vercel-react-view-transitions – Coding skill for AI agents

React View Transitions

Animate between UI states using the browser's native document.startViewTransition. Declare *what* with <ViewTransition>, trigger *when* with startTransition / useDeferredValue / Suspense, control *how* with CSS classes. Unsupported browsers skip animations gracefully.

When to Use

• Use this skill when the task matches this description: Guide React and Next.js view transitions, shared element animations, route transitions, transition types, and reduced-motion-safe UI state animation.

When to Animate

Every <ViewTransition> should communicate a spatial relationship or continuity. If you can't articulate what it communicates, don't add it.

Evaluate applicable patterns in this order; implement only those needed for the user's intended interaction:

| Priority | Pattern | What it communicates |

|----------|---------|---------------------|

| 1 | Shared element (name) | "Same thing — going deeper" |

| 2 | Suspense reveal | "Data loaded" |

| 3 | List identity (per-item key) | "Same items, new arrangement" |

| 4 | State change (enter/exit) | "Something appeared/disappeared" |

| 5 | Route change (layout-level) | "Going to a new place" |

Keep the change scoped. Animation is optional, and continuity, focus and reduced-motion behavior take precedence over adding every pattern.

Choosing Animation Style

| Context | Animation | Why |

|---------|-----------|-----|

| Hierarchical navigation (list → detail) | Type-keyed nav-forward / nav-back | Communicates spatial depth |

| Lateral navigation (tab-to-tab) | Bare <ViewTransition> (fade) or default="none" | No depth to communicate |

| Suspense reveal | enter/exit string props | Content arriving |

| Revalidation / background refresh | default="none" | Silent — no animation needed |

Reserve directional slides for hierarchical navigation (list → detail) and ordered sequences (prev/next photo, carousel, paginated results). For ordered sequences, the direction communicates position: "next" slides from right, "previous" from left. Lateral/unordered navigation (tab-to-tab) should not use directional slides — it falsely implies spatial depth.

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Availability

Verify the installed React/React DOM/Next.js versions and their documented ViewTransition support before implementation. Do not assume every App Router version bundles the required API or install a moving canary as a blanket prerequisite. Inspect browser support for the specific features used (same-document transitions, classes and types differ), then test unsupported-browser and reduced-motion behavior. See the [React API reference](https://react.dev/reference/react/ViewTransition).

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Implementation Workflow

When adding view transitions to an existing app, follow references/implementation.md step by step. Start with the audit — do not skip it. Copy the CSS recipes from references/css-recipes.md into the global stylesheet — do not write your own animation CSS.

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Core Concepts

The <ViewTransition> Component

import { ViewTransition } from 'react';

<ViewTransition>
  <Component />
</ViewTransition>

React auto-assigns a unique view-transition-name and calls document.startViewTransition behind the scenes. Never call startViewTransition yourself.

Animation Triggers

| Trigger | When it fires |

|---------|--------------|

| enter | <ViewTransition> first inserted during a Transition |

| exit | <ViewTransition> first removed during a Transition |

| update | DOM mutations inside a <ViewTransition>. With nested VTs, mutation applies to the innermost one |

| share | Named VT unmounts and another with same name mounts in the same Transition |

Only startTransition, useDeferredValue, or Suspense activate VTs. Regular setState does not animate.

Critical Placement Rule

Enter/exit depends on the inserted/deleted subtree boundary, not a blanket prohibition on any ancestor DOM node. The examples compare inserting/removing the wrapper versus inserting/removing the VT itself:

// Works
<ViewTransition enter="auto" exit="auto">
  <div>Content</div>
</ViewTransition>

// Broken — div wraps the VT, suppressing enter/exit
<div>
  <ViewTransition enter="auto" exit="auto">
    <div>Content</div>
  </ViewTransition>
</div>

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Styling with View Transition Classes

Props

Values: "auto" (browser cross-fade), "none" (disabled), "class-name" (custom CSS), or { [type]: value } for type-specific animations.

