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Vercel React View Transitions by Vercel Labs

Use React View Transitions by Vercel Labs to plan and implement transitions between React interface states. Connect cards to detail views, preserve identity during list changes, and reveal loaded content with motion that fits the relationship, your framework setup, and users’ reduced-motion preferences.

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Read the original Vercel React View Transitions instructions at https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/react-view-transitions/SKILL.md. Explain its purpose, required tools, and installation options, then help me use it.

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Make this gallery's card-to-detail navigation feel continuous, but leave tab switching and background refresh unobtrusive.

About Vercel React View Transitions

React View Transitions is an Agent Skill published by Vercel Labs for implementing interface transitions with React’s ViewTransition APIs and CSS. It organizes motion around relationships between states: shared elements, arriving content, persistent list items, and navigation. The guidance helps an agent choose what should remain visually connected, when to trigger a transition, and which styles communicate that change. API availability depends on the React and framework setup, so version checks belong before implementation. Use the Skill with a specific transition rather than an open-ended request to animate everything, and verify navigation, reduced-motion behavior, and the fallback when animation cannot run.

Use Cases for React View Transitions

Explore transitions that help users follow a meaningful interface change. Connect a selected card to its detail view, keep list items recognizable after reordering, or introduce newly loaded content while preserving a clear and usable experience when motion is reduced or unavailable.

Open an item from a list

A named shared element can show that the detail view belongs to the card the user selected.

Reorder persistent items

Use stable item identity so motion communicates rearrangement rather than disappearance and reappearance.

Reveal content after Suspense

A restrained entrance can mark newly arrived content without animating every data refresh.

How to Implement React View Transitions

Identify the relationship between the old and new interface states before selecting an animation. Check React and framework support, ask the agent to implement the matching transition pattern, and test navigation, reduced motion, and behavior without animation.

  1. 01

    Describe the state relationship

    Show the starting and ending views. Identify whether the change is a shared element, list reorder, content reveal, or navigation.

  2. 02

    Implement the matching pattern

    Check the React and framework prerequisites with the agent. Apply the appropriate transition trigger, element identity, and CSS.

  3. 03

    Test motion and fallback

    Check the flow in supported browsers and with reduced motion enabled. Confirm the same action still works without animation.

Explore More Agent Skills

Read another Skill guide and check its original source before using it.

Vercel React View Transitions FAQ

Does every route change need a transition?
No. The source says transitions should communicate spatial continuity. Unrelated or background changes may be clearer without motion.
Is a third-party animation library required?
The Skill focuses on React's ViewTransition API and CSS. Whether that API is available depends on your React and framework setup.
What about reduced-motion preferences?
Provide a usable no-motion path and test the user's reduced-motion setting; animation must not carry essential information alone.
Can I use the same recipe in any React app?
No. The source distinguishes Next.js from non-Next.js availability and recommends following its version-specific implementation references.
What should happen when a transition cannot run?
The navigation or state change must still work normally. Treat motion as an enhancement and verify that disabling it does not hide content, delay an action, or prevent a user from reaching the next view.
How do I choose a meaningful shared-element transition?
Use a visible relationship, such as a selected card becoming its detail view. If the old and new elements are unrelated, a simpler transition or no motion is often easier to understand.
What should I check before implementing ViewTransition?
Confirm the React version, framework configuration, and browser support against the linked source references. Provide the existing route or component and a clear description of the two states you want to connect.