Motion
Debug or validate Pulp animations / transitions / scroll behavior using the runtime motion-trace system. TRIGGER on phrases like "animation is wrong", "transition timing off", "fade too late", "card slides too far", "scroll jumps on restore", "scroll offset wrong on restore", "frame jump in the timeline", "easing looks wonky", "imported Figma motion doesn't match source", "settle time / overshoot / drift / monotonic", "what value does the knob reach at frame N", "record this animation so I can replay it", "this animation is expensive — which one and why", "reduced-motion broken", "scrub a captured fixture". Runs over the inspector wire (no source edits needed), captures fixtures (.motion.jsonl), and ships assertion helpers (is_monotonic / settling_time_seconds / overshoot / start_delay_seconds / final_value / local_step_outlier_ratio) and the `scroll_geometry` trace for `ScrollView` content-offset / visible-rect / content-size observability. Off by default in prod.From its SKILL.md
npx -y skills add danielraffel/burl --skill motionAssembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.
One thing to look at
- 1 stars1 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.
SKILL.md
39.6 KB, as published. Nobody here has run it
Motion
Pulp's agent-first motion observability — sample view geometry / scalar values / scroll state over time, emit epsilon-bounded events with monotonic timestamps and burst framing, and route them to log lines + inspector events + JSONL fixtures. You are reading this skill because an agent needs to debug, validate, or reproduce a motion behavior.
When to rope this skill in
Trigger this skill the moment a user (or your own reasoning) describes any
of these symptoms — don't reach for grep or git log, attach a trace:
- "this fade / slide / scale is too fast / too slow / starts late / ends early"
- "the knob value isn't reaching its target" / "what value at frame N?"
- "two elements drift apart during the transition"
- "scroll position jumps when I restore state"
- "imported design's motion doesn't match the source intent"
- "is this animation monotonic / does it overshoot / how long to settle?"
- "which animation is expensive and why?" → Path F (cost attribution)
- "reduced-motion path is broken" → Path B + assert under MotionPolicy
- "I want to scrub through a recorded fixture" → Path E (scrubber)
If the user says any of those, this skill applies. Don't suggest reading source; attach a trace and read the numbers.
Quick decision
Eight paths — pick by what you have, all eight terminate at the same
motion::Coordinator so fixtures, scrubber, cost, reduced-motion, and
provenance work identically across surfaces.
| You have | Path | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| A running app + a node id + a scalar / geometry of interest | A — Runtime trace | Motion.startTrace over the inspector wire |
A ScrollView whose offset / visible rect / content size you need to observe | A — Runtime trace (scroll) | Trace.scroll_geometry(name, scroll_view, props) — emits contentOffsetX/Y, visibleRect*, contentSize*, scrollableMax*, inset* |
| A captured frame sequence (no app instrumentation available) | B — Visual analysis | tools/motion/visual/analyze_sequence.py |
A previously recorded .motion.jsonl fixture | C — Replay + assert | motion::replay_fixture + motion::assert_matches |
| An interaction that drives the suspect motion | D — Input record + replay | motion::make_input_recorder + motion::replay_inputs |
| A fixture + an inspector client (design review / CI triage) | E — Timeline scrubber | Motion.loadFixture + Motion.scrubTo over the inspector wire |
| "Which animation is expensive and why?" | F — Cost attribution | Motion.enableCost + CostAttributor + make_render_cost_probe |
| SwiftUI / UIKit / AppKit / iOS / macOS / AUv3 host code path | G — Swift native | View.pulpMotionTrace { Trace.* } / PulpMotionGeometryProbe |
Jetpack Compose or Android View code path | H — Android native | Modifier.pulpMotionGeometry { +Trace.* } / View.pulpMotionTrace |
| Imported design + intent doc (e.g. "fade in 350 ms ease-out") | Both A + C | Record a fixture from the import, assert timing / monotonicity |
Path A — Runtime trace
The runtime path attaches a trace at runtime over the inspector wire, no source instrumentation, no cleanup phase to forget.
1. Confirm the complaint as a measurable property
Translate "looks off" into a metric and a target. Example mappings:
- "fade is slow" →
opacityscalar, settling time > X ms - "card slides too far" →
framegeometry, finalminYmismatch - "two cards drift" → two
frametraces, deltas correlate - "scroll jumps on restore" → child-of-ScrollView geometry, presentation source
2. Start the host with the motion server enabled
PULP_MOTION_SERVER=1 ./build/examples/ui-preview/pulp-ui-preview
# Motion inspector listening on port 9147
3. Attach a trace
Three discovery surfaces — pick whichever is at hand. All three terminate
at the same Coordinator.
