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No.12 · Buttons

Hinge Split Button

A split button whose alternatives hang from a hinge on its bottom edge: the leaf swings down like a drop-leaf table, and whatever you choose becomes the main action.

The prompt

The design brief behind this component — reuse it to regenerate, remix, or explain it.

Build a split button: a main action ('Deploy to production') and a caret, sharing one rounded bar with a hairline seam. The caret opens a menu that hangs from a hinge 6px below the bar: a leaf as wide as the bar or wider, whose transform-origin sits on the bar's bottom edge. Closed, it's rotated −88° on X (edge-on, invisible); opening swings it down to flat with a slight overshoot (620ms, back-out curve) in a 900px perspective, while a dark gradient over the leaf fades out — light falling on it as it levels. Closing folds it back up quickly with an ease-in. Items fade and drop 4px in, staggered 40ms after the swing starts; each has a bold label, a one-line detail ('staging.tryvitrine.dev · no approval needed') and a check on the current choice. Choosing an item makes it the main action, like GitHub's merge button: the main label rolls in from below and the leaf folds away, so the button always says exactly what it will do. ARIA menu button: aria-haspopup, aria-expanded, role=menu with menuitemradio + aria-checked; ↓/↑ on the caret open with focus on the current choice, arrows/Home/End move, Enter chooses, Escape closes and returns focus, Tab and outside clicks close.

Notes

Interaction
Press the main part to run the current action. Press the caret (or ↓) to see alternatives; choose one to make it the main action.
Motion
Leaf swing 620ms back-out with shading; fold 240ms ease-in; items stagger 40ms; label roll 520ms.
Accessibility
Two real buttons; the caret is a menu button with a descriptive label. The menu is a radio group of menu items so screen readers hear which action is current. Focus is managed in and out of the menu; the closed leaf is inert. Reduced motion removes the swing.
Responsive
Intrinsic width; the leaf caps at 22rem or the viewport width minus 2rem.

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