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Show HN: Dagger.js – A buildless, runtime-only JavaScript micro-framework

(daggerjs.org)
77 points TonyPeakman | 1 comments | 15 Sep 25 01:28 UTC | HN request time: 0.208s | source

TL;DR: dagger.js is a buildless, runtime-only micro-framework that plays nicely with native Web Components. It uses HTML-first directives (e.g. +click, +load) so you can ship a page by dropping a single <script> from a CDN—no bundlers, no compile step.

Why I built it Modern stacks are powerful but often heavy: bundlers, compile steps, framework DSLs, local CLIs. For internal tools, small apps, and edge/serverless deployments, I wanted something you can view-source, paste into a page, and ship.

What it is:

Runtime-only: no build or VDOM compile; hydrate behaviors directly on HTML. HTML directives: e.g. +click, lifecycle +load / +loaded / +unload / +unloaded. Zero APIs: dagger.js works in pure declarative mode, modules and directives provide everything you need to build your application. Web-Components-first: works alongside Custom Elements; keep concerns local. Distributed modules: load small, focused script modules via CDN. Progressive enhancement: the page renders without a build step.

Use cases:

Admin panels & dashboards that don’t warrant a full toolchain Embed widgets, docs-sites with interactive bits Edge/serverless apps where cold start and simplicity matter

Links

GitHub: https://github.com/dagger8224/dagger.js Docs/Guide: https://daggerjs.org Examples: https://codepen.io/dagger8224/pens

I’d love feedback on edge-cases, and where it breaks. Happy to answer tough questions here.

Show context
taosx ◴[15 Sep 25 03:09 UTC] No.45245712[source]▶
I’d actually love to see something that goes in the opposite direction, highly optimized and compiled, where the result is as small, fast, and efficient as possible. I get that a lot of people dislike compilation, but once I have the CI set upI never found build steps to be a problem for me.

Some time ago while I was experimenting with writing Debian benchmarks[0], I found that by completely avoiding strings, using Uint8Arrays, and manually managing bounds/memory, I could squeeze out performance that almost made you forget you were writing JavaScript. I never ended up submitting a PR, but it was pretty eye-opening.

At one point I went into a rabbit hole and tried to build something similar on my own, but it got complicated very quickly given my limited compiler knowledge. That’s why I always thought Prepack[1] was such a cool idea.

[0] https://benchmarksgame-team.pages.debian.net/benchmarksgame/... [1] https://github.com/facebookarchive/prepack

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fergie ◴[15 Sep 25 06:52 UTC] No.45246845[source]▶
> I’d actually love to see something that goes in the opposite direction, highly optimized and compiled, where the result is as small, fast, and efficient as possible

Right, but that is what basically every JS framework is going for these days. Its refreshing to see somebody trying to go back to old school non-compiled js/html where every front-end is open-source(ish)

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1. TonyPeakman ◴[15 Sep 25 08:30 UTC] No.45247413[source]▶
Really appreciate that. The “old school” vibe is deliberate — I wanted to lower the barrier so that you can share a snippet or inspect a page and actually learn from it, the way we used to with plain HTML/JS. Frameworks are great, but sometimes it’s nice to have a path that prioritizes openness and simplicity over machinery.