Pulse

Pulse Framework

Full-stack Python web framework. Server renders React components over WebSocket. All logic runs in Python—no JavaScript required.

Import Convention

Canonical Pulse style: import pulse as ps, then access everything from ps. The only modules with exports not available through pulse are pulse.js (React/JS placeholders for transpilation) and pulse.transpiler.

Quick Start

import pulse as ps

class Counter(ps.State):
    count: int = 0
    def increment(self): self.count += 1

@ps.component
def App():
    with ps.init():
        state = Counter()
    return ps.div(
        ps.button("Click",
        ps.span(f"Count: {state.count}"),
    )

app = ps.App([ps.Route("/", App)])

pulse run app.py → dev server on :8000

Quick Reference

Core Concepts

Components

Functions decorated with @ps.component. Return VDOM elements. Called on every render.

@ps.component
def Greeting(name: str):
    return ps.h1(f"Hello, {name}!")

# Usage: Greeting("World") or Greeting(name="World")

Rules:

• Always use @ps.component decorator
• Props are function parameters
• Use key= kwarg for list reconciliation
• Components can nest other components

HTML Elements

All standard HTML/SVG tags available as ps.<tag>():

ps.div(*children, className="", style=ps.CSSProperties(...), ...)
ps.input(value=val, type="text", placeholder="...")
ps.button(*children, disabled=False, ...)
ps.a(*children, href="...", target="_blank", ...)
ps.img(src="...", alt="...", width=100, ...)
ps.form(*children, ...)

Syntax variants:

# Positional children
ps.div(ps.h1("Title"), ps.p("Body"))
# Bracket syntax for children
ps.div(className="container")[ps.h1("Title"), ps.p("Body")]
# Mixed
ps.div(className="wrap")[ps.span("text")]

Common props: className, style, id, key, onClick, onChange, onSubmit, disabled, placeholder, value, checked, href, src, alt

State

Class inheriting from ps.State. Attributes become reactive—changes trigger re-renders.

class TodoState(ps.State):
    items: list[str] = []
    draft: str = ""

    def add(self):
        if self.draft.strip():
            self.items.append(self.draft)
            self.draft = ""

    def remove(self, idx: int):
        self.items.pop(idx)

    @ps.computed
    def count(self) -> int:
        return len(self.items)

    @ps.effect
    def log_changes(self):
        print(f"Items: {self.count}")

Initialize in components with ps.init():

@ps.component
def TodoApp():
    with ps.init():
        state = TodoState()
    # state persists across renders
    return ps.div(...)

Rules:

• Define fields with type annotations and defaults
• Methods mutate state directly (self.field = value)
• @ps.computed for derived values (cached, auto-updates)
• @ps.effect for side effects (runs when dependencies change)
• on_dispose() method for cleanup when component unmounts

See references/state.md for computed properties, effects on State, and global state patterns.

Refs

Server-side handles for imperative DOM operations. Commands sent over WebSocket.

@ps.component
def AutoFocus():
    input_ref = ps.ref(on_mount=lambda: input_ref.focus())
    return ps.input(ref=input_ref, placeholder="Auto-focused")

Fire-and-forget: focus(), blur(), click(), submit(), reset(), scroll_to(), scroll_into_view(), select()

Request-response (async): measure(), get_value(), set_value(), get_prop(), set_prop(), get_attr(), set_attr(), get_text(), set_text(), set_style()

Lifecycle: wait_mounted(), on_mount, on_unmount, mounted property

See references/refs.md for full API.

Hooks

ps.init() — Preserve state across renders

@ps.component
def MyComponent():
    with ps.init():
        state = MyState()      # Created once
        other = OtherState()   # Multiple states OK
    # state/other persist across re-renders

ps.setup(fn, *args) — One-time initialization with args

def create_api(user_id: int):
    return {"user_id": user_id}

@ps.component
def UserView(user_id: int):
    meta = ps.setup(create_api, user_id)  # Re-runs if user_id changes
    return ps.div(f"User: {meta['user_id']}")

ps.state(arg, *, key=None) — Inline state instances

@ps.component
def Counter():
    # Simple usage - identified by code location
    counter = ps.state(CounterState())
    return ps.button(f"Count: {counter.count}",

# In loops - MUST use key parameter to avoid state collision
@ps.component
def UserList(user_ids: list[str]):
    items = []
    for uid in user_ids:
        user = ps.state(lambda uid=uid: UserState(uid), key=uid)
        items.append(ps.li(user.name, key=uid))
    return ps.ul(*items)

# Dynamic key changes create new instance (useful for reset)
note = ps.state(lambda: NoteState(), key=f"note-v{version}")

@ps.effect — Inline effects (auto-registered in components)

@ps.component
def Timer():
    with ps.init():
        state = TimerState()

    @ps.effect  # Auto-registered, no ps.effects() needed
    def log_elapsed():
        print(f"Elapsed: {state.elapsed}")

    return ps.div(str(state.elapsed))

# In loops - MUST use key parameter
@ps.component
def ItemTracker(items: list[str]):
    for item in items:
        @ps.effect(key=item)
        def track(item=item):  # Capture via default arg
            print(f"Tracking: {item}")
    return ps.div(...)

