VitePress Cross-Framework Rendering Strategy
Overview
The vitepress-rendering-strategies
library provides cross-framework component rendering capabilities for the vitepress
static site generator, breaking through the limitation that vitepress
natively only supports vue
components.
Currently only extends support for
react
component rendering, with future support planned for other mainstreamUI
frameworks (such assolid
,svelte
,preact
,angular
, etc.).
Technical Architecture Overview
This library is inspired by astro
's Islands Architecture design, implementing cross-framework component integration on top of vitepress
's SSG
(Static Site Generation) foundation.
Core Architecture Features:
- Static-First: Based on
vitepress
'sSSG
architecture, components are pre-rendered at build time. - Selective
hydration
: Only components that need interaction are activated on the client side. - Framework Isolation: Each framework component runs independently, with each component container completing
hydration
independently, avoiding global state conflicts. - Progressive Enhancement: Prioritizes static content, gradually enhancing to interactive applications through different rendering strategies.
Feature Highlights
- Cross-Framework Support: Currently provides native support for
react
component rendering invitepress
, with future expansion to other mainstream frameworks. - Diverse Rendering Strategies: Referencing
astro
's template directives. Client directives currently supportclient:only
,client:load
,client:visible
rendering modes, withssr:only
as the default rendering mode. - SPA Routing Optimization:
spa:sync-render
(abbreviated asspa:sr
) directive optimizesSPA
route switching performance. - One-way Data Transfer: Supports passing
props
fromvue
toreact
child components during initial component rendering for initializingReact
components. This is a one-time transfer, not reactive binding. - Development Experience: Complete
HMR
support providing smooth development experience. - Environment Consistency: Maintains consistent rendering strategies between development and production environments, avoiding rendering issues caused by environment inconsistencies.
- Support for
MPA
Mode: Fully compatible withvitepress
'sMPA
mode. Even inMPA
mode,react
component rendering andhydration
work normally.
Design Intent of spa:sync-render Directive
vitepress
is an SSG
application that completes page pre-rendering work during the build phase, with controlled client-side routing. Initial page rendering completes client-side hydration (filtering static nodes) work. When routes change, vitepress
loads the client-side scripts that the target route page depends on, completing partial client-side rendering work. This is the typical architecture of SSG
applications.
By default, vitepress-rendering-strategies
integrates all components on the target page that require pre-rendering (i.e., non-Vue components) into a single, separate script. During a route change, this script is preloaded. After the main Vue rendering is complete, the pre-rendered output is injected into the root container node. If a component also requires hydration, its client-side script is then loaded to complete the client-side hydration process. While this ensures consistent component rendering behavior across route changes, it introduces a classic problem: the performance advantages of pre-rendering are nullified in client-side navigation scenarios, and it can cause component flickering issues.
The following demo environment is running with CPU: 20x slowdown
and 0.75x
playback speed:
In
vitepress
'sSPA
route switching,vue
content updates are synchronous, but loading and rendering pre-renderedHTML
of non-vue
components (such asreact
) is asynchronous. This time difference causes visual flickering and makes the performance advantages of pre-rendering lost during switching.
The SSG
architecture strategy adopted by vitepress
is reasonable, and we do not intend to adjust the overall architecture. The goal is to enhance the performance advantages of pre-rendering as much as possible on the existing architecture. For this purpose, we provide the spa:sync-render
(abbreviated as spa:sr
) directive, which integrates the pre-rendered output of all components using this directive on the target page into vue
's client-side rendering script, following vue
's client-side rendering work and synchronously completing the rendering work of pre-rendered output, so users will not see component flicker issues in special scenarios.
Documentation-oriented projects themselves are not recommended to integrate a large number of high-load, highly interactive rendering components. Documentation-oriented projects are more concerned with the time it takes to deliver the main content to the user. We assume that such components are non-critical rendering components. We do not recommend enabling the spa:sync-render
directive for these components, as it increases the size of the vue
client-side rendering script and also requires loading additional scripts to complete the component's rendering, which may delay the delivery of the main content.
Client Bundle Size Increase Explanation
When vitepress
initially renders a page (not route switching), it completes the application's hydration
work through a simplified vue
client script (.lean.js
). Simplified means that vitepress
filters out all static nodes during compilation to reduce the script size for initial hydration
.
When routes switch, vitepress
loads the client-side scripts that the target route page depends on, completing partial client-side rendering work. This is a complete client-side rendering, and client-side scripts must contain all information for rendering components.
