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No.217 · Authentication

Envelope Reset

A password reset you can watch leave. Send the link and the form becomes a letter that slides into an envelope; the flap folds shut, a wax seal presses on and it's gone. When the email arrives, the envelope comes back, the seal breaks, and the letter that rises out is your new-password form.

The prompt

The design brief behind this component — reuse it to regenerate, remix, or explain it.

Build a password-reset flow with a physical envelope transition between its steps. Steps (one card, 25rem): ask (email, Send reset link, Back to sign in) → sent ("Check your inbox", the address, "I've got the email", and Resend with a 30-second countdown) → letter (new password, confirm, and three live rules: 10+ characters, a number or symbol, both match — each with a check and a hidden "done/not yet") → done (a drawn check, "Password updated", Back to sign in). Validation errors are real text tied to the inputs; each step's heading takes focus; a polite status announces sending, sent and updated. onSend and onReset are async props. The envelope is an aria-hidden scene over the card, made of absolutely-positioned parts in a 900px-perspective stage: a back panel; a letter (a small paper with a heading bar, text lines and an accent button bar); a front pocket clipped to a V (polygon 0 0, 50% 64%, 100% 0, 100% 100%, 0 100%) so the letter only shows through the opening; a triangular flap hinged at the top edge (transform-origin 50% 0), open at rotateX(180°) behind the letter and shut at 0° over it — its z-index is switched by the keyframes mid-fold; and a wax seal (a radial-gradient blob with the product's initial) at the flap's tip. Folding (2.15s, keyframes on every part): the card disappears at once and the letter appears in its place above the pocket, shrinks to letter size, then slides down into the pocket; the flap swings shut; the seal presses on with an overshoot; the whole envelope flies off to the right, rising and tilting 9°, and fades. Opening (1.9s) runs it back: the envelope flies in from the left, the seal pops and breaks away, the flap swings open behind, the letter rises out and grows, and fades as the new-password card fades in. Timers are cleared on unmount. Paper and Night.

Notes

Interaction
Enter an email and send the link; then press “I’ve got the email” to open the envelope and set a new password.
Motion
Send: letter in, fold, seal, fly away (2.15s keyframes). Open: fly in, unseal, unfold, rise (1.9s). Steps fade up 420ms; the check draws in 500ms.
Accessibility
Every step is a real form or group with labelled inputs and text errors; focus moves to each new step's heading; a polite status announces sending, sent and updated; the resend countdown is visible text on a disabled button. The envelope is decoration and aria-hidden. Reduced motion skips the envelope and changes steps at once.
Responsive
The card is 25rem at most and fluid below; the envelope is sized to sit inside it on phones.
On touch
Identical on touch.

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301 components