Manim Skills Repository

January 23, 2026 · View on GitHub

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⚡ Quick Start: Add both Manim skills to your AI agent instantly:
npx skills add adithya-s-k/manim_skill

A comprehensive collection of best practices, patterns, and examples for both Manim Community Edition and ManimGL (3Blue1Brown's version). This repository provides battle-tested code examples and guidelines for creating mathematical animations.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3cd398b7-7cc6-43c1-a6e9-20077be6b009

📚 About the Two Versions

Manim Community Edition (`manim`)

Repository: https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim
Focus: Community-maintained, stable, well-documented
Best For: Production use, educational content, collaborative projects
Command: manim CLI
Import: from manim import *

ManimGL (`manimgl`)

Repository: https://github.com/3b1b/manim
Focus: Grant Sanderson's (3Blue1Brown) original version with OpenGL rendering
Best For: Interactive development, 3D scenes, rapid prototyping
Command: manimgl CLI
Import: from manimlib import *

Important: These are separate, incompatible frameworks. Code written for one will not work with the other without modifications.

🚀 Installation

Prerequisites (Both Versions)

Python 3.7+ - Required
FFmpeg - For video encoding
LaTeX - For mathematical typesetting (TeX Live, MiKTeX, or MacTeX)

Install FFmpeg

macOS:

brew install ffmpeg

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg

Windows: Download from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html and add to PATH

Install LaTeX

macOS:

brew install mactex

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install texlive-full

Windows: Install MiKTeX from https://miktex.org/download

Installing Manim Community Edition

# Using pip
pip install manim

# Using uv (recommended for this project)
uv pip install manim

# Verify installation
manim --version

Documentation: https://docs.manim.community/

Installing ManimGL

# Using pip
pip install manimgl

# Using uv (recommended for this project)
uv pip install manimgl

# Verify installation
manimgl --version

Additional macOS (ARM) requirement:

arch -arm64 brew install pkg-config cairo

🔌 Skills.sh Integration

This repository provides two AI Agent Skills that can be installed with a single command using skills.sh:

Install with npx (Recommended)

# Install Manim Community Edition best practices
npx skills add adithya-s-k/manim_skill/skills/manimce-best-practices

# Install ManimGL best practices
npx skills add adithya-s-k/manim_skill/skills/manimgl-best-practices

# Or install both
npx skills add adithya-s-k/manim_skill/skills/manimce-best-practices adithya-s-k/manim_skill/skills/manimgl-best-practices

What are Skills?

Skills are reusable capabilities for AI coding agents. Once installed, your AI assistant (like Claude, GitHub Copilot, or Cursor) automatically gains access to:

✅ Domain-specific best practices
✅ Working code examples
✅ Common patterns and anti-patterns
✅ Framework-specific knowledge

The skills follow the Agent Skills open standard and work across multiple AI tools.

When Skills Activate

manimce-best-practices - Automatically loads when:

You import from manim import *
You use the manim CLI command
You work with Scene classes, mathematical animations, or LaTeX rendering
You create educational videos or visual explanations with Manim Community

manimgl-best-practices - Automatically loads when:

You import from manimlib import *
You use the manimgl CLI command
You work with InteractiveScene, 3D rendering, or camera frame control
You use interactive mode with .embed() or checkpoint_paste()

📖 Using This Repository

Repository Structure

manim_skill/
├── skills/
│   ├── manimce-best-practices/     # Manim Community Edition skills
│   │   ├── SKILL.md                # Skill metadata
│   │   └── rules/                  # Individual best practice guides
│   │       ├── animations.md
│   │       ├── scenes.md
│   │       ├── mobjects.md
│   │       └── ...
│   │
│   └── manimgl-best-practices/     # ManimGL skills
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       └── rules/
│           ├── animations.md
│           ├── 3d.md
│           ├── camera.md
│           └── ...
│
└── tests/
    ├── manimce/                    # Tests for Community Edition
    └── manimgl/                    # Tests for ManimGL

What's Inside Each Skill File?

Each .md file contains:

Best practices for specific Manim features
Working code examples (all tested!)
Common patterns and use cases
Pitfalls to avoid
API differences between versions

🎯 Quick Start Examples

Manim Community Edition

from manim import *

class BasicExample(Scene):
    def construct(self):
        circle = Circle()
        circle.set_fill(BLUE, opacity=0.5)
        circle.set_stroke(BLUE_E, width=4)

        self.play(Create(circle))
        self.wait()

Run it:

manim -pql scene.py BasicExample
# -p: preview after rendering
# -q: quality (l=low, m=medium, h=high)

ManimGL

from manimlib import *

class BasicExample(InteractiveScene):
    def construct(self):
        circle = Circle()
        circle.set_fill(BLUE, opacity=0.5)
        circle.set_stroke(BLUE_E, width=4)

        self.play(ShowCreation(circle))
        self.wait()

Run it:

manimgl scene.py BasicExample --write_file
# --write_file: save video output
# -s: skip to last frame
# -w: write file without opening

🧪 Running Tests

This repository includes comprehensive tests to ensure all code examples work correctly.