3a. pulp motion * CLI (terminal, one verb per Motion.* method,
prints the trace_id so you can copy it into motion stop):
pulp motion record --view Card --fps 30 --out card-fade.jsonl
# → --out is a fixture-path hint; wire make_fixture_sink("card-fade.jsonl")
# in the app or test when you need an on-disk JSONL artifact.
# → trace started — trace_id=1
# → stop with: pulp motion stop --trace-id 1
Every verb honours --port N and $PULP_INSPECTOR_PORT, exits 1
with a clear "start the host with PULP_MOTION_SERVER=1 …" hint
when nothing is listening, and supports --json for raw inspector
output. Full list: record / stop / snapshot / list-traces / load-fixture / scrub / play / pause / cost {enable|disable}.
3b. Raw inspector wire (TCP port 9147, length-prefix-framed JSON):
{ "id": 1, "method": "Motion.startTrace",
"params": {
"view_name": "Card",
"fps": 30,
"metrics": [{
"kind": "geometry",
"name": "frame",
"node_id": "card",
"properties": ["minX","minY","width","height"],
"space": "window",
"source": "presentation"
}]
}
}
Response: { "trace_id": 1 }.
3c. pulp_motion_* MCP wrapper tools — same payload shape as
the wire path, called as a tools/call JSON-RPC request when an
agent is driving an MCP server (see
docs/guides/motion-observability.md Tooling section).
Stream of events: Motion.start, Motion.sample (one per change), Motion.end
(with deltas).
4. Trigger the interaction
Drive the app — click, hover, type, fire whatever causes the suspected animation. The motion server emits events as the values change.
5. Stop the trace
pulp motion stop --trace-id 1
# → trace stopped (removed=true)
Or the raw wire-protocol equivalent:
{ "id": 2, "method": "Motion.stopTrace", "params": { "trace_id": 1 } }
6. Compare against intent
Did the trace match? Use the dedicated assertion helpers — do not conflate continuity, monotonicity, settling time, and overshoot into a single number.
auto samples = motion::extract_scalar(events, "Card", "frame", "minY");
REQUIRE(motion::is_monotonic(samples));
REQUIRE(motion::settling_time_seconds(samples) < 0.7);
REQUIRE(motion::overshoot(samples) < 0.05);
REQUIRE(motion::final_value(samples) == Catch::Approx(120.0).margin(1.0));
// Local-step outlier check is a *separate* axis from monotonicity /
// timing — flags one-frame jumps (5x = "this one step is 5x larger
// than the median of its neighbors"). Use it alongside, not in place
// of, the helpers above.
REQUIRE(motion::local_step_outlier_ratio(samples) < 3.0);
Path B — Visual analysis
Use when no scalar is observable (transitions, GPU filters, mask compositing, opacity-only effects you suspect aren't rendering).
1. Capture a frame sequence
Any source: a host window-capture loop, an ffmpeg extraction from a screen
recording, scripted PNG dumps. Land sequential frames in a directory:
captures/card-open/
frame_0000.png
frame_0001.png
…
2. Run the pipeline
pip install -r tools/motion/visual/requirements.txt
python3 -m tools.motion.visual.analyze_sequence \
--frames-dir ./captures/card-open/ \
--output ./reports/card-open/ \
--keyframes 2
# Recommended flags for design / motion review:
python3 -m tools.motion.visual.analyze_sequence \
--frames-dir ./captures/card-open/ \
--output ./reports/card-open/ \
--grid # alphanumeric cell overlay (A1..H12) on
# frames/diffs/sprite so claims can cite a cell
--trim # drop idle prefix + suffix from the analysis
# window (frames stay on disk)
--affine # estimate translation/rotation/scale first→last
# (uses opencv if installed, else PIL-FFT
# translation only — see requirements-optional.txt)
Tunables: --grid-rows N (default 8, A..Z), --grid-cols N (default 12),
--grid-theme auto|light|dark (default auto — samples corner luminance),
--trim-threshold (default 0.01 mean-diff luminance fraction).
2b. Motion-gated capture from a host source
When you don't already have a frame directory, capture one with the gated helper. It only starts saving frames once real motion appears, so a short pre-roll doesn't pollute the analysis window.
# macOS window region (requires --bounds X,Y,W,H)
python3 tools/motion/visual/capture_sim_frames.py \
--source macos --bounds 0,0,800,600 \
--output-dir ./captures/card-open/ \
--fps 30 --frame-count 60 \
--gate-threshold 4.0 --gate-consecutive 1 \
--idle-timeout 8
# Booted iOS Simulator
python3 tools/motion/visual/capture_sim_frames.py \
--source simulator \
--output-dir ./captures/card-open/ \
--fps 30 --frame-count 60
The capture tool exits 3 (ctest SKIP) when neither screencapture
nor a booted simulator is available, so this composes cleanly with
CI lanes that lack the platform tooling.
