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Scaffold frame settle
Variant: Single beat
A skeleton placeholder where four hairline guide rails draw themselves, the content blocks fade up inside them, and the rails recede once the content can stand on its own — a loading-to-loaded handoff for a card or panel. Purpose is state indication: the rails explain that structure arrived before data did, so the block does not pop in unannounced. In this single-beat version the three content blocks all rise on one shared cue, which reads as the fastest and least ceremonious of the family.
skeletonloadingplaceholderstate-changestructure
The source
A complete HTML document. Paste it into an empty .html file and it plays — no stylesheet, script, font, or image to fetch.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
<title>Scaffold frame settle — single beat</title>
<style>
:root {
/* Neutrals — fixed, never remixed. */
--ivory: #faf9f5;
--paper: #ffffff;
--oat: #e3dacc;
--slate: #141413;
/* Knobs — the remix API. A knob exists iff declared here and used below. */
--hue: 38.8;
--lift: 0;
--chroma: 1;
--round: 1;
--speed: 1;
/* Accents — derived from the knobs with the family's offsets baked in,
so one hue roll moves them together. Defaults reproduce the original hex
(#d97757 / #b85c3e / #788c5d / #b04a3f). */
--clay: oklch(calc(0.6724 + var(--lift)) calc(0.1308 * var(--chroma)) var(--hue));
--clay-d: oklch(calc(0.5797 + var(--lift)) calc(0.127 * var(--chroma)) var(--hue));
--olive: oklch(calc(0.6118 + var(--lift)) calc(0.0713 * var(--chroma)) calc(var(--hue) + 88.3));
--rust: oklch(calc(0.5408 + var(--lift)) calc(0.1357 * var(--chroma)) calc(var(--hue) - 10.3));
/* Clock — every duration in the document runs off --t. */
--cycle: 3.2s;
--t: calc(var(--cycle) / var(--speed));
--ease-out: cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1);
--ease-in-out: cubic-bezier(0.77, 0, 0.175, 1);
/* File-specific: one shared cue for all three blocks. */
--_rise: calc(0.26s / var(--speed));
--_block-delay: calc(0.62s / var(--speed));
}
* { box-sizing: border-box; }
html, body { margin: 0; }
body {
min-height: 100vh;
display: grid;
place-items: center;
background: var(--ivory);
font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, sans-serif;
color: var(--slate);
}
.stage {
width: min(360px, 88vw);
padding: clamp(10px, 3vw, 16px);
}
.card {
position: relative;
background: var(--paper);
border: 1px solid var(--oat);
border-radius: calc(14px * var(--round));
padding: clamp(16px, 5vw, 22px);
display: grid;
gap: clamp(9px, 2.6vw, 13px);
}
/* Guide rails: hairlines that draw, hold, then recede. */
.rail {
position: absolute;
background: var(--clay);
opacity: 0;
}
.rail-v {
top: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px);
bottom: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px);
width: 1px;
transform-origin: 50% 0%;
animation: rail-v var(--t) var(--ease-out) infinite;
}
.rail-h {
left: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px);
right: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px);
height: 1px;
transform-origin: 0% 50%;
animation: rail-h var(--t) var(--ease-out) infinite;
}
.rail-v.a { left: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px); }
.rail-v.b { right: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px); }
.rail-h.c { top: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px); }
.rail-h.d { bottom: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px); }
@keyframes rail-v {
0% { opacity: 0; transform: scaleY(0.04); }
14% { opacity: 0.85; transform: scaleY(1); }
56% { opacity: 0.85; transform: scaleY(1); }
78% { opacity: 0; transform: scaleY(1); }
100% { opacity: 0; transform: scaleY(1); }
}
@keyframes rail-h {
0% { opacity: 0; transform: scaleX(0.04); }
14% { opacity: 0.85; transform: scaleX(1); }
56% { opacity: 0.85; transform: scaleX(1); }
78% { opacity: 0; transform: scaleX(1); }
100% { opacity: 0; transform: scaleX(1); }
}
.block {
height: clamp(10px, 3vw, 13px);
border-radius: calc(4px * var(--round));
background: var(--slate);
opacity: 0;
transform: translateY(6%) scale(0.97);
transform-origin: 0% 50%;
animation: block-in var(--t) var(--ease-out) infinite;
animation-delay: var(--_block-delay);
}
.block.w1 { width: 62%; }
.block.w2 { width: 100%; opacity: 0; }
.block.w3 { width: 44%; background: var(--clay-d); }
.block.w2, .block.w3 { height: clamp(8px, 2.4vw, 10px); }
/* One cue: the rise occupies --_rise of the loop, so the hold reads long. */
@keyframes block-in {
0% { opacity: 0; transform: translateY(6%) scale(0.97); }
8.1% { opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0) scale(1); }
40% { opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0) scale(1); }
56% { opacity: 0; transform: translateY(0) scale(1); }
100% { opacity: 0; transform: translateY(0) scale(1); }
}
.caption {
margin: clamp(10px, 3vw, 14px) 2px 0;
font-size: clamp(11px, 2.9vw, 12px);
letter-spacing: 0.06em;
text-transform: uppercase;
color: var(--slate);
opacity: 0.42;
}
@media (max-width: 380px) {
.card { padding: 15px; }
.stage { padding: 8px; }
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
/* Movement drops; the arrival/dissolve rhythm survives at ~2x the pace. */
.rail-v, .rail-h {
animation: rail-fade calc(var(--cycle) * 2 / var(--speed)) var(--ease-in-out) infinite;
transform: none;
}
.block {
transform: none;
animation: block-fade calc(var(--cycle) * 2 / var(--speed)) var(--ease-in-out) infinite;
animation-delay: calc(0.62s / var(--speed));
}
@keyframes rail-fade {
0%, 100% { opacity: 0.2; }
30%, 55% { opacity: 0.7; }
}
@keyframes block-fade {
0%, 100% { opacity: 0.35; }
20%, 45% { opacity: 1; }
}
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="stage">
<div class="card">
<span class="rail rail-v a"></span>
<span class="rail rail-v b"></span>
<span class="rail rail-h c"></span>
<span class="rail rail-h d"></span>
<span class="block w1"></span>
<span class="block w2"></span>
<span class="block w3"></span>
</div>
<p class="caption">Loading panel</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>
The variant family
Same idea, one axis moved. Compare them side by side before you commit.