Motion & Framer Motion

Overview

Motion (formerly Framer Motion) is a production-ready animation library for React and JavaScript that enables declarative, performant animations with minimal code. It provides motion components that wrap HTML elements with animation superpowers, supports gesture recognition (hover, tap, drag, focus), and includes advanced features like layout animations, exit animations, and spring physics.

When to use this skill:

• Building interactive UI components (buttons, cards, menus)
• Creating micro-interactions and hover effects
• Implementing page transitions and route animations
• Adding scroll-based animations and parallax effects
• Animating layout changes (resizing, reordering, shared element transitions)
• Drag-and-drop interfaces
• Complex animation sequences and state-based animations
• Replacing CSS transitions with more powerful, controllable animations

Technology:

• Motion (v11+) – The modern, smaller library from Framer Motion creators
• Framer Motion – The full-featured predecessor (still widely used)
• React 18+ compatible, also supports Vue
• Supports TypeScript
• Works with Next.js, Vite, Remix, and all modern React frameworks

Core Concepts

1. Motion Components

Convert any HTML/SVG element into an animatable component by prefixing with motion.:

import { motion } from "framer-motion"

// Regular HTML becomes motion component
<motion.div />
<motion.button />
<motion.svg />
<motion.path />

Every motion component accepts animation props like animate, initial, transition, and gesture props like whileHover, whileTap, etc.

2. Animate Prop

The animate prop defines the target animation state. When values change, Motion automatically animates to them:

// Simple animation - x position changes
<motion.div animate={{ x: 100 }} />

// Multiple properties
<motion.div animate={{ x: 100, opacity: 1, scale: 1.2 }} />

// Animates when state changes
const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false)
<motion.div animate={{ width: isOpen ? 300 : 100 }} />

3. Initial State

Set the initial state before animation using the initial prop:

<motion.div
  initial={{ opacity: 0, y: 50 }}
  animate={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
/>

Set initial={false} to disable initial animations on mount.

4. Transitions

Control how animations move between states using the transition prop:

// Duration-based
<motion.div
  animate={{ x: 100 }}
  transition={{ duration: 0.5, ease: "easeInOut" }}
/>

// Spring physics
<motion.div
  animate={{ scale: 1.2 }}
  transition={{ type: "spring", stiffness: 300, damping: 20 }}
/>

// Different transitions for different properties
<motion.div
  animate={{ x: 100, opacity: 1 }}
  transition={{
    x: { type: "spring", stiffness: 300 },
    opacity: { duration: 0.2 }
  }}
/>

Transition types:

• "tween" (default) – Duration-based with easing
• "spring" – Physics-based spring animation
• "inertia" – Decelerating animation (used in drag)

5. Variants

Organize animation states using named variants for cleaner code and propagation to children:

const variants = {
  hidden: { opacity: 0, y: 20 },
  visible: { opacity: 1, y: 0 },
  exit: { opacity: 0, scale: 0.9 }
}

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

Variant propagation – Children automatically inherit parent variant states:

const containerVariants = {
  hidden: { opacity: 0 },
  visible: {
    opacity: 1,
    transition: {
      staggerChildren: 0.1  // Stagger child animations
    }
  }
}

const itemVariants = {
  hidden: { x: -20, opacity: 0 },
  visible: { x: 0, opacity: 1 }
}

<motion.ul variants={containerVariants} initial="hidden" animate="visible">
  <motion.li variants={itemVariants} />
  <motion.li variants={itemVariants} />
  <motion.li variants={itemVariants} />
</motion.ul>

Common Patterns

1. Hover Animations

Animate on hover using whileHover prop:

// Simple hover effect
<motion.button
  whileHover={{ scale: 1.1 }}
  transition={{ duration: 0.2 }}
>
  Hover me
</motion.button>

// Multiple properties
<motion.div
  whileHover={{
    scale: 1.05,
    backgroundColor: "#f0f0f0",
    boxShadow: "0px 10px 30px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2)"
  }}
>
  Hover card
</motion.div>

