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Show HN: StateSurface – server-owned state and NDJSON streaming for MPA pages
Hi HN,
I built an experimental web runtime called StateSurface:
https://github.com/superlucky84/state-surface https://github.com/superlucky84/state-surface
https://state-surface.subtleflo.com/ https://state-surface.subtleflo.com/
It explores a simple idea:
Server owns state. Client owns DOM projection. Pages are real MPA HTML, and in-page updates stream over NDJSON.
The model has four pieces:
- Surface: HTML page shell with <h-state> anchors
- Template: stateless TSX projection
- Transition: server-side async generator yielding state frames
- Action: declarative HTML trigger
This is not production-ready — it’s a prototype to explore whether server-owned state + streaming UI can be a useful alternative to SPA-heavy architectures.
Would love feedback, especially from people familiar with htmx, LiveView, Hotwire, or server-driven UI in general.
- superlucky84 7mo agoA bit more context on why I built this: I like MPA simplicity, but I also wanted progressive in-page updates without turning everything into a SPA with client state, router logic, and hydration complexity. So this project is basically me asking: Can the server remain the source of truth for UI state, while the client only handles DOM projection for named slots? I’m not claiming this replaces React/Next/etc. I’m trying to see whether this model is useful for a narrower class of apps: - streaming interfaces - server-driven workflows - multi-step forms - dashboards - agent / assistant-style UIs Very interested in where people think this idea is promising vs fundamentally awkward.