults):
  - `--kz-external-text: currentColor`
  - `--kz-external-line: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 26%, transparent)`
  - `--kz-external-ink: currentColor`
  - `--kz-external-thickness: 0.06em`
  - `--kz-external-size: 0.6em`
  - `--kz-external-ease: cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.35, 1)`
  - `--kz-external-spring: cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, 0.64, 1)`

## Dark mode

Nothing to set: it takes its colours from the text around it, or looks the same on a light and a dark page.

## Use it

### Plain HTML page

- CSS: `kodza/kodza-external-link.css` next to the page (the Files commands as they are), linked in `<head>`: `<link rel="stylesheet" href="kodza/kodza-external-link.css">`. Without a shell, paste it in a `<style>` in `<head>` instead. It only touches `kodza-` classes.
- HTML: where the component goes. Paste it as many times as you need: instances never interfere.
- No JS.
- Restyle with the `--kz-…` variables, set on the component's root element itself (the root declares its own defaults, so a value on an ancestor is ignored), and with the modifiers / attributes listed under API.
- Font: it takes the page's own. The Kodza look is Geist: `<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Geist:wght@400;500;600;700&family=Geist+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap">`.

### Claude artifact (claude.ai)

- Paste the CSS in a `<style>`, in the artifact itself: it loads stylesheets only from Google Fonts and scripts only from a few CDNs, so no `<link>` or `<script src>` to Kodza.
- Writing the artifact file with a shell? Insert the downloaded files (Files) with a command instead of retyping them: a line `KODZA-CSS` alone inside the `<style>`, then `sed -e '/^KODZA-CSS$/{r kodza/kodza-external-link.css' -e 'd' -e '}' page.html > artifact.html`.
- Font: load Geist from Google Fonts (allowed): `<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Geist:wght@400;500;600;700&family=Geist+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap">`.
- Dark mode: the viewer sets `data-theme="dark"` or `"light"` on `<html>`, or nothing when it follows the system. Write the Dark mode rules twice: inside `@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark)` with `:root:not([data-theme="light"])` in front of each selector, and with `:root[data-theme="dark"]` in front of each selector.

### WordPress

- HTML: a **Custom HTML** block (or a pattern / template part). WordPress keeps this markup as it is only for users allowed to post unfiltered HTML (Administrators; Super Admins on multisite): for anyone else it strips tags such as `<svg>`, `<input>` or `<dialog>`, so add it from the theme (a pattern or template part) instead.
- This one is inline (it flows like a word): pasted alone, many themes leave it at the edge of the page (block themes, and classic ones like Twenty Twenty-One or Blocksy), so put the Custom HTML block inside a **Group** block to line it up with the text.
- CSS: the downloaded file goes in the theme, under `wp-content/themes/<your-theme>/kodza/` (the child theme if there is one), enqueued from its functions.php (or a code-snippets plugin):
  ```php
  add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', function () {
    $dir = get_stylesheet_directory() . '/kodza/';
    $uri = get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/kodza/';
    wp_enqueue_style('kodza-external-link', $uri . 'kodza-external-link.css', [], filemtime($dir . 'kodza-external-link.css'));
  });
  ```
  Scoped to `kodza-` classes, the CSS never touches the theme.
- No access to the theme files? The CSS can also go, as it is, in **Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS** (classic theme) or **Styles → Additional CSS** in the Site Editor (block theme).
- No JS.
- Colours: it takes the colour of the text around it (or keeps its own monochrome): nothing to point at the theme.
- WordPress turns straight quotes and `--` into typographic ones in the text of a Custom HTML block (not inside `<code>` or `<pre>`).

#### With Elementor

- HTML: an **HTML** widget (Elementor shows it to administrators only). It keeps the code exactly as pasted, straight quotes included.
- CSS: as above. Elementor's Site Settings → Theme Style styles every button, field, link and image of the page, components included; the theme guard at the end of the CSS keeps the component's buttons, fields and link colours as they are.
- No child theme: the CSS can go in the HTML widget instead, in a `<style>` before the HTML.

### Shopify

- Files: `assets/kodza-external-link.css` (the Files commands with `-o assets/…`).
- In the section: `{{ 'kodza-external-link.css' | asset_url | stylesheet_tag }}`, then the HTML.

