WildflowerJS Logo WildflowerJS

WildflowerJS Reactive JS, No BS*

A no-build reactive JavaScript framework, rooted in the web platform.
No build step. No dependencies. No lock-in.

<script src="wildflower.min.js"></script> ...and start building.

Back to Basics

The code you write is 100% web standard code. HTML stays HTML. JavaScript stays JavaScript. CSS stays CSS. No JSX, no templating language, no custom syntax to learn. If you know the web platform, you already know how to use this.

WildflowerJS extends the web platform. It doesn't replace it.

Your Development Simplified

Because you develop with 100% web standards, every tool in your existing chain already understands the code: IDE, browser DevTools, linter, formatter, screen reader, SEO crawler. Nothing to install, no custom file types, no sourcemaps. Save the file, refresh, and your change is live.

Just be a web developer.

Batteries Included: One Mental Model

Router, SSR, stores, computed properties, two-way binding, event modifiers, data pools, and TypeScript types, all built in, all speaking the same language. Learn data-bind once and you know binding everywhere: lists, pools, stores, forms. There's no five-library stack to keep in sync.

One script tag. Everything you need.

<div data-component="counter">
  <span data-bind="count"></span>
  <button data-action="increment">
    +1
  </button>
</div>

<script>
wildflower.component('counter', {
  state: { count: 0 },
  increment() { this.count++ }
})
</script>

How It Works

data-bind connects state to the DOM.

data-action connects events to methods.

this.count++ triggers a precise DOM update.

Mutate state. The DOM updates.

Two Reactivity Modes

data-list for automatic reactivity: mutate state, DOM updates. data-pool for explicit control: plain objects, zero proxy overhead, you say what changed.

Same template syntax. Different performance profile. From interactive forms to per-frame particle systems. You choose the right tradeoff for the job.

Try it. Right-click, inspect this demo. Every dot is a real DOM element.

See full demo →

Get Started View Demos
* Build Step

Zero Toolchain

Modern frameworks ask you to install a compiler, a bundler, a package manager, hundreds of fragile transitive dependencies, and a framework-specific file format, before you write a single line of your application.

WildflowerJS was built starting from a single principle: no build step, no tooling. Ever.

WildflowerJS asks you to add a script tag.

There's no CLI scaffolding step, no config files, no .vue/.jsx/.svelte source format. You don't debug through sourcemaps or wait on a build pipeline. Your project has zero dependencies.

Performance isn't a tradeoff. Build steps optimize bundle delivery, not the runtime work that follows it. WildflowerJS writes directly to the DOM, with no virtual DOM or reconciliation pass between state change and update, so it doesn't need a build step to be fast.

The framework is full-featured without the toolchain: router, SSR, stores, computed properties, transitions, pools. You don't need a toolchain to use any of it.

my-app/
  index.html
  app.js
  style.css
  wildflower.min.js

That's the entire project. No package.json.
No node_modules. No config files. Ship it.

Zero Install. Zero Attack Surface.

Every dependency you install is trust extended to a maintainer you've never met, running scripts on your dev machine and in your CI. A typical React + Vite + UI‑lib setup pulls in 300+ transitive packages before you write a feature.

Each one is a potential intrusion vector. NPM worms, OAuth chains compromising deploy platforms, postinstall hijacking: the supply chain is now where production code gets compromised, not the deploy. And signing isn't a backstop: Mini Shai‑Hulud (May 2026) compromised 170+ packages whose malicious versions carried valid SLSA Build Level 3 provenance, because the attestation came from build infrastructure the worm had already taken over.

WildflowerJS users don't have this attack surface, by construction. There is no npm install, no postinstall script, no transitive package graph. The framework is one file you copy or pin by hash.

As of v1.1, the same holds for building the framework itself. WildflowerJS bundles with a vendored rollup and terser pipeline pulled as three SHA‑512‑pinned tarballs: no npm install, no transitive packages, no postinstall scripts in the build path. The entire toolchain is three files you verify by hash.

Zero dependencies is the absence of a problem the rest of the industry has not properly addressed.