3. Read the report
The pipeline writes analysis.json (machine-readable), summary.md
(agent-readable), diff/diff_NNNN_NNNN.png (pairwise heatmaps), and
keyframes.png (sprite). With --grid: grid/frame_NNNN.png,
diff_grid/diff_NNNN_NNNN.png, and keyframes_grid.png siblings.
With --affine: an analysis.json#affine_first_to_last block and a
## Net motion section in summary.md. With --trim:
summary.trimmed_leading_frames / summary.trimmed_trailing_frames.
The JSON carries schema_version — refuse unknown versions.
Claim-evidence contract. Every claim you make from this report
must cite: (1) pair index (NN→NN+1), (2) artifact type (frames/,
diff/, grid/, diff_grid/, keyframes.png, or
affine_first_to_last), and (3) a confidence score 0.0..1.0 from
pairs[].confidence / summary.mean_confidence. Confidence < 0.7
means the analyzer is unsure — escalate by re-running with
--max-diff-frames 0 (all pairs), a longer capture window, or fall
back to a runtime trace (Path A) if instrumentation is possible. The
summary.md preamble carries the same contract verbatim.
Path C — Fixtures (record / replay / assert)
A fixture is the on-disk form of a motion stream — a versioned JSONL file. Use fixtures to:
- Land a golden alongside a feature; regress against it in CI.
- Validate that an imported design's motion matches its source intent.
- Reproduce a bug deterministically by replaying a captured run offline.
Record
auto sink = motion::make_fixture_sink("test/motion/goldens/card-open.motion.jsonl");
int sid = Coordinator::instance().add_sink(std::move(sink));
// ... run the animation ...
Coordinator::instance().remove_sink(sid); // closes the file
Replay
std::vector<motion::SampleEvent> replayed;
motion::replay_fixture("captures/card-open.motion.jsonl",
motion::make_buffer_sink(&replayed));
Assert
auto golden = motion::load_fixture("test/motion/goldens/card-open.motion.jsonl");
auto captured = motion::load_fixture("/tmp/run.motion.jsonl");
auto diff = motion::assert_matches(golden, captured);
REQUIRE(diff.matches()); // or inspect diff.differences on failure
FixtureMatchOptions { component_epsilon, timing_epsilon_seconds, require_same_event_count } controls tolerances.
Path D — Input recording and replay
When the bug is "what the user did caused the wrong motion", record the interaction alongside the motion stream so a fresh tree can replay the same sequence deterministically.
// Recording — paired with whatever motion sinks you already have.
{
auto recorder = motion::make_input_recorder("/tmp/card-open.motion.jsonl");
root.simulate_hover({150, 150});
clock.tick(1.0f / 60.0f);
root.simulate_click({150, 150});
// ... drive your animation ...
} // RAII: destructor closes the sink + flips recording off.
// Replay against a fresh tree on a fresh FrameClock.
motion::replay_inputs("/tmp/card-open.motion.jsonl", fresh_root, fresh_clock);
make_input_recorder(path) installs a make_fixture_sink(path) AND flips
the process-wide input_recording_enabled() flag. View::simulate_* checks
that flag (a single relaxed atomic load, off by default) and emits a
SampleEvent::Kind::Input carrying the input_kind ("click" / "drag" /
"hover"), the recorded target's View::id(), and the root-space coords on
the existing components map (sorted by name: x/y for click+hover;
start_x/start_y/end_x/end_y/steps for drag).
replay_inputs(path, root, clock):
- Walks every
Inputevent in fixture order. - Advances
clockto match the recordedt_seconds(first input anchors, subsequent inputs tick by the delta). - Dispatches each input through
root(not the recordedview_id— root coords withhit_testland on the same descendant). - Returns the number of inputs replayed.
The motion stream that emerges — when paired with the same animation
primitives — matches the originally-recorded one within
FixtureMatchOptions::timing_epsilon_seconds. Use the ID-keyed
assert_matches for the comparison so reordered identical bursts don't
false-fail.
Path E — Timeline scrubber (inspector replay)
pulp::inspect::MotionScrubber loads a .motion.jsonl fixture and
re-emits the prefix of events with frame <= playhead to caller
sinks and (when attached to an InspectorServer) to inspector clients
over the wire. The scrubber is passive — no clock is pumped, no
animation runs live; play() is a jump-to-end that emits every event.
Real-time pacing and live overlay drawing are intentionally Phase 11+.