// With custom transition
<motion.button
  whileHover={{
    scale: 1.2,
    transition: { duration: 0.1 }  // Transition for gesture start
  }}
  transition={{ duration: 0.5 }}  // Transition for gesture end
>
  Button
</motion.button>

Hover with nested elements:

<motion.div whileHover="hover" variants={cardVariants}>
  <motion.h3 variants={titleVariants}>Title</motion.h3>
  <motion.img variants={imageVariants} />
</motion.div>

2. Tap/Press Animations

Animate on tap/press using whileTap prop:

// Scale down on tap
<motion.button
  whileTap={{ scale: 0.9 }}
>
  Click me
</motion.button>

// Combined hover + tap
<motion.button
  whileHover={{ scale: 1.1 }}
  whileTap={{ scale: 0.95, rotate: 3 }}
>
  Interactive button
</motion.button>

// With variants
const buttonVariants = {
  rest: { scale: 1 },
  hover: { scale: 1.1 },
  pressed: { scale: 0.95 }
}

<motion.button
  variants={buttonVariants}
  initial="rest"
  whileHover="hover"
  whileTap="pressed"
>
  Button
</motion.button>

3. Drag Interactions

Make elements draggable with the drag prop:

// Basic dragging (both axes)
<motion.div drag />

// Constrain to axis
<motion.div drag="x" />  // Only horizontal
<motion.div drag="y" />  // Only vertical

// Drag constraints
<motion.div
  drag
  dragConstraints={{ left: -100, right: 100, top: -100, bottom: 100 }}
/>

// Drag with parent constraints
<motion.div ref={constraintsRef}>
  <motion.div drag dragConstraints={constraintsRef} />
</motion.div>

// Visual feedback while dragging
<motion.div
  drag
  whileDrag={{
    scale: 1.1,
    boxShadow: "0px 10px 20px rgba(0,0,0,0.2)",
    cursor: "grabbing"
  }}
  dragElastic={0.1}  // Elasticity when dragging outside constraints
  dragTransition={{ bounceStiffness: 600, bounceDamping: 20 }}
/>

Drag events:

<motion.div
  drag
  onDragStart={(event, info) => console.log(info.point)}
  onDrag={(event, info) => console.log(info.offset)}
  onDragEnd={(event, info) => console.log(info.velocity)}
/>

4. Exit Animations (AnimatePresence)

Animate components when they’re removed from the DOM using AnimatePresence:

import { AnimatePresence } from "framer-motion"

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

Key requirements:

• Component must be direct child of <AnimatePresence>
• Must have a unique key prop
• Use exit prop to define exit animation

List items with exit animations:

<AnimatePresence>
  {items.map(item => (
    <motion.li
      key={item.id}
      initial={{ opacity: 0, x: -50 }}
      animate={{ opacity: 1, x: 0 }}
      exit={{ opacity: 0, x: 50 }}
      layout  // Smooth layout shifts
    >
      {item.name}
    </motion.li>
  ))}
</AnimatePresence>

Staggered exit animations:

const containerVariants = {
  hidden: { opacity: 0 },
  visible: {
    opacity: 1,
    transition: {
      when: "beforeChildren",
      staggerChildren: 0.1
    }
  },
  exit: {
    opacity: 0,
    transition: {
      when: "afterChildren",
      staggerChildren: 0.05,
      staggerDirection: -1  // Reverse order
    }
  }
}

<AnimatePresence>
  {show && (
    <motion.div variants={containerVariants} initial="hidden" animate="visible" exit="exit">
      <motion.div variants={itemVariants} />
      <motion.div variants={itemVariants} />
      <motion.div variants={itemVariants} />
    </motion.div>
  )}
</AnimatePresence>

5. Layout Animations

Automatically animate layout changes (position, size) with the layout prop:

// Animate all layout changes
<motion.div layout />

// Animate only position changes
<motion.div layout="position" />

// Animate only size changes
<motion.div layout="size" />

Grid layout animation:

const [columns, setColumns] = useState(3)

<motion.div className="grid">
  {items.map(item => (
    <motion.div
      key={item.id}
      layout
      transition={{ layout: { duration: 0.3, ease: "easeInOut" } }}
    />
  ))}
</motion.div>

