HyperFrames Core
HyperFrames renders video from HTML. A composition is an HTML file whose DOM declares timing with data-* attributes, whose animation runtime is seekable, and whose media playback is owned by the framework.
This skill is the technical contract — how to build one hyperframes project. The body below is the build guide; per-topic detail lives in references/ (index next), read on demand. Other concerns live in the sibling domain skills — hyperframes-animation, hyperframes-creative, media-use, hyperframes-cli, hyperframes-registry. The capability map in /hyperframes says what each one covers.
References
| File | Read it to… |
|---|---|
references/minimal-composition.md | start from the smallest renderable composition skeleton |
references/composition-patterns.md | choose monolithic vs modular; structure a modular index.html; pick a sub-comp archetype |
references/data-attributes.md | look up any data-* (root / clip / sub-comp host / legacy aliases); use class="clip" |
references/tracks-and-clips.md | pick data-track-index, handle same-track overlap / z-index, time a clip relative to another |
references/creator-editing-recipes.md | copy truthful cut/trim/reorder/retime/freeze/camera/mask/crossfade/audio editing recipes and their limits |
references/sub-compositions.md | wire a sub-composition (host attrs, <template>, per-instance vars) and animate inside it |
references/variables-and-media.md | declare variables; place <video>/<audio>, set volume, trim |
references/determinism-rules.md | build a seekable timeline; determinism bans; the animatable-property allowlist; layout / text fit |
references/full-screen-motion.md | author full-frame motion with shared backgrounds |
references/storyboard-format.md | author a STORYBOARD.md plan (+ the parsed manifest) |
references/review-loop.md | run the plan → sketch → build review passes on a live board — shared by every storyboard-planning workflow |
references/production-loop.md | take an approved plan to a delivered video — the stage dependencies (audio, frames, assembly, transitions, captions, verify, deliver) a freeform build follows directly |
references/brief-contract.md | the brief's ground rules — mode derivation (collaborative / autonomous), shared field registry, question invariants (the asking itself lives in /hyperframes → the intent layer) |
references/brief-format.md | author BRIEF.md — the confirmed intent document a workflow's Setup writes and every later step reads |
references/script-format.md | author the optional SCRIPT.md locked narration |
references/subagent-dispatch.md | map subagent dispatch verbs (parallel fan-out / background / wait) to your harness |
references/frame-worker-core.md | the shared frame-worker role contract — each narrative workflow's packet builder prepends it to that workflow's sub-agents/frame-worker.md delta |
references/tailwind.md | work in a Tailwind v4 project (init --tailwind; runtime contract differs from Studio's v3) |
For animation runtime specifics (GSAP API, Lottie, Three.js, etc.) go to hyperframes-animation → adapters/<runtime>.md.
Building a composition
Two root forms (not interchangeable)
- Standalone (top-level
index.html) — root<div data-composition-id="…">sits directly in<body>, no<template>wrapper (wrapping it hides all content and breaks rendering). - Sub-composition (loaded via
data-composition-src) — root must be wrapped in<template>.
⚠ Transport rule: the runtime only clones
<template>contents; everything outside (incl.<head>styles/scripts) is discarded — put<style>/<script>inside the template. ⚠ Host-id rule: the host slot'sdata-composition-idmust exactly equal the inner template'sdata-composition-idand thewindow.__timelines["<id>"]key — no-mount/-slot/-hostsuffix.
File shape, host wiring, and the pre-render checklist → references/sub-compositions.md.
Root must be sized (silent layout bug)
The standalone root needs an explicit sized box (width/height in px), and every ancestor down to a height:100% element must have a resolved height — otherwise a flex/100% child collapses to ~0 and content piles into the top-left corner. Do not rely on automated gates alone to catch this; inspect a snapshot. Skeleton → references/minimal-composition.md.
One paused timeline
Each composition registers exactly one gsap.timeline({ paused: true }) at window.__timelines["<id>"] (key = root data-composition-id), built synchronously at page load. Render duration = root data-duration, not timeline length. Don't manually nest sub-timelines into the host. Full contract (incl. non-GSAP runtimes) → references/determinism-rules.md + hyperframes-animation/adapters/.
First-pass lint gotchas (a guaranteed first build failure)
Two rules that lint does catch, but only after the fact — write them right the first time:
- The root composition element must carry
data-start="0"(alongsidedata-composition-id/data-width/data-height); omitting it failslintwithroot_composition_missing_data_start. - Never pair a CSS initial
transformwith a GSAP tween on the same property — the CSS value and the tween's start fight andlintrejects it withgsap_css_transform_conflict. Set the initial state inside the tween withgsap.fromTo(el, { x: -40 }, { x: 0 })instead of a CSStransform: translateX(-40px).
Non-negotiable rules (silent bugs automated gates may miss)
Surfaced here; full rationale in the linked reference. Do not violate:
- No render-time clocks / unseeded
Math.random/ network / input-state; norepeat: -1(use a finite count). →determinism-rules.md - Animate only the visual-property allowlist; never tween
displayor rawvisibility. GSAPautoAlphaand zero-duration timeline boundary sets are the only visibility exceptions, and only on non-clip elements or wrappers inside a clip. The framework alone controls.clipvisibility. Do notgsap.setlater-scene clips at page load. →determinism-rules.md - No
<br>in body text; transformed elements must be block-level + sized; pulsing absolute decoratives need peak clearance. →determinism-rules.md <video>/<audio>work at any nesting depth (including inside a sub-comp<template>or wrapper); the framework owns playback and seeks/decodes media wherever it lives. The one caveat is timelines, not placement: a sub-comp timeline can't animate host-root elements. →variables-and-media.md- Every
idmust be unique across the assembled page; inside a sub-comp, prefix ids with the composition id (#<id>-hero). Duplicate<video>/<img>ids render blank — the producer injects frames bygetElementById, and cross-file dupes slip pastlint. →composition-patterns.md - A full-screen scene fill goes on a full-bleed child (
position:absolute; inset:0), never on the composition root itself — the producer's frame compositing can drop the root element's ownbackground(the frame renders black) even though preview/snapshotshow it correctly. →composition-patterns.md
Editing existing compositions
- Read the files first. Preserve unrelated timing, tracks, IDs, variables, media paths.
- Match existing composition IDs and timeline keys.
- Adding a clip: pick a non-overlapping
data-track-indexor adjust surrounding timing intentionally. data-hiddenon any composition element hides it in BOTH preview and render, overriding its time window; it is non-destructive/reversible and toggled by Studio's timeline eye icon.- Adding a sub-composition: verify its internal
data-composition-idbefore wiring the host.
Validation
Use hyperframes-cli for command details
-
npx hyperframes checkpasses (0 findings across lint, runtime, layout, motion, and contrast) - Projects with sub-compositions:
npx hyperframes snapshot --at <midpoints>and eyeball each frame -
npx hyperframes preview --backgroundfor review (the user can edit anything in Studio's timeline, and the server survives the invoking command) -
npx hyperframes renderonly after the user approves