pixijs

name	pixijs
description	Use this skill first for ANY PixiJS v8 task; it routes to the right specialized skill for the job. Covers the full PixiJS surface: Application setup, the scene graph (Container, Sprite, Graphics, Text, Mesh, ParticleContainer, DOMContainer, GifSprite), rendering (WebGL/WebGPU/Canvas, render loop, custom shaders, filters, blend modes), assets, events, color, math, ticker, accessibility, performance, environments, migration from v7, and project scaffolding. Triggers on: pixi, pixi.js, pixijs, PixiJS, v8, Application, app.init, Sprite, Container, Graphics, Text, Mesh, ParticleContainer, DOMContainer, GifSprite, Assets, Ticker, renderer, WebGL, WebGPU, scene graph, filter, shader, blend mode, texture, BitmapText, create-pixi, how do I draw, how do I render, how do I animate in pixi.
license	MIT

Entry point for the PixiJS v8 skill collection. PixiJS is the fastest library available for the web, working across all devices and allowing you to create rich, interactive graphics and cross-platform applications using WebGL, WebGPU, and Canvas as a fallback.

house-manager integration (read before mounting Pixi inside a component)

PixiJS is first-party in house-manager at pixi.js@^8.18.1 for any canvas-based UI. It is a side channel the same way anime.js is — render functions stay pure; everything that touches Pixi (new Application(), Ticker.add(...), sprite mutation, scene-graph reads) lives inside useEffect / useLayoutEffect / event handlers, never during render.

The canonical lifecycle wrapper is usePixiApp(canvasRef, setup, deps) in apps/<name>/app/canvas/use-pixi-app.ts:

• Owns async Application.init({ canvas, resizeTo, preference: "webgl", autoStart: options.autoStart ?? !reducedMotion }).
• Calls the user setup(app, { reducedMotion }) callback once init resolves; the callback registers children and Ticker tasks and may return a cleanup function.
• Tears down on unmount via app.destroy(true, { children: true, texture: true }), with cancellation that survives StrictMode double-mount.
• Detects prefers-reduced-motion: reduce once at mount and passes it to setup; callers must skip Ticker registration when true (static frames still render).
• Static scenes that only update on resize or pointer input should pass autoStart: false and call app.render() from those handlers.
• React owns the <canvas> DOM node; Pixi only paints into it. The wrapping component renders <canvas ref={canvasRef}> inside a sized container.

Pillar mapping (same constraints as the rest of the stack):

• Pillar 1 (Storybook-first) — every Pixi-wrapping component ships with a sibling *.stories.tsx and a Playwright story spec.
• Pillar 2 (Zod-first types) — Pixi-wrapping component props are still z.object schemas wrapped by defineComponent. Pixi-internal types (Texture, Container, etc.) are runtime-only and don't need Zod validation.
• Pillar 3 (IDB-first state) — game state (progress, score, settings) stays in atomWithIDB. Pixi DisplayObjects never own data; they read derived values via refs the React component updates from atom subscriptions.
• Pillar 4 (CLI-gate-first) — Pixi component story specs run in the Playwright storybook project under headless Chromium. WebGL via SwiftShader is reliable; the default preference: "webgl" in usePixiApp keeps tests deterministic.

Seed example: apps/web/app/components/pixi-canvas-demo/ (and the same in the generator template) — a rotating square that demonstrates Ticker registration, reduced-motion short-circuit, and the canvas-ref-as-Pixi-canvas pattern.

How to use this skill

1. Find the specialized skill in the router below that best matches the task.
2. Load that skill's SKILL.md and follow its guidance.
3. If no sub-skill fits (the task references a specific class, function, option, or API surface not listed below), WebFetch https://pixijs.download/release/docs/llms.txt. That file is the auto-generated, always-current index of the full PixiJS API and guides. Each entry links to a .html.md page you can WebFetch for the detailed content.

For the long-form description and trigger keywords of every skill, see references/index.md.

Skill router

Foundations

Skill	Load when...
pixijs-application	Creating or configuring a PixiJS Application, calling app.init(), accessing app.stage/renderer/canvas/screen, resize/ticker plugins, app.destroy().
pixijs-core-concepts	Understanding the renderer pipeline, choosing WebGL/WebGPU/Canvas, render loop internals, systems and pipes.
pixijs-create	Scaffolding a new project with the create-pixi CLI (bundler-vite, creation-web, framework-react templates).
pixijs-environments	Running PixiJS in Web Workers, Node/SSR, or strict-CSP contexts (DOMAdapter, WebWorkerAdapter, pixi.js/unsafe-eval).
pixijs-migration-v8	Upgrading from v7 to v8 or fixing v7 patterns (beginFill/endFill, @pixi/* packages, BaseTexture, DisplayObject).
pixijs-scene-core-concepts	Understanding the scene graph as a whole: containers vs leaves, transforms, render order, masking, RenderLayer.

Scene Objects

Skill	Load when...
pixijs-scene-container	Working with Container: addChild/removeChild, transforms, zIndex, bounds, toGlobal/toLocal, destroy.
pixijs-scene-sprite	Drawing images: Sprite, AnimatedSprite, NineSliceSprite, TilingSprite.
pixijs-scene-graphics	Drawing vector shapes or paths: Graphics, GraphicsContext, fill/stroke, FillGradient, SVG.
pixijs-scene-text	Rendering text: Text, BitmapText, HTMLText, SplitText, TextStyle.
pixijs-scene-mesh	Custom geometry: Mesh, MeshSimple, MeshPlane, MeshRope, PerspectiveMesh.
pixijs-scene-particle-container	Rendering thousands of lightweight sprites: ParticleContainer, Particle, dynamicProperties.
pixijs-scene-dom-container	Overlaying HTML elements on the canvas: DOMContainer, pixi.js/dom.
pixijs-scene-gif	Displaying animated GIFs: GifSprite, GifSource, pixi.js/gif.

Utilities

Skill	Load when...
pixijs-assets	Loading resources: Assets.init, Assets.load, bundles, manifests, spritesheets, caching.
pixijs-color	Creating or converting colors: Color class, hex/rgb/hsl, tint, premultiply.
pixijs-events	Handling pointer/mouse/touch/wheel input: eventMode, FederatedEvent, hitArea, cursor, drag.
pixijs-math	Points, vectors, matrices, shapes, hit testing: Point, Matrix, Rectangle, toGlobal/toLocal.
pixijs-ticker	Per-frame logic or controlling the render loop: Ticker, deltaTime, UPDATE_PRIORITY, maxFPS.

Advanced

Skill	Load when...
pixijs-accessibility	Screen reader or keyboard navigation: AccessibilitySystem, accessibleTitle, tabIndex.
pixijs-blend-modes	Compositing with blend modes: add, multiply, screen, overlay, pixi.js/advanced-blend-modes.
pixijs-custom-rendering	Writing custom shaders, uniforms, or batchers: Shader.from, GlProgram/GpuProgram, UniformGroup, custom Filter.
pixijs-filters	Applying visual effects: BlurFilter, ColorMatrixFilter, DisplacementFilter, Filter.from, pixi-filters.
pixijs-performance	Profiling or optimizing FPS, draw calls, GPU memory: culling, GCSystem, cacheAsTexture, object pooling.

Fallback: canonical PixiJS docs

If the task references a class, function, option, or API surface not covered by any sub-skill above, WebFetch https://pixijs.download/release/docs/llms.txt. It's the auto-generated index of the full PixiJS API and guides, regenerated on every release. Each entry links to a .html.md page you can WebFetch for the detailed content. Use this fallback whenever the router table doesn't point at an obvious match.