Motion Animation Library

Overview

Motion (package: motion, formerly framer-motion) is the industry-standard React animation library used in production by thousands of applications. With 30,200+ GitHub stars and 300+ official examples, it provides a declarative API for creating sophisticated animations with minimal code.

Key Capabilities:

• Gestures: drag, hover, tap, pan, focus with cross-device support
• Scroll Animations: viewport-triggered, scroll-linked, parallax effects
• Layout Animations: FLIP technique for smooth layout changes, shared element transitions
• Spring Physics: Natural, customizable motion with physics-based easing
• SVG: Path morphing, line drawing, attribute animation
• Exit Animations: AnimatePresence for unmounting transitions
• Performance: Hardware-accelerated, ScrollTimeline API, bundle optimization (2.3 KB - 34 KB)

Production Tested: React 19, Next.js 15, Vite 6, Tailwind v4

---

When to Use This Skill

✅ Use Motion When:

Complex Interactions:

• Drag-and-drop interfaces (sortable lists, kanban boards, sliders)
• Hover states with scale/rotation/color changes
• Tap feedback with bounce/squeeze effects
• Pan gestures for mobile-friendly controls

Scroll-Based Animations:

• Hero sections with parallax layers
• Scroll-triggered reveals (fade in as elements enter viewport)
• Progress bars linked to scroll position
• Sticky headers with scroll-dependent transforms

Layout Transitions:

• Shared element transitions between routes (card → detail page)
• Expand/collapse with automatic height animation
• Grid/list view switching with smooth repositioning
• Tab navigation with animated underline

Advanced Features:

• SVG line drawing animations
• Path morphing between shapes
• Spring physics for natural bounce
• Orchestrated sequences (staggered reveals)
• Modal dialogs with backdrop blur

Bundle Optimization:

• Need 2.3 KB animation library (useAnimate mini)
• Want to reduce Motion from 34 KB to 4.6 KB (LazyMotion)

❌ Don't Use Motion When:

• Simple list animations (use auto-animate instead: 3.28 KB vs 34 KB)
• Static content without interactions
• Cloudflare Workers (use framer-motion v12.23.24 workaround - see Known Issues)
• 3D animations (use Three.js or React Three Fiber instead)

---

Installation

Latest Stable Version

bun add motion  # preferred
# or: npm install motion
# or: yarn add motion

Current Version: 12.23.24 (verified 2025-11-07)

Alternative for Cloudflare Workers:

# Use framer-motion if deploying to Cloudflare Workers
bun add framer-motion
# or: npm install framer-motion

Package Information

• Bundle Size:
  • Full motion component: ~34 KB minified+gzipped
  • LazyMotion + m component: ~4.6 KB
  • useAnimate mini: 2.3 KB (smallest React animation library)
  • useAnimate hybrid: 17 KB
• Dependencies: React 18+ or React 19+
• TypeScript: Native support included (no @types package needed)

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Core Concepts

1. The motion Component

Transform any HTML/SVG element into an animatable component:

import { motion } from "motion/react"

// Basic animation
<motion.div
  initial={{ opacity: 0, y: 20 }}
  animate={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
  transition={{ duration: 0.5 }}
>
  Content fades in and slides up
</motion.div>

// Gesture controls
<motion.button
  whileHover={{ scale: 1.1 }}
  whileTap={{ scale: 0.95 }}
>
  Click me
</motion.button>

Props:

• initial: Starting state (object or variant name)
• animate: Target state (object or variant name)
• exit: Unmounting state (requires AnimatePresence)
• transition: Timing/easing configuration
• whileHover, whileTap, whileFocus: Gesture states
• whileInView: Viewport-triggered animation
• drag: Enable dragging ("x", "y", or true for both)
• layout: Enable FLIP layout animations

2. Variants (Animation Orchestration)

Named animation states that propagate through component tree:

const variants = {
  hidden: { opacity: 0, y: 20 },
  visible: { opacity: 1, y: 0 }
}

<motion.div variants={variants} initial="hidden" animate="visible">
  Content
</motion.div>

For advanced orchestration (staggerChildren, delayChildren, dynamic variants), load references/core-concepts-deep-dive.md.

3. AnimatePresence (Exit Animations)

Enables animations when components unmount:

import { AnimatePresence } from "motion/react"

<AnimatePresence>
  {isVisible && (
    <motion.div
      key="modal"
      initial={{ opacity: 0 }}
      animate={{ opacity: 1 }}
      exit={{ opacity: 0 }}
    >
      Modal content
    </motion.div>
  )}
</AnimatePresence>

Critical Rules:

• AnimatePresence must stay mounted (don't wrap in conditional)
• All children must have unique key props
• AnimatePresence wraps the conditional, not the other way around

Common Mistake (exit animation won't play):

// ❌ Wrong - AnimatePresence unmounts with condition
{isVisible && (
  <AnimatePresence>
    <motion.div>Content</motion.div>
  </AnimatePresence>
)}

// ✅ Correct - AnimatePresence stays mounted
<AnimatePresence>
  {isVisible && <motion.div key="unique">Content</motion.div>}
</AnimatePresence>

4. Layout Animations (FLIP)

Automatically animate layout changes:

<motion.div layout>
  {isExpanded ? <FullContent /> : <Summary />}
</motion.div>

Special props: layoutId (shared element transitions), layoutScroll (scrollable containers), layoutRoot (fixed positioning).

For advanced patterns (LayoutGroup, layoutId orchestration), load references/core-concepts-deep-dive.md.

5. Scroll Animations

// Viewport-triggered
<motion.div
  initial={{ opacity: 0, y: 50 }}
  whileInView={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
  viewport={{ once: true }}
>
  Fades in when entering viewport
</motion.div>

// Scroll-linked (parallax)
import { useScroll, useTransform } from "motion/react"
const