agent-skills/skills/vue-best-practices/reference/transition-group-key-requirement.md

title, impact, impactDescription, type, tags

title	impact	impactDescription	type	tags
TransitionGroup Children Must Have Unique Keys	HIGH	Missing or non-unique keys cause broken animations and Vue warnings	gotcha	vue3 transition-group animation key v-for list-animation

TransitionGroup Children Must Have Unique Keys

Impact: HIGH - Unlike regular <Transition>, the <TransitionGroup> component always requires a unique key attribute on every child element. Without keys, Vue cannot track individual items, animations will break, and you'll see console warnings.

This is a fundamental difference from <Transition> which works on single elements. Since <TransitionGroup> animates lists of elements, Vue needs keys to track which items are entering, leaving, or moving.

Task Checklist

• Ensure every direct child of <TransitionGroup> has a unique key attribute
• Use stable identifiers (IDs) rather than array indices for keys
• Do not use the same key for different items at different times
• When using v-for, always include :key binding

Incorrect - Missing keys:

<template>
  <!-- WRONG: Missing keys causes broken animations -->
  <TransitionGroup name="list" tag="ul">
    <li v-for="item in items">
      {{ item.name }}
    </li>
  </TransitionGroup>
</template>

Incorrect - Using index as key:

<template>
  <!-- PROBLEMATIC: Index keys cause incorrect animations when list changes -->
  <TransitionGroup name="list" tag="ul">
    <li v-for="(item, index) in items" :key="index">
      {{ item.name }}
    </li>
  </TransitionGroup>
</template>

When using index as key:

• If you remove item at index 2, what was index 3 becomes index 2
• Vue thinks index 2 changed content rather than being removed
• Animations fire on wrong elements

Correct - Unique stable keys:

<template>
  <!-- CORRECT: Unique ID keys for proper tracking -->
  <TransitionGroup name="list" tag="ul">
    <li v-for="item in items" :key="item.id">
      {{ item.name }}
    </li>
  </TransitionGroup>
</template>

Correct - Keys on static children:

<template>
  <!-- CORRECT: Even static children need keys in TransitionGroup -->
  <TransitionGroup name="fade" tag="div">
    <span v-if="showA" key="a">Content A</span>
    <span v-if="showB" key="b">Content B</span>
    <span v-if="showC" key="c">Content C</span>
  </TransitionGroup>
</template>

Common Error Messages

Without keys, you'll see warnings like:

[Vue warn]: <TransitionGroup> children must be keyed.

With Draggable Libraries

When using <TransitionGroup> with libraries like vue.draggable.next, key issues can cause errors:

// Error you might see without proper keys
TypeError: domElement is null

Ensure all draggable items have unique keys:

<template>
  <draggable v-model="items" item-key="id">
    <template #item="{ element }">
      <TransitionGroup name="list" tag="div">
        <div :key="element.id">{{ element.name }}</div>
      </TransitionGroup>
    </template>
  </draggable>
</template>

Reference

• Vue.js TransitionGroup
• Vue.js List Rendering Keys