### React / Next.js

- Files, side by side (e.g. in `components/kodza/`): `ExternalLink.tsx` (below), the CSS block under Code saved as `external-link.css`, both as they are. The HTML block is already inside the component: skip it.
- Use it: `import { ExternalLink } from '@/components/kodza/ExternalLink';` then `<ExternalLink />`. Props: `vars` (the `--kz-…` variables listed under API, e.g. `vars={{ '--kz-external-text': … }}`), `className`, `style` and the other props of its `<a>` (`onClick`, `aria-…`).
- Next.js App Router: it is a Client Component already (`'use client'`). Pages Router: Next.js takes global CSS only in `pages/_app`, so move the `import './external-link.css'` line there.

```tsx
'use client';
// Kodza — External Link, for React. From https://kodza.dev/components/external-link/
// Kodza License: free to use, client work included. Not to resell or redistribute, ported or not: https://kodza.dev/docs/#print-license
// Next to this file: external-link.css, the component's CSS from Kodza, as they are.
// Yours to edit: the markup is plain JSX below.
import { useRef, type ComponentPropsWithoutRef, type ComponentRef, type CSSProperties } from 'react';
import './external-link.css';

export type ExternalLinkProps = Omit<ComponentPropsWithoutRef<'a'>, "children" | "vars"> & {
  /** Settings, as CSS variables on the root */
  vars?: {
    /** default: currentColor */
    "--kz-external-text"?: string | number;
    /** default: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 26%, transparent) */
    "--kz-external-line"?: string | number;
    /** default: currentColor */
    "--kz-external-ink"?: string | number;
    /** default: 0.06em */
    "--kz-external-thickness"?: string | number;
    /** default: 0.6em */
    "--kz-external-size"?: string | number;
    /** default: cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.35, 1) */
    "--kz-external-ease"?: string | number;
    /** default: cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, 0.64, 1) */
    "--kz-external-spring"?: string | number;
  };
  className?: string;
};

export function ExternalLink({ vars, className, style, ...rest }: ExternalLinkProps) {
  const ref = useRef<ComponentRef<'a'>>(null);
  const classes = ["kodza-external-link", className].filter(Boolean).join(' ');
  // Everything the markup is made of: when it changes, React gets a fresh element (see the top)
  const key = JSON.stringify([classes, vars, style, rest]);

  return (
    <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/:has" target="_blank" rel="noopener" key={key} {...rest} className={classes} style={{ ...vars, ...style } as CSSProperties} ref={ref}>MDN on :has()<span className="kodza-external-link__icon" aria-hidden="true"> <svg viewBox="0 0 16 16"> <path className="kodza-external-link__shaft" d="M4.5 11.5 11 5" pathLength="1" /> <path className="kodza-external-link__head" d="M6 5h5v5" /> </svg> </span><span className="kodza-external-link__sr"> (opens in a new tab)</span></a>
  );
}
```