Test Manim Community Edition Skills

# Test all files
uv run python tests/manimce/test_all_skills.py

# Test specific file
uv run python tests/manimce/test_all_skills.py animations.md

# Run with multiple workers (faster)
uv run python tests/manimce/test_all_skills.py -j 4

Test ManimGL Skills

# Test all files
uv run python tests/manimgl/test_all_skills.py

# Test specific file
uv run python tests/manimgl/test_all_skills.py 3d.md

# Run with multiple workers (use caution - can cause OOM)
uv run python tests/manimgl/test_all_skills.py -j 4

Note: Parallel testing with many workers can cause out-of-memory errors. Use 4-6 workers max, or test files individually.

🔍 Key Differences Between Versions

Feature	Manim Community	ManimGL
Import	`from manim import *`	`from manimlib import *`
CLI Command	`manim`	`manimgl`
Scene Base Class	`Scene`, `MovingCameraScene`	`Scene`, `InteractiveScene`
Creation Animation	`Create()`	`ShowCreation()`
Text Class	`Text()`, `MathTex()`	`Text()`, `Tex()`
3D Rendering	Limited	Full OpenGL support
Interactive Mode	No	Yes (`-se` flag, `.embed()`)
Camera Control	`MovingCameraScene`	`self.camera.frame`
Configuration	Python config	YAML files
Color Constants	Same	Same + variations (e.g., `BLUE_A`, `BLUE_E`)

📚 Exploring Skills

For Manim Community Edition:

Start with these guides in skills/manimce-best-practices/rules/:

scenes.md - Scene structure and lifecycle
animations.md - Basic animation patterns
mobjects.md - Creating and manipulating objects
colors.md - Color systems and styling
text.md - Text and LaTeX rendering

For ManimGL:

Start with these guides in skills/manimgl-best-practices/rules/:

scenes.md - Scene types and InteractiveScene
animations.md - Animation fundamentals
camera.md - Camera movement and 3D orientation
3d.md - 3D object creation and rendering
interactive.md - Interactive development workflow

🤝 Contributing

Found an issue with an example? Want to add a new best practice?

Ensure your code example works with the target Manim version
Add it to the appropriate skill file
Run the tests to verify: uv run python tests/<version>/test_all_skills.py <filename>
Submit a pull request

📄 License

This repository is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Note: This license applies to the educational materials and code examples in this repository. The underlying Manim frameworks (Manim Community Edition and ManimGL) have their own respective licenses.

🔗 Resources

Manim Community Edition

Documentation: https://docs.manim.community/
Discord: https://www.manim.community/discord/
GitHub: https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim

ManimGL

Documentation: https://3b1b.github.io/manim/
GitHub: https://github.com/3b1b/manim
Tutorial Videos: Grant's YouTube channel

General

3Blue1Brown: https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown
Manim Community: https://www.manim.community/

⚠️ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Command not found: manim/manimgl"

Verify installation: pip list | grep manim
Check PATH configuration
Try: python -m manim or python -m manimlib

LaTeX errors

Install full LaTeX distribution (not basic)
ManimCE: Try manim --tex_template <template> with different templates
ManimGL: Check custom_defaults.yml for LaTeX configuration

Video won't play

Install media codecs for your OS
Try different quality settings (-ql, -qm, -qh)
Check FFmpeg installation: ffmpeg -version

Out of Memory (parallel tests)

Reduce worker count: -j 2 or -j 4
Test files individually
Close other applications

Import errors / wrong version

Check you're importing the right version:
- from manim import * → Manim Community
- from manimlib import * → ManimGL
Uninstall conflicting versions: pip uninstall manim manimgl manimlib
Reinstall the version you need

🙏 Acknowledgments

This repository exists thanks to the incredible work of:

Grant Sanderson (3Blue1Brown)

Creator of the original Manim animation engine and the 3Blue1Brown YouTube channel. Grant's pioneering work in mathematical visualization has inspired millions of learners worldwide and created an entirely new paradigm for explaining complex concepts through programmatic animation. His commitment to open-source education and visual storytelling has fundamentally changed how mathematics is taught and understood.

Website: https://www.3blue1brown.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown Manim (ManimGL): https://github.com/3b1b/manim

The Manim Community

The dedicated team and contributors who maintain Manim Community Edition, ensuring the framework remains accessible, well-documented, and actively developed. Their tireless efforts in creating comprehensive documentation, managing community support, and continuously improving the codebase have made mathematical animation accessible to educators, students, and creators everywhere.

Website: https://www.manim.community/ GitHub: https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim Discord: https://www.manim.community/discord/

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Both frameworks represent countless hours of development, documentation, community support, and creative problem-solving. This repository simply aims to organize and share knowledge about these powerful tools. All credit for the underlying technology goes to Grant Sanderson and the Manim Community contributors.

Thank you for making mathematical beauty programmable and accessible to all. 🎓✨