gsap
Install and use GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) for high-performance JavaScript animations. Covers core utilities (Tween, Timeline), React integration (@gsap/react/useGSAP), Eases, and popular plugins like ScrollTrigger, ScrollSmoother, and Flip. Use when creating complex animations, scroll-based effects, UI transitions, or SVG animations, or when the user mentions GSAP, GreenSock, or ScrollTrigger.
What this skill does
# GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform)
## Overview
GSAP is a robust, blazingly fast JavaScript animation library that lets you animate anything (CSS properties, SVG, canvas, React components). It's built for modern web performance and handles cross-browser inconsistencies out of the box.
**Core components**:
- **gsap.to(), gsap.from(), gsap.fromTo()**: Basic tweens.
- **Timeline**: `gsap.timeline()` to sequence multiple tweens.
- **Plugins**: Add extra capabilities (e.g., `ScrollTrigger` for scroll animations, `Flip` for FLIP animations).
---
## Installation
Reference: [GSAP docs](https://gsap.com/docs/v3/), [React guide](https://gsap.com/resources/React)
| Use case | Packages |
|----------|----------|
| Core | `gsap` |
| React / Next.js (recommended) | `gsap`, `@gsap/react` |
Add via your package manager (see [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/gsap)). GSAP provides a dedicated React hook (`useGSAP`) for cleanup and context management.
---
## Core Usage
### Basic Tweens
```javascript
import gsap from "gsap";
// Animate to a state
gsap.to(".box", { x: 100, duration: 1, ease: "power2.inOut" });
// Animate from a state
gsap.from(".box", { opacity: 0, y: 50, duration: 1, stagger: 0.1 });
```
### Timelines
Timelines are perfect for choreographing sequences.
```javascript
const tl = gsap.timeline({ repeat: -1, yoyo: true });
tl.to(".box1", { x: 100, duration: 1 })
.to(".box2", { y: 50, duration: 0.5 }, "-=0.5") // Start 0.5s early
.to(".box3", { rotation: 360 });
```
### Eases
Customize the feel of your animations.
- **Standard**: `"none"`, `"power1"` to `"power4"`, `"back"`, `"bounce"`, `"circ"`, `"elastic"`, `"expo"`, `"sine"`.
- Add `.in`, `.out`, or `.inOut` (e.g., `"power2.inOut"`).
---
## React Usage (`useGSAP`)
When using React (or Next.js), **always** use the `@gsap/react` package and its `useGSAP` hook instead of standard `useEffect`. It automatically handles cleanup, preventing memory leaks and strict-mode double-firings.
```tsx
import { useRef } from "react";
import gsap from "gsap";
import { useGSAP } from "@gsap/react";
gsap.registerPlugin(useGSAP);
export default function App() {
const container = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
useGSAP(() => {
// gsap code here...
// All animations created here are automatically reverted on cleanup!
gsap.to(".box", { x: 360, duration: 2 });
}, { scope: container }); // Scope allows selecting elements only inside this container
return (
<div ref={container}>
<div className="box">Box</div>
</div>
);
}
```
---
## Popular Plugins
Plugins extend GSAP's core functionality. They must be registered before use.
### ScrollTrigger
Animate elements on scroll, pin sections, or link animations to the scrollbar.
```javascript
import gsap from "gsap";
import { ScrollTrigger } from "gsap/ScrollTrigger";
gsap.registerPlugin(ScrollTrigger);
gsap.to(".box", {
scrollTrigger: {
trigger: ".box",
start: "top center", // When top of element hits center of viewport
end: "bottom top",
scrub: true, // Tie animation strictly to scrollbar
pin: true,
},
x: 500,
});
```
### Other Notable Plugins:
- **Flip**: Seamlessly animate elements changing state/layout.
- **Observer**: Normalize events (scroll, touch, pointer) for intent-based interactions.
- **Draggable**: Make elements draggable, spinnable, or tossable.
- **SplitText**: Split HTML text into characters, words, or lines for granular animation (Premium).
- **DrawSVG**: Intuitively animate SVG strokes (Premium).
- **MorphSVG**: Morph any SVG path into another (Premium).
---
## Common Patterns & Best Practices
- **Registration**: Always register plugins up front (e.g., `gsap.registerPlugin(ScrollTrigger, useGSAP)`).
- **React strict mode**: Rely on `useGSAP()` to avoid duplicate animations created by double invocation of `useEffect` in React 18 strict mode.
- **Transforms**: Use GSAP shortcuts (`x`, `y`, `rotation`, `scale`, `autoAlpha`) instead of standard `transform` or `opacity` strings for better performance and accuracy.
- **FOUC (Flash of Unstyled Content)**: For initial load animations, hide elements with CSS (`visibility: hidden`, not `display: none`) and use `gsap.from()` or `gsap.set(..., { autoAlpha: 0 })`.
