This skill adds GPU-accelerated visual effects to React card components using standalone WebGL2 fragment shaders — no Three.js, no R3F, no external library required. It targets deckbuilder games and card UIs where rarity tiers should feel visually distinct, not just differentiated by a CSS box-shadow value.
Scope: Holographic foil overlays, metallic shimmer bands, rarity-driven energy pulses, and interactive tilt-shine effects mounted directly on React card components. The canonical target is FramedCard.tsx in a React 19 / Vite / Tailwind project with a rarity system (starter → common → uncommon → rare → legendary).
Not in scope: 3D transformations, texture loading, post-processing pipelines, or any Three.js scene management. For those, use threejs-builder.
Key constraint: Browsers cap WebGL contexts at roughly 8–16 total per page. This skill uses a single shared WebGL2 context with blit-to-2D-canvas output per card, avoiding the per-card context problem entirely. See references/shader-integration-react.md for the full singleton pattern.
Instructions
Phase 1: ASSESS
Goal: Understand which effects are needed and confirm the card component structure before writing any code.
src/components/cards/cardStyles.ts — CARD_SIZE_CONFIG for pixel dimensions, rarity string values
Confirm:
How rarity reaches the component (prop name, TypeScript type, exact string values)
Whether isHovered state already exists in the component
Which sizes are rendered in contexts that justify shader cost (xl/lg only — xs/sm are too small)
Whether showShine / card-shine CSS exists and needs coordination
Step 2: Select effect tier per rarity
Rarity
WebGL?
Effect
starter / common
No
CSS shimmer only — no WebGL overhead
uncommon
Yes (subtle)
Metallic band shimmer, very low opacity
rare
Yes (medium)
Moving shimmer + blue hue shift + edge pulse
legendary
Yes (full)
Rainbow holographic foil, mouse-reactive tilt
Step 3: Confirm React version
Check package.json for the React version. This skill assumes React 19 (ref as prop, no forwardRef). If the project uses React 18, canvas refs require useRef + standard ref passing.
Gate: Rarity values confirmed, CARD_SIZE_CONFIG read, effect tiers decided. Proceed only when this gate passes.
Phase 2: BUILD
Goal: Write working GLSL shaders and the WebGL initialization harness.
Load references/card-shader-patterns.md now.
Step 1: Create the shader strings module
Create src/components/cards/effects/cardShaders.ts. This file holds:
The shared vertex shader (passthrough UV coordinates)
Three fragment shader strings: SHIMMER_FRAG, RARE_FRAG, LEGENDARY_FRAG
A rarityToUniform(rarity: string): number mapping function
Every shader must expose this exact uniform interface:
uniform float u_time; // seconds elapsed, JS wraps at 1000.0
uniform float u_rarity; // 0.0=starter/common, 0.25=uncommon, 0.5=rare, 1.0=legendary
uniform float u_hover; // 0.0 to 1.0, lerped by JavaScript each frame
uniform vec2 u_mouse; // normalized card-space [0,1] mouse position
uniform vec2 u_resolution; // canvas pixel dimensions (width, height)
uniform float u_upgraded; // 0.0 or 1.0 — upgraded cards get slightly more intense effect
mix-blend-mode: screen makes the shader's black background transparent while letting bright holographic colors add onto the card surface.
Step 4: Coordinate with existing CSS shine
The existing card-shine CSS class creates a gradient sweep on hover. It will double-shimmer with the WebGL effect. Suppress it for rarities that have the WebGL shader:
z-20 — text elements (energy orb, name, description, type strip)
Tooltip renders outside via AnimatePresence portal
Tailwind does not generate z-15 by default. Either add it to tailwind.config or use style={{ zIndex: 15 }} inline (already shown above).
Gate: Cards render correctly at all sizes. Shader canvas is visible on uncommon/rare/legendary. No z-fighting between shader layer and frame image. TypeScript clean.
Phase 4: POLISH
Goal: Performance verification, visual tuning, mobile fallback confirmation.
Step 1: Performance audit
Open Chrome DevTools → Performance tab. Record 5 seconds while hovering over a legendary card.
Targets:
GPU usage: < 5% for a single legendary card
Frame time: shader must not push game loop below 60fps
No memory growth across multiple mount/unmount cycles (check Heap in Memory tab)
Step 2: Mobile fallback verification
// In useCardShader.ts — call this once at module loadfunctionsupportsWebGL2(): boolean {
try {
const canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
return !!canvas.getContext('webgl2');
} catch {
returnfalse;
}
}
On devices where supportsWebGL2() returns false, the hook returns a null ref and shouldRenderShader must evaluate to false. The existing card-shine CSS handles the fallback. Verify this works by temporarily forcing the function to return false.
Step 3: Visual calibration
Legendary: Rainbow visible but not garish. Effective opacity 0.65–0.75 over the card. Animation speed: u_time advances at 0.5× real-time (not 1:1 — too fast feels cheap).
Rare: Blue hue shift + shimmer. Feels premium, not like a cursor glow effect.
Uncommon: Barely perceptible silver shimmer. If you notice it immediately on a static card, the opacity is too high.
Mouse tilt: The holographic angle shift should feel like physically tilting a card under light, not like a flashlight following the cursor. Limit the angular response to ±15 degrees of apparent rotation.
Step 4: Test across all rendered sizes
Size
Width
Shader?
Note
xs
80px
No
Too small — no overhead
sm
110px
No
Too small — no overhead
md
140px
Optional
Test legibility first
lg
170px
Yes
Minimum size for full effect
xl
200px
Yes
Primary target — should look best
Gate: All DevTools performance targets met. Mobile fallback verified. Visual quality approved at lg and xl sizes across all three shader tiers.
Error Handling
"WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: useProgram: program not valid"
Shader compilation failed silently. Call gl.getShaderInfoLog(shader) immediately after gl.compileShader(shader). Common causes: GLSL syntax error, wrong #version 300 es directive missing, or a uniform declared but never referenced (GLSL compilers strip unused uniforms — reference them or remove the declaration).
Canvas present but effect invisible
Check mixBlendMode. On very dark card backgrounds, screen blend mode makes dark shader output invisible. For debugging, switch to normal blend mode to see the raw shader output. Also verify the canvas zIndex is above the frame PNG (15 > 10).
Browser console: "Too many active WebGL contexts"
The shared context singleton in useCardShader is not being used — individual hook calls are each creating a new context. Verify the module-level singleton is initialized once and reused. See the singleton pattern in references/shader-integration-react.md.
Canvas appears stretched or distorted on high-DPI displays
Canvas width / height attributes must match physical pixel dimensions, not CSS dimensions. CSS w-full h-full sets display size only. Use a ResizeObserver on the canvas element: canvas.width = entry.contentRect.width * devicePixelRatio.
TypeScript error: "Property 'ref' does not exist on 'HTMLCanvasElement'"
React 19 passes ref as a prop. The canvas element should be <canvas ref={shaderCanvasRef} ... /> — no forwardRef needed. Ensure the ref type matches: useRef<HTMLCanvasElement>(null).
Reference Loading Table
Task
Reference File
Fragment shader GLSL source
references/card-shader-patterns.md
React 19 WebGL hook + context pool
references/shader-integration-react.md
Balatro holographic foil breakdown
references/balatro-shader-breakdown.md
Load only the reference needed for the current phase. All three together is ~1,400 lines — only load all three if implementing everything in one pass.