LayerwiseLayerwise
  • Features
  • Pricing
  • Templates
  • Docs
DownloadDownload
FeaturesPricingTemplatesDocsAI Website BuilderVibe CodingPersonal Software
DownloadDownload
  1. Glossary
  2. /
  3. Components

Skeleton screen

Also called skeleton loader, skeleton loading, or content placeholder

A loading placeholder made of gray blocks shaped like the content on its way, often with a soft shimmer, that the real content replaces.

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import { motion, useReducedMotion } from 'motion/react';

const SHOW_AFTER_MS = 300; // fast loads skip the skeleton, so it never flashes
const BONE = 'rounded-md bg-muted';
const COVER = 'mt-4 h-40 w-full rounded-md object-cover';

type Profile = { name: string; role: string; avatar: string; cover: string };

export function ProfileCard({ profile }: { profile: Profile | null }) {
  const [slow, setSlow] = useState(false);
  const reduceMotion = useReducedMotion();

  useEffect(() => {
    if (profile) return;
    const timer = setTimeout(() => setSlow(true), SHOW_AFTER_MS);
    return () => clearTimeout(timer);
  }, [profile]);

  return (
    <div aria-busy={!profile} className='w-80 rounded-xl border p-4'>
      {profile ? (
        <motion.div initial={{ opacity: 0 }} animate={{ opacity: 1 }}>
          <div className='flex items-center gap-3 text-sm'>
            <img src={profile.avatar} alt='' className='size-12 rounded-full' />
            <div>
              <p className='font-medium'>{profile.name}</p>
              <p className='text-muted-foreground'>{profile.role}</p>
            </div>
          </div>
          <img src={profile.cover} alt='' className={COVER} />
        </motion.div>
      ) : (
        slow && (
          // Same layout as the content, so nothing jumps when it arrives.
          <div className='relative overflow-hidden'>
            <div className='flex items-center gap-3'>
              <div className={`size-12 rounded-full ${BONE}`} />
              <div className='flex-1 space-y-2'>
                <div className={`h-3 w-3/5 ${BONE}`} />
                <div className={`h-3 w-2/5 ${BONE}`} />
              </div>
            </div>
            <div className={`${COVER} bg-muted`} />
            {/* One soft highlight sweeps left to right across every block. */}
            {!reduceMotion && (
              <motion.div
                className='absolute inset-0 bg-linear-to-r from-transparent via-background/60 to-transparent'
                animate={{ x: ['-100%', '100%'] }}
                transition={{ duration: 1.5, ease: 'linear', repeat: Infinity }}
              />
            )}
          </div>
        )
      )}
    </div>
  );
}
While the profile card loads, show a skeleton with the same layout: a 48px circle for the avatar, two text bars at 60% and 40% width, and a 160px image block, in light gray with a shimmer that sweeps left to right every 1.5s. Only show it when loading takes longer than 300ms, crossfade to the real content over 200ms, and drop the shimmer when prefers-reduced-motion is set.

Paste into Layerwise or any AI coding tool.

What is Skeleton screen?

A skeleton screen sketches the layout of a page before its data arrives: a circle where the avatar will be, bars where the lines of text will go, a rectangle for the image. A light shimmer sweeping across the blocks shows that something is happening. When the data is ready, the real content takes the blocks’ place.

Because people see the shape of the page right away, the wait feels shorter, and nothing jumps around when the content lands. Use skeletons for content areas that take more than a moment to load and whose layout you know in advance, such as feeds, cards, profiles, and tables.

Match the skeleton closely to the real layout, or the swap causes a visible jump. For loads under about 300ms, show nothing at all to avoid a flash. Under reduced motion, replace the shimmer with a still or gently pulsing block, and mark the loading region with aria-busy="true".

Often confused with

Spinner
A spinner only says the app is busy. A skeleton screen previews the shape of the content that is coming, which suits whole pages and content areas.
Empty state
An empty state shows after loading when there is nothing to display. A skeleton screen shows while content is still on its way.

Related terms

All terms

Loading state

The view a screen shows while its data is on the way, designed together with the outcomes that follow: loaded, empty, or error.

Perceived performance

How fast an app feels to people, which skeleton screens, instant feedback, and progressive loading can improve even when the real wait stays the same.

Spinner

A small looping animation, usually a rotating ring, that shows the app is busy with a short task of unknown length.

Shimmer text

Text with a band of light sweeping across it on a loop, often used for "Thinking…" and other status labels while an app is working.

Build it with Layerwise

Describe your app, watch it run in a live preview, and publish it with a database, storage, and sign-in built in.

DownloadDownloadRead the docs
LayerwiseLayerwise

Build full-stack web apps in minutes with AI.

