Zero Build Frontend

Zero-build frontend development

Patterns for building production-quality web applications without build tools, bundlers, or complex toolchains.

Picking a stack

Three current zero-build approaches, each with different trade-offs:

| Stack | When | Bundle size impact | |---|---|---| | React via esm.sh + htm | Component-heavy SPAs, existing React mental model, Tailwind styling | ~50 KB gzipped (React + ReactDOM + htm) | | htmx 2.x + server-rendered HTML | CRUD apps, traditional MPA flow, want server-side state of truth | ~14 KB gzipped (htmx alone) | | Alpine.js 3.x + plain HTML | Light interactivity sprinkled into mostly-static pages, no full SPA | ~15 KB gzipped (Alpine alone) |

You can mix htmx and Alpine.js in the same page — htmx handles server interactions, Alpine handles client-side UI state. Many production sites converge on this combo.

ESM import maps

Import maps let you write import x from 'react' in a `` without a bundler — the browser resolves the bare specifier against the map. Stable in all major browsers since 2023.

{
  "imports": {
    "react": "https://esm.sh/react@19.0.0",
    "react-dom/client": "https://esm.sh/react-dom@19.0.0/client",
    "lodash-es": "https://esm.sh/lodash-es@4.17.21",
    "@my-app/": "/src/"
  },
  "scopes": {
    "https://esm.sh/": {
      "scheduler": "https://esm.sh/scheduler@0.23.0"
    }
  }
}

The scopes block lets a sub-tree of imports resolve differently. Useful when one CDN package needs a specific transitive dependency. The trailing / form ("@my-app/": "/src/") lets you import any file under that prefix.

Pin versions in production. esm.sh/react (without a version) and esm.sh/react@latest resolve at request time and can shift under you. Use exact pinned versions or SHA-locked URLs.

htmx 2.x — server-rendered interactivity

htmx 2.0 (released June 2024) lets you add AJAX, WebSockets, and SSE to plain HTML through hx-* attributes. The server sends HTML fragments; the client swaps them in. No JS framework required.

  Click me

  ...

htmx 2.x dropped IE support and tightened the API; if you're on htmx 1.x and don't need to migrate, 1.x still receives security patches. New code should target 2.x.

Alpine.js 3.x — client-side reactivity in HTML

Alpine.js (current 3.14+) is a minimal alternative to Vue/React for sprinkles of interactivity. State and behavior live as x-* attributes in the markup.

  Toggle
  Content here

  
  
  

  
    
  

Alpine pairs naturally with htmx: htmx swaps a server-rendered fragment in, Alpine handles whatever client-side state that fragment needs (open/close, optimistic toggles, form validation).

React via CDN (esm.sh)

Basic setup

  
  
  Zero-Build React App

  
  
  
    tailwind.config = {
      theme: {
        extend: {
          fontFamily: {
            display: ['Special Elite', 'monospace'],
            body: ['Roboto Mono', 'monospace'],
          },
          colors: {
            brand: {
              primary: '#2dc8d2',
              secondary: '#f34213',
              dark: '#183642',
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  
  {
    "imports": {
      "react": "https://esm.sh/react@19.0.0",
      "react-dom/client": "https://esm.sh/react-dom@19.0.0/client",
      "htm": "https://esm.sh/htm@3.1.1"
    }
  }
  

  

React with htm (no JSX, no build)

// index.js
import React, { useState, useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client';
import htm from 'htm';

// Bind htm to React.createElement
const html = htm.bind(React.createElement);

