Adding motion with gems

Gems are small interaction effects that work on their own. Search by what the effect does, attach it to an element that already exists, and add motion last.
Works with
  • AI coding tools

Library mode. This works in React and Tailwind projects, through tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and Lovable. It does not produce Webflow, Framer or Figma output.

Sections give you structure and design systems give you the look. Gems give you the behaviour — the magnetic button, the marquee, the scroll reveal, the hover state that makes a page feel built rather than assembled. They are small, work on their own, and sit on top of something that already exists.

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1. Describe the effect, not the element

Gems are indexed by what they do and what triggers them, so lead with the behaviour:

  • "a magnetic hover effect for a CTA button"
  • "cards that light up with a spotlight following the cursor"
  • "an editorial list where hovering a row floats a preview image"

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2. Read what comes back

Each match returns with a name, description, tags, a thumbnail, the interactions it responds to — Hover, Click, Mouse Move, Focus, Loop — and whether it depends on GSAP.

That last flag is worth paying attention to. Some gems use GSAP, and plenty are plain CSS or JavaScript with nothing extra to install. If your project doesn't already load GSAP and you'd rather keep it that way, say so — "find a gem for this that doesn't need GSAP" — and your AI can filter on it.

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3. Fetch and attach

Once you've picked one, your AI fetches it and wires it into the element you point at. Unlike a section, a gem isn't a block you place — it's behaviour you add to something already on the page. So be specific about the target: "add a magnetic hover to the primary CTA only" beats "add a magnetic hover."

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Add motion last

The sequence matters here in the opposite direction to design systems. Pull a design system first; add gems last, once the structure is settled and you can see what the page actually needs.

Motion applied at the end is motion you can judge — you add it where attention should go. Motion applied as you build tends to accumulate until everything moves and nothing stands out. One well-placed gem on a primary action does more than six scattered across a page.

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Browsing first

Gems are hard to describe and easy to recognise. If nothing you type is landing, open the Gems library on the site, find the effect you actually want, and then ask your AI for it by name — the search will hit it exactly.

The design-system workflow — searching curated styles and applying one in the format that fits your project.