Protocol surface (routed by DomainHandler::handle_motion):
| Method | Params | Response |
|---|---|---|
Motion.loadFixture | { path } | { ok, event_count, max_frame, header: {version,policy,duration_scale} } |
Motion.scrubTo | { frame } | { playhead_frame, emitted_count } + broadcast events |
Motion.play | {} | { playing:true, emitted_count, playhead_frame } |
Motion.pause | {} | { playing:false, playhead_frame } |
Broadcast events reuse MotionInspector's Motion.start / .sample / .end shape, with an additional "replay":true marker so clients can
distinguish replayed bursts from live coordinator events on the same
wire.
CLI shortcut (no inspector REPL needed):
pulp motion load-fixture captures/card-open.motion.jsonl
pulp motion scrub 120
pulp motion play
pulp motion pause
Direct C++ usage:
pulp::inspect::MotionScrubber scrub(/*server=*/nullptr);
std::vector<motion::SampleEvent> buf;
scrub.add_sink(motion::make_buffer_sink(&buf));
scrub.load_fixture("captures/card-open.motion.jsonl");
scrub.scrub_to(120); // emits prefix with frame <= 120
scrub.scrub_to(0); // emits only the frame-0 prefix (backwards scrub)
scrub.play(); // jump to max frame, emit everything
Gotchas:
load_fixtureis passive. Sinks see no events untilscrub_to/playis called. Don't pre-clear UI overlays onloadFixtureand expect a refill — wait for the firstscrub_to.- Backwards scrubs re-emit from frame 0. If your sink accumulates, clear it before each scrub or compare counts modulo the prefix size.
- Replayed event timestamps (
t_seconds) are the recording's timestamps, not wall clock. Don't drive a live clock from them.
Path F — Cost attribution
When the question is "which animation is expensive and why?", switch
the cost channel on. It's off by default and runs on a separate stream
from the fixture format — cost samples don't appear in *.motion.jsonl.
Enable + wire a probe (in-process)
#include <pulp/view/motion_cost.hpp>
#include <pulp/view/motion_cost_render.hpp>
auto& cost = pulp::view::motion::CostAttributor::instance();
cost.set_enabled(true);
// Optional but recommended: surface real render stats. Pointers may be
// null — defensive degradation returns 0 for the missing field.
cost.set_probe(pulp::view::motion::make_render_cost_probe(
&render_pass_manager, &dirty_tracker));
// Sink: JSONL on disk for later analysis…
cost.add_sink(pulp::view::motion::make_cost_sink("/tmp/run.motion-cost.jsonl"));
// …or a buffer for in-test assertions:
std::vector<pulp::view::motion::CostSample> samples;
cost.add_sink(pulp::view::motion::make_cost_buffer_sink(&samples));
Each frame, the Coordinator's tick now emits one CostSample per active
sink with:
frame,t_secondsrender_pass_duration_ms— fromRenderPassManager::total_time_ms()dirty_rect_area_px,dirty_rect_count— fromDirtyTracker::dirty_rects()active_trace_ids— everytrace_idthat emitted on this frameactive_provenance— Phase 9 envelopes for those traces, in the same order, so a reader can answer "this 12ms pass came fromfigma:LevelMeter/Panel(source_kind=design-import)" without cross-referencing the event fixture.
Inspector domain
Motion.enableCost / Motion.disableCost toggle the channel; while
enabled, Motion.cost events broadcast per frame. Motion.snapshot
also reports cost_enabled and cost_samples_emitted.
CLI shortcut:
pulp motion cost enable
# ... drive the suspect animation ...
pulp motion cost disable
pulp motion snapshot --json | jq '.cost_samples_emitted'
Notes
- Cost samples are a separate JSONL stream (
*.motion-cost.jsonl) with its own version header ({"motion_cost_version":1}). Do not confuse with the fixture schema — they're independent. - When the coordinator has no event sinks but cost is enabled, the attributor still emits cost samples — the render-cost timeline is useful by itself even without any motion trace activity.
- The render-cost probe is read outside the coordinator lock; keep implementations cheap.
Path G — Swift native (iOS / AUv3 / macOS)
When the suspect motion lives in a pure SwiftUI / UIKit / AppKit code
path — an iOS AUv3 editor, a Swift host app, anything wired through
apple/Sources/PulpSwift/ — use the Swift facade. Samples flow into
the same motion::Coordinator as the JS-bridge and design-import
paths, so fixtures, scrubber, cost attribution, reduced-motion gating,
and provenance envelopes all work identically.
