What are Core Web Vitals?

A set of performance metrics (LCP, INP, CLS) Google uses to evaluate page experience and ranking.

What thresholds define 'Good' for LCP, INP, and CLS?

Good thresholds are LCP ≤ 2.5s, INP ≤ 200ms, and CLS ≤ 0.1. Google measures at the 75th percentile across visits.

How do I know if fixes are effective?

Run Lighthouse or Chrome's Core Web Vitals report and verify that the 75th percentile of visits meets the 'Good' thresholds after changes.

core-web-vitals

npx machina-cli add skill addyosmani/web-quality-skills/core-web-vitals --openclaw

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SKILL.md

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Core Web Vitals optimization

Targeted optimization for the three Core Web Vitals metrics that affect Google Search ranking and user experience.

The three metrics

Metric	Measures	Good	Needs work	Poor
LCP	Loading	≤ 2.5s	2.5s – 4s	> 4s
INP	Interactivity	≤ 200ms	200ms – 500ms	> 500ms
CLS	Visual Stability	≤ 0.1	0.1 – 0.25	> 0.25

Google measures at the 75th percentile — 75% of page visits must meet "Good" thresholds.

LCP: Largest Contentful Paint

LCP measures when the largest visible content element renders. Usually this is:

Hero image or video
Large text block
Background image
<svg> element

Common LCP issues

1. Slow server response (TTFB > 800ms)

Fix: CDN, caching, optimized backend, edge rendering

2. Render-blocking resources

<!-- ❌ Blocks rendering -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/all-styles.css">

<!-- ✅ Critical CSS inlined, rest deferred -->
<style>/* Critical above-fold CSS */</style>
<link rel="preload" href="/styles.css" as="style" 
      onload="this.onload=null;this.rel='stylesheet'">

3. Slow resource load times

<!-- ❌ No hints, discovered late -->
<img src="/hero.jpg" alt="Hero">

<!-- ✅ Preloaded with high priority -->
<link rel="preload" href="/hero.webp" as="image" fetchpriority="high">
<img src="/hero.webp" alt="Hero" fetchpriority="high">

4. Client-side rendering delays

// ❌ Content loads after JavaScript
useEffect(() => {
  fetch('/api/hero-text').then(r => r.json()).then(setHeroText);
}, []);

// ✅ Server-side or static rendering
// Use SSR, SSG, or streaming to send HTML with content
export async function getServerSideProps() {
  const heroText = await fetchHeroText();
  return { props: { heroText } };
}

LCP optimization checklist

- [ ] TTFB < 800ms (use CDN, edge caching)
- [ ] LCP image preloaded with fetchpriority="high"
- [ ] LCP image optimized (WebP/AVIF, correct size)
- [ ] Critical CSS inlined (< 14KB)
- [ ] No render-blocking JavaScript in <head>
- [ ] Fonts don't block text rendering (font-display: swap)
- [ ] LCP element in initial HTML (not JS-rendered)

LCP element identification

// Find your LCP element
new PerformanceObserver((list) => {
  const entries = list.getEntries();
  const lastEntry = entries[entries.length - 1];
  console.log('LCP element:', lastEntry.element);
  console.log('LCP time:', lastEntry.startTime);
}).observe({ type: 'largest-contentful-paint', buffered: true });

INP: Interaction to Next Paint

INP measures responsiveness across ALL interactions (clicks, taps, key presses) during a page visit. It reports the worst interaction (at 98th percentile for high-traffic pages).

INP breakdown

Total INP = Input Delay + Processing Time + Presentation Delay

Phase	Target	Optimization
Input Delay	< 50ms	Reduce main thread blocking
Processing	< 100ms	Optimize event handlers
Presentation	< 50ms	Minimize rendering work

Common INP issues

1. Long tasks blocking main thread

// ❌ Long synchronous task
function processLargeArray(items) {
  items.forEach(item => expensiveOperation(item));
}

// ✅ Break into chunks with yielding
async function processLargeArray(items) {
  const CHUNK_SIZE = 100;
  for (let i = 0; i < items.length; i += CHUNK_SIZE) {
    const chunk = items.slice(i, i + CHUNK_SIZE);
    chunk.forEach(item => expensiveOperation(item));
    
    // Yield to main thread
    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 0));
    // Or use scheduler.yield() when available
  }
}

2. Heavy event handlers

// ❌ All work in handler
button.addEventListener('click', () => {
  // Heavy computation
  const result = calculateComplexThing();
  // DOM updates
  updateUI(result);
  // Analytics
  trackEvent('click');
});

// ✅ Prioritize visual feedback
button.addEventListener('click', () => {
  // Immediate visual feedback
  button.classList.add('loading');
  