A typical React/Vue project:

  npm install
  ├── hundreds of packages
  ├── from hundreds of maintainers
  ├── postinstall scripts run on install
  └── tens to hundreds of MB of transitive code

WildflowerJS:

  <script src="wildflower.min.js"></script>
  └── 1 file.
      No transitive dependencies.

Zero Lock-in

WildflowerJS works with the DOM, not instead of it. There's no virtual DOM intercepting your code and no compiler rewriting your markup. The render cycle is yours.

That means Leaflet, DataTables, Chart.js, D3, Three.js, any library that touches the DOM, just works. No wrapper packages or framework-specific escape hatches required. Drop in a script tag and use it.

Because your code is standard HTML and JavaScript, you're never locked in. Your skills transfer and your code is more portable. If you outgrow the framework, your knowledge doesn't expire.

This also means your "ecosystem" is all of the world of vanilla JS. Without compromises or hacks.

<!-- Use any library directly -->
<div data-component="map-view">
  <div id="map" style="height: 400px"></div>
</div>
wildflower.component('map-view', {
  state: { lat: 51.505, lng: -0.09 },
  init() {
    // Leaflet works as-is. No wrappers.
    this._map = L.map('map')
      .setView([this.lat, this.lng], 13);
    L.tileLayer('https://{s}.tile.osm.org'
      + '/{z}/{x}/{y}.png').addTo(this._map);
  }
})

Precise Reactivity

When you write this.count++, WildflowerJS updates the single DOM node bound to count. Nothing else is touched. There's no tree diffing or reconciliation pass to figure that out.

This isn't a tradeoff. You get fine-grained updates and a simple mental model. Change a property, the bound element updates. That's the entire reactivity model.

Other frameworks ask you to learn signals, accessors, memos, effects, and subscription lifecycles to achieve what WildflowerJS does with a property assignment.

wildflower.component('dashboard', {
  state: {
    users: 1420,
    status: 'healthy'
  },
  computed: {
    summary() {
      return this.users + ' users, ' + this.status;
    }
  },
  refresh() {
    this.users = 1421;
    // Only the elements bound to 'users'
    // and 'summary' update. Everything
    // else on the page is untouched.
  }
})

One Reactivity Model. Everywhere.

Components, Stores, and Plugins all share the same reactive foundation. State, computed properties, and methods work identically no matter where they live. Learn it once, it works the same way in a UI component, a global store, or a framework plugin.

Other frameworks make you learn a different system for each layer. React components use hooks, but stores need Redux or Zustand, which are completely different APIs. Vue components use reactive data, but Pinia stores have their own patterns. Every layer is a new mental model.

In WildflowerJS, there's one model. A store is a component without a template. A plugin is an entity that extends the framework itself, adding directives, lifecycle hooks, and services. The same this.count++ triggers the same reactivity everywhere.

This unlocks patterns other frameworks can't express. A store can run headless physics simulations with tick(), feeding data into a component that renders it through a pool, all using the same reactive primitives, no glue code required.

// Component: reactive UI
wildflower.component('cart', {
  state: { items: [] },
  computed: {
    total() { return this.items.length; }
  }
})

// Store: global shared state
wildflower.store('user', {
  state: { name: '', role: 'guest' },
  computed: {
    isAdmin() { return this.role === 'admin'; }
  }
})

// Plugin: extends the framework
wildflower.plugin({
  name: 'notifications',
  state: { items: [], unreadCount: 0 },
  computed: {
    hasUnread() { return this.unreadCount > 0; }
  },
  add(msg) { this.items.push(msg); this.unreadCount++; }
})
// Access globally: wildflower.$notifications.add(...)

// Same state. Same computed. Same methods.

Data Pools

Every framework wraps collection items in reactive proxies, whether the item needs it or not. WildflowerJS gives you a choice: data-list for push reactivity (automatic), data-pool for pull reactivity (explicit control, zero proxy overhead).

Pools render plain objects with the same template syntax as lists. Mutate the object, call markDirty(), and only that item updates. Full CRUD, selection, bulk operations, all faster than the push-reactive path.

And because pools use pull-based rendering, they scale to simulations, games, particle systems, and data visualizations at native frame rate. Use cases that would choke a virtual DOM. No other framework has anything like this.