Shared layout animations (layoutId):

Connect two different elements for smooth transitions using layoutId:

// Tab indicator example
<nav>
  {tabs.map(tab => (
    <button key={tab.id} onClick={() => setActive(tab.id)}>
      {tab.label}
      {activeTab === tab.id && (
        <motion.div
          layoutId="underline"
          style={{ position: 'absolute', bottom: 0, left: 0, right: 0, height: 2 }}
        />
      )}
    </button>
  ))}
</nav>

// Modal opening from thumbnail
<motion.img
  src={thumbnail}
  layoutId="product-image"
  onClick={() => setExpanded(true)}
/>

<AnimatePresence>
  {expanded && (
    <motion.div layoutId="product-image">
      <img src={fullsize} />
    </motion.div>
  )}
</AnimatePresence>

6. Scroll-Based Animations

Animate elements when they enter the viewport using whileInView:

<motion.div
  initial={{ opacity: 0, y: 50 }}
  whileInView={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
  viewport={{ once: true, amount: 0.8 }}  // once: trigger once, amount: 80% visible
  transition={{ duration: 0.5 }}
>
  Animates when scrolled into view
</motion.div>

Viewport options:

• once: true – Animation triggers only once
• amount: 0.5 – Percentage of element visible (0-1) or “some” | “all”
• margin: "-100px" – Offset viewport boundaries

Staggered scroll animations:

<motion.ul
  initial="hidden"
  whileInView="visible"
  viewport={{ once: true, amount: 0.3 }}
  variants={{
    visible: {
      opacity: 1,
      transition: { staggerChildren: 0.1 }
    },
    hidden: { opacity: 0 }
  }}
>
  <motion.li variants={itemVariants} />
  <motion.li variants={itemVariants} />
  <motion.li variants={itemVariants} />
</motion.ul>

7. Spring Animations

Use spring physics for natural, bouncy animations:

// Basic spring
<motion.div
  animate={{ scale: 1.2 }}
  transition={{ type: "spring" }}
/>

// Customize spring physics
<motion.div
  animate={{ x: 100 }}
  transition={{
    type: "spring",
    stiffness: 300,  // Higher = faster, snappier (default: 100)
    damping: 20,     // Higher = less bouncy (default: 10)
    mass: 1,         // Higher = more inertia (default: 1)
  }}
/>

// Visual duration (easier spring control)
<motion.div
  animate={{ rotate: 90 }}
  transition={{
    type: "spring",
    visualDuration: 0.5,  // Perceived duration
    bounce: 0.25          // Bounciness (0-1, default: 0.25)
  }}
/>

Spring presets:

• Gentle: stiffness: 100, damping: 20
• Wobbly: stiffness: 200, damping: 10
• Stiff: stiffness: 400, damping: 30
• Slow: stiffness: 50, damping: 20

Gesture Recognition

Motion provides declarative gesture handlers:

Gesture Props

<motion.div
  whileHover={{ scale: 1.1 }}        // Pointer hovers over element
  whileTap={{ scale: 0.9 }}          // Primary pointer presses element
  whileFocus={{ outline: "2px" }}    // Element gains focus
  whileDrag={{ scale: 1.1 }}         // Element is being dragged
  whileInView={{ opacity: 1 }}       // Element is in viewport
/>

Gesture Events

<motion.div
  onHoverStart={(event, info) => {}}
  onHoverEnd={(event, info) => {}}
  onTap={(event, info) => {}}
  onTapStart={(event, info) => {}}
  onTapCancel={(event, info) => {}}
  onDragStart={(event, info) => {}}
  onDrag={(event, info) => {}}
  onDragEnd={(event, info) => {}}
  onViewportEnter={(entry) => {}}
  onViewportLeave={(entry) => {}}
/>

Event info objects contain:

• point: { x, y } – Page coordinates
• offset: { x, y } – Offset from drag start
• velocity: { x, y } – Drag velocity

