StateSurface

Server owns state. Client owns DOM. Pages stream.

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StateSurface is a state-layout mapping runtime for the web. Pages load as real MPA HTML. In-page updates stream through <h-state> anchors via NDJSON — no SPA router, no client-side state management, no virtual DOM diffing on your side.

User action → POST /transition/:name → Server yields state frames
            → NDJSON stream → Client frame queue → DOM projection

Why StateSurface?

Traditional SPA	StateSurface
Client fetches data, manages state, renders UI	Server streams state, client projects DOM
Full-page JS bundle, hydration cost	Per-anchor hydration, minimal client JS
Complex state sync (Redux, Zustand, ...)	No client state — server is the source of truth
Router + layout + data loading	File-based routes, declarative layout slots
Loading spinners everywhere	Progressive streaming with partial/accumulate frames

Quick Start

npx create-state-surface my-app
cd my-app
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:3000 — full SSR, streaming transitions, and live action binding out of the box.

The Four Concepts

StateSurface has exactly four concepts. That's the whole model.

1. Surface — The page shell

A surface is static HTML with <h-state> anchor slots. It never changes during a page visit — only the content inside each slot updates.

// routes/dashboard.ts
import type { RouteModule } from 'state-surface';
import { baseSurface, joinSurface, stateSlots } from '../layouts/surface.js';

export default {
  layout: stateScript =>
    baseSurface(
      joinSurface(
        '<main class="max-w-6xl mx-auto p-6">',
        '  <h1 class="text-2xl font-bold mb-6">Stock Dashboard</h1>',
        '  <div class="grid grid-cols-3 gap-4">',
        stateSlots('stock:price', 'stock:news', 'stock:chart'),
        '  </div>',
        stateSlots('stock:analysis'),
        '</main>'
      ),
      stateScript
    ),
} satisfies RouteModule;

2. Template — Pure projection

A template receives server data and returns JSX. No useState, no useEffect, no fetch calls.

// routes/dashboard/templates/stockPrice.tsx
import { defineTemplate } from 'state-surface';

const StockPrice = ({ symbol, price, change }: Props) => (
  <div class="rounded-lg border p-4">
    <h3 class="font-bold">{symbol}</h3>
    <p class="text-2xl">${price}</p>
    <span class={change >= 0 ? 'text-green-600' : 'text-red-600'}>
      {change >= 0 ? '+' : ''}{change}%
    </span>
  </div>
);

export default defineTemplate('stock:price', StockPrice);

3. Transition — Server-side state generator

An async generator that yields state frames. Each yield sends one NDJSON line to the client, updating the UI progressively.

// routes/dashboard/transitions/loadDashboard.ts
import { defineTransition } from 'state-surface/server';

export default defineTransition('dashboard-load', async function* (_params, _req) {
  // First frame: full state — renders loading skeleton
  yield {
    type: 'state',
    states: {
      'stock:price': { symbol: 'AAPL', price: 0, change: 0, loading: true },
      'stock:news': { items: [], loading: true },
      'stock:chart': { data: [], loading: true },
    },
  };

  // Partial frame: update only price slot
  const price = await fetchPrice('AAPL');
  yield {
    type: 'state',
    full: false,
    changed: ['stock:price'],
    states: { 'stock:price': price },
  };

  // More partial frames as data arrives...
});

4. Action — Declarative trigger

Trigger transitions from HTML attributes — zero JS event handlers.

<button data-action="search" data-params='{"query":"test"}'>Search</button>

<form data-action="update-shipping">
  <select name="method">
    <option value="express">Express</option>
  </select>
  <button type="submit">Update</button>
</form>

Attribute	Purpose
data-action	Transition name to invoke
data-params	JSON params (optional)
data-pending-targets	Anchor names to mark pending during transition (optional)

Frame Types

StateSurface streams three types of state frames:

Full frame — Replaces all active state. First frame in every stream must be full.

{"type":"state","states":{"slot:a":{"title":"Hello"},"slot:b":{"items":[1,2,3]}}}

Partial frame — Updates or removes specific slots without touching others.

{"type":"state","full":false,"changed":["slot:a"],"states":{"slot:a":{"title":"Updated"}}}

Accumulate frame — Appends data into existing slots (arrays concat, strings concat, objects merge). Perfect for streaming chat, logs, or progressive content.

{"type":"state","accumulate":true,"states":{"chat:current":{"text":" world"}}}

Features

• Full SSR — Every page renders complete HTML on the server
• NDJSON streaming — Progressive UI updates via full, partial, and accumulate frames
• Abort previous — Concurrent transitions auto-cancel earlier ones
• Per-anchor hydration — SHA256 hash check, no full-page rehydration
• File-based routing — Routes, templates, and transitions auto-discovered from routes/
• View Transition API — MPA cross-fade + in-page element morphing
• Animation presets — 8 CSS animations via data-animate (fade, slide-up, scale, blur, ...)
• i18n ready — Bilingual content driven by cookie + transition
• Sub-path mounting — BASE_PATH=/demo pnpm dev

Project Structure

routes/                  # Your route modules (auto-loaded)
  index.ts               #   GET / — page layout + config
  guide/[slug].ts        #   Dynamic params: GET /guide/:slug
  <route>/templates/     #   TSX projection components
  <route>/transitions/   #   Server-side state generators
  _shared/               #   Cross-route templates & transitions

layouts/                 # Page composition helpers
shared/                  # Data helpers, i18n utilities
client/                  # Assets (styles.css, plugins/)

engine/                  # Framework core (do not edit)
  server/                #   Express routes, SSR, transition handler
  client/                #   Browser bootstrap, hydration, frame queue
  shared/                #   Protocol types, template registry

Install & Update

New project — use the CLI scaffolding:

npx create-state-surface my-app

Update existing project — upgrade the runtime package:

pnpm up state-surface
pnpm test && pnpm build

Do not re-run create-state-surface to update an existing app. For breaking releases, see MIGRATION.md.

Commands

pnpm dev                          # Dev server (tsx watch + Vite HMR)
pnpm build                        # Production build
pnpm start                        # Run production server
pnpm test                         # Run all tests (Vitest)
pnpm test path/to/file.test.ts    # Run a single test file
pnpm format                       # Format with Prettier

BASE_PATH=/demo pnpm dev          # Serve under /demo/ prefix

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
PORT	3000	Server listen port
BASE_PATH	(empty)	Mount app under a sub-path (e.g. /demo)
NODE_ENV	development	development / test / production

API Reference

// Client + shared
import { defineTemplate, prefixPath, getBasePath } from 'state-surface';

// Server
import { createApp, defineTransition } from 'state-surface/server';

// Client runtime
import { createStateSurface } from 'state-surface/client';

// Types
import type { RouteModule, StateFrame, BootConfig, TemplateModule } from 'state-surface';
import type { TransitionHandler, TransitionHooks } from 'state-surface/server';
import type { StateSurfacePlugin } from 'state-surface/client';

Tech Stack

• Server: Express 5 + Vite middleware
• Rendering: Lithent (~4 KB VDOM diff engine)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS via @tailwindcss/vite
• Transport: NDJSON over HTTP POST
• Testing: Vitest + Supertest + happy-dom

License

MIT