The size increase mentioned above only applies to client-side scripts loaded during route switching, and does not affect the vue
client script (.lean.js
) size during initial page rendering (not route switching).
We provide this directive to meet the synchronous rendering needs of critical rendering components, but developers should be cautious about its impact on client bundle size.
The ssr:only
directive implies that the component is purely static. We assume such components are critical rendering components, so their rendering priority is aligned with vue
components by default to eliminate visual inconsistencies during route transitions.
The core of
spa:sr
is to make a trade-off between a smoother route transition experience and smaller client bundle size. Please carefully evaluate whether your component is a critical component that requires synchronous rendering.
Based on the considerations above, we have established the following default rules:
- All components using a
client:*
directive do not have thespa:sync-render
directive enabled by default, unless thespa:sync-render
(orspa:sr
) directive is explicitly enabled. - All components using the
ssr:only
directive (including components with no directive) have thespa:sync-render
(orspa:sr
) directive enabled by default, unless explicitly enabled withspa:sync-render:disable
(orspa:sr:disable
) directive.
Usage
<script setup>
import VueComp1 from './rendering-strategy-comps/vue/VueComp1.vue';
const page = {
title: 'Rendering Strategy',
};
const vueUniqueId = 'vue-unique-id';
</script>
<script lang="react">
import ReactComp1 from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp1';
import { ReactComp2 } from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp2';
import ReactComp3 from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp3';
import { ReactComp4 } from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp4';
import { ReactComp5 } from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp5';
import ReactVueSharedComp from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactVueSharedComp';
</script>
Strategy Design
The vitepress-rendering-strategies
cross-framework rendering strategy currently provides four core rendering modes for react
components, with each mode optimized for specific application scenarios.
Usage Notes
Component tag naming
- Must start with an uppercase letter (React-style): e.g.,
MyComp
. - The tag name must exactly match the locally imported name in the same
.md
file's<script lang="react">
block. If you importimport { Landing as HomeLanding } from '...';
, then the tag must be<HomeLanding ... />
. - Any mismatch will be skipped at compile time with a warning.
- Must start with an uppercase letter (React-style): e.g.,
Self-closing only
React
components in markdown must be written as self-closing:<Comp ... />
.- Non-self-closing forms like
<Comp>...</Comp>
will be skipped with a warning.
Location and imports
- Components must be imported in the same markdown page inside a
<script lang="react">
block. Unimported components are ignored. - Components can be used inside Vue slots/templates (e.g., within
<template #default>...</template>
); they will still be correctly discovered and transformed.
- Components must be imported in the same markdown page inside a
Props passing (one-time)
- All non-strategy attributes on the tag are passed to the
React
component as props (strings).Vue
bindings like:page-title="page.title"
are evaluated byVue
first and written asDOM
attributes, then forwarded as props duringReact
render/hydration. This is a one-time data pass, not reactive. - Do not pass functions or event handlers via attributes (e.g.,
onClick
); bridge of callable props/events is not supported across frameworks.
- All non-strategy attributes on the tag are passed to the
Client:Only
Feature Analysis:
Suitable for client-side components with strong dependencies on the host environment, such as components that depend on the browser host environment's
window
,document
objects or host environmentAPI
.This mode is typically used for rendering non-critical or lightweight components, benefiting
TTFB
metrics (reducing server load), but not beneficial forFCP
,LCP
metrics (no content on first screen),TTI
metrics (need to wait for JS loading), andSEO
(content not in initial HTML). The impact onINP
metrics depends on component complexity.This mode has low (or almost no) server load, with the entire rendering overhead borne entirely by the user's host environment. Providers can typically host scripts on
CDN
or use it as a fallback solution during high server load.This mode has low mental burden for developers. It's commonly used when there's no need to integrate complex rendering logic in development environments and when partially updating components in production environments. It's currently the most common rendering mode.
<script lang="react">
import ReactComp1 from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp1';
</script>
<ReactComp1 client:only render-strategy="client:only" component-name="ReactComp1" :page-title="page.title" :render-count="1" />
import { useState } from 'react';
import type { CompProps } from '../type';
import './css/rc1.css';
export default function ReactComp1(props: CompProps) {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<div className="react-comp1-demo">
<strong>
{props['render-count']}: Rendering Strategy:{' '}
{props['render-strategy']}
</strong>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Component Name:</strong>{' '}
<span>{props['component-name']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Page Title:</strong> <span>{props['page-title']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<button
className="rc1-button"
onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}
type="button"
>
Click Me!