Product

  • Features
  • Pricing
  • Download
  • Templates

Solutions

  • AI Website Builder
  • Vibe Coding
  • Personal Software

Resources

  • Documentation
  • Changelog
  • Blog
  • Vibe Coding Glossary
  • llms.txt
  • llms-full.txt

Company

  • About
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy
  • Analytics Privacy
  • Terms
  • Security
  • Abuse

© 2026 Layerwise. All rights reserved.

Entrances & exits

  • Fade in
  • Slide in
  • Scale in
  • Pop in
  • Blur in
  • Reveal animation
  • Enter and exit animations

Timing & sequencing

  • Duration
  • Delay
  • Keyframes
  • Tweening
  • Stagger
  • Orchestration
  • Fill mode
  • Stepped animation
  • Looping animation
  • Yoyo animation

Easing

  • Easing
  • Linear easing
  • Ease-in
  • Ease-out
  • Ease-in-out
  • Cubic-bezier
  • Asymmetric easing
  • Overshoot easing

Springs & physics

  • Spring animation
  • Stiffness
  • Damping
  • Mass
  • Bounce
  • Velocity
  • Momentum
  • Interruptible animation
  • Rubber-banding

Transforms

  • Translate
  • Scale
  • Rotate
  • Skew
  • 3D flip
  • Perspective
  • Transform origin
  • Origin-aware animation

State transitions

  • Crossfade
  • Morph
  • Shared element transition
  • Layout animation
  • Height auto animation
  • Direction-aware transition
  • Continuity transition
  • Page transition
  • View Transitions API

Scroll effects

  • Scroll reveal
  • Scroll-driven animation
  • Parallax scrolling
  • Scrollytelling
  • Scroll pinning
  • Horizontal scroll section
  • Scroll progress bar
  • Scroll snap
  • Smooth scrolling

Interaction feedback

  • Hover effect
  • Press feedback
  • Ripple effect
  • Shake animation
  • Hold to confirm
  • Drag gesture
  • Drag to reorder
  • Swipe to dismiss
  • Pull to refresh
  • Magnetic button
  • Custom cursor
  • 3D tilt card
  • Spotlight card

Text effects

  • Typewriter effect
  • Text scramble
  • Split text animation
  • Text morph
  • Rotating words
  • Gradient text
  • Shimmer text
  • Number ticker
  • Tabular numbers
  • Underline animation

Loops & ambient motion

  • Marquee
  • Pulse animation
  • Float animation
  • Orbit animation
  • Idle animation
  • Particle background
  • Border beam
  • Confetti
  • Animated gradient

Visual effects

  • Blur
  • Clip-path
  • Mask
  • Before/after slider
  • SVG line drawing
  • Lottie animation

Motion principles

  • Purposeful animation
  • Anticipation
  • Follow-through
  • Squash and stretch
  • Perceived performance
  • Frequency of use
  • Spatial consistency
  • Reduced motion

Animation performance

  • Frame rate (FPS)
  • Jank
  • GPU acceleration
  • will-change
  • Layout thrashing

Layout

  • Hero section
  • Above the fold
  • Sticky header
  • Sidebar
  • Bento grid
  • Card
  • Flexbox
  • CSS Grid
  • Padding vs margin
  • Responsive design
  • Container
  • Masonry layout
  • Split screen
  • Z-index
  • Overflow

Components

  • Button variants
  • Modal
  • Drawer
  • Popover
  • Tooltip
  • Dropdown menu
  • Context menu
  • Toast notification
  • Tabs
  • Segmented control
  • Accordion
  • Carousel
  • Command palette
  • Combobox
  • Toggle switch
  • Checkbox
  • Radio button
  • Date picker
  • Breadcrumb
  • Pagination
  • Infinite scroll
  • Badge
  • Avatar stack
  • Empty state
  • Skeleton screen
  • Spinner
  • Progress bar
  • Data table
  • Stepper
  • Floating label
  • Inline validation
  • Alert banner
  • Tag input

States & patterns

  • Interaction states
  • Focus ring
  • Loading state
  • Optimistic UI
  • Debounce
  • Lazy loading
  • Dark mode
  • Micro-interaction
  • Affordance
  • Undo
  • Drag and drop
  • Keyboard shortcut

Visual styles

  • Glassmorphism
  • Liquid glass
  • Neumorphism
  • Claymorphism
  • Neo-brutalism
  • Skeuomorphism
  • Flat design
  • Mesh gradient
  • Aurora background
  • Grain texture
  • Glow effect
  • Drop shadow
  • Border radius
  • Grid background
  • Typographic hierarchy
  • Accent color
  • Color contrast

Vibe coding & AI

  • Vibe coding
  • Prompt
  • Context window
  • Token
  • AI agent
  • Tool call
  • Hallucination
  • Diff
  • Live preview
  • Checkpoint
  • Git commit
  • Deploy
  • Frontend and backend
  • API
  • Database
  • Rules file
  • MCP
  • Plan mode
  • Visual edit
MC
Maya Chen2 hours ago

Shipped the new onboarding flow. Signups are up this week.