GSAP for the Web

GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) is the workhorse for code-driven web motion: sequenced timelines, scroll-driven storytelling, text reveals, and layout transitions. As of GSAP 3.12+, every plugin (ScrollTrigger, SplitText, Flip, MotionPath, MorphSVG, Draggable, Observer) is 100% free, including for commercial use.

When to use

• Scroll-driven storytelling: pinned sections, parallax, progress scrubbing, horizontal scroll
• Sequenced hero animations and complex multi-element timelines with precise overlap control
• Text reveals split into chars/words/lines (SplitText)
• Layout transitions where an element changes position/size/parent (Flip)
• Any motion needing fine timing control, easing precision, or imperative orchestration

Install and register

import gsap from "gsap";
import { ScrollTrigger } from "gsap/ScrollTrigger";
import { SplitText } from "gsap/SplitText";
import { Flip } from "gsap/Flip";

gsap.registerPlugin(ScrollTrigger, SplitText, Flip);

Plugins MUST be registered before use or they silently no-op. With a bundler, register once at app entry.

Core techniques

Timelines first

Prefer one timeline over many independent tweens — it gives a single playhead, relative positioning, and easy reversal.

const tl = gsap.timeline({ defaults: { ease: "power3.out", duration: 0.6 } });
tl.from(".title", { yPercent: 100, opacity: 0 })
  .from(".sub",   { y: 20, opacity: 0 }, "-=0.3")  // start 0.3s before prev ends
  .from(".cta",   { scale: 0.9, opacity: 0 }, "<"); // align to prev tween START

Position parameter cheat sheet:

• "+=0.5" / "-=0.3" — relative to the end of the timeline (gap / overlap)
• "<" — start of the previous tween; ">" — end of the previous tween
• "<0.2" — 0.2s after the previous tween's start
• "myLabel" — at a named label added via tl.addLabel("myLabel")

Use .from() for entrances (animates FROM the given values TO current CSS), .to() for exits, .fromTo() when both ends must be explicit (most robust against re-runs).

gsap.to vs set vs quickTo

gsap.set(el, { autoAlpha: 0 });           // instant, no tween (autoAlpha = opacity + visibility)
const xTo = gsap.quickTo(el, "x", { duration: 0.4, ease: "power3" });
window.addEventListener("pointermove", (e) => xTo(e.clientX)); // fast repeated updates

autoAlpha is preferred over raw opacity because it also toggles visibility:hidden at 0, removing the element from hit-testing.

ScrollTrigger basics

gsap.to(".panel", {
  xPercent: -100,
  ease: "none",
  scrollTrigger: {
    trigger: ".wrap",
    start: "top top",      // when trigger top hits viewport top
    end: "+=2000",         // 2000px of scroll distance
    pin: true,             // freeze .wrap while the tween plays
    scrub: 1,              // tie progress to scrollbar (1 = 1s catch-up smoothing)
    markers: true,         // dev-only visual markers — remove for prod
  },
});

Key semantics:

• start/end take "triggerPos viewportPos" (e.g. "top center") or "+=px".
• scrub: true locks animation progress to scroll exactly; scrub: <number> adds smoothing lag.
• toggleActions: "play pause resume reverse" controls onEnter/onLeave/onEnterBack/onLeaveBack for non-scrubbed triggers.
• Use ease: "none" for scrubbed tweens so motion tracks scroll linearly.

Smooth scroll (Lenis) + ScrollTrigger

Pairing Lenis (or Locomotive) smooth scrolling with ScrollTrigger desyncs unless both run on one loop. Lenis smooths scroll on its own rAF while ScrollTrigger reads scroll on GSAP's ticker; when they tick independently ScrollTrigger samples a stale position. The fix: drive Lenis from GSAP's ticker and update ScrollTrigger on every Lenis scroll.

import Lenis from "lenis";

const lenis = new Lenis({ duration: 1.2, smoothWheel: true });

lenis.on("scroll", ScrollTrigger.update);          // 1. update ScrollTrigger on every Lenis scroll
gsap.ticker.add((t) => lenis.raf(t * 1000));       // 2. one loop: ticker drives Lenis (seconds → ms)
gsap.ticker.lagSmoothing(0);                        // 3. stop GSAP catch-up jitter on heavy frames

Critical: gsap.ticker passes time in seconds, lenis.raf() wants milliseconds — multiply by 1000. Do NOT also run a standalone requestAnimationFrame(raf) loop for Lenis; that double-drives it.

Common bugs:

• Jitter/stutter — a leftover requestAnimationFrame(raf) loop competing with the ticker, or missing lagSmoothing(0). Remove the rogue loop; set lag smoothing to 0.
• Markers drift from their triggers — ScrollTrigger.update is not subscribed to lenis.on("scroll", …).
• Pins break — under Lenis do NOT set a scrollerProxy (it scrolls the document). Under Locomotive you MUST wire scrollerProxy + pinType and set scroller: on every trigger.
• Scroll stuck / flipped direction — missing the * 1000 unit conversion, or two loops out of order.

Cleanup on SPA unmount: gsap.ticker.remove(update) + lenis.destroy(), else loops stack per navigation. Gate behind prefers-reduced-motion (skip Lenis, run native scroll). Full Lenis + Locomotive wiring, anchor-link routing, data-lenis-prevent, React (useGSAP/useEffect), and a symptom→cause table are in references/scrolltrigger-lenis.md.

