@vueuse/motion 3.0.3

Vue 3 composables for declarative animation, built on Popmotion (not WAAPI). Three interchangeable surfaces: v-motion directive, <Motion>/<MotionGroup> components, and the useMotion() composable.

Environment limits

• Vue 3 only (vue >=3.0.0 peer, package.json:79-81).
• ESM-only since v3.0.0: no CommonJS build ("type": "module", only .mjs exports, package.json:2,31-35; https://github.com/vueuse/motion/pull/254). No require(); CJS projects must migrate to ESM or dynamic import().
• Depends on @vueuse/core/@vueuse/shared v13, popmotion 11 (package.json:82-89).
• Nuxt integration needs @nuxt/kit >=3.13 (optional dependency, package.json:90-92).
• Animations run on window; SSR only renders the initial variant as inline styles (see Nuxt & SSR).

Setup

Vue app entry (README.md:32-44):

import { createApp } from 'vue'
import { MotionPlugin } from '@vueuse/motion'
import App from './App.vue'

createApp(App).use(MotionPlugin).mount('#app')

MotionPlugin registers the v-motion directive, 30 preset directives (v-motion-fade, ...), global Motion/MotionGroup components, and custom directives from options (dist/index.mjs:1712-1736).

app.use(MotionPlugin, {
  directives: { 'pop-bottom': { initial: { scale: 0, y: 100 }, visible: { scale: 1, y: 0 } } },
  excludePresets: true, // skip the 30 built-in preset directives
})

Nuxt: add '@vueuse/motion/nuxt' to modules; the plugin, components, and composable auto-imports are installed for you (dist/nuxt/module.mjs:13-24). See Nuxt & SSR.

Common tasks

Directive (most common)

<template>
  <div
    v-motion
    :initial="{ opacity: 0, y: 100 }"
    :enter="{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }"
  />
  <!-- Preset: applies the built-in slideVisibleLeft variants -->
  <div v-motion-slide-visible-left />
</template>

Variant props: initial, enter, leave, visible, visibleOnce (kebab visible-once also accepted, dist/index.mjs:1054-1057), hovered, tapped, focused, plus :variants for custom keys. Shorthand :delay / :duration (milliseconds) apply to the enter/visible/visibleOnce transitions (dist/index.mjs:1043-1051).

Component (better SSR/MDC compatibility)

<Motion is="p" preset="slideVisibleLeft" :duration="600">Text in Motion!</Motion>

preset takes the camelCase preset name, including names from plugin directives (dist/index.mjs:1551-1562). <MotionGroup> applies one config to all children, renderless unless given :is.

Composable (programmatic control)

<script setup lang="ts">
import { ref } from 'vue'
import { useMotion } from '@vueuse/motion'

const target = ref<HTMLElement>()
const { variant, apply, stop } = useMotion(target, {
  initial: { opacity: 0, y: 100 },
  enter: { opacity: 1, y: 0 },
  custom2: { scale: 1.2 },
})
// switch variant (triggers transition): variant.value = 'custom2'
// temporary animation, then revert: await apply({ scale: 2 }); await apply('enter')
</script>

Instance members: target, variant, variants, state, motionProperties, apply, set, stop, leave, isAnimating (dist/index.d.mts:535-576). Full surface: API reference.

Access a template motion from script

Give the directive a string value, then read it from useMotions():

<div v-motion="'hero'" :initial="{ opacity: 0 }" :enter="{ opacity: 1 }" />

const motions = useMotions()
const play = () => { motions.hero?.variant.value = 'custom' }

Rules that prevent bugs

• Durations, delays, and repeatDelay are milliseconds (delay: 1000 = 1s). The JSDoc in dist/index.d.mts says "in seconds" (copied from Framer Motion types) but values pass straight to Popmotion in ms; official docs and runtime defaults (300/800) are ms (dist/index.mjs:266-281,431-441; https://motion.vueuse.org/features/transition-properties.html).
• Always declare initial with every key you animate later, so elements start from a known state and leave/visible reversal has a base to return to (https://motion.vueuse.org/features/variants.html).
• visible re-applies initial when the element leaves the viewport; visibleOnce fires once (dist/index.mjs:696-707).
• Do not destructure useMotions() at setup top level. Instances register after setup runs; keep the object and index it lazily (motions.hero?.apply('x')). Registration is global and keyed by the string value passed to v-motion (dist/index.mjs:9,1065; https://github.com/vueuse/motion/issues/109).
• apply('unknown-key') throws The variant unknown-key does not exist. Use object form apply({ ... }) for one-off states (dist/index.mjs:534-537).
• leave(done) expects a leave variant, falling back to initial; map it onto <transition @leave="(el, done) => leave(done)"> (dist/index.mjs:568-582).
• Default transitions are picked per property: springs for x/y/z/rotate*/scale*, 300ms linear tween for opacity/color/backgroundColor, 800ms keyframes for array targets (dist/index.mjs:266-290,443-446). Override via the variant's transition (https://motion.vueuse.org/features/transition-properties.html).
• Event variants (hovered/tapped/focused) layer over the current variant in priority order hovered < focused < tapped; listeners are only registered for declared variants (dist/index.mjs:597-657; https://motion.vueuse.org/features/variants.html).
• v-motion preset directives use slugged names: v-motion-fade-visible-once, v-motion-roll-left, v-motion-slide-top, etc. (camelCase key -> slugify, dist/index.mjs:1459-1464,1718). All 30 presets listed in Variants & transitions.

When to choose which surface

• Template-only reveal animations: directive, or a preset directive.
• SSR-heavy or Markdown-rendered content (MDC): <Motion>/<MotionGroup>; they inject initial styles more reliably than the directive (dist/index.mjs:1662-1667; https://motion.vueuse.org/features/components.html).
• Gestures, sequencing, or values driven outside templates: useMotion(), or useSpring() + useMotionProperties() for raw Popmotion-level springs without the variant system (dist/index.mjs:1747-1772).
• Respect user preference: const reduced = useReducedMotion() and skip or shorten animations when true (dist/index.mjs:1774-1777).

References

• API reference: every export, composable signatures, MotionInstance/SpringControls members, low-level composables.
• Variants & transitions: variant semantics, animatable motion properties, transition options, presets list.
• Nuxt & SSR: module setup, runtime config directives, SSR behavior and caveats.
• Migration & versions: v2 -> v3 changes, nightly channel, package facts.