  // Defer non-critical work
  requestAnimationFrame(() => {
    const result = calculateComplexThing();
    updateUI(result);
  });
  
  // Use requestIdleCallback for analytics
  requestIdleCallback(() => trackEvent('click'));
});

3. Third-party scripts

// ❌ Eagerly loaded, blocks interactions
<script src="https://heavy-widget.com/widget.js"></script>

// ✅ Lazy loaded on interaction or visibility
const loadWidget = () => {
  import('https://heavy-widget.com/widget.js')
    .then(widget => widget.init());
};
button.addEventListener('click', loadWidget, { once: true });

4. Excessive re-renders (React/Vue)

// ❌ Re-renders entire tree
function App() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return (
    <div>
      <Counter count={count} />
      <ExpensiveComponent /> {/* Re-renders on every count change */}
    </div>
  );
}

// ✅ Memoized expensive components
const MemoizedExpensive = React.memo(ExpensiveComponent);

function App() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return (
    <div>
      <Counter count={count} />
      <MemoizedExpensive />
    </div>
  );
}

INP optimization checklist

- [ ] No tasks > 50ms on main thread
- [ ] Event handlers complete quickly (< 100ms)
- [ ] Visual feedback provided immediately
- [ ] Heavy work deferred with requestIdleCallback
- [ ] Third-party scripts don't block interactions
- [ ] Debounced input handlers where appropriate
- [ ] Web Workers for CPU-intensive operations

INP debugging

// Identify slow interactions
new PerformanceObserver((list) => {
  for (const entry of list.getEntries()) {
    if (entry.duration > 200) {
      console.warn('Slow interaction:', {
        type: entry.name,
        duration: entry.duration,
        processingStart: entry.processingStart,
        processingEnd: entry.processingEnd,
        target: entry.target
      });
    }
  }
}).observe({ type: 'event', buffered: true, durationThreshold: 16 });

CLS: Cumulative Layout Shift

CLS measures unexpected layout shifts. A shift occurs when a visible element changes position between frames without user interaction.

CLS Formula: impact fraction × distance fraction

Common CLS causes

1. Images without dimensions

<!-- ❌ Causes layout shift when loaded -->
<img src="photo.jpg" alt="Photo">

<!-- ✅ Space reserved -->
<img src="photo.jpg" alt="Photo" width="800" height="600">

<!-- ✅ Or use aspect-ratio -->
<img src="photo.jpg" alt="Photo" style="aspect-ratio: 4/3; width: 100%;">

2. Ads, embeds, and iframes

<!-- ❌ Unknown size until loaded -->
<iframe src="https://ad-network.com/ad"></iframe>

<!-- ✅ Reserve space with min-height -->
<div style="min-height: 250px;">
  <iframe src="https://ad-network.com/ad" height="250"></iframe>
</div>

<!-- ✅ Or use aspect-ratio container -->
<div style="aspect-ratio: 16/9;">
  <iframe src="https://youtube.com/embed/..." 
          style="width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe>
</div>

3. Dynamically injected content

// ❌ Inserts content above viewport
notifications.prepend(newNotification);

// ✅ Insert below viewport or use transform
const insertBelow = viewport.bottom < newNotification.top;
if (insertBelow) {
  notifications.prepend(newNotification);
} else {
  // Animate in without shifting
  newNotification.style.transform = 'translateY(-100%)';
  notifications.prepend(newNotification);
  requestAnimationFrame(() => {
    newNotification.style.transform = '';
  });
}

4. Web fonts causing FOUT

/* ❌ Font swap shifts text */
@font-face {
  font-family: 'Custom';
  src: url('custom.woff2') format('woff2');
}

/* ✅ Optional font (no shift if slow) */
@font-face {
  font-family: 'Custom';
  src: url('custom.woff2') format('woff2');
  font-display: optional;
}

/* ✅ Or match fallback metrics */
@font-face {
  font-family: 'Custom';
  src: url('custom.woff2') format('woff2');
  font-display: swap;
  size-adjust: 105%; /* Match fallback size */
  ascent-override: 95%;
  descent-override: 20%;
}

5. Animations triggering layout

/* ❌ Animates layout properties */
.animate {
  transition: height 0.3s, width 0.3s;
}

/* ✅ Use transform instead */
.animate {
  transition: transform 0.3s;
}
.animate.expanded {
  transform: scale(1.2);
}

CLS optimization checklist

- [ ] All images have width/height or aspect-ratio
- [ ] All videos/embeds have reserved space
- [ ] Ads have min-height containers
- [ ] Fonts use font-display: optional or matched metrics
- [ ] Dynamic content inserted below viewport
- [ ] Animations use transform/opacity only
- [ ] No content injected above existing content

