/react-view-transitions

CSS Animation Recipes

Ready-to-use CSS for <ViewTransition> props. Copy into your global stylesheet.

This file contains the complete CSS recipe set for the patterns in this skill. Copy only what the app needs.

Timing Variables

:root {
  --duration-exit: 150ms;
  --duration-enter: 210ms;
  --duration-move: 400ms;
}

Shared Keyframes

@keyframes fade {
  from { opacity: 0; }
  to { opacity: 1; }
}

@keyframes slide {
  from { translate: var(--slide-offset); }
  to { translate: 0; }
}

@keyframes slide-y {
  from { transform: translateY(var(--slide-y-offset, 10px)); }
  to { transform: translateY(0); }
}

Fade

::view-transition-old(.fade-out) {
  animation: var(--duration-exit) ease-in fade reverse;
}
::view-transition-new(.fade-in) {
  animation: var(--duration-enter) ease-out var(--duration-exit) both fade;
}

Usage: <ViewTransition enter="fade-in" exit="fade-out" />

Keep the shared fade keyframe opacity-only. If a specific morph needs softness, give that class its own blur keyframe so ordinary content reveals stay crisp.

Slide (Vertical)

::view-transition-old(.slide-down) {
  animation:
    var(--duration-exit) ease-out both fade reverse,
    var(--duration-exit) ease-out both slide-y reverse;
}
::view-transition-new(.slide-up) {
  animation:
    var(--duration-enter) ease-in var(--duration-exit) both fade,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in both slide-y;
}

Usage:

<Suspense fallback={<ViewTransition exit="slide-down"><Skeleton /></ViewTransition>}>
  <ViewTransition default="none" enter="slide-up"><Content /></ViewTransition>
</Suspense>

Directional Navigation

Separate Enter/Exit Classes

::view-transition-new(.slide-from-right) {
  --slide-offset: 60px;
  animation:
    var(--duration-enter) ease-out var(--duration-exit) both fade,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in-out both slide;
}
::view-transition-old(.slide-to-left) {
  --slide-offset: -60px;
  animation:
    var(--duration-exit) ease-in both fade reverse,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in-out both slide reverse;
}

::view-transition-new(.slide-from-left) {
  --slide-offset: -60px;
  animation:
    var(--duration-enter) ease-out var(--duration-exit) both fade,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in-out both slide;
}
::view-transition-old(.slide-to-right) {
  --slide-offset: 60px;
  animation:
    var(--duration-exit) ease-in both fade reverse,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in-out both slide reverse;
}

Single-Class Approach

::view-transition-old(.nav-forward) {
  --slide-offset: -60px;
  animation:
    var(--duration-exit) ease-in both fade reverse,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in-out both slide reverse;
}
::view-transition-new(.nav-forward) {
  --slide-offset: 60px;
  animation:
    var(--duration-enter) ease-out var(--duration-exit) both fade,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in-out both slide;
}

::view-transition-old(.nav-back) {
  --slide-offset: 60px;
  animation:
    var(--duration-exit) ease-in both fade reverse,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in-out both slide reverse;
}
::view-transition-new(.nav-back) {
  --slide-offset: -60px;
  animation:
    var(--duration-enter) ease-out var(--duration-exit) both fade,
    var(--duration-move) ease-in-out both slide;
}

Shared Element Morph

::view-transition-group(.morph) {
  animation-duration: var(--duration-move);
}

::view-transition-image-pair(.morph) {
  animation-name: via-blur;
}

@keyframes via-blur {
  30% { filter: blur(3px); }
}

Usage: <ViewTransition name={product-${id}} share="morph" />

Note: Shared element transitions take raster snapshots. For text with significant size differences (e.g., <h3> → <h1>), the old snapshot gets scaled up, producing a visible ghost artifact. Use text-morph for text shared elements.

Text Morph

Avoids raster scaling artifacts on text by hiding the old snapshot and showing the new text at full resolution:

::view-transition-group(.text-morph) {
  animation-duration: var(--duration-move);
}
::view-transition-old(.text-morph) {
  display: none;
}
::view-transition-new(.text-morph) {
  animation: none;
  object-fit: none;
  object-position: left top;
}

Usage: <ViewTransition name={title-${id}} share="text-morph" />

Scale

::view-transition-old(.scale-out) {
  animation: var(--duration-exit) ease-in scale-down;
}
::view-transition-new(.scale-in) {
  animation: var(--duration-enter) ease-out var(--duration-exit) both scale-up;
}

@keyframes scale-down {
  from { transform: scale(1); opacity: 1; }
  to { transform: scale(0.85); opacity: 0; }
}
@keyframes scale-up {
  from { transform: scale(0.85); opacity: 0; }
  to { transform: scale(1); opacity: 1; }
}

Usage: <ViewTransition enter="scale-in" exit="scale-out" />

Interactivity During Transitions

The ::view-transition overlay captures all pointer events. React shrinks it to zero when the root group doesn't animate, but in-flight animations still block clicks. To pass clicks/hover through even while animating:

::view-transition {
  pointer-events: none;
}

Trade-offs: clicks can hit live elements under still-moving snapshots, and it only helps unnamed content — named participants are skipped by hit-testing for the transition's duration, no CSS override (csswg#10930). Weigh that before naming interactive elements; portal named popovers (see Isolate Elements from Parent Animations).

No Root Cross-Fade (Live Root)

The root cross-fades on every transition, freezing unnamed content behind a stale snapshot — hover and active styles stop rendering until it settles. ::view-transition-new(root) is a live capture, so disabling the root animation keeps unnamed regions rendering (and, with the pointer-events recipe above, interactive):

::view-transition-old(root) {
  display: none;
}
::view-transition-new(root) {
  animation: none;
}

Named and classed groups still animate — they stack above root. Trade-off: unnamed content swaps instantly, so regions that should fade need their own VT. This also removes the main reason to hand-name static chrome; keep names only for elements that must stack above animating groups.

Pairs well with enter-only reveals: skip the fallback-exit VT entirely (<ViewTransition enter="auto" default="none"> around the content, nothing on the skeleton) — the skeleton snaps out live while the content fades in.

Persistent Element Isolation

::view-transition-group(persistent-nav) {
  animation: none;
  z-index: 100;
}

Layer multiple pinned groups with z-index tiers — chrome at 100, toasts/overlays that must beat everything at 200.

Backdrop-Blur Workaround

For elements with backdrop-filter, hide the old snapshot to avoid flash:

::view-transition-old(persistent-nav) {
  display: none;
}
::view-transition-new(persistent-nav) {
  animation: none;
}

Floating Element Isolation (popovers, menus, tooltips, control clusters)

Same freeze as persistent chrome. A floating/interactive element left rendered while a background transition runs is otherwise captured in the root snapshot and flickers as it settles. Give it a real, unique view-transition-name (never none — that's the CSS default = no isolation) and:

::view-transition-group(popover) {
  animation: none;
  z-index: 100;
}
::view-transition-old(popover),
::view-transition-new(popover) {
  animation: none;
}

Sliding Indicator (tab underline / segmented pill)

One shared-name indicator morphs between positions. Slide the group; disable old/new so the solid bar slides instead of cross-fading:

::view-transition-group(.tab-underline) {
  animation-duration: 220ms;
  animation-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.5, 0, 0.2, 1);
}
::view-transition-old(.tab-underline),
::view-transition-new(.tab-underline) {
  animation: none;
  height: 100%;
}

Reduced Motion

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  ::view-transition-old(*),
  ::view-transition-new(*),
  ::view-transition-group(*) {
    animation-duration: 0s !important;
    animation-delay: 0s !important;
  }
}