// Components use html`` instead of JSX
function App() {
  const [records, setRecords] = useState([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
  const [search, setSearch] = useState('');

  useEffect(() => {
    loadData();
  }, []);

  async function loadData() {
    try {
      const response = await fetch('data/archive-data.json');
      const data = await response.json();
      setRecords(data.records);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error('Failed to load data:', error);
    } finally {
      setLoading(false);
    }
  }

  const filtered = records.filter(r =>
    r.title.toLowerCase().includes(search.toLowerCase())
  );

  if (loading) {
    return html`
      
    `;
  }

  return html`
    
      
        Archive Explorer
         setSearch(e.target.value)}
          class="mt-2 w-full p-2 bg-gray-800 rounded border border-gray-600 focus:border-brand-primary outline-none"
        />
      

      
        
      
    
  `;
}

function RecordList({ records }) {
  return html`
    
      ${records.map(record => html`
        
      `)}
    
  `;
}

function RecordCard({ record }) {
  return html`
    
      ${record.title}
      ${record.publication_date}
      ${record.summary}
      
        ${record.tags?.map(tag => html`
          ${tag}
        `)}
      
    
  `;
}

// Mount app
const root = createRoot(document.getElementById('root'));
root.render(html``);

Data caching with localStorage

// services/cacheService.js

const CACHE_TTL = 60 * 60 * 1000; // 1 hour

export function getCached(key) {
  const cached = localStorage.getItem(key);
  if (!cached) return null;

  try {
    const { data, timestamp } = JSON.parse(cached);
    if (Date.now() - timestamp > CACHE_TTL) {
      localStorage.removeItem(key);
      return null;
    }
    return data;
  } catch {
    localStorage.removeItem(key);
    return null;
  }
}

export function setCache(key, data) {
  localStorage.setItem(key, JSON.stringify({
    data,
    timestamp: Date.now()
  }));
}

export async function fetchWithCache(url, cacheKey) {
  // Check cache first
  const cached = getCached(cacheKey);
  if (cached) return cached;

  // Fetch fresh data
  const response = await fetch(url);
  const data = await response.json();

  // Cache for next time
  setCache(cacheKey, data);

  return data;
}

// Usage
const records = await fetchWithCache('data/archive-data.json', 'archive-records');

Leaflet.js maps

Basic map setup

  
  
  
  
    #map { height: 85vh; width: 100%; }
  

  

  
  
  

Map application with clustering

// js/app.js

class MapApp {
  constructor() {
    this.map = null;
    this.markers = null;
    this.data = [];
    this.filters = {
      year: null,
      county: null,
      status: null
    };
  }

  async init() {
    this.setupMap();
    await this.loadData();
    this.renderMarkers();
    this.setupFilters();
  }

  setupMap() {
    // Initialize map centered on NJ
    this.map = L.map('map', {
      center: [40.0583, -74.4057],
      zoom: 8,
      scrollWheelZoom: false,  // Disable mouse wheel zoom
      zoomControl: false       // We'll add custom controls
    });

    // Add tile layer (CARTO Voyager)
    L.tileLayer('https://{s}.basemaps.cartocdn.com/rastertiles/voyager/{z}/{x}/{y}{r}.png', {
      attribution: '© OpenStreetMap, © CARTO',
      maxZoom: 19
    }).addTo(this.map);

    // Add custom zoom control (top-right)
    L.control.zoom({ position: 'topright' }).addTo(this.map);

    // Initialize marker cluster group
    this.markers = L.markerClusterGroup({
      spiderfyOnMaxZoom: true,
      showCoverageOnHover: false,
      maxClusterRadius: 50,
      spiderLegPolylineOptions: { weight: 1.5, color: '#2dc8d2' }
    });

    this.map.addLayer(this.markers);
  }

  async loadData() {
    const response = await fetch('data/grantees.json');
    this.data = await response.json();
  }

  renderMarkers() {
    this.markers.clearLayers();

    const filtered = this.data.filter(item => {
      if (this.filters.year && item.year !== this.filters.year) return false;
      if (this.filters.county && item.county !== this.filters.county) return false;
      if (this.filters.status && item.status !== this.filters.status) return false;
      return true;
    });

    filtered.forEach(item => {
      if (!item.lat || !item.lng) return;

      const marker = L.marker([item.lat, item.lng], {
        icon: this.createIcon(item.status)
      });

      marker.bindPopup(this.createPopup(item));
      this.markers.addLayer(marker);
    });