SplitText (text reveal)

const split = SplitText.create(".headline", { type: "lines, words", linesClass: "line" });
gsap.from(split.lines, { yPercent: 100, opacity: 0, stagger: 0.08, duration: 0.7, ease: "power4.out" });

Gotchas:

• Wrap line-mask reveals: set overflow: hidden on the line wrapper so yPercent: 100 hides cleanly. Add autoSplit: true (GSAP 3.13+) to re-split on font load / resize.
• Call split.revert() before re-splitting or on unmount to restore original DOM and avoid duplicated nodes.
• Always split AFTER web fonts load (document.fonts.ready.then(...)) to prevent wrong line breaks.

Flip (layout transitions)

Flip records state, lets the DOM change instantly, then animates the visual difference (FLIP technique). Ideal for grid<->list, expanding cards, and reparenting.

const state = Flip.getState(".item");   // 1. capture BEFORE
container.classList.toggle("grid");      // 2. mutate DOM/CSS (instant)
Flip.from(state, {                        // 3. animate the delta
  duration: 0.6, ease: "power2.inOut", stagger: 0.05,
  absolute: true,                         // take items out of flow during move (prevents reflow jitter)
});

Easing quick guide

• power2/3.out — entrances (fast then settle)
• power2.inOut — moves between two on-screen states
• back.out(1.7) — overshoot/pop (number = overshoot amount)
• elastic.out(1, 0.3) — bouncy, use sparingly
• none — scrubbed scroll tweens
• steps(n) — sprite/stepped motion
• Custom cubic-bezier equivalent: CustomEase.create("x", "M0,0 C0.2,0 0,1 1,1") (CustomEase is free)

Performance and cleanup

• Animate transform (x/y/xPercent/scale/rotation) and opacity only — they are GPU-composited and skip layout/paint. Avoid animating top/left/width/height.
• Set will-change: transform on heavy/pinned elements; remove after.
• Batch many similar scroll reveals with ScrollTrigger.batch() instead of one trigger per element.
• After a viewport/content change, call ScrollTrigger.refresh().

SPA / framework cleanup is mandatory — orphaned triggers cause memory leaks and ghost pinning. Use gsap.context() (or useGSAP from @gsap/react):

useEffect(() => {
  const ctx = gsap.context(() => {
    // all gsap + ScrollTrigger code here
  }, rootRef);
  return () => ctx.revert(); // kills tweens, triggers, and reverts inline styles
}, []);

Deliver & verify (standalone HTML)

Packaged helper (scripts/): scripts/seek-shot.sh anim.html 0 1.5 3 freezes the ?t=N harness and screenshots each moment; scripts/contact-sheet.sh sheet.png frame-*.png tiles them for one-glance review. See scripts/README.md.

For a self-contained animation (hero, reveal, loop, micro-scene) the deliverable is one HTML file that opens directly in a browser — no build step, no framework, no render pipeline. Match the deliverable to the weight of the work: a single file is the right tier for web motion; don't reach for a bundler when one file does the job.

Output contract:

• One .html file: GSAP + plugins from CDN, your markup, and the animation in one inline <script>.
• All motion on one master timeline (const tl = gsap.timeline()) — a single playhead you can seek.
• Include the seek harness below so any moment can be frozen for inspection.

Seek harness — freeze an exact moment for screenshots. The web parallel of a video player's frame-pin: ?t=N seeks the master timeline to N seconds and pauses, so a screenshot lands on a still, deterministic frame.

<script>
  // ... build your master timeline as `tl` ...
  const t = new URLSearchParams(location.search).get("t");
  if (t !== null) { tl.pause(); tl.seek(parseFloat(t)); }  // frozen at t seconds
  // no ?t → plays normally
  window.__ready = true;            // ready signal for headless wait
  console.log("duration", tl.duration());
</script>

Verify loop — render → freeze → screenshot → check:

1. Open the file at three moments across the timeline — start, mid, end: …/anim.html?t=0, ?t=<dur/2>, ?t=<dur>. Read tl.duration() from the console for the end time.
2. Screenshot each frozen frame.
3. Check both fidelity (does it match the brief?) and artifacts (clipped text, elements off-canvas, FOUC before fonts load, jank at seams). Output should look intentional and finished.

Any headless screenshot tool works — your agent's browser tool, or Playwright:

npx playwright screenshot --wait-for-timeout=500 "file://$PWD/anim.html?t=1.2" frame-mid.png

Before you finish:

1. Opens standalone in a browser — no console errors, no missing CDN.
2. All animation on one master timeline; ?t=N freezes correctly.
3. Screenshotted at start / mid / end — matches the brief, no artifacts.
4. prefers-reduced-motion honored (timeline simplified or skipped).
5. Easing is intentional — no accidental linear on spatial motion.

A complete runnable template with the harness wired in is in examples/standalone-template.html.

Quick reference

Reference files

• references/scrolltrigger-cookbook.md — pin, scrub, horizontal scroll, snap, ScrollTrigger.batch() reveals, parallax, nested triggers, and SPA cleanup patterns with full code.
• references/scrolltrigger-lenis.md — full ScrollTrigger + Lenis/Locomotive smooth-scroll sync: canonical wiring, scrollerProxy, anchor links, reduced-motion, React (useGSAP/useEffect), debugging checklist, and symptom→cause table.
• examples/hero-timeline.js — a complete, runnable hero entrance timeline with SplitText, staggered reveals, and reduced-motion handling.
• examples/standalone-template.html — the deliverable template: self-contained (CDN GSAP), one master timeline, the ?t=N seek harness for screenshot verification, and reduced-motion handling.