kinemo

Website and documentation

Explanatory animations (math, algorithms, engineering, data) written in Python, with a live preview and a native core in Rust. The API was designed to be written by people and by AI without errors: one form per concept, full typing, and errors that already carry the fix.

import kinemo as k

@k.scene
def hello(s: k.Scene):
    title = k.Text("Hello, kinemo").place(at="center")
    s.play(k.write(title))
    s.play(title.to(color=k.BLUE, scale=1.5))
    s.wait(1)

kinemo dev hello.py        # browser preview with hot reload and a draggable timeline
kinemo check hello.py      # errors, lints and timeline summary, without rendering
kinemo render hello.py     # MP4 (also webm, mov, gif, png, slides)

What kinemo does

• The script runs once and produces a timeline. The frame at t is a pure function of t: you can scrub the timeline, render in parallel and keep everything cached.
• Explicit time. s.play blocks the cursor, s.start does not; k.seq, k.par, k.stagger, s.during, s.tempo and clips (@k.clip) compose animations as values.
• Constraint layout. .place(above=tri), k.Row, k.Grid: the relations keep holding while the objects move.
• Reactive signals. x.to(3), k.Text(lambda: f"{x():.1f}"), ball.set(x=other.x). Lambdas and .map are traced to native code; opaque Python only with k.python(fn).
• Events and stateful systems. k.when, @event.on, s.wait_for, k.integrate, k.simulate — resolved before rendering, up to a fixed point.
• Text, code and math with addressable parts (txt["world"], code.highlight) and k.morph between versions.
• Charts and data. k.Axes, plots that grow with a signal, animated zoom; data via Arrow (polars, pandas, pyarrow, duckdb) without copying.
• Stable diagnostics. Every error has a code (K0401), line, instant and fix; kinemo check --fix applies the safe ones. Manim names (Create, .animate) are recognized and translated.
• Built for agents. kinemo check --json, kinemo inspect --json, kinemo snap and the kinemo mcp server close the write → verify → fix loop without needing vision.

Installation

pip install kinemo

Wheels for Linux, macOS and Windows, Python ≥ 3.11. Video output needs ffmpeg on your path. kinemo new hello starts a project.

From source

Requirements: stable Rust, Python ≥ 3.11, uv and ffmpeg. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the tests and conventions.

uv venv .venv
uv pip install --python .venv/bin/python maturin pytest numpy polars
source .venv/bin/activate
maturin develop

GPU preview (optional): maturin develop --features gpu compiles the Vello (wgpu) backend and the kinemo dev server then rasterizes on the GPU when an adapter is available, falling back to the CPU (tiny-skia) otherwise. The default build does not include wgpu. The final render stays on the CPU, which is the reference.

Tests

cargo test --workspace          # Rust core
python -m pytest -q             # API, diagnostics, contracts and golden snapshots

Golden snapshots live in tests/golden/ (CPU renderer, byte-identical). To regenerate them after an intentional change: KINEMO_UPDATE_GOLDEN=1 pytest tests/python/test_golden.py.

Architecture

The author only sees Python; everything below the IR is Rust.

python/kinemo/        public API (k.*), build phase, handlers, CLI
crates/kinemo-ir      IR types (serializable scene)
crates/kinemo-eval    timelines, expressions, easing, colors (OKLab)
crates/kinemo-layout  geometry, containers, constraints, glyphs
crates/kinemo-text    text (rustybuzz), embedded fonts
crates/kinemo-code    code highlighting (tree-sitter) and diff
crates/kinemo-math    LaTeX → typst, no TeX installation
crates/kinemo-resolve sampling-based visual lints
crates/kinemo-render  display list, tiny-skia, morph, movies, segments
crates/kinemo-render-gpu  optional Vello (wgpu) backend, tolerance tests vs tiny-skia
crates/kinemo-encode  ffmpeg (mp4, webm, mov, gif)
crates/kinemo-server  preview (axum + WebSocket)
crates/kinemo-py      PyO3 bindings (the only crate that knows about Python)

Documentation

Start with the documentation index: numbered guides from getting started onwards, the complete API reference, examples with rendered frames, and caveats. The design document is docs/specs.md.

The same docs, with a landing page and the examples as videos, build into a static SvelteKit website: see website/README.md.

License

Licensed under either of Apache License 2.0 or MIT, at your option. Unless you state otherwise, any contribution you submit for inclusion in kinemo is dual-licensed as above, without any additional terms.

The embedded DejaVu fonts follow their license. The licenses of the Rust crates compiled into the wheels are in THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md (scripts/third_party_licenses.py regenerates it).