<ViewTransition default="none" enter="slide-in" exit="slide-out" share="morph" />

If default is "none", all triggers are off unless explicitly listed.

CSS Pseudo-Elements

• ::view-transition-old(.class) — outgoing snapshot
• ::view-transition-new(.class) — incoming snapshot
• ::view-transition-group(.class) — container
• ::view-transition-image-pair(.class) — old + new pair

See references/css-recipes.md for ready-to-use animation recipes.

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Transition Types

Tag transitions with addTransitionType so VTs can pick different animations based on context. Call it multiple times to stack types — different VTs in the tree react to different types:

startTransition(() => {
  addTransitionType('nav-forward');
  addTransitionType('select-item');
  router.push('/detail/1');
});

Pass an object to map types to CSS classes. Works on enter, exit, and share:

<ViewTransition
  enter={{ 'nav-forward': 'slide-from-right', 'nav-back': 'slide-from-left', default: 'none' }}
  exit={{ 'nav-forward': 'slide-to-left', 'nav-back': 'slide-to-right', default: 'none' }}
  share={{ 'nav-forward': 'morph-forward', 'nav-back': 'morph-back', default: 'morph' }}
  default="none"
>
  <Page />
</ViewTransition>

enter and exit don't have to be symmetric. For example, fade in but slide out directionally:

<ViewTransition
  enter={{ 'nav-forward': 'fade-in', 'nav-back': 'fade-in', default: 'none' }}
  exit={{ 'nav-forward': 'nav-forward', 'nav-back': 'nav-back', default: 'none' }}
  default="none"
>

TypeScript: ViewTransitionClassPerType requires a default key in the object.

For apps with multiple pages, extract the type-keyed VT into a reusable wrapper:

export function DirectionalTransition({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  return (
    <ViewTransition
      enter={{ 'nav-forward': 'nav-forward', 'nav-back': 'nav-back', default: 'none' }}
      exit={{ 'nav-forward': 'nav-forward', 'nav-back': 'nav-back', default: 'none' }}
      default="none"
    >
      {children}
    </ViewTransition>
  );
}

router.back() and Browser Back Button

router.back() and the browser's back/forward buttons do not trigger view transitions (popstate is synchronous, incompatible with startViewTransition). Preserve actual back/history semantics; do not replace browser Back with push merely to force an animation. Accept a nonanimated fallback when the router cannot coordinate it.

Types and Suspense

Types are available during navigation but not during subsequent Suspense reveals (separate transitions, no type). Use type maps for page-level enter/exit; use simple string props for Suspense reveals.

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Shared Element Transitions

Same name on two VTs — one unmounting, one mounting — creates a shared element morph:

<ViewTransition name="hero-image">
  <img src="/thumb.jpg" onClick={() => startTransition(() => onSelect())} />
</ViewTransition>

// On the other view — same name
<ViewTransition name="hero-image">
  <img src="/full.jpg" />
</ViewTransition>

• Only one VT with a given name can be mounted at a time — use unique names (photo-${id}). Watch for reusable components: if a component with a named VT is rendered in both a modal/popover *and* a page, both mount simultaneously and break the morph. Either make the name conditional (via a prop) or move the named VT out of the shared component into the specific consumer.
• share takes precedence over enter/exit. Think through each navigation path: when no matching pair forms (e.g., the target page doesn't have the same name), enter/exit fires instead. Consider whether the element needs a fallback animation for those paths.
• Never use a fade-out exit on pages with shared morphs — use a directional slide instead.

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Common Patterns

Enter/Exit

{show && (
  <ViewTransition enter="fade-in" exit="fade-out"><Panel /></ViewTransition>
)}

List Reorder

{items.map(item => (
  <ViewTransition key={item.id}><ItemCard item={item} /></ViewTransition>
))}

Trigger inside startTransition. Avoid wrapper <div>s between list and VT.

Composing Shared Elements with List Identity

Shared elements and list identity are independent concerns — don't confuse one for the other. When a list item contains a shared element (e.g., an image that morphs into a detail view), use

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