--- name: animate description: Review a feature and enhance it with purposeful animations, micro-interactions, and motion effects that improve usability and delight. args: - name: target description: The feature or component to animate (optional) required: false user-invokable: true --- Analyze a feature and strategically add animations and micro-interactions that enhance understanding, provide feedback, and create delight. ## MANDATORY PREPARATION ### Context Gathering (Do This First) You cannot do a great job without having necessary context, such as target audience (critical), desired use-cases (critical), brand personality/tone (playful vs serious, energetic vs calm), and performance constraints. Attempt to gather these from the current thread or codebase. 1. If you don't find *exact* information and have to infer from existing design and functionality, you MUST STOP and {{ask_instruction}} whether you got it right. 2. Otherwise, if you can't fully infer or your level of confidence is medium or lower, you MUST {{ask_instruction}} clarifying questions first to complete your context. Do NOT proceed until you have answers. Guessing leads to inappropriate or excessive animation. ### Use frontend-design skill Use the frontend-design skill for design principles and anti-patterns. Do NOT proceed until it has executed and you know all DO's and DON'Ts. --- ## Assess Animation Opportunities Analyze where motion would improve the experience: 1. **Identify static areas**: - **Missing feedback**: Actions without visual acknowledgment (button clicks, form submission, etc.) - **Jarring transitions**: Instant state changes that feel abrupt (show/hide, page loads, route changes) - **Unclear relationships**: Spatial or hierarchical relationships that aren't obvious - **Lack of delight**: Functional but joyless interactions - **Missed guidance**: Opportunities to direct attention or explain behavior 2. **Understand the context**: - What's the personality? (Playful vs serious, energetic vs calm) - What's the performance budget? (Mobile-first? Complex page?) - Who's the audience? (Motion-sensitive users? Power users who want speed?) - What matters most? (One hero animation vs many micro-interactions?) If any of these are unclear from the codebase, {{ask_instruction}} **CRITICAL**: Respect `prefers-reduced-motion`. Always provide non-animated alternatives for users who need them. ## Plan Animation Strategy Create a purposeful animation plan: - **Hero moment**: What's the ONE signature animation? (Page load? Hero section? Key interaction?) - **Feedback layer**: Which interactions need acknowledgment? - **Transition layer**: Which state changes need smoothing? - **Delight layer**: Where can we surprise and delight? **IMPORTANT**: One well-orchestrated experience beats scattered animations everywhere. Focus on high-impact moments. ## Implement Animations Add motion systematically across these categories: ### Entrance Animations - **Page load choreography**: Stagger element reveals (100-150ms delays), fade + slide combinations - **Hero section**: Dramatic entrance for primary content (scale, parallax, or creative effects) - **Content reveals**: Scroll-triggered animations using intersection observer - **Modal/drawer entry**: Smooth slide + fade, backdrop fade, focus management ### Micro-interactions - **Button feedback**: - Hover: Subtle scale (1.02-1.05), color shift, shadow increase - Click: Quick scale down then up (0.95 → 1), ripple effect - Loading: Spinner or pulse state - **Form interactions**: - Input focus: Border color transition, slight scale or glow - Validation: Shake on error, check mark on success, smooth color transitions - **Toggle switches**: Smooth slide + color transition (200-300ms) - **Checkboxes/radio**: Check mark animation, ripple effect - **Like/favorite**: Scale + rotation, particle effects, color transition ### State Transitions - **Show/hide**: Fade + slide (not instant), appropriate timing (200-300ms) - **Expand/collapse**: Height transition with overflow handling, icon rotation - **Loading states**: Skeleton screen fades, spinner animations, progress bars - **Success/error**: Color transitions, icon animations, gentle scale pulse - **Enable/disable**: Opacity transitions, cursor changes ### Navigation & Flow - **Page transitions**: Crossfade between routes, shared element transitions - **Tab switching**: Slide indicator, content fade/slide - **Carousel/slider**: Smooth transforms, snap points, momentum - **Scroll effects**: Parallax layers, sticky headers with state changes, scroll progress indicators ### Feedback & Guidance - **Hover hints**: Tooltip fade-ins, cursor changes, element highlights - **Drag & drop**: Lift effect (shadow + scale), drop zone highlights, smooth repositioning - **Copy/paste**: Brief highlight flash on paste, "copied" confirmation - **Focus flow**: Highlight path through form or workflow ### Delight Moments - **Empty states**: Subtle floating animations on illustrations - **Completed actions**: Confetti, check mark flourish, success celebrations - **Easter eggs**: Hidden interactions for discovery - **Contextual animation**: Weather effects, time-of-day themes, seasonal touches ## Technical Implementation Use appropriate techniques for each animation: ### Timing & Easing **Durations by purpose:** - **100-150ms**: Instant feedback (button press, toggle) - **200-300ms**: State changes (hover, menu open) - **300-500ms**: Layout changes (accordion, modal) - **500-800ms**: Entrance animations (page load) **Easing curves (use these, not CSS defaults):** ```css /* Recommended - natural deceleration */ --ease-out-quart: cubic-bezier(0.25, 1, 0.5, 1); /* Smooth, refined */ --ease-out-quint: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1); /* Slightly snappier */ --ease-out-expo: cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1); /* Confident, decisive */ /* AVOID - feel dated and tacky */ /* bounce: cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, 0.64, 1); */ /* elastic: cubic-bezier(0.68, -0.6, 0.32, 1.6); */ ``` **Exit animations are faster than entrances.** Use ~75% of enter duration. ### CSS Animations ```css /* Prefer for simple, declarative animations */ - transitions for state changes - @keyframes for complex sequences - transform + opacity only (GPU-accelerated) ``` ### JavaScript Animation ```javascript /* Use for complex, interactive animations */ - Web Animations API for programmatic control - Framer Motion for React - GSAP for complex sequences ``` ### Performance - **GPU acceleration**: Use `transform` and `opacity`, avoid layout properties - **will-change**: Add sparingly for known expensive animations - **Reduce paint**: Minimize repaints, use `contain` where appropriate - **Monitor FPS**: Ensure 60fps on target devices ### Accessibility ```css @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) { * { animation-duration: 0.01ms !important; animation-iteration-count: 1 !important; transition-duration: 0.01ms !important; } } ``` **NEVER**: - Use bounce or elastic easing curves—they feel dated and draw attention to the animation itself - Animate layout properties (width, height, top, left)—use transform instead - Use durations over 500ms for feedback—it feels laggy - Animate without purpose—every animation needs a reason - Ignore `prefers-reduced-motion`—this is an accessibility violation - Animate everything—animation fatigue makes interfaces feel exhausting - Block interaction during animations unless intentional ## Verify Quality Test animations thoroughly: - **Smooth at 60fps**: No jank on target devices - **Feels natural**: Easing curves feel organic, not robotic - **Appropriate timing**: Not too fast (jarring) or too slow (laggy) - **Reduced motion works**: Animations disabled or simplified appropriately - **Doesn't block**: Users can interact during/after animations - **Adds value**: Makes interface clearer or more delightful Remember: Motion should enhance understanding and provide feedback, not just add decoration. Animate with purpose, respect performance constraints, and always consider accessibility. Great animation is invisible - it just makes everything feel right. --- Source attribution: pbakaus Original project: https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/tree/main/source/skills/animate/ License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 SkillsHub Contributors Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Mega AI Hub resource metadata Creator / publisher: pbakaus Original project: https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/tree/main/source/skills/animate/ Attribution basis: Original repository recorded in package publication report Fields of work: Design, Development & Engineering, Product Management Roles: Frontend Developer, Graphic Designer, Growth Product Manager, Product Designer, UX Designer Specialties: Cross Platform, Design, Frontend Tools: Tool not specified Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: c380011a9dc1fbf8db38379f18fde647a5922ebd105404fcc15e531c03dfae62 Metadata reviewed: 2026-10-27 This metadata supersedes earlier Mega AI Hub catalog attribution. Original instruction and supporting files are preserved.