    // Update count display
    document.getElementById('count').textContent = filtered.length;
  }

  createIcon(status) {
    const colors = {
      'Active': '#2dc8d2',
      'Completed': '#666666',
      'Pending': '#f34213'
    };

    return L.divIcon({
      html: ``,
      className: 'custom-marker',
      iconSize: [16, 16],
      iconAnchor: [8, 8]
    });
  }

  createPopup(item) {
    return `
      
        ${item.name}
        ${item.county} County
        ${item.description || ''}
        
          ${item.status}
          ${item.year}
        
        ${item.website ? `Visit Website →` : ''}
      
    `;
  }

  setupFilters() {
    // Year filter
    const years = [...new Set(this.data.map(d => d.year))].sort();
    const yearSelect = document.getElementById('year-filter');
    years.forEach(year => {
      const option = document.createElement('option');
      option.value = year;
      option.textContent = year;
      yearSelect.appendChild(option);
    });

    yearSelect.addEventListener('change', (e) => {
      this.filters.year = e.target.value || null;
      this.renderMarkers();
    });

    // Similar for county, status filters...
  }
}

// Initialize on load
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
  const app = new MapApp();
  app.init();
});

Google Sheets as database

Fetching published CSV

// Google Sheets published as CSV
const SHEET_URL = 'https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/SPREADSHEET_ID/pub?gid=0&single=true&output=csv';

async function loadFromSheets() {
  const response = await fetch(SHEET_URL);
  const csv = await response.text();

  // Parse with PapaParse (CDN)
  const { data, errors } = Papa.parse(csv, {
    header: true,
    skipEmptyLines: true,
    transformHeader: (h) => h.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '_')
  });

  if (errors.length > 0) {
    console.warn('CSV parsing errors:', errors);
  }

  return data;
}

Real-time state with localStorage

class DataManager {
  constructor(sheetUrl, cacheKey) {
    this.sheetUrl = sheetUrl;
    this.cacheKey = cacheKey;
    this.data = [];
    this.localState = this.loadLocalState();
  }

  loadLocalState() {
    const stored = localStorage.getItem(`${this.cacheKey}-state`);
    return stored ? JSON.parse(stored) : {};
  }

  saveLocalState() {
    localStorage.setItem(`${this.cacheKey}-state`, JSON.stringify(this.localState));
  }

  async refresh() {
    const response = await fetch(this.sheetUrl);
    const csv = await response.text();
    this.data = Papa.parse(csv, { header: true, skipEmptyLines: true }).data;

    // Merge with local state
    this.data.forEach(row => {
      const localData = this.localState[row.id];
      if (localData) {
        Object.assign(row, localData);
      }
    });

    return this.data;
  }

  updateLocal(id, updates) {
    this.localState[id] = { ...this.localState[id], ...updates };
    this.saveLocalState();

    // Update in-memory data too
    const item = this.data.find(d => d.id === id);
    if (item) Object.assign(item, updates);
  }
}

// Usage
const manager = new DataManager(SHEET_URL, 'volunteer-data');
await manager.refresh();

// Mark task as complete (stored locally)
manager.updateLocal('task-123', { completed: true, completed_at: new Date().toISOString() });

Browser extension (Manifest V3)

manifest.json

{
  "manifest_version": 3,
  "name": "PocketLink",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Create shortlinks from right-click context menu",

  "permissions": [
    "contextMenus",
    "storage",
    "activeTab",
    "scripting",
    "notifications",
    "offscreen"
  ],

  "background": {
    "service_worker": "background.js",
    "type": "module"
  },

  "action": {
    "default_popup": "popup.html",
    "default_icon": {
      "16": "icons/icon16.png",
      "48": "icons/icon48.png",
      "128": "icons/icon128.png"
    }
  },