<div data-component="user-table">
  <tbody data-pool="users" data-key="id">
    <template>
      <tr>
        <td data-bind="name"></td>
        <td data-bind="status"
            data-bind-class="status === 'active'
              ? 'badge success'
              : 'badge inactive'"></td>
      </tr>
    </template>
  </tbody>
</div>
wildflower.component('user-table', {
  pools: { users: {} },

  init() {
    // Populate: plain objects, no proxies
    data.forEach(u => this.pools.users.add(u));
  },

  // Optional: add tick() and the same pool
  // renders every frame. Same template, same
  // data, different rendering frequency.
  // That's the only difference between a
  // display table and a particle system.
})

Built for AI-Assisted Development

Because WildflowerJS is standard HTML and JavaScript, AI code assistants already know how to write it. There's no custom syntax to hallucinate or compiler quirks to work around. The code an AI generates runs exactly as written, with no build step between generation and execution.

We go further. WildflowerJS ships an AI-optimized reference page with patterns, anti-patterns, and examples designed for code generation context windows. Our llms.txt file follows the llms.txt convention for machine-readable documentation.

And for structured app generation, our Universal App Manifest lets you describe an entire application as a JSON schema (components, state, computed properties, methods, templates) and have an AI generate the working code from the manifest, mediated through framework-specific idiom files.

You: "Build me a todo app with
WildflowerJS"

AI reads llms.txt or ai-assistant.html
     ↓
Generates standard HTML + JS
     ↓
<div data-component="todo-app">
  <input data-model="newItem">
  <button data-action="addItem">
    Add
  </button>
  <ul data-list="items">
    <template>
      <li data-bind="text"></li>
    </template>
  </ul>
</div>
     ↓
Open in your browser. It works, and you can read and understand the code.

Single-File Components All

WildflowerJS does not have a custom file format like .vue or .svelte. It does not need one. Two patterns built entirely from standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript deliver the same colocation and ergonomics, with no compiler.

The model is different. Frameworks with SFC formats own the rendering output and synthesize DOM from the file's template section at runtime. WildflowerJS scans your existing markup and binds reactivity to it. So in practice, "single-file component" means one of two things below: either a .js file with all the component's logic, or an .html fragment file containing the markup, styles, and registration script that you load with a tiny helper.

Pattern 1: JS File With Use-Site Markup

The most common pattern. A single .js file holds the component definition. The HTML markup the component binds to lives where the component is used, inside the data-component element. Loaded via a normal <script src> tag.

The .js file is the single-file component: it owns the state, methods, computed properties, and lifecycle. Styles can also live here via injection on first init(), or sit in a separate stylesheet, whichever fits the project. Markup is content the host page provides, the same way <input> takes attributes from the page that uses it.

Every component used by the documentation site you are reading follows this pattern: www/js/components/*.js. Most of them lean on global stylesheets; one (code-example.js) injects styles in init() as the example below does. Both variants are valid Pattern 1.

SFC Example JS Component, Markup at Use Site Open Full Example ↗

The component file. State, methods, lifecycle, and (optionally) component-scoped styles all live here.

// counter.js: the single-file component
wildflower.component('counter', {
    state: { count: 0 },
    increment() { this.state.count++; },
    decrement() { this.state.count--; },

    init() {
        // Inject component styles once. Idempotent across multiple instances.
        if (document.getElementById('counter-styles')) return;
        const style = document.createElement('style');
        style.id = 'counter-styles';
        style.textContent = `
            .counter { display: flex; gap: 12px; align-items: center; }
            .counter button { padding: 8px 16px; }
        `;
        document.head.appendChild(style);
    }
});

The page that uses it. Loads the component file via a normal <script src>, then declares a data-component element wherever the component should appear.

<script src="counter.js"></script>

<div class="counter" data-component="counter">
    <button data-action="decrement">-</button>
    <span data-bind="count"></span>
    <button data-action="increment">+</button>
</div>

What you get: state, methods, lifecycle, and styles all in one .js file. Browser executes the script tag with no special handling. Multiple instances cost nothing extra and the style injection is idempotent; drop more data-component="counter" elements wherever you need them.

