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Rive Events allow your animations to communicate with your application code. Events can be triggered from animations or state machines and captured in your iOS app to drive logic, navigation, or other interactions.

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Overview

The Rive iOS Runtime supports two types of events:
  • General Events: Custom events with properties you define
  • Open URL Events: Special events for opening URLs with target specifications
Events are fired from within Rive animations and captured through delegate callbacks in your iOS application.

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Event Types

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RiveEvent Base Class

All events inherit from RiveEvent, which provides: 
class RiveEvent: NSObject {
    func name() -> String        // Event name
    func type() -> Int           // Event type identifier
    func delay() -> Float        // Delay in seconds since fired
    func properties() -> [String: Any]  // Custom properties dictionary
}

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RiveGeneralEvent

General events are custom events you define in the Rive editor: 
class RiveGeneralEvent: RiveEvent {
    // Inherits all RiveEvent properties
}

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RiveOpenUrlEvent

Special events for opening URLs: 
class RiveOpenUrlEvent: RiveEvent {
    func url() -> String      // URL to open
    func target() -> String   // Target window/frame
}

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Setting Up Event Handling

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Implementing the Delegate

To receive events, implement the RiveStateMachineDelegate protocol: 
import RiveRuntime

class RiveEventsViewModel: RiveViewModel {
    override init() {
        super.init(fileName: "rating_animation")
    }
    
    @objc func onRiveEventReceived(onRiveEvent riveEvent: RiveEvent) {
        print("Event Name: \(riveEvent.name())")
        print("Event Type: \(riveEvent.type())")
        
        // Handle specific event types
        if let openUrlEvent = riveEvent as? RiveOpenUrlEvent {
            handleOpenUrl(openUrlEvent)
        } else if let generalEvent = riveEvent as? RiveGeneralEvent {
            handleGeneralEvent(generalEvent)
        }
    }
}

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Handling General Events

General events can carry custom properties: 
func handleGeneralEvent(_ event: RiveGeneralEvent) {
    let properties = event.properties()
    
    // Access custom properties
    if let message = properties["message"] as? String {
        print("Message: \(message)")
    }
    
    if let score = properties["score"] as? Int {
        print("Score: \(score)")
    }
    
    if let isComplete = properties["complete"] as? Bool {
        print("Complete: \(isComplete)")
    }
}

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Handling Open URL Events

Open URL events are designed for navigation: 
func handleOpenUrl(_ event: RiveOpenUrlEvent) {
    print("URL: \(event.url())")
    print("Target: \(event.target())")
    
    if let url = URL(string: event.url()) {
        #if os(iOS) || os(visionOS) || os(tvOS)
        UIApplication.shared.open(url)
        #else
        NSWorkspace.shared.open(url)
        #endif
    }
}

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Complete SwiftUI Example

Here’s a full example showing event handling in SwiftUI: 
import SwiftUI
import RiveRuntime

struct EventsView: View {
    @StateObject private var rvm = RiveEventsViewModel()
    
    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            rvm.view()
                .frame(width: 400, height: 400)
            
            Text("Event Message")
                .font(.headline)
                .padding(.bottom, 10)
            
            Text(rvm.eventText)
                .padding()
                .background(rvm.eventText.isEmpty ? Color.clear : Color.black)
                .foregroundColor(.white)
                .cornerRadius(10)
        }
    }
}

class RiveEventsViewModel: RiveViewModel {
    @Published var eventText = ""
    
    init() {
        super.init(fileName: "rating_animation")
    }
    
    func view() -> some View {
        return super.view()
            .frame(width: 400, height: 400, alignment: .center)
    }
    
    @objc func onRiveEventReceived(onRiveEvent riveEvent: RiveEvent) {
        debugPrint("Event Name: \(riveEvent.name())")
        debugPrint("Event Type: \(riveEvent.type())")
        
        if let openUrlEvent = riveEvent as? RiveOpenUrlEvent {
            debugPrint("Open URL Event Properties: \(openUrlEvent.properties())")
            if let url = URL(string: openUrlEvent.url()) {
                #if os(iOS) || os(visionOS) || os(tvOS)
                UIApplication.shared.open(url)
                #else
                NSWorkspace.shared.open(url)
                #endif
            }
        } else if let generalEvent = riveEvent as? RiveGeneralEvent {
            let properties = generalEvent.properties()
            debugPrint("General Event Properties: \(properties)")
            
            if let msg = properties["message"] as? String {
                eventText = msg
            }
        }
    }
}

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UIKit Example

import UIKit
import RiveRuntime

class EventsViewController: UIViewController {
    @IBOutlet weak var riveView: RiveView!
    @IBOutlet weak var messageLabel: UILabel!
    
    var viewModel: EventViewModel!
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        viewModel = EventViewModel()
        viewModel.delegate = self
        viewModel.setView(riveView)
    }
}

extension EventsViewController: RiveStateMachineDelegate {
    func onRiveEventReceived(onRiveEvent riveEvent: RiveEvent) {
        if let generalEvent = riveEvent as? RiveGeneralEvent,
           let message = generalEvent.properties()["message"] as? String {
            messageLabel.text = message
        }
    }
}

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Event Timing

The delay() method returns the time delay in seconds since the event was fired: 
@objc func onRiveEventReceived(onRiveEvent riveEvent: RiveEvent) {
    let delay = riveEvent.delay()
    print("Event fired \(delay) seconds ago")
}
This is particularly useful for events fired from timeline animations where timing precision matters.

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Common Event Properties

Common property names used in events: 
let properties = event.properties()

// Strings
if let message = properties["message"] as? String { }
if let action = properties["action"] as? String { }

// Numbers
if let score = properties["score"] as? Int { }
if let value = properties["value"] as? Double { }

// Booleans
if let isComplete = properties["complete"] as? Bool { }
if let isEnabled = properties["enabled"] as? Bool { }

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Best Practices

  1. Event Names: Use descriptive event names in the Rive editor that match your app’s domain
  2. Type Checking: Always check event types before casting to specific event classes
  3. Property Keys: Document property keys used in your events for consistency
  4. Error Handling: Safely unwrap optional properties to avoid crashes
  5. Threading: Event callbacks are called on the main thread, safe for UI updates
  6. State Management: Use @Published properties to propagate event data to SwiftUI views

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Event Use Cases

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User Interactions

// Handle button clicks from animation
if event.name() == "buttonClicked" {
    if let buttonId = event.properties()["id"] as? String {
        handleButtonClick(buttonId)
    }
}

// Navigate based on animation events
if let openUrlEvent = riveEvent as? RiveOpenUrlEvent {
    navigateToScreen(url: openUrlEvent.url())
}

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Game Logic

// Process game events
if event.name() == "scoreChanged" {
    if let points = event.properties()["points"] as? Int {
        updateScore(by: points)
    }
}

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Analytics

// Track animation interactions
Analytics.logEvent(event.name(), parameters: event.properties())

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Creating Events in Rive

In the Rive editor:
  1. Select a state or transition in your state machine
  2. Add an event in the Inspector panel
  3. Choose event type (General or Open URL)
  4. Set event name and properties
  5. Configure timing and conditions

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See Also

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