# Effects in conditionals - disposed when condition becomes false
if state.show_timer:
    @ps.effect(immediate=True)
    def timer_effect():
        # Runs while show_timer is True, cleanup on False
        return lambda: print("Timer stopped")

See references/reactive.md for Effect options (interval, lazy, on_error) and references/hooks.md for inline effect patterns.

Runtime hooks

ps.route()          # RouteInfo: ["pathname"], ["pathParams"], ["query"], ["queryParams"]
ps.pulse_route()    # Route | Layout definition
ps.session()        # ReactiveDict of session data
ps.session_id()     # str session ID
ps.websocket_id()   # str WebSocket connection ID (one session can have multiple)
ps.navigate(path)   # Client-side navigation
ps.redirect(path)   # Server redirect (throws)
ps.not_found()      # 404 (throws)

Events

Event handlers receive serialized event dict. Common patterns:

# Click - no payload needed
ps.button("Click", do_action())
ps.button("Click",

# Input change - extract value
ps.input(
    value=state.text,
    e: setattr(state, "text", e["target"]["value"]),
)

# Form submit
ps.form(onSubmit=lambda e: handle_submit(e))[...]

# Keyboard
ps.input(onKeyDown=lambda e: submit() if e["key"] == "Enter" else None)

# With event data
ps.div(onClick=lambda e: print(e["clientX"], e["clientY"]))

Event types: MouseEvent, KeyboardEvent, ChangeEvent, FormEvent, FocusEvent, DragEvent, TouchEvent, WheelEvent

Async handlers supported:

async def handle_click():
    await api.fetch_data()
    state.data = result

ps.button("Load",

Lists & Conditionals

ps.For — Iterate with keys

ps.ul(
    ps.For(
        items,
        lambda item, idx: ps.li(item.name, key=str(item.id)),
    )
)

ps.If — Conditional render

ps.If(
    user is not None,
    then=ps.div(f"Welcome, {user.name}"),
    else_=ps.div("Please login"),
)

Inline conditionals

# Python and/or
has_items and ps.ul(...)
ps.div(state.loading and "Loading..." or ps.span(state.data))

Routing

app = ps.App([
    ps.Layout(
        AppLayout,  # Wrapper component with ps.Outlet()
        children=[
            ps.Route("/", HomePage),
            ps.Route("/users", UsersPage),
            ps.Route("/users/:id", UserDetail),  # Dynamic param
            ps.Route("/docs/*", DocsPage),       # Catch-all
        ],
    ),
])

Layout component:

@ps.component
def AppLayout():
    return ps.div(
        ps.nav(ps.Link("Home", to="/"), ps.Link("Users", to="/users")),
        ps.main(ps.Outlet()),  # Child routes render here
    )

Access route info:

@ps.component
def UserDetail():
    route = ps.route()
    user_id = route["pathParams"]["id"]
    return ps.div(f"User: {user_id}")

Navigation:

ps.Link("Go", to="/path")              # Client nav
ps.navigate("/path")                    # Programmatic
ps.redirect("/login")                   # Server redirect (throws)

See references/routing.md for layouts, nested routes, and path parameters.

Forms

Declarative form

ps.Form(
    ps.input(name="email", type="email"),
    ps.input(name="password", type="password"),
    ps.button("Submit", type="submit"),
   
)

def handle_submit(data: ps.FormData):
    email = data["email"]  # str
    password = data["password"]  # str

Controlled inputs with state

class LoginState(ps.State):
    email: str = ""
    password: str = ""

    async def submit(self):
        await api.login(self.email, self.password)

@ps.component
def LoginForm():
    with ps.init():
        state = LoginState()
    return ps.form(onSubmit=lambda e: state.submit())[
        ps.input(
            value=state.email,
            e: setattr(state, "email", e["target"]["value"]),
        ),
        ps.input(
            value=state.password,
            type="password",
            e: setattr(state, "password", e["target"]["value"]),
        ),
        ps.button("Login"),
    ]

See references/forms.md for ManualForm, file uploads, and validation patterns. See references/