# svg-animation

A skill for SVG animation: stroke draw-on, path morphing, motion along a path, animated gradients and filters. Ships a single self-contained HTML file with the vector motion inside.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 2500 installs · ★ 58
- Author: iart-ai
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/iart-ai/web-animation-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/svg-animation/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-06-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/svg-animation

## What it does

The skill covers four techniques: stroke-dashoffset draw-on, morphing one path into another, moving an element along a path, and animating gradients or filters. Each section names the right tool — CSS, SMIL, or GSAP — and includes ready snippets.

A decision table helps pick fast: declarative draw/fade goes to CSS, self-contained icons to SMIL, scroll-tied scrubbing to GSAP. For morphing with mismatched point counts the skill points to MorphSVGPlugin or Flubber; for path following, MotionPathPlugin or CSS offset-path. Helper scripts `seek-shot.sh` and `contact-sheet.sh` freeze frames via a `?t=N` harness and tile them into a contact sheet.

One catch: SMIL is dead in IE and old Edge, so the skill leans CSS or JS for broad reach. Filters are paint-heavy — animate them sparingly. The deliverable is one HTML file with inline SVG, no build step.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/web-animation-skills --skill svg-animation -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/svg-animation/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/svg-animation/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/web-animation-skills --skill svg-animation -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/svg-animation/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/web-animation-skills --skill svg-animation -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/svg-animation/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install iart-ai/web-animation-skills svg-animation
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/svg-animation/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/web-animation-skills --skill svg-animation -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/iart-ai/web-animation-skills --path skills/svg-animation
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/svg-animation/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/web-animation-skills --skill svg-animation -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/iart-ai/web-animation-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/svg-animation/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- make a stroke draw itself on an icon or signature
- morph between shapes with different point counts
- move an element along a path with rotation
- produce a standalone HTML file with SVG animation and no bundler
- freeze an animation frame for a screenshot

## Example prompts
- make this signature draw itself on
- morph the menu icon into a close icon
- send the rocket along this path and auto-rotate it

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 73bb488add8b9d30.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 73bb488add8b9d30
````text
---
name: svg-animation
description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "animate an SVG", "make a line draw itself on", "do a stroke draw-on / signature animation", "morph one shape into another", "move an element along a path", "animate an icon/logo", or "animate an SVG gradient or filter". Covers stroke-dashoffset draw-on, path morphing, motion-along-path, and animated icons/gradients/filters via CSS, SMIL, and GSAP.
version: 0.1.0
---

# SVG Animation

Crisp, lightweight, infinitely scalable vector motion — ideal for icons, illustrations, logos, and data marks. SVG can be animated three ways: CSS (declarative, simple), SMIL (`<animate>` inside the SVG), and JS (GSAP/Web Animations, for control and morphing). Choose per task; the techniques below say which.

## When to use

- Stroke "draw-on" of icons, illustrations, signatures, maps
- Shape/path morphing and animated icon state changes (menu ↔ close, play ↔ pause)
- Moving an element along a path (motion path)
- Animated gradients, filters (glow, displacement), and animated logos

## Core techniques

### Stroke draw-on (the staple)

Draw the dash array as long as the path, offset it fully (invisible), then animate the offset to 0.

```css
.path {
  stroke-dasharray: var(--len);
  stroke-dashoffset: var(--len);
  animation: draw 1.4s ease forwards;
}
@keyframes draw { to { stroke-dashoffset: 0; } }
```

Getting the length:
- JS (most reliable): `const len = path.getTotalLength(); path.style.setProperty("--len", len);`
- No-JS trick: set `pathLength="1"` on the `<path>`, then `stroke-dasharray: 1; stroke-dashoffset: 1;` and animate to `0`. This normalizes any path to a 0–1 length so no measurement is needed.

Reverse (erase) by animating offset from 0 back to `len`. Stagger multiple paths with `animation-delay`. Direction of drawing follows the path's point order; reverse it in the editor or negate the offset sign if it draws "backwards".

### Morphing one path into another

Paths interpolate point-by-point, so a naive morph requires both `d` attributes to have the **same number and type of commands**. Two robust approaches:

- **GSAP MorphSVG** (free as of GSAP 3.12) — handles mismatched point counts automatically and finds a good mapping:

```js
gsap.registerPlugin(MorphSVGPlugin);
gsap.to("#start", { morphSVG: "#end", duration: 0.8, ease: "power2.inOut" });
// Convert any shape to a morph-able path:
MorphSVGPlugin.convertToPath("circle, rect, ellipse, line, polygon");
```

- **Flubber** (small standalone lib) — generates interpolators without GSAP, good with React/Framer Motion:

```js
import { interpolate } from "flubber";
const interpolator = interpolate(pathA, pathB, { maxSegmentLength: 2 });
// interpolator(0) === pathA, interpolator(1) === pathB; feed t into a tween.
```
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 73bb488add8b9d30

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 73bb488add8b9d30 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2805 of 8622 bytes. © iart-ai · MIT · https://github.com/iart-ai/web-animation-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/svg-animation/SKILL.md

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