</button>
<strong>Client-Only Rendering Mode, React Instance Count:</strong>{' '}
<span>{count}</span>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
);
}
.rc1-button {
padding: 5px;
border-radius: 8px;
font-size: 14px;
margin-right: 8px;
background-color: #56a8ab;
color: #9ee2d3;
border: none;
}
Pre-processed to:
<div
__vrite__react_render_id__="8b05459e"
__vrite__react_render_directive__="client:only"
__vrite__react_render_component__="ReactComp1"
__vrite__react_spa_sync_render__="false"
render-strategy="client:only"
component-name="ReactComp1"
page-title="Rendering Strategy"
render-count="1"
></div>
Rendering result:
SSR:Only
Feature Analysis:
Suitable for pure static content components, such as data display,
SEO
critical content, and other components that don't require client-side interaction. Server rendering priority strategy is the most commonly used rendering strategy for document content-oriented (SSG
). This is the default rendering strategy forvitepress-rendering-strategies
.astro
also adopts this strategy as the default rendering strategy:Astro leverages server rendering over client-side rendering in the browser as much as possible.
Combined with
SSG
mode, pre-rendering overhead only occurs during project build time. After build completion, the generated staticHTML
can be hosted onCDN
without affecting production server load. If specific real-time rendering support is needed, it can be combined withISR
for implementation. This mode can also serve as a fallback solution during high server load.Except for not being beneficial for real-time rendering and interactivity requirements, this mode is beneficial for all other metrics (
FCP
,LCP
,SEO
, etc.) while avoiding increases in client-sideJavaScript
bundle size.
This is the default rendering strategy for
vitepress-rendering-strategies
, aligning with the core needs of document-oriented projects.
<script lang="react">
import { ReactComp2 } from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp2';
</script>
<ReactComp2 ssr:only spa:sr render-strategy="ssr:only" component-name="ReactComp2" :page-title="page.title" :render-count="2" />
import { useState } from 'react';
import type { CompProps } from '../type';
import './css/rc2.css';
export function ReactComp2(props: CompProps) {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<div className="react-comp2-demo">
<strong>
{props['render-count']}: Rendering Strategy:{' '}
{props['render-strategy']}
</strong>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Component Name:</strong>{' '}
<span>{props['component-name']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Page Title:</strong> <span>{props['page-title']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<button
className="rc2-button"
onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}
type="button"
>
Click Me!
</button>
<strong>Pre-rendering Mode Only, React Instance Count:</strong>{' '}
<span>{count}</span>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
);
}
.rc2-button {
padding: 5px;
border-radius: 8px;
font-size: 14px;
margin-right: 8px;
background-color: pink;
color: orange;
border: none;
}
Pre-processed to:
<div
__vrite__react_render_id__="c46fb2f1"
__vrite__react_render_directive__="ssr:only"
__vrite__react_render_component__="ReactComp2"
__vrite__react_spa_sync_render__="true"
render-strategy="ssr:only"
component-name="ReactComp2"
page-title="Rendering Strategy"
render-count="2"
></div>
Rendering result:
- Component Name: ReactComp2
- Page Title: Rendering Strategy
- Pre-rendering Mode Only, React Instance Count: 0
Client:Load
Feature Analysis:
- This is a typical isomorphic application component that requires server-side rendering to improve first-screen performance while needing client-side interaction functionality, suitable for critical component rendering.
- Adopts an architecture similar to traditional
SSR
, pre-rendering components at build time to generate initialHTML
, with client-side scripts executinghydration
work immediately after loading to take over component interaction. TraditionalSSR
applications may encounter performance bottleneck issues, including server rendering performance issues during high concurrency and client-sideFID
,INP
metric issues, giving users the feeling of a fake site with weak interactivity. Islands Architecture simplifies the complexity of traditionalSSR
architecture, allowing each component container to independently complete rendering andhydration
processes without waiting for all components to finish rendering before performing one-time root containerhydration
. - Note that this is different from traditional
SSR
architecture - this completeshydration
work on top ofSSG
architecture. Pre-rendering is completed at build time, generating staticHTML
, rather than runtime rendering in traditionalSSR
. After build completion, it can be hosted onCDN
without affecting production server load. Therefore, using this mode compared tossr:only
mode adds client-sidehydration
process, with this overhead borne byCDN
and user host environment. - This mode typically benefits
FCP
,LCP
metrics (quickly displaying content) but is not beneficial forTTI
metrics (requireshydration
time). The impact onFID
,INP
metrics depends on the degree of main thread blocking duringhydration
and component complexity.