Quick attach (SwiftUI)
import PulpSwift
import SwiftUI
struct CardView: View {
@State var opacity: Double = 1
var body: some View {
Rectangle()
.opacity(opacity)
.pulpMotionTrace("Card") {
Trace.value("opacity", opacity)
Trace.geometry("frame",
properties: [.minX, .minY, .width, .height])
Trace.scrollGeometry("scroll")
}
}
}
The pulpMotionTrace(_:fps:_:) modifier:
- Registers a geometry trace stamped with
source_kind="swiftui"/source_id=<view name>provenance ononAppear. - Backs the view with a hidden
GeometryReaderthat pushes every new global-space frame intopulp_motion_update_geometry. - Detaches on
onDisappear(RAII). - Short-circuits when
PulpMotion.isTracingEnabledis false. No registration, no probe, zero cost beyond a SwiftUI background view.
Direct publish (no SwiftUI)
PulpMotion.publishValue(view: "Card", metric: "opacity", value: 0.5)
PulpMotion.publishComponents(view: "Card", metric: "frame",
components: [("x", x), ("y", y)])
Both are guarded by the backend's isTracingEnabled() so they cost a
single branch when motion is off.
UIKit / AppKit / non-SwiftUI probe
final class CardUIView: UIView {
private let probe = PulpMotionGeometryProbe(view: "Card")
override func layoutSubviews() {
super.layoutSubviews()
probe.update(minX: frame.minX, minY: frame.minY,
width: frame.width, height: frame.height)
}
// deinit auto-detaches.
}
Host wiring (once at app launch)
PulpSwift is a pure-Swift package; the C bridge lives in
apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpBridge.cpp (excluded from SwiftPM and
linked by the AUv3 / standalone host). At launch the host installs a
PulpMotionBackend that forwards into the C ABI:
var backend = PulpMotionBackend()
backend.isTracingEnabled = { pulp_motion_tracing_enabled() }
backend.publishValue = { v, m, val, eps, p in
v.withCString { vc in m.withCString { mc in
pulp_motion_publish_value(vc, mc, val, eps, Int32(p))
}}
}
// …same shape for publishComponents, ambient provenance,
// registerGeometryTrace, updateGeometry, detachTrace.
PulpMotionRuntime.installBackend(backend)
In unit tests, install a recording backend instead — swift test --package-path apple runs the facade with no C++ host linked.
For the C bridge itself, pulp-test-motion-swift-bridge covers the
pulp_motion_* ABI plus invalid state-buffer guards; run it whenever
apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpBridge.cpp changes.
Off-by-default contract
Every Swift entry point is a no-op when the process-wide Coordinator
has tracing disabled. The C bridge double-checks
(pulp_motion_tracing_enabled()) so even a misconfigured Swift caller
cannot spam events in production.
Files
apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpBridge.h— C ABI (publish + provenance- register / update / detach geometry).
apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpBridge.cpp— bridge topulp::view::motion. Internal mutex-protected registry keeps theTraceHandleseparate from the lambda-captured atomic rect soCoordinator::reset()cannot self-deadlock.apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpMotion.swift—PulpMotionfacade,Trace.*factories,MotionGeometryProperty,@MotionTraceBuilder,PulpMotionBackend/PulpMotionRuntime.apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpMotionProbe.swift— SwiftUIpulpMotionTrace(_:)modifier + UIKit / AppKitPulpMotionGeometryProbe.apple/Tests/PulpSwiftTests/PulpMotionTests.swift— Swift facade XCTest coverage.test/test_motion_swift_bridge.cpp— Catch2 round-trip test for the C ABI shims and Coordinator integration.
Path H — Android native (Kotlin / Compose / View)
When the suspect motion lives in a Kotlin / Compose / Android View
code path — a Pulp Android app screen, a TalkBack overlay, a
SurfaceView driver — use the Kotlin facade. Samples flow into the
same motion::Coordinator as the Swift, JS-bridge, and design-import
paths, so fixtures, scrubber, cost attribution, reduced-motion
gating, and provenance envelopes all work identically. The Android
bridge is the platform sibling of Path G and follows the same shape
(C ABI + closure-bag backend seam + probe wrapper).
Quick attach (Jetpack Compose)
import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
import com.pulp.motion.PulpMotion
import com.pulp.motion.Trace
import com.pulp.motion.pulpMotionGeometry
Box(
Modifier
.size(120.dp)
.pulpMotionGeometry("Card") {
+Trace.value("opacity", opacity.toDouble())
+Trace.geometry("frame",
properties = listOf(
MotionGeometryProperty.minX,
MotionGeometryProperty.minY,
MotionGeometryProperty.width,
MotionGeometryProperty.height,
))
}
) { ... }
The Modifier.pulpMotionGeometry(name, fps) modifier:
- Registers a geometry trace stamped with
source_kind="android"provenance (set on the C bridge). - Plumbs
boundsInWindow()deltas fromonGloballyPositionedintopulp_motion_update_geometry. - Detaches on
DisposableEffect.onDispose(composition exit). - Short-circuits when
PulpMotion.isTracingEnabledis false. Zero Compose-side cost beyond a single branch incomposed { }.