CLS debugging

// Track layout shifts
new PerformanceObserver((list) => {
  for (const entry of list.getEntries()) {
    if (!entry.hadRecentInput) {
      console.log('Layout shift:', entry.value);
      entry.sources?.forEach(source => {
        console.log('  Shifted element:', source.node);
        console.log('  Previous rect:', source.previousRect);
        console.log('  Current rect:', source.currentRect);
      });
    }
  }
}).observe({ type: 'layout-shift', buffered: true });

Measurement tools

Lab testing

Chrome DevTools → Performance panel, Lighthouse
WebPageTest → Detailed waterfall, filmstrip
Lighthouse CLI → npx lighthouse <url>

Field data (real users)

Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) → BigQuery or API
Search Console → Core Web Vitals report
web-vitals library → Send to your analytics

import {onLCP, onINP, onCLS} from 'web-vitals';

function sendToAnalytics({name, value, rating}) {
  gtag('event', name, {
    event_category: 'Web Vitals',
    value: Math.round(name === 'CLS' ? value * 1000 : value),
    event_label: rating
  });
}

onLCP(sendToAnalytics);
onINP(sendToAnalytics);
onCLS(sendToAnalytics);

Framework quick fixes

Next.js

// LCP: Use next/image with priority
import Image from 'next/image';
<Image src="/hero.jpg" priority fill alt="Hero" />

// INP: Use dynamic imports
const HeavyComponent = dynamic(() => import('./Heavy'), { ssr: false });

// CLS: Image component handles dimensions automatically

React

// LCP: Preload in head
<link rel="preload" href="/hero.jpg" as="image" fetchpriority="high" />

// INP: Memoize and useTransition
const [isPending, startTransition] = useTransition();
startTransition(() => setExpensiveState(newValue));

// CLS: Always specify dimensions in img tags

Vue/Nuxt

<!-- LCP: Use nuxt/image with preload -->
<NuxtImg src="/hero.jpg" preload loading="eager" />

<!-- INP: Use async components -->
<component :is="() => import('./Heavy.vue')" />

<!-- CLS: Use aspect-ratio CSS -->
<img :style="{ aspectRatio: '16/9' }" />

References

Source

git clone https://github.com/addyosmani/web-quality-skills/blob/main/skills/core-web-vitals/SKILL.mdView on GitHub

Overview

Core Web Vitals optimization targets LCP, INP, and CLS to improve user experience and search rankings. This skill provides actionable fixes and validation steps to ensure a larger share of visits meet the 'Good' thresholds at the 75th percentile.

How This Skill Works

It inventories LCP, INP, and CLS signals, flags typical bottlenecks (TTFB, render-blocking resources, long tasks, and layout shifts), and prescribes concrete fixes. You implement preloads and inline critical CSS, optimize images, reduce main-thread work, and use SSR/SSG where appropriate; then you re-measure to confirm improvements at the 75th percentile.

When to Use It

Improve Core Web Vitals for Google ranking and user experience.
Fix LCP bottlenecks when the largest content renders late.
Reduce CLS to prevent layout shifts during page load.
Optimize INP to boost interactivity and responsiveness.
Page experience optimization or layout-shift remediation on high-traffic pages.

Quick Start

Step 1: Run Core Web Vitals audits (LCP, INP, CLS) with Lighthouse or Chrome UX reports to identify bottlenecks.
Step 2: Apply fixes: preload LCP resources, inline critical CSS, optimize images, and reduce main-thread work.
Step 3: Re-audit to verify improvements and iterate until the 75th percentile thresholds are met.

Best Practices

Measure with the 75th percentile across visits and set a target to keep Good thresholds for LCP, INP, and CLS.
Preload LCP resources and inline critical CSS; avoid or defer non-critical CSS/JS to reduce render-blocking time.
Optimize images (prefer WebP/AVIF) and ensure correct dimensions; preload hero images when possible.
Minimize TTFB with CDN/edge caching, server optimizations, and consider SSR/SSG to deliver content faster.
Reduce main-thread work and prevent long tasks; reserve space for dynamic content to minimize CLS and improve INP.

Example Use Cases

An e-commerce product page preloads the hero image and inlines above-fold CSS to shorten LCP.
A news site fixes CLS by reserving space for ad slots and widgets that load late.
A SaaS dashboard reduces INP by chunking heavy data processing and deferring non-critical interactions.
A blog uses SSR/SSG so initial content renders quickly, lowering LCP and improving perceived performance.
A marketing landing page uses font-display: swap and preloads fonts to avoid FOIT and stabilize rendering.

Frequently Asked Questions

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