What causes "The method you called is not defined" in Semantic-Org/Semantic-UI?

Use a valid animation name (e.g. 'fade', 'scale') or method (e.g. 'clear queue', 'stop').

The method you called is not defined

Error message

The method you called is not defined

What it means

Defined under transition.error.method, but Transition's invoke() dispatcher (transition.js:947-981) never calls module.error(error.method): an unrecognized method name leaves found undefined and the call silently returns undefined. The string is dead config in this version. Like all modules, module.error is a bound console.error (transition.js:888), not a thrown exception.

Source

Thrown at src/definitions/modules/transition.js:1088

  },

  className   : {
    animating  : 'animating',
    disabled   : 'disabled',
    hidden     : 'hidden',
    inward     : 'in',
    loading    : 'loading',
    looping    : 'looping',
    outward    : 'out',
    transition : 'transition',
    visible    : 'visible'
  },

  // possible errors
  error: {
    noAnimation : 'Element is no longer attached to DOM. Unable to animate.  Use silent setting to surpress this warning in production.',
    repeated    : 'That animation is already occurring, cancelling repeated animation',
    method      : 'The method you called is not defined',
    support     : 'This browser does not support CSS animations'
  }

};


})( jQuery, window, document );

View on GitHub (pinned to 597843ab84)

Solutions

Use a valid animation name (e.g. 'fade', 'scale') or method (e.g. 'clear queue', 'stop').
Confirm the method/animation exists for this Semantic UI version.
Assert the return value if you need a hard failure instead of relying on a thrown error.

Example fix

// before
$('#el').transition('faed'); // typo -> silent no-op
// after
$('#el').transition('fade');

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Transition silently no-ops on unknown methods; validate first.
var valid = ['fade','scale','fade up','fade down','flip','drop','fly','browse','slide','slide down','slide up','jiggle','flash','shake','pulse','tada','bounce','clear queue','stop','show','hide'];
function callTransition($el, anim){
  if (valid.indexOf(String(anim).toLowerCase()) === -1) {
    throw new Error('Unknown transition: ' + anim);
  }
  return $el.transition(anim);
}

Prevention

Treat an undefined return from .transition() as a likely bad method/animation name.
Pin your Semantic UI version; animation catalogs differ across releases.
These are console.error logs (transition.js:888), not exceptions — validate explicitly.

When it happens

Trigger: $('#el').transition('bogusMethod') — the dispatcher finds no matching key on the module instance and returns undefined with no console output.

Common situations: Typo in a transition method/animation name, using a method from a different version, confusing animation names with method names.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Semantic-Org/Semantic-UI@597843ab84 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8f6d5bae6de5f121. Report an issue: GitHub.