Quick attach (View hierarchy)
For non-Compose UIs (XML layouts, SurfaceView, custom Views):
class CardView(context: Context) : View(context) {
private val probe = pulpMotionTrace("Card") {
+Trace.geometry("frame")
}
}
View.pulpMotionTrace(name, fps) { ... } returns a
PulpMotionGeometryProbe? — null when tracing is disabled, an
AutoCloseable handle otherwise. The probe installs a
ViewTreeObserver.OnPreDrawListener (NOT OnGlobalLayoutListener —
PreDraw catches intra-frame scroll/translation GlobalLayout misses)
and pushes window-space rects via getLocationInWindow(). Auto-
detaches when the host View is removed from the window.
Direct publish (no View / no Compose)
PulpMotion.publishValue(view = "Card", metric = "opacity", value = 0.5)
PulpMotion.publishComponents(
view = "Card",
metric = "frame",
components = rect.toMotionComponents(),
)
Both short-circuit on PulpMotion.isTracingEnabled so they cost a
single branch when motion is off.
Ambient provenance (scoped)
PulpMotion.withProvenance(kind = "android", id = "CardView") {
PulpMotion.publishValue(view = "Card", metric = "opacity", value = 1.0)
}
withProvenance is single-threaded by design — the process-wide
ambient slot is not coroutine-safe. Do not call from suspending code
that may switch dispatchers inside the block. The Swift bridge ships
the same constraint; this is a deliberate limit, not a TODO.
Host wiring (once at app launch)
PulpApplication.onCreate, after System.loadLibrary("pulp"):
if (nativeLoaded) {
com.pulp.motion.PulpMotion.installNativeBackend()
}
installNativeBackend() wires every PulpMotionBackend closure to
the matching external fun on the internal PulpMotionNative
object. The C bridge double-checks
motion::Coordinator::tracing_enabled() so a misconfigured backend
cannot spam events in production.
Testability (JVM unit tests, no NDK)
The closure-bag backend lets gradle test exercise the facade
without ever loading libpulp.so:
val recorder = RecorderBackend()
PulpMotionRuntime.installBackend(recorder.asBackend())
PulpMotion.publishValue("Card", "opacity", 0.5)
assertEquals(1, recorder.publishedValues.size)
See android/app/src/test/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotionTest.kt
for the full pattern.
Off-by-default contract
Every Kotlin entry point is a no-op when the process-wide Coordinator
has tracing disabled. The C bridge re-checks
pulp_motion_tracing_enabled() so even a misconfigured caller
cannot spam events in production. The View probe extension returns
null immediately when tracing is off — no listener installed, no
allocation.
Files
core/platform/include/pulp/platform/android/motion_bridge.h— C ABI declarations the JNI shims forward into (also pulled by the Catch2 host test).core/platform/src/android/jni_motion.cpp— bridge implementation: C ABI +Java_com_pulp_motion_PulpMotionNative_*JNI shims. Internal mutex-protected registry keeps theTraceHandleseparate from the lambda-captured atomic rect soCoordinator::reset()cannot self-deadlock — same fix shape as the Swift bridge.android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotionNative.kt—internal objectwithexternal funJNI declarations.android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotionBackend.kt— closure-bag backend +PulpMotionRuntime.installBackend(...).android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotion.kt— public facade (publishValue,publishComponents,setAmbientProvenance,withProvenance, register / update / detach,installNativeBackend()).android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/Trace.kt—Trace.*factories,MotionGeometryProperty,@MotionTraceBuildermotionTrace { }block,RectF/Rect.toMotionComponents().android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/MotionProbe.kt—View.pulpMotionTrace(...)extension +PulpMotionGeometryProbe(AutoCloseable).android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/MotionCompose.kt—Modifier.pulpMotionGeometry(...)modifier +pulpMotionPublish(...)composable.android/app/src/test/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotionTest.kt— JVM facade unit tests (JUnit4 only, no Mockito, no native lib).test/test_motion_android_bridge.cpp— Catch2 round-trip test for the C ABI + theCoordinator::reset()deadlock regression.
Agent contract
Apply these on every motion debugging run:
- State the complaint as a measurable target before instrumenting.
- Use runtime trace by default. Drop to visual analysis only when no scalar is observable.
- Pick the metric, space, and source explicitly. Defaults are reasonable, but the intent should be obvious from your request.
- Keep continuity, monotonicity, settling time, and overshoot as separate assertions. Do not write a single "smoothness" check that conflates them.
- Cite evidence with frame indices, sample timestamps, and metric values when reporting. "Looks wrong" without evidence is not a finding.