---
## Additional Resources
- [reference.md](reference.md) — Official GSAP docs, core API, plugins, React integration — indexable
- Official Docs: https://gsap.com/docs/v3/
- React Guide: https://gsap.com/resources/React
- ScrollTrigger: https://gsap.com/docs/v3/Plugins/ScrollTrigger
Related in Design
contribute
IncludedLocal-only OSS contribution command center. Auto-refreshes the user's in-flight PR and issue state on invoke so conversations start with full context — no need to brief Claude on what's in flight. Helps the user find issues to contribute to on GitHub, builds per-repo dossiers of what each upstream expects (CLA, DCO, branch convention, AI policy, draft-first, review bots, issue templates), runs deterministic gates before any external action so AI-assisted contributions don't reach maintainers as slop. State is markdown-only: candidate files at ~/.contribute-system/candidates/, repo dossiers at ~/.contribute-system/research/, append-only event log at ~/.contribute-system/log.jsonl. No database, no cloud calls. Use when the user asks about their PRs / issues / contributions, wants to find new work to take on, claim an issue, build/refresh a repo's dossier, or draft a Design Issue or PR. Trigger with "/contribute", "what's my PR status", "find a contribution", "claim issue X", "draft a Design Issue for Y", "refresh dossier for Z".
architectural-analysis
IncludedUser-triggered deep architectural analysis of a codebase or scoped subtree across eight modes — information architecture, data flow, integration points, UI surfaces, interaction patterns, data model, control flow, and failure modes. This skill should be used when the user asks to "diagram this codebase," "map the architecture," "show the data flow," "give me an ERD," "trace control flow," "find the integration points," "verify the layout pattern," "audit the UX architecture," or any similar request whose primary deliverable is mermaid diagrams plus cited reports under docs/architecture/. Dispatches haiku/sonnet sub-agents in parallel for per-mode exploration, then verifies every citation mechanically before any node lands in a diagram. Not for one-off prose explanations of code (use code-explanation) or for high-level system design from scratch (use system-design).
mcp
IncludedModel Context Protocol (MCP) server development and tool management. Languages: Python, TypeScript. Capabilities: build MCP servers, integrate external APIs, discover/execute MCP tools, manage multi-server configs, design agent-centric tools. Actions: create, build, integrate, discover, execute, configure MCP servers/tools. Keywords: MCP, Model Context Protocol, MCP server, MCP tool, stdio transport, SSE transport, tool discovery, resource provider, prompt template, external API integration, Gemini CLI MCP, Claude MCP, agent tools, tool execution, server config. Use when: building MCP servers, integrating external APIs as MCP tools, discovering available MCP tools, executing MCP capabilities, configuring multi-server setups, designing tools for AI agents.
react-native-skia
IncludedDesign, build, debug, and optimise high-polish animated graphics in React Native or Expo using @shopify/react-native-skia, Reanimated, and Gesture Handler. Use when the user wants canvas-driven UI, shaders, paths, rich text, image filters, sprite fields, Skottie, video frames, snapshots, web CanvasKit setup, or performance tuning for custom motion-heavy elements such as loaders, hero art, cards, charts, progress indicators, particle systems, or gesture-driven surfaces. Also use when the user asks for fluid, glow, glass, blob, parallax, 60fps/120fps, or GPU-friendly animated effects in React Native, even if they do not explicitly say "Skia". Do not use for ordinary form/layout work with standard views.
plaid
IncludedProduct Led AI Development — guides founders from idea to launched product. Six capabilities: Idea (discover a product idea), Validate (pressure-test the idea against fatal flaws, problem reality, competition, and 2-week MVP feasibility), Plan (vision intake + document generation), Design (translate image references into a design.md spec), Launch (go-to-market strategy), and Build (roadmap execution). Use when someone says "PLAID", "plaid idea", "help me find an idea", "product idea", "idea from my business", "idea from my expertise", "plaid validate", "validate my idea", "pressure-test", "is this idea good", "find fatal flaws", "validate the problem", "plan a product", "define my vision", "generate a PRD", "product strategy", "plaid design", "design from image", "translate image to design", "create design.md", "extract design tokens", "plaid launch", "go-to-market", "launch plan", "GTM strategy", "launch playbook", "plaid build", "build the app", "start building", or "execute the roadmap".
nextjs-framer-motion-animations
IncludedAdds production-safe Motion for React or Framer Motion animations to Next.js apps, including reveal, hover and tap micro-interactions, whileInView, stagger, AnimatePresence, layout and layoutId transitions, reorder, scroll-linked UI, and lightweight route-content transitions. Use when the user asks to add, refactor, or debug Motion or Framer Motion in App Router or Pages Router codebases, especially around server/client boundaries, reduced motion, LazyMotion, bundle size, hydration, or route transitions. Avoid for GSAP-style timelines, WebGL or 3D scenes, heavy scroll storytelling, or CSS-only effects unless Motion is explicitly requested.