<script lang="react">
import ReactComp3 from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp3';
</script>
<ReactComp3 client:load spa:sync-render render-strategy="client:load" component-name="ReactComp3" :page-title="page.title" :render-count="3" />
import { useState } from 'react';
import type { CompProps } from '../type';
import './css/rc3.css';
export default function ReactComp3(props: CompProps) {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<div className="react-comp3-demo">
<strong>
{props['render-count']}: Rendering Strategy:{' '}
{props['render-strategy']}
</strong>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Component Name:</strong>{' '}
<span>{props['component-name']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Page Title:</strong> <span>{props['page-title']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<button
className="rc3-button"
onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}
type="button"
>
Click Me!
</button>
<strong>
Pre-rendering Client Hydration Mode, React Instance Count:
</strong>{' '}
<span>{count}</span>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
);
}
.rc3-button {
padding: 5px;
border-radius: 8px;
font-size: 14px;
margin-right: 8px;
background-color: #9ceaca63;
color: #1dd270;
border: none;
}
Pre-processed to:
<div
__vrite__react_render_id__="ac62f9f7"
__vrite__react_render_directive__="client:load"
__vrite__react_render_component__="ReactComp3"
__vrite__react_spa_sync_render__="true"
render-strategy="client:load"
component-name="ReactComp3"
page-title="Rendering Strategy"
render-count="3"
></div>
Rendering result:
- Component Name: ReactComp3
- Page Title: Rendering Strategy
- Pre-rendering Client Hydration Mode, React Instance Count: 0
Client:Visible
Feature Analysis:
- Suitable for interactive components that are not critical content on the first screen, such as comment systems at the bottom of pages, chart components, etc. However, note that component scripts will adopt preloading strategy by default, not pure lazy loading.
- Features can refer to
client:load
.
<script lang="react">
import { ReactComp4 } from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp4';
</script>
<ReactComp4 client:visible render-strategy="client:visible" component-name="ReactComp4" :page-title="page.title" :render-count="4" />
import { useState } from 'react';
import type { CompProps } from '../type';
export function ReactComp4(props: CompProps) {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<div className="react-comp4-demo">
<strong>
{props['render-count']}: Rendering Strategy:{' '}
{props['render-strategy']}
</strong>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Component Name:</strong>{' '}
<span>{props['component-name']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Page Title:</strong> <span>{props['page-title']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<button
style={{
padding: '5px',
borderRadius: '8px',
fontSize: '14px',
marginRight: '8px',
backgroundColor: '#56a8ab',
color: '#9ee2d3',
border: 'none'
}}
onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}
type="button"
>
Click Me!
</button>
<strong>
Pre-rendering Client Visible Hydration Mode, React Instance
Count:
</strong>{' '}
<span>{count}</span>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
);
}
Pre-processed to:
<div
__vrite__react_render_id__="af2c1304"
__vrite__react_render_directive__="client:visible"
__vrite__react_render_component__="ReactComp4"
__vrite__react_spa_sync_render__="false"
render-strategy="client:visible"
component-name="ReactComp4"
page-title="Rendering Strategy"
render-count="4"
></div>
Rendering result:
- Component Name: ReactComp4
- Page Title: Rendering Strategy
- Pre-rendering Client Visible Hydration Mode, React Instance Count: 0
Default Strategy
The default rendering strategy is equivalent to ssr:only
mode. For details, see ssr:only
.
<script lang="react">
import { ReactComp5 } from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactComp5';
</script>
<ReactComp5 render-strategy="default" component-name="ReactComp5" :page-title="page.title" :render-count="5" />
import { useState } from 'react';
import type { CompProps } from '../type';
export function ReactComp5(props: CompProps) {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<div className="react-comp5-demo">
<strong>
{props['render-count']}: Rendering Strategy:{' '}
{props['render-strategy']}
</strong>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Component Name:</strong>{' '}
<span>{props['component-name']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Page Title:</strong> <span>{props['page-title']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<button
style={{
padding: '5px',
borderRadius: '8px',
fontSize: '14px',
marginRight: '8px',
backgroundColor: '#56a8ab',
color: '#9ee2d3',
border: 'none'
}}
onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}
type="button"
>
Click Me!