Hooks

useAnimate

Manually control animations with the useAnimate hook:

import { useAnimate } from "framer-motion"

function Component() {
  const [scope, animate] = useAnimate()

  useEffect(() => {
    // Animate multiple elements
    animate([
      [scope.current, { opacity: 1 }],
      ["li", { x: 0, opacity: 1 }, { delay: stagger(0.1) }],
      [".button", { scale: 1.2 }]
    ])
  }, [])

  return (
    <div ref={scope}>
      <ul>
        <li>Item 1</li>
        <li>Item 2</li>
      </ul>
      <button className="button">Click</button>
    </div>
  )
}

Animation controls:

const controls = animate(element, { x: 100 })
controls.play()
controls.pause()
controls.stop()
controls.speed = 0.5
controls.time = 0  // Seek to start

useSpring

Create spring-animated motion values:

import { useSpring } from "framer-motion"

function Component() {
  const x = useSpring(0, { stiffness: 300, damping: 20 })

  return (
    <motion.div style={{ x }}>
      <button onClick={() => x.set(100)}>Move</button>
    </motion.div>
  )
}

useInView

Detect when an element is in viewport:

import { useInView } from "framer-motion"

function Component() {
  const ref = useRef(null)
  const isInView = useInView(ref, { once: true, amount: 0.5 })

  return (
    <div ref={ref}>
      {isInView ? "In view!" : "Not in view"}
    </div>
  )
}

Integration Patterns

With GSAP

Combine Motion for React state-based animations and GSAP for complex timelines:

import { motion } from "framer-motion"
import gsap from "gsap"

function Component() {
  const boxRef = useRef()

  const handleClick = () => {
    // Use GSAP for complex timeline
    const tl = gsap.timeline()
    tl.to(boxRef.current, { rotation: 360, duration: 1 })
      .to(boxRef.current, { scale: 1.5, duration: 0.5 })
  }

  return (
    // Use Motion for hover/tap/layout animations
    <motion.div
      ref={boxRef}
      whileHover={{ scale: 1.1 }}
      onClick={handleClick}
    />
  )
}

With React Three Fiber

Animate 3D objects using Motion values:

import { motion } from "framer-motion"
import { useFrame } from "@react-three/fiber"

function Box() {
  const x = useMotionValue(0)

  useFrame(() => {
    // Sync Motion value with Three.js position
    meshRef.current.position.x = x.get()
  })

  return (
    <>
      <mesh ref={meshRef}>
        <boxGeometry />
        <meshStandardMaterial />
      </mesh>
      <motion.div
        style={{ x }}
        drag="x"
        dragConstraints={{ left: -5, right: 5 }}
      />
    </>
  )
}

With Form Libraries

Animate form validation states:

import { motion, AnimatePresence } from "framer-motion"

function FormField({ error }) {
  return (
    <div>
      <motion.input
        animate={{
          borderColor: error ? "#ff0000" : "#cccccc",
          x: error ? [0, -10, 10, -10, 10, 0] : 0  // Shake animation
        }}
        transition={{ duration: 0.4 }}
      />
      <AnimatePresence>
        {error && (
          <motion.p
            initial={{ opacity: 0, y: -10 }}
            animate={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
            exit={{ opacity: 0, y: -10 }}
            style={{ color: "#ff0000" }}
          >
            {error}
          </motion.p>
        )}
      </AnimatePresence>
    </div>
  )
}

Performance Optimization

1. Use Transform Properties

Transform properties (x, y, scale, rotate) are hardware-accelerated:

// ✅ Good - Hardware accelerated
<motion.div animate={{ x: 100, scale: 1.2 }} />

// ❌ Avoid - Triggers layout/paint
<motion.div animate={{ left: 100, width: 200 }} />

2. Individual Transform Properties

Motion supports individual transform properties for cleaner code:

// Individual properties (Motion feature)
<motion.div style={{ x: 100, rotate: 45, scale: 1.2 }} />

// Traditional (also supported)
<motion.div style={{ transform: "translateX(100px) rotate(45deg) scale(1.2)" }} />

