Three.js — application & game scale

Patterns for building three.js applications and games: module setup, asset pipelines, animation, simulation loops, physics, the React ecosystem, and staying fast (and leak-free) as scene complexity grows.

Scope split with sibling skills — do not duplicate them:

Concern	Owner
Creative/generative three.js — scene scaffolding, GLSL shaders, particles, post-processing	genart-ops
three.js inside a Mapbox GL custom layer (CustomLayerInterface, threebox)	mapbox-ops
App/game-scale three.js — modules, assets, animation, loops, physics, R3F, scale	this skill

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1. ES-module reality (read this before writing any <script> tag)

three.js is ES-modules only. The legacy patterns are dead and will 404 or silently break on any modern release:

Dead pattern	Removed	Use instead
examples/js/* non-module loaders (js/loaders/GLTFLoader.js, THREE.OrbitControls globals)	r148	three/addons/ module imports
build/three.js + build/three.min.js UMD builds (<script src=…> + global THREE)	r160	build/three.module.js via import map or bundler

Versioning: npm publishes 0.<release>.<patch> — three@0.185.1 is r185. Releases land monthly; pin exact versions.

No-bundler setup (import map)

Copy assets/importmap-starter.html — a complete, runnable starter (import map + addons + resize + setAnimationLoop). The core:

<script type="importmap">
{
  "imports": {
    "three": "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/three@0.185.1/build/three.module.js",
    "three/addons/": "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/three@0.185.1/examples/jsm/"
  }
}
</script>
<script type="module">
  import * as THREE from 'three';
  import { OrbitControls } from 'three/addons/controls/OrbitControls.js';
</script>

Gotchas: both entries MUST pin the same version (mixed versions = instanceof failures across module copies); the three/addons/ key needs the trailing slash; import maps must appear before the first type="module" script.

Bundler vs no-bundler

Situation	Choice
Real app/game, npm deps, physics WASM, R3F	Vite (npm create vite@latest) — default answer
Demo, CodePen, teaching, drop-in page on an existing site	Import map — zero build
@dimforge/rapier3d (WASM-bindgen)	Needs a bundler; use rapier3d-compat without one (§5)

With a bundler, import { X } from 'three/addons/…' resolves via the package's exports map — same specifier both worlds.

WebGPU (know it exists; default to WebGL)

Since r167 three ships a parallel build: import { WebGPURenderer } from 'three/webgpu' plus the TSL node-shader language from three/tsl (import-map users: point the "three" key at build/three.webgpu.js instead of three.module.js — it re-exports core; never load both). WebGPURenderer falls back to WebGL2 automatically and initializes async (await renderer.init(), or let setAnimationLoop defer for you). Default for app/game work remains WebGLRenderer — reach for WebGPU when you need compute (GPU crowds, particle sims) or TSL materials. Shader-level TSL/GLSL work is genart-ops territory.

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2. GLTF asset pipeline

glTF (.glb) is the format. Wire all three decoders once at startup so any optimized asset loads; full setup, optimization CLI recipes (gltf-transform, gltfpack), and CC0 model sources (Quaternius, Kenney, Poly Pizza) in references/asset-pipeline.md.

import { GLTFLoader } from 'three/addons/loaders/GLTFLoader.js';
import { DRACOLoader } from 'three/addons/loaders/DRACOLoader.js';
import { KTX2Loader } from 'three/addons/loaders/KTX2Loader.js';
import { MeshoptDecoder } from 'three/addons/libs/meshopt_decoder.module.js';

const draco = new DRACOLoader().setDecoderPath(
  'https://www.gstatic.com/draco/versioned/decoders/1.5.7/');
const ktx2 = new KTX2Loader()
  .setTranscoderPath('https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/three@0.185.1/examples/jsm/libs/basis/')
  .detectSupport(renderer);              // MUST pass the live renderer

const loader = new GLTFLoader()
  .setDRACOLoader(draco).setKTX2Loader(ktx2).setMeshoptDecoder(MeshoptDecoder);

const { scene: model, animations } = await loader.loadAsync('hero.glb');

Cloning a skinned character for multiple instances needs SkeletonUtils.clone() — a plain .clone() shares (and corrupts) the skeleton.

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3. Animation system

AnimationMixer drives everything (skeletal + morph targets). One mixer per model root; mixer.update(dt) every frame. Crossfades, blending weights, one-shot clips, additive layers, and morph-target patterns in references/animation.md.

const mixer = new THREE.AnimationMixer(model);
const idle = mixer.clipAction(THREE.AnimationClip.findByName(animations, 'Idle'));
const run  = mixer.clipAction(THREE.AnimationClip.findByName(animations, 'Run'));
idle.play();
// smooth transition — never .stop() + .play()
run.reset().play();
idle.crossFadeTo(run, 0.3, /*warp*/ true);

---

4. Game loops

Render on rAF; simulate on a fixed timestep when gameplay/physics needs determinism. Full accumulator pattern (with render interpolation), dt clamping, tab-hidden handling, input sampling, and frame-rate-independent damping (MathUtils.damp, follow cameras) in references/game-loop.md.

