/transitions-dev

name: transitions-dev
description: Production-ready CSS transitions for web apps. Use when implementing notification badges, dropdowns, modals, panel reveals, page transitions, card resizes, number pop-ins, text swaps, icon swaps, success checks, avatar group hovers, or error state shakes. Triggers on "add a transition", "animate the dropdown", "make the modal open smoothly", "swap icon", "page slide", "stagger animation", "open / close transition", "make it animate", "tween the size", "fade between", "smooth open", "smooth close", "success animation", "checkmark animation", "confirmation animation", "form error", "shake on invalid", "validation feedback", "hover lift", "avatar stack hover", "chip group hover".

Transitions.dev

Twelve portable CSS transitions, each namespaced under `t-*` selectors with semantic CSS custom properties. Drop-in: paste the snippet, wire the documented HTML hooks, done. No framework dependencies, no demo-specific markup, and every snippet ships a `prefers-reduced-motion` guard.

Quick reference

| Transition | When to use | Reference | | --- | --- | --- | | **Card resize** | Tween a container's width or height when its layout state changes. | [01-card-resize.md](./01-card-resize.md) | | **Number pop-in** | Re-enter each digit with a blurred slide when a number updates. | [02-number-pop-in.md](./02-number-pop-in.md) | | **Notification badge** | Slide a small badge onto a trigger and pop the dot. | [03-notification-badge.md](./03-notification-badge.md) | | **Text states swap** | Swap text in place with a blurred up-and-down transition. | [04-text-states-swap.md](./04-text-states-swap.md) | | **Menu dropdown** | Open an origin-aware dropdown that grows from its trigger. | [05-menu-dropdown.md](./05-menu-dropdown.md) | | **Modal open / close** | Scale-up modal dialog with a softer scale-down on close. | [06-modal.md](./06-modal.md) | | **Panel reveal** | Slide a panel into a region with a cross-blur. | [07-panel-reveal.md](./07-panel-reveal.md) | | **Page side-by-side** | Slide between two side-by-side pages (list ↔ detail, step 1 ↔ step 2). | [08-page-side-by-side.md](./08-page-side-by-side.md) | | **Icon swap** | Cross-fade two icons in the same slot with blur and scale. | [09-icon-swap.md](./09-icon-swap.md) | | **Success check** | Compose fade + rotate + Y-bob + path stroke-draw to celebrate a completed action. | [10-success-check.md](./10-success-check.md) | | **Avatar group hover** | Distance-falloff lift on a row of items with a bouncy spring on return. | [11-avatar-group-hover.md](./11-avatar-group-hover.md) | | **Error state shake** | Per-segment cubic-bezier shake with auto-reverting border + message. | [12-error-state-shake.md](./12-error-state-shake.md) |

Decision rules

When the user asks for a transition, match against the visible UI element first, then the verb:

• **Trigger + small dot floating on top** → notification badge.
• **Trigger + surface that grows from it** → dropdown (anchored, origin-aware) or modal (centered, no anchor).
• **Surface that slides into a region of the page** → panel reveal.
• **Two screens, list ↔ detail or step 1 ↔ step 2** → page side-by-side.
• **Element changes width or height** → card resize.
• **Element's text content changes in place** → text states swap.
• **Two icons in the same slot** → icon swap.
• **A number updates** → number pop-in.
• **Confirmation / success / "done" moment** (checkmark, payment processed, file uploaded) → success check.
• **Hovering an item in a horizontal stack** (avatars, chips, segmented buttons, tag pills) → avatar group hover.
• **Form validation error / "this is wrong" feedback** (invalid field, wrong PIN, duplicate name) → error state shake.

If two transitions could fit, prefer the lower-overhead one (card resize over panel reveal, dropdown over modal, success check over a full modal celebration) unless the design clearly calls for the heavier surface. The success check is animation-only — if you also need to swap from a spinner to the check, pair it with **icon swap**.

Universal install

Drop this `:root` block into your project **once**. Every transition snippet reads from these semantic names — there are no per-component values to chase down later.

/* transitions-dev — copy this :root block into your project once.
   Every transition snippet reads from these semantic names. */
:root {
  /* Card resize */
  --resize-dur: 300ms;
  --resize-ease: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
  /* Number pop-in */
  --digit-dur: 500ms;
  --digit-distance: 8px;
  --digit-stagger: 70ms;
  --digit-blur: 2px;
  --digit-ease: cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.45, 0.64, 1);
  --digit-dir-x: 0;
  --digit-dir-y: 1;
  /* Notification badge */
  --badge-slide-dur: 260ms;
  --badge-pop-dur: 500ms;
  --badge-pop-close-dur: 180ms;
  --badge-fade-dur: 400ms;
  --badge-fade-close-dur: 180ms;
  --badge-blur: 2px;
  --badge-offset-x: -8.2px;
  --badge-offset-y: 12.4px;
  --badge-slide-ease: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
  --badge-pop-ease: cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.36, 0.64, 1);
  --badge-close-ease: cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1);
  /* Text states swap */
  --text-swap-dur: 200ms;
  --text-swap-translate-y: 8px;
  --text-swap-blur: 2px;
  --text-swap-ease: ease-out;
  /* Menu dropdown */
  --dropdown-open-dur: 250ms;
  --dropdown-close-dur: 150ms;
  --dropdown-pre-scale: 0.97;
  --dropdown-closing-scale: 0.99;
  --dropdown-ease: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
  /* Modal open / close */
  --modal-open-dur: 250ms;
  --modal-close-dur: 150ms;
  --modal-scale: 0.96;
  --modal-scale-close: 0.96;
  --modal-ease: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
  /* Panel reveal */
  --panel-open-dur: 400ms;
  --panel-close-dur: 350ms;
  --panel-translate-y: 100px;
  --panel-blur: 2px;
  --panel-ease: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
  /* Page side-by-side */
  --page-slide-dur: 200ms;
  --page-fade-dur: 200ms;
  --page-slide-distance: 8px;
  --page-blur: 3px;
  --page-stagger: 0ms;
  --page-exit-enabled: 1;
  --page-slide