3. Reduce Motion for Accessibility

Respect user preferences for reduced motion:

import { useReducedMotion } from "framer-motion"

function Component() {
  const shouldReduceMotion = useReducedMotion()

  return (
    <motion.div
      animate={{ x: 100 }}
      transition={shouldReduceMotion ? { duration: 0 } : { duration: 0.5 }}
    />
  )
}

4. Layout Animations Performance

Layout animations can be expensive. Optimize with:

// Specify what to animate
<motion.div layout="position" />  // Only position, not size

// Optimize transition
<motion.div
  layout
  transition={{
    layout: { duration: 0.3, ease: "easeOut" }
  }}
/>

5. Use layoutId Sparingly

layoutId creates shared layout animations but tracks elements globally. Use only when needed.

Common Pitfalls

1. Forgetting AnimatePresence for Exit Animations

Problem: Exit animations don’t work

// ❌ Wrong - No AnimatePresence
{show && <motion.div exit={{ opacity: 0 }} />}

// ✅ Correct - Wrapped in AnimatePresence
<AnimatePresence>
  {show && <motion.div exit={{ opacity: 0 }} />}
</AnimatePresence>

2. Missing key Prop in Lists

Problem: AnimatePresence can’t track elements

// ❌ Wrong - No key
<AnimatePresence>
  {items.map(item => <motion.div exit={{ opacity: 0 }} />)}
</AnimatePresence>

// ✅ Correct - Unique keys
<AnimatePresence>
  {items.map(item => (
    <motion.div key={item.id} exit={{ opacity: 0 }} />
  ))}
</AnimatePresence>

3. Animating Non-Transform Properties

Problem: Janky animations, poor performance

// ❌ Avoid - Not hardware accelerated
<motion.div animate={{ top: 100, left: 50, width: 200 }} />

// ✅ Better - Use transforms
<motion.div animate={{ x: 50, y: 100, scaleX: 2 }} />

4. Overusing Layout Animations

Problem: Performance issues with many layout-animated elements

// ❌ Too many layout animations
{items.map(item => <motion.div layout>{item}</motion.div>)}

// ✅ Use layout only where needed, optimize others
{items.map(item => (
  <motion.div
    key={item.id}
    animate={{ opacity: 1 }}  // Cheaper animation
    exit={{ opacity: 0 }}
  />
))}

5. Not Using Variants for Complex Animations

Problem: Duplicated animation code, no child orchestration

// ❌ Repetitive
<motion.div initial={{ opacity: 0 }} animate={{ opacity: 1 }} exit={{ opacity: 0 }} />
<motion.div initial={{ opacity: 0 }} animate={{ opacity: 1 }} exit={{ opacity: 0 }} />

// ✅ Use variants
const variants = {
  hidden: { opacity: 0 },
  visible: { opacity: 1 }
}

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

6. Incorrect Transition Timing

Problem: Transitions don’t apply to specific gestures

// ❌ Wrong - General transition won't apply to whileHover
<motion.div
  whileHover={{ scale: 1.2 }}
  transition={{ duration: 1 }}  // This applies to animate prop, not whileHover
/>

// ✅ Correct - Transition in whileHover or separate gesture transition
<motion.div
  whileHover={{
    scale: 1.2,
    transition: { duration: 0.2 }  // Applies to hover start
  }}
  transition={{ duration: 0.5 }}  // Applies to hover end
/>

Resources

Official Documentation

• Motion Docs – Official Motion documentation
• Framer Motion Docs – Framer Motion (legacy)
• Motion GitHub – Source code & examples

Bundled Resources

This skill includes:

references/

• api_reference.md – Complete Motion API reference
• variants_patterns.md – Variant patterns and orchestration
• gesture_guide.md – Comprehensive gesture handling guide

scripts/

• animation_generator.py – Generate Motion component boilerplate
• variant_builder.py – Interactive variant configuration tool

assets/

• starter_motion/ – Complete Motion + Vite starter template
• examples/ – Real-world Motion component patterns

Community Resources

• Motion Dev Discord – Official community
• Framer Motion Examples – Interactive examples
• Motion Recipes – Common patterns
• CodeSandbox Templates – Live demos