- Land a golden fixture when fixing a bug — the next regression should fail in CI, not after a user reports it.
Env knobs (standalone pulp-ui-preview)
| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
PULP_MOTION_LOG=1 | Install the default log sink + enable tracing |
PULP_MOTION_SERVER=1 | Start the Motion inspector server on port 9147 |
PULP_MOTION_FIREHOSE=1 | Broadcast every publish_* call to all sinks |
Files this skill covers
core/view/include/pulp/view/motion.hpp— public C++ APIcore/view/src/motion.cpp— Coordinator, geometry walker, fixture I/O, assertionscore/view/include/pulp/view/motion_cost.hpp—CostSample/CostAttributor/ cost JSONLcore/view/include/pulp/view/motion_cost_render.hpp—make_render_cost_probebridgecore/view/src/motion_cost.cpp— attributor singleton + sinks + JSONL loadcore/view/include/pulp/view/motion_preferences.hpp— reduced-motion policy + duration_scalecore/view/src/motion_preferences.cpp— singleton + override + OS readerscore/view/platform/mac/motion_preferences_mac.mm— NSWorkspace reduced-motion querycore/view/platform/win/motion_preferences_win.cpp— SPI_GETCLIENTAREAANIMATION queryinspect/include/pulp/inspect/motion_inspector.hpp— Motion inspector bridgeinspect/src/motion_inspector.cpp— protocol handler + event broadcasterinspect/include/pulp/inspect/motion_scrubber.hpp— timeline scrubber (Phase 7)inspect/src/motion_scrubber.cpp— passive fixture replay + scrubber dispatchtools/motion/visual/analyze_sequence.py— visual analysis CLI (grid overlay, --trim, --affine, claim-evidence contract)tools/motion/visual/capture_sim_frames.py— motion-gated capture from macOS region or booted simulatortools/motion/visual/test_self_check.py— pipeline self-check (baseline + claim-evidence assertions)tools/motion/visual/test_grid_overlay.py— visual-plus self-check (grid, trim, affine)tools/motion/visual/test_capture_smoke.py— gated-capture smoke (skip 3 without source)tools/motion/visual/requirements-optional.txt— opt-in deps (opencv-python for full affine)examples/ui-preview/main.cpp— env-knob wiring for the standalone hostapple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpBridge.h— Swift C ABI surface (Path G)apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpBridge.cpp— Swift bridge shims (Path G)apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpMotion.swift— Swift facade + Trace DSL (Path G)apple/Sources/PulpSwift/PulpMotionProbe.swift— SwiftUI / UIKit probe (Path G)core/platform/include/pulp/platform/android/motion_bridge.h— Android C ABI (Path H)core/platform/src/android/jni_motion.cpp— Android JNI bridge + C ABI (Path H)android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotion.kt— Kotlin facade (Path H)android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotionBackend.kt— closure-bag backend seam (Path H)android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotionNative.kt— internal JNI declarations (Path H)android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/Trace.kt— Trace DSL + Rect helpers (Path H)android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/MotionProbe.kt— View probe + AutoCloseable handle (Path H)android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/MotionCompose.kt— Compose modifier (Path H)android/app/src/test/kotlin/com/pulp/motion/PulpMotionTest.kt— JVM facade unit tests (Path H)test/test_motion_android_bridge.cpp— Catch2 round-trip for the C ABI (Path H)docs/guides/motion-observability.md— full guide
Provenance
Every trace can carry a Provenance envelope that flows through the fixture
to agents reading a golden weeks later:
auto handle = motion::Coordinator::instance()
.trace("Card", { 60 })
.with_provenance({ "tween", "Card.opacity", __FILE__, __LINE__ })
.value("opacity", [&]{ return opacity; })
.attach();
The envelope shows up on the trace's TraceStarted event and in the JSONL
fixture. When you read a fixture and the burst looks wrong, the provenance
tells you which file / Figma node / animator the trace was attached to —
without grepping.
