VanJS

VanJS is a lightweight reactive UI framework that works directly with the real DOM.

• No Virtual DOM: VanJS binds state directly to real DOM nodes. When state changes, only the affected nodes update — no diffing, no reconciliation, no overhead.
• No Compiler: Write plain JavaScript or TypeScript. No JSX, no template syntax, no build-time magic. Your components are just functions that return DOM elements.
• Reactive by Default: van.state() and van.derive() give you fine-grained reactivity out of the box. Pass state directly to tags or derive computed values — updates propagate automatically.
• Tiny by Design: The entire runtime fits in a few KB. No dependencies, no framework DSL, no abstractions you didn't ask for.

Documentation

• Quick Start
• Core Primitives
• Reactive State
• Reactive Lists
• API Reference
• Contributing Guide

Quick Start

npm create-van-app

import van from "@michthemaker/vanjs";

const { div, p, button } = van.tags;

const App = () => {
  const count = van.state(0);
  return div(
    p(() => `Count: ${count.val}`),
    button({ onclick: () => count.val++ }, "+")
  );
};

van.add(document.body, App());

Core Primitives

VanJS has four primitives. That's it.

import van from "@michthemaker/vanjs";

const { div, button, p } = van.tags; // create DOM elements
van.state(0); // reactive state
van.derive(() => count.val * 2); // computed values
van.add(document.body, App()); // mount to DOM

Reactive State

van.state(initialValue) creates a reactive state object. Reading .val inside a binding or derive tracks it as a dependency. Writing .val triggers updates.

const count = van.state(0);

count.val; // read — tracked as dependency
count.val = 5; // write — triggers reactive updates
count.oldVal; // previous value before last update
count.rawVal; // raw value, no dependency tracking

van.derive(fn) creates a computed value that re-runs automatically when its dependencies change.

const count = van.state(0);
const doubled = van.derive(() => count.val * 2);

count.val = 3;
doubled.val; // 6 — updated automatically

Reactive Lists

Arrays returned from bindings are handled as list bindings — efficient DOM updates for dynamic lists using start/end comment markers. Only changed nodes are updated, not the whole container.

const items = van.state(["apple", "banana", "cherry"]);

van.add(
  document.body,
  div(() => items.val.map((item) => p(item)))
);

// Add an item — only the new node is inserted
items.val = [...items.val, "date"];

API Reference

| API | Description | | --------------------------- | ------------------------------- | | van.state(init) | Create reactive state | | van.derive(fn) | Create a computed value | | van.tags | Proxy for creating DOM elements | | van.add(dom, ...children) | Mount children to a DOM element |

Examples

Here is a full counter example:

import van from "@michthemaker/vanjs";

const { div, h1, p, button } = van.tags;

const Counter = () => {
  const count = van.state(0);
  const doubled = van.derive(() => count.val * 2);

  return div(
    h1("Counter"),
    p(() => `Count: ${count.val}`),
    p(() => `Doubled: ${doubled.val}`),
    button({ onclick: () => count.val++ }, "+"),
    button({ onclick: () => count.val-- }, "-")
  );
};

van.add(document.body, Counter());

Contributing

Development happens in the open on GitHub. Bug fixes, improvements, and new ideas are welcome. Read the contributing guide to learn about the development process and how to propose changes.

Good First Issues

New to the codebase? Check out the good first issues label for bugs with limited scope — a great place to start.

License

VanJS is MIT licensed.

Acknowledgments

My Acknowledgments go to the original vanjs creators, I am only doing this because of their exceptional work.

• Tao VanJS
• efpage
• other contributors