Animations
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Staggered list entrance

Rows entering with an 8px rise and a 60ms delay between each. The stagger turns five simultaneous appearances into one cascade the eye can follow. Keep delays in the 30-80ms band — slower and the list feels like it is being dealt to you a card at a time — and never block interaction while it plays.

entrancestaggerlistreveal

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>Staggered list entrance</title>
    <style>
      :root {
        --ivory: #faf9f5;
        --paper: #ffffff;
        --slate: #141413;
        --clay: #d97757;
        --oat: #e3dacc;
        --gray-500: #87867f;
      }

      * {
        box-sizing: border-box;
        margin: 0;
        padding: 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);
      }

      .list {
        width: 300px;
        display: flex;
        flex-direction: column;
        gap: 8px;
        list-style: none;
      }

      .list li {
        display: flex;
        align-items: center;
        gap: 12px;
        padding: 12px 14px;
        border-radius: 10px;
        border: 1.5px solid var(--oat);
        background: var(--paper);
        font-size: 14px;
        letter-spacing: -0.01em;
        /* 260ms of travel over 8px — short enough that the last row is on
           screen well inside a third of a second. */
        animation: row-in 3.4s infinite;
      }

      /* 60ms between rows. Under 30ms the cascade disappears; over 80ms the
         list feels like it is being dealt out to you one card at a time. */
      .list li:nth-child(1) {
        animation-delay: 0ms;
      }
      .list li:nth-child(2) {
        animation-delay: 60ms;
      }
      .list li:nth-child(3) {
        animation-delay: 120ms;
      }
      .list li:nth-child(4) {
        animation-delay: 180ms;
      }
      .list li:nth-child(5) {
        animation-delay: 240ms;
      }

      .list .dot {
        width: 8px;
        height: 8px;
        border-radius: 50%;
        background: var(--clay);
        flex: none;
      }

      .list .meta {
        margin-left: auto;
        font-size: 12px;
        color: var(--gray-500);
        font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
      }

      @keyframes row-in {
        0% {
          opacity: 0;
          transform: translateY(8px);
          animation-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1);
        }
        8%,
        88% {
          opacity: 1;
          transform: translateY(0);
        }
        /* Exit is faster than entry: the system responding, not the user
           deciding. */
        94%,
        100% {
          opacity: 0;
          transform: translateY(0);
        }
      }

      @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
        .list li {
          animation-name: row-fade;
        }

        @keyframes row-fade {
          0% {
            opacity: 0;
          }
          8%,
          88% {
            opacity: 1;
          }
          94%,
          100% {
            opacity: 0;
          }
        }
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <ul class="list">
      <li><span class="dot"></span>Parse the transcript<span class="meta">1.2s</span></li>
      <li><span class="dot"></span>Extract the citations<span class="meta">0.8s</span></li>
      <li><span class="dot"></span>Check each source<span class="meta">3.4s</span></li>
      <li><span class="dot"></span>Draft the summary<span class="meta">2.1s</span></li>
      <li><span class="dot"></span>Review for tone<span class="meta">0.6s</span></li>
    </ul>
  </body>
</html>