When to reach for it: default for almost everything. If you only need one of the two patterns, this is the one.

Trade-off: the markup lives separately from the JS, which some teams prefer (designers can edit HTML without touching JS) and some prefer to colocate. If you want template + script + style in one file, see Pattern 2.

Pattern 2: HTML Fragment File With Helper

Template, styles, and registration script colocated in a single .html file. A small helper fetches the file, hoists its styles into <head>, re-executes its script (so the component registers), and inserts the markup wherever you want the component to appear. Familiar to anyone arriving from Vue or Svelte.

SFC Example HTML Fragment Loaded via Helper Open Full Example ↗

The .html fragment looks like this.

<!-- counter-fragment.html -->
<style>
    .sfc-frag-counter { display: flex; gap: 12px; align-items: center; }
    .sfc-frag-counter button { padding: 8px 16px; }
</style>

<div class="sfc-frag-counter" data-component="sfc-frag-counter">
    <button data-action="decrement">-</button>
    <span class="count" data-bind="count"></span>
    <button data-action="increment">+</button>
</div>

<script>
    wildflower.component('sfc-frag-counter', {
        state: { count: 0 },
        increment() { this.state.count++; },
        decrement() { this.state.count--; }
    });
</script>

The reusable helper. Copy into your project once.

async function mountComponent(url, target) {
    const html = await fetch(url).then(r => r.text());
    const wrapper = document.createElement('div');
    wrapper.innerHTML = html;

    // Move <style> tags into <head>
    for (const style of wrapper.querySelectorAll('style')) {
        document.head.appendChild(style);
    }

    // Re-create <script> elements so the browser executes them.
    // Scripts inserted via innerHTML are inert; this is the standard fix.
    for (const oldScript of [...wrapper.querySelectorAll('script')]) {
        oldScript.remove();
        const newScript = document.createElement('script');
        for (const attr of oldScript.attributes) {
            newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value);
        }
        newScript.textContent = oldScript.textContent;
        document.head.appendChild(newScript);
    }

    // Move remaining markup into the target and scan
    target.innerHTML = '';
    target.append(...wrapper.children);
    wildflower.scan(target);
}

// Usage
await mountComponent('/components/counter.html', document.getElementById('mount'));

What you get: one file per component. Template, style, and script side by side. Familiar layout for users coming from Vue or Svelte. Lazy-loadable: the file is fetched only when needed.

When to reach for it: you want the visual layout of a .vue file, you want components shipped as standalone HTML fragments without a build step, or you want code-split components fetched on demand.

Trade-off: the helper is twenty lines you maintain. The component instantiates only after a network round-trip. CSS scoping is by class convention, not enforced.

Choosing Between Them

Pattern File format Loading Best for
1. JS file with use-site markup .js Plain <script src> Default. Apps you control end-to-end.
2. HTML fragment with helper .html Helper (fetch + parse + script re-create + scan) .vue-style file layout, or lazy-loaded components.

Neither is "the WildflowerJS way." Both are first-class. Use the one that matches your project's needs. You can mix them within a single app without friction.

What You Don't Get

Honest list of what other frameworks' SFC formats provide that these patterns don't:

  • Compile-time CSS scoping with auto-generated attribute selectors. Vue and Svelte rewrite selectors at build time. Standards-only patterns rely on class conventions or attribute prefixes; nothing the browser enforces.
  • Hot module replacement for SFCs. WildflowerJS does not run a dev server. Editing a component file requires a page reload.
  • TypeScript or Sass inside the file. Pre-processors require a compile step. If you want them, run them as a separate step that outputs plain JS and CSS, then load that output normally.
  • A unique editor mode for the framework's file format. The patterns above are valid HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, so any editor with standard syntax highlighting works without a plugin.

The trade is real and worth understanding. Standards-only means no compiler dependency, no version skew between the framework and your build tools, and no weeks lost to debugging your toolchain. It also means you opt into pre-processing yourself when you want it, instead of getting it free.

Previous Composition Patterns
Next Slots