Agent Guide: arcgis-time-animation

Quick-reference for temporal data on SDK 5.1. Read before time filtering or animation.

Quick Decision Tree

1. Playback UI? → arcgis-time-slider in the map, with fullTimeExtent from layer.timeInfo and stops.
2. Filter window? → set view.timeExtent (a TimeExtent); it filters client-side.
3. Layer not filtering? → it has no timeInfo, or its startField does not exist.
4. One layer must ignore the window? → layer.useViewTime = false.

Setup Checklist

• await layer.load() and set slider.fullTimeExtent = layer.timeInfo.fullTimeExtent; the slider stays null otherwise.
• Build dates with Date.UTC(...) or ISO strings, never new Date(y, m, d) (local midnight).
• Check that the timeInfo.startField exists and is a date field: a wrong name fails silently.
• Animate by assigning view.timeExtent (or the slider's play()), not by re-querying.

Anti-patterns (one-liner reminders)

• ❌ A slider with no fullTimeExtent, expecting it to read the layer.
• ❌ new Date(2020, 0, 1) in a TimeExtent (5 h off in Bogotá).
• ❌ A timeInfo with a misspelled field (no error, no filtering).
• ❌ queryFeatures on every animation step.

Files in This Skill

• SKILL.md / SKILL.es.md — full guides
• references/api-detail.md — TimeExtent / view.timeExtent / time-slider
• references/examples.md — playback / filter / animation
• references/pitfalls.md — extended troubleshooting
• scripts/snippet-time.ts