  "options_page": "options.html",

  "icons": {
    "16": "icons/icon16.png",
    "48": "icons/icon48.png",
    "128": "icons/icon128.png"
  }
}

Service worker (background.js)

// background.js - Service Worker

// Create context menu on install
chrome.runtime.onInstalled.addListener(() => {
  chrome.contextMenus.create({
    id: 'create-shortlink',
    title: 'Create Shortlink',
    contexts: ['page', 'link']
  });
});

// Handle context menu click
chrome.contextMenus.onClicked.addListener(async (info, tab) => {
  if (info.menuItemId !== 'create-shortlink') return;

  const url = info.linkUrl || info.pageUrl;

  try {
    const shortUrl = await createShortlink(url);
    await copyToClipboard(shortUrl);
    showNotification('Shortlink Created', shortUrl);
  } catch (error) {
    showNotification('Error', error.message);
  }
});

async function createShortlink(longUrl) {
  const { apiToken } = await chrome.storage.sync.get('apiToken');
  if (!apiToken) throw new Error('API token not configured');

  const response = await fetch('https://api-ssl.bitly.com/v4/shorten', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiToken}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ long_url: longUrl })
  });

  if (!response.ok) throw new Error('API request failed');

  const data = await response.json();
  return data.link;
}

// Clipboard methods (three fallback strategies)

// Method 1: Offscreen API (preferred)
async function copyToClipboard(text) {
  try {
    await copyViaOffscreen(text);
  } catch {
    try {
      await copyViaContentScript(text);
    } catch {
      await copyViaPopup(text);
    }
  }
}

async function copyViaOffscreen(text) {
  await chrome.offscreen.createDocument({
    url: 'offscreen.html',
    reasons: ['CLIPBOARD'],
    justification: 'Copy shortlink to clipboard'
  });

  await chrome.runtime.sendMessage({ type: 'copy', text });
  await chrome.offscreen.closeDocument();
}

async function copyViaContentScript(text) {
  const [tab] = await chrome.tabs.query({ active: true, currentWindow: true });
  await chrome.scripting.executeScript({
    target: { tabId: tab.id },
    func: (text) => navigator.clipboard.writeText(text),
    args: [text]
  });
}

function showNotification(title, message) {
  chrome.notifications.create({
    type: 'basic',
    iconUrl: 'icons/icon48.png',
    title,
    message
  });
}

Options page

  
    /* Inline CSS for extension compliance (no remote code) */
    body {
      font-family: system-ui, sans-serif;
      padding: 20px;
      max-width: 400px;
      margin: 0 auto;
    }
    h1 { font-size: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; }
    label { display: block; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; font-weight: 500; }
    input {
      width: 100%;
      padding: 8px;
      border: 1px solid #ccc;
      border-radius: 4px;
      font-size: 14px;
    }
    button {
      margin-top: 1rem;
      padding: 10px 20px;
      background: #2dc8d2;
      color: white;
      border: none;
      border-radius: 4px;
      cursor: pointer;
    }
    button:hover { background: #25a8b0; }
    .status { margin-top: 1rem; padding: 10px; border-radius: 4px; }
    .success { background: #d4edda; color: #155724; }
    .error { background: #f8d7da; color: #721c24; }
  

  PocketLink Settings

  Bit.ly API Token
  

  Save Settings

  

  

// options.js
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', async () => {
  const tokenInput = document.getElementById('apiToken');
  const saveButton = document.getElementById('save');
  const status = document.getElementById('status');

  // Load saved token
  const { apiToken } = await chrome.storage.sync.get('apiToken');
  if (apiToken) tokenInput.value =

…

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [jamditis](https://github.com/jamditis)
- **Source:** [jamditis/claude-skills-journalism](https://github.com/jamditis/claude-skills-journalism)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://skills.amditis.tech/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.