Vanilla-light is a no-build, dependency-free full-stack framework with a reactive browser client and an HTTPS Bun server. It is designed for split deployment: static frontend on CDN + API backend with plugin-driven routes.

• no frontend build step
• no runtime npm dependencies
• standalone frontend/backend deployment
• reactive window.state + custom web components
• plugin-driven backend (src/plugins/*)
• auth (auth0, bearer) | db (jsonl) | llm (openrouter)

bun run hot
# or
bun run start

Default server URL: https://localhost:3000

bun install is not needed for this project right now because it has no runtime npm dependencies.

To run HTTP instead of HTTPS, set disable_ssl: true in config.

Run commands with any of these:

bun bin/cli.js <command>
npx vanilla-light <command>
vlserver <command>

Common commands:

vlserver start
vlserver config
vlserver port 3000
vlserver insecure true
vlserver insecure false
vlserver certsdir certs
vlserver +plugin auth/bearer.js
vlserver -plugin auth/bearer.js

Notes:

• vlserver config prints active config path + config JSON
• +plugin errors if plugin file does not exist under src/plugins
• certsdir errors if the directory does not exist

Default config shape:

{
  "use_plugins": [],
  "port": 3000,
  "disable_ssl": false,
  "certs_dir": "certs"
}

Config resolution order:

1. ~/.vanilla-light/config.json
2. ./config.json
3. built-in defaults

• src/server.js: server + route dispatch
• src/plugins/: always, auth, storage, llm
• public/client.js: browser API
• public/components.js: exported components registry
• public/index.html: full demo
• test/server.sh: integration smoke tests

Run frontend and backend separately:

• Backend: Bun server (src/server.js)
• Frontend: static/CDN host (client.js, components.js, HTML)

Client import:

import { $, $$, get, set, del, me } from 'https://unpkg.com/vanilla-light'

Reverse-proxy TLS termination example:

{ "disable_ssl": true }

AUTH0_DOMAIN=...
AUTH0_CLIENT_ID=...
AUTH0_CLIENT_SECRET=...
CLOUDFLARE_ACCESS_KEY_ID=...
CLOUDFLARE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=...
CLOUDFLARE_BUCKET_NAME=...
CLOUDFLARE_PUBLIC_URL=...
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=...

Main routes:

• POST /register, POST /login, GET /me
• KV: POST/GET/DELETE /{key}
• Storage: PUT /{key}, PROPFIND /, PATCH /{key}
• LLM: POST /llm/chat

For full behavior details, see docs/server.md.

File: src/plugins/<group>/<name>.js

import { json, redir } from '../src/server.js'

export default function plugin(app) {
  app.routes = {
    ...app.routes,
    'GET /hello': async (req) => json({ hello: 'world', user: req.user?.sub || null }),
    'GET /go-home': async () => redir('/')
  }
}

Rules:

• Export one default function(app)
• Route keys: 'GET /path', 'POST /path', 'GET *', etc.
• Use req (not _req) and avoid ctx in plugins
• Import json/redir from src/server.js for responses
• Return null to pass to next handler
• Append required envs to app.requiredEnvs
• Enable plugin in config.json

Define in public/components.js:

export const components = {
  'hello-card': (data) => `<div>Hello ${data || 'world'}</div>`,
  'user-badge': {
    render: async () => {
      const u = await window.me()
      return `<b>${u?.name || 'guest'}</b>`
    }
  }
}

Use in HTML:

<hello-card data="name"></hello-card>
<user-badge></user-badge>
<script>window.state.name = 'Chris'</script>

window.state is a Proxy.

window.state.count = 1
-> proxy set(...)
-> find [data="count"]
-> render matching window.components[tag]

Example:

<counter-view data="count"></counter-view>
<script>
  window.components['counter-view'] = (v) => `<div>${v}</div>`
  window.state.count = 1
</script>

Notes:

• Updates are key-based (data="key")
• Only registered custom tags render
• New nodes auto-init via MutationObserver

Available imports from https://unpkg.com/vanilla-light:

• DOM: $, $$, $c
• KV/storage helpers: get, set, put, del, purge, list, download
• Generic HTTP helper: fetchJson
• User/auth helpers: me, login, logout, loginAuth0, logoutAuth0, registerBearer, loginBearer, logoutBearer
• Reactivity/components: state, initComponents

Run with server up:

bash test/server.sh
# optional
BASE=https://localhost:3000 bash test/server.sh