</button>
<strong>
Default Rendering Mode (Pre-rendering Mode Only), React Instance
Count:
</strong>{' '}
<span>{count}</span>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
);
}
Pre-processed to:
<div
__vrite__react_render_id__="f4dd2447"
__vrite__react_render_directive__="ssr:only"
__vrite__react_render_component__="ReactComp5"
__vrite__react_spa_sync_render__="false"
render-strategy="default"
component-name="ReactComp5"
page-title="Rendering Strategy"
render-count="5"
></div>
Rendering result:
- Component Name: ReactComp5
- Page Title: Rendering Strategy
- Default Rendering Mode (Pre-rendering Mode Only), React Instance Count: 0
Rendering Strategy Combination
This library supports nested usage of vue
components and react
components. During component initial rendering, the vue
parent component can one-time pass data as props
to react
child components through slot
for initializing react
component state.
The initial snapshot of the rendering root container is first processed by the
vue
rendering engine, then completed by the correspondingUI
framework's rendering work, so the rendering component'sprops
can access the root container snapshot properties.
<script setup>
import VueComp1 from './rendering-strategy-comps/vue/VueComp1.vue';
const page = {
title: 'Rendering Strategy'
};
const vueUniqueId = 'vue-unique-id';
</script>
<script lang="react">
import ReactVueSharedComp from './rendering-strategy-comps/react/ReactVueSharedComp';
</script>
<VueComp1
:unique-id="vueUniqueId"
render-strategy="client:only"
component-name="VueComp1"
:page-title="page.title"
:render-count="6"
>
<template #default="{ vueInfo }">
<ReactVueSharedComp client:only render-strategy="client:only" component-name="ReactVueSharedComp" :page-title="page.title" render-count="3-7" :vue-info="vueInfo" />
</template>
</VueComp1>
import { useState } from 'react';
import type { CompProps } from '../type';
interface ReactVueSharedCompProps extends CompProps {
'vue-info': string;
}
export default function ReactVueSharedComp(props: ReactVueSharedCompProps) {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<div className="react-vue-shared-comp">
<strong>
{props['render-count']}: Rendering Strategy:{' '}
{props['render-strategy']}
</strong>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Component Name:</strong>{' '}
<span>{props['component-name']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Page Title:</strong> <span>{props['page-title']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Vue Component Info:</strong>{' '}
<span>{props['vue-info']}</span>
</li>
<li>
<button
style={{
padding: '5px',
borderRadius: '8px',
fontSize: '14px',
marginRight: '8px',
backgroundColor: '#56a8ab',
color: '#9ee2d3',
border: 'none'
}}
onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}
type="button"
>
Click Me!
</button>
<strong>Client-Only Rendering Mode, React Instance Count:</strong>{' '}
<span>{count}</span>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
);
}
<script setup lang="ts">
export interface CompProps {
componentName: string;
renderStrategy: string;
pageTitle: string;
renderCount: number;
}
const props = defineProps<CompProps>();
const vueInfo = 'VueComp1';
</script>
<template>
<div class="vue-comp1-demo">
<strong>
{{ props.renderCount }}: Rendering Strategy:
{{ props.renderStrategy }}
</strong>
<ol>
<li>
<strong>Component Name:</strong>
<span>{{ props.componentName }}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Page Title:</strong> <span>{{ props.pageTitle }}</span>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Child Component Rendering:</strong>
<slot :vue-info="vueInfo"></slot>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</template>
Rendering result:
- Component Name: VueComp1
- Page Title: Rendering Strategy
- Child Component Rendering:
Integration
To enable cross-framework rendering strategies in a vitepress
project, you need to introduce the corresponding plugins in the build configuration:
import { defineConfig } from 'vitepress';
import vitepressReactRenderingStrategies from 'vitepress-rendering-strategies/react';
const vitePressConfig = defineConfig({
// ...
});
vitepressReactRenderingStrategies(vitePressConfig);
export default vitePressConfig;
import DefaultTheme from 'vitepress/theme';
import reactClientIntegration from 'vitepress-rendering-strategies/react/client';
import type { Theme } from 'vitepress';
const theme: Theme = {
extends: DefaultTheme,
async enhanceApp(context) {
await reactClientIntegration();
}
};
export default theme;
Important Notes
Project Structure Consistency: The project structure must be consistent with the routing configuration, otherwise rendering strategies may fail.
Error Handling Mechanism: When component
hydration
fails, the system will automatically fall back to client-side rendering mode to ensure user experience is not affected.Performance Best Practices:
- Prioritize using
ssr:only
mode for static content. - Only use
client:load
for critical components that need interaction. - Non-first-screen components are recommended to use
client:visible
for delayed loading. - Avoid using a large number of
spa:sr
directives on a single page to prevent affecting main content loading.
- Prioritize using