React-spring is a physics-based animation library designed to create fluid, natural motion for user interface elements and three-dimensional objects. It functions as a declarative motion framework that maps state changes to animated property values, utilizing spring physics—defined by mass, tension, and friction—rather than traditional time-based easing functions to calculate transitions.
The library distinguishes itself through a rendering-agnostic architecture that decouples animation logic from specific UI frameworks, allowing for consistent application across web interfaces, 3D scenes, and custom environments. It provides both declarative hooks for standard component transitions and imperative controllers that allow developers to trigger, pause, or orchestrate complex motion sequences directly, bypassing standard rendering cycles for high-performance visual updates.
Beyond core animation, the project includes a comprehensive suite of tools for managing layout-aware transitions, list animations, and scroll-driven interactions. It supports advanced orchestration patterns such as staggered element trails and sequential animations, while maintaining accessibility through automatic detection of system-level reduced motion settings. The library is built to handle isomorphic execution, ensuring consistent behavior across both server-side and client-side rendering environments.