## Code

```html
<a class="kodza-external-link" href="https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/:has" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MDN on :has()<span class="kodza-external-link__icon" aria-hidden="true"><svg viewBox="0 0 16 16"><path class="kodza-external-link__shaft" d="M4.5 11.5 11 5" pathLength="1" /><path class="kodza-external-link__head" d="M6 5h5v5" /></svg></span><span class="kodza-external-link__sr"> (opens in a new tab)</span></a>

<a class="kodza-external-link" href="https://github.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Star it on GitHub<span class="kodza-external-link__icon" aria-hidden="true"><svg viewBox="0 0 16 16"><path class="kodza-external-link__shaft" d="M4.5 11.5 11 5" pathLength="1" /><path class="kodza-external-link__head" d="M6 5h5v5" /></svg></span><span class="kodza-external-link__sr"> (opens in a new tab)</span></a>
```

```css
/* Kodza License: free to use, client work included. Not to resell or redistribute, ported or not: https://kodza.dev/docs/#print-license */
/* Kodza — External Link
   A link that leaves the site says so. On hover a line of ink runs under the words, from the
   first letter to the ↗, and when it gets there the arrow springs out towards the corner,
   its shaft stretching after it, as if the line had launched it. Screen readers hear
   "(opens in a new tab)". Pure CSS. Everything is tuned with the --kz-external-* variables. */
.kodza-external-link {
  --kz-external-text: currentColor;
  --kz-external-line: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 26%, transparent);
  --kz-external-ink: currentColor;
  --kz-external-thickness: 0.06em;
  --kz-external-size: 0.6em;
  --kz-external-ease: cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.35, 1);
  --kz-external-spring: cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, 0.64, 1);

  color: var(--kz-external-text);
  text-decoration: none;
  /* Two lines under the words: a faint one, and the ink that runs over it */
  background:
    linear-gradient(var(--kz-external-ink), var(--kz-external-ink)) 0 100% / 0% var(--kz-external-thickness) no-repeat,
    linear-gradient(var(--kz-external-line), var(--kz-external-line)) 0 100% / 100% var(--kz-external-thickness) no-repeat;
  padding-bottom: 0.08em;
  transition: background-size 0.5s var(--kz-external-ease);
}

.kodza-external-link:hover,
.kodza-external-link:focus-visible {
  background-size: 100% var(--kz-external-thickness), 100% var(--kz-external-thickness);
}

.kodza-external-link__icon {
  display: inline-block;
  width: var(--kz-external-size);
  height: var(--kz-external-size);
  margin-left: 0.22em;
  vertical-align: 0.42em;
}

.kodza-external-link__icon svg {
  display: block;
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  overflow: visible;
  fill: none;
  stroke: currentColor;
  stroke-width: 1.8;
  stroke-linecap: round;
  stroke-linejoin: round;
}

/* The head springs to the corner once the ink arrives; the shaft stretches after it */
.kodza-external-link__head {
  transition: transform 0.35s var(--kz-external-ease);
}

.kodza-external-link__shaft {
  transform-origin: 4.5px 11.5px;
  transition: transform 0.35s var(--kz-external-ease);
}

.kodza-external-link:hover .kodza-external-link__head,
.kodza-external-link:focus-visible .kodza-external-link__head {
  transform: translate(2.5px, -2.5px);
  transition: transform 0.55s var(--kz-external-spring) 0.32s;
}

.kodza-external-link:hover .kodza-external-link__shaft,
.kodza-external-link:focus-visible .kodza-external-link__shaft {
  transform: scale(1.38);
  transition: transform 0.55s var(--kz-external-spring) 0.32s;
}

.kodza-external-link__sr {
  position: absolute;
  width: 1px;
  height: 1px;
  overflow: hidden;
  clip: rect(0 0 0 0);
  white-space: nowrap;
}

.kodza-external-link:focus-visible {
  outline: 2px solid currentColor;
  outline-offset: 4px;
  border-radius: 3px;
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .kodza-external-link,
  .kodza-external-link__head,
  .kodza-external-link__shaft {
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    transition-delay: 0s !important;
  }
}

/* kodza-guard 39d6c57a59c1 — generated by Kodza, do not edit.
   Theme guard: keeps a site's own CSS (WordPress themes, Bootstrap, CSS resets…) off this
   component. :not(#_) is always true and weighs as much as an id, so these lines win over
   theme rules made of classes and tags. Customise the component through its --kz-* variables. */

/* What the browser gives, where the component sets it only in some states: at the lowest weight, so its own rules below put it back */

:where(.kodza-external-link):not(#_) {
  border-radius: revert;
  outline: revert;
  outline-offset: revert;
}

/* What the browser gives, on everything the component leaves to it */

.kodza-external-link:not(#_) {
  border: revert;
  list-style: revert;
  box-sizing: revert;
  position: revert;
  padding-top: revert;
  padding-right: revert;
  padding-left: revert;
  box-shadow: revert;
  appearance: revert;
  max-height: revert;
  font-family: revert;
  font-size: revert;
  font-weight: revert;
  font-style: revert;
  line-height: revert;
  letter-spacing: revert;
  text-transform: revert;
  text-underline-offset: revert;
  text-align: revert;
  text-indent: revert;
  text-shadow: revert;
  vertical-align: revert;
}

.kodza-external-link__icon:not(#_),
.kodza-external-link__shaft:not(#_),
.kodza-external-link__head:not(#_),
.kodza-external-link__sr:not(#_) {
  box-sizing: revert;
}

.kodza-external-link__icon svg:where(:not([class*="kodza-"])):not(#_) {
  border: revert;
  margin: revert;
  padding: revert;
  border-radius: revert;
  outline: revert;
  text-decoration: revert;
  transition: revert;
  list-style: revert;
  box-sizing: revert;
  float: revert;
  position: revert;
  background-color: revert;
  background-image: revert;
  box-shadow: revert;
  outline-offset: revert;
  appearance: revert;
  max-width: revert;
  max-height: revert;
  color: revert;
  font-family: revert;
  font-size: revert;
  font-weight: revert;
  font-style: revert;
  line-height: revert;
  letter-spacing: revert;
  text-transform: revert;
  text-underline-offset: revert;
  text-align: revert;
  text-indent: revert;
  text-shadow: revert;
  vertical-align: revert;
}

.kodza-external-link:not(#_):where(:not([hidden])) {
  display: revert;
}

.kodza-external-link:not(#_):where([hidden]) {
  display: none;
}

/* The component's own rules, one step stronger: real buttons and fields, what it sets on tags themes style (links, lists, headings, images…), and the root width (a theme may narrow it, never widen it) */

.kodza-external-link:not(#_) {
  color: var(--kz-external-text);
  text-decoration: none;
  background: linear-gradient(var(--kz-external-ink), var(--kz-external-ink)) 0 100% / 0% var(--kz-external-thickness) no-repeat,
    linear-gradient(var(--kz-external-line), var(--kz-external-line)) 0 100% / 100% var(--kz-external-thickness) no-repeat;
  padding-bottom: 0.08em;
  transition: background-size 0.5s var(--kz-external-ease);
}

.kodza-external-link:hover:not(#_),
.kodza-external-link:focus-visible:not(#_) {
  background-size: 100% var(--kz-external-thickness), 100% var(--kz-external-thickness);
}

.kodza-external-link__icon svg:not(#_) {
  display: block;
}

.kodza-external-link:focus-visible:not(#_) {
  outline: 2px solid currentColor;
  outline-offset: 4px;
  border-radius: 3px;
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .kodza-external-link:not(#_) {
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    transition-delay: 0s !important;
  }
}
```

Free to use, from Kodza (https://kodza.dev).