const FIXED = 1 / 60;
let acc = 0, last = performance.now();
renderer.setAnimationLoop((now) => {
  acc += Math.min((now - last) / 1000, 0.1);  // clamp: tab-switch dt spike
  last = now;
  while (acc >= FIXED) { simulate(FIXED); acc -= FIXED; }
  render(acc / FIXED);                         // interpolation alpha
});

Rules: use renderer.setAnimationLoop (not raw rAF — required for WebXR, and it pauses cleanly); clamp dt or the first frame after a background tab teleports everything; pause simulation on document.hidden (visibilitychange); determinism = fixed step + seeded RNG + no per-frame Math.random() in sim code.

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5. Physics

Default: @dimforge/rapier3d (Rust/WASM — fast, deterministic, actively developed, built-in kinematic character controller). cannon-es remains the pure-JS fallback for zero-WASM constraints. Decision table, init patterns, body/mesh sync, and character controllers in references/physics.md.

The package-name trap:

Package	When
@dimforge/rapier3d	Bundler with WASM support (Vite: works out of the box)
@dimforge/rapier3d-compat	No bundler / import map — WASM inlined as base64; await RAPIER.init() first

import RAPIER from '@dimforge/rapier3d-compat';
await RAPIER.init();
const world = new RAPIER.World({ x: 0, y: -9.81, z: 0 });
// step inside the FIXED loop (§4), then copy body → mesh:
world.timestep = FIXED; world.step();
mesh.position.copy(body.translation());
mesh.quaternion.copy(body.rotation());

---

6. react-three-fiber + drei

R3F v9 (React 19) renders the three.js scene graph declaratively; drei is its helper library. When: React app, UI-heavy, want the pmndrs ecosystem (@react-three/rapier, postprocessing). When not: no React on the page, engine-style tight control, minimal bundle. Hooks, pitfalls (per-frame setState kills you — mutate refs in useFrame), and the drei shortlist in references/r3f-drei.md.

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7. Scale patterns — staying fast, staying leak-free

Draw calls are the budget; GPU memory leaks are the debt. renderer.info is the meter for both. InstancedMesh at count, LOD, culling, and the full disposal discipline in references/scale-and-disposal.md.

Quick rules:

• Same mesh × N ≥ ~50 → InstancedMesh (one draw call). Set matrices via setMatrixAt(i, m), then instanceMatrix.needsUpdate = true.
• Watch renderer.info.render.calls per frame — hundreds is fine, thousands is the problem. renderer.info.memory.{geometries,textures} must return to baseline after teardown.
• Removing from the scene frees nothing. GPU memory needs explicit geometry.dispose(), material.dispose(), every texture .dispose(), and renderer.dispose() on full teardown (SPA route change = the classic leak).

function disposeObject(root) {
  root.traverse((o) => {
    o.geometry?.dispose();
    for (const m of Array.isArray(o.material) ? o.material : [o.material]) {
      if (!m) continue;
      for (const v of Object.values(m)) v?.isTexture && v.dispose();
      m.dispose();
    }
  });
  root.removeFromParent();
}

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8. Ambient life — boids, steering, waypoints

Crowd/wildlife/NPC motion is steering forces + a spatial hash, driven from the fixed loop and rendered via InstancedMesh. Seek/arrive/wander, the three boids rules, waypoint drivers, and library options in references/actors-and-steering.md. For structured game-state building blocks (actor motion controllers, waypoint drivers, camera rigs) see xt4d/GameBlocks — agent-oriented, self-explanatory reference implementations.

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Bundled resources

Resource	Load when
references/asset-pipeline.md	Loading/optimizing GLTF, decoder wiring, sourcing CC0 models
references/animation.md	Crossfades, blend weights, one-shots, morph targets
references/game-loop.md	Fixed timestep, interpolation, pause/visibility, input sampling, damping/follow-cam, determinism
references/physics.md	rapier vs cannon-es, init, sync, character controllers
references/r3f-drei.md	React Three Fiber apps, drei helpers, R3F pitfalls
references/scale-and-disposal.md	Instancing, LOD, culling, draw-call budgets, disposal/leaks
references/actors-and-steering.md	Boids, steering, waypoint actors, ambient life
assets/importmap-starter.html	Starting a no-bundler project — copy and edit
assets/three-facts.json	Canonical version gates + package facts (verifier input)

Staleness verifier — this skill encodes fast-moving facts (three version gates, npm package names/versions). Check internal consistency (CI) or live drift against the npm registry:

python3 skills/threejs-ops/scripts/check-three-facts.py --offline   # structural, no network — PR CI
python3 skills/threejs-ops/scripts/check-three-facts.py --live      # npm registry probe — exit 10 drift, 7 unreachable
python3 skills/threejs-ops/scripts/check-three-facts.py --offline --json | jq '.data[] | select(.status!="ok")'