Show HN: StateSurface – server-owned state and NDJSON streaming for MPA pages
github.comHi HN,
I built an experimental web runtime called StateSurface:
https://github.com/superlucky84/state-surface 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. A 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.