Adapter shortcuts (each animation surface stamps itself)
Direct with_provenance(...) is the bedrock; Phase 9 added per-surface
shortcuts so common cases don't require hand-building an envelope:
- Tween —
t.set_motion_provenance("tween", "knob-hover"), then callt.publish(view, metric)each tick. The macroPULP_MOTION_TWEEN("knob-hover", from, to, duration)auto-fillssource_file/source_linefromstd::source_location::current(). - AnimatorSetBuilder —
.name("knob-glow")on the builder; the resultingRunner::publish(view, metric, value)stampssource_kind="animator-set",source_id="knob-glow". - CSS TransitionSpec —
parse_transition_shorthand_with_provenance(css, "/styles/card.css", line)carriessource_file/source_linethrough;CssAnimation::publish(view, metric)stampssource_kind="css-transition",source_id=<property name>. - JS rAF —
WidgetBridge::load_script(code, "my-script.js")(orset_active_script_id(...)) records the script id;__flushFrames__sets the ambient envelope per callback so amotion.publishValuefrom inside an rAF body emitssource_kind="rAF",source_id="my-script.js:<callback_id>". - JS user code —
motion.publishValue(view, metric, value)andmotion.setProvenance(kind, id, file?, line?)are exposed on theglobalThis.motionobject the bridge installs.motion.clearProvenance()empties the slot. ExplicitPublishOptions::provenancealways wins over the ambient slot. - Design import —
generate_pulp_jsemits amotion.setProvenance(...)line at the top of every bundle, tagged with vendor + root-node id (figma:Card/Hover,stitch:Panel,claude:HeaderLayout, …). Drop the generated JS into a bridge and any animation it drives inherits the envelope automatically.
Reduced-motion policy
pulp::view::MotionPreferences (sibling of AppearanceTracker) reads the
OS reduced-motion accessibility setting on first use and exposes it as a
MotionPolicy (Full / Reduced / Off) plus a clamped duration_scale
(0.0–2.0, default 1.0). Animation primitives honor the policy on start:
| Policy | Tween / ValueAnimation | CssAnimation | AnimatorSet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full | Animate as configured | Animate as configured | Animate as configured |
| Reduced | Scale duration × duration_scale | Same | Same (via each Tween) |
| Off | Jump to target on tick 0 | Complete on first tick() | Each Tween starts finished |
Tests get a per-process override that wins over the OS value:
auto& prefs = pulp::view::MotionPreferences::instance();
prefs.set_override(pulp::view::MotionPolicy::Reduced);
prefs.set_duration_scale(0.5);
// …drive the animation…
prefs.reset_for_tests(); // clears override, re-reads OS
Fixtures recorded under a non-Full policy capture it on the v2 header:
{"motion_fixture_version":2,"policy":"reduced","duration_scale":0.5}
load_fixture_header(path) returns the policy + scale; the header-aware
assert_matches(g_hdr, g_events, c_hdr, c_events, opts) overload flags a
"policy-mismatch" diff item if the goldens were recorded under one policy
and the capture under another — no more silent comparisons of a Reduced
golden against a Full capture. policy / duration_scale are additive on
the header; v2 fixtures without them still load (defaulting to
policy="full", duration_scale=1.0).
Note: MotionPreferences is a sibling of AppearanceTracker, not a
subclass. Use the OS reader on the platform that matters (macOS: NSWorkspace
accessibilityDisplayShouldReduceMotion; Windows: SPI_GETCLIENTAREAANIMATION)
or set an override for deterministic tests.
Gotchas
- Visual-analysis Python deps (numpy, Pillow, scikit-image) are intentionally not bundled in plugin/app artifacts. The CTest entry exits 3 (Skipped) when they are missing — that's expected on bare CI runners.
- Fixture schema is at version 2. The loader rejects unknown versions; v1 fixtures are rejected outright (no v1 producer ships in the framework). Bumping the schema is a deliberate break — write a migration tool, don't silently accept old goldens.
TraceStartedis emitted once per trace registration on the first tick after attach. Tests that count events should either filter it out or pass throughdata_event_count(buffer).- Window / Screen geometry spaces currently collapse onto ViewGlobal; window-
origin and screen-origin offsets land when the host surfaces them. Use
ViewGlobalfor portable code. - ScrollView's
paint_alloverride does not apply base View transforms when painting children. The presentation walker matches this quirk: a child of a ScrollView withscaleset on the ScrollView itself reports as if the scale were not there. This is correct relative to what is painted. - Fixture loaders reject unknown
motion_fixture_versionvalues. Bumping the schema is a deliberate break — write a migration tool, do not silently accept old goldens. - Per-(view, metric)
epsilonis sticky on the first publish; subsequent publishes inherit it. PassPublishOptionsonly when you want to configure the threshold for that key. MotionPolicyis captured at animation start (constructor /reset()/animate_to()/ firsttick()for CssAnimation). ChangingMotionPreferences::set_override()partway through a running animation does NOT retroactively re-scale it — the next animation that starts will pick up the new policy.- Under
MotionPolicy::Off, a Tween-driven "publish until finished" loop emits one final-value Sample and exits. That's the contract — Off is not "no observability", it's "single snap" — assertions likeis_monotonicandfinal_valuestill work. - Test fixtures use
MotionPreferences::instance().reset_for_tests()to clear overrides between cases. Forgetting it leaks state into the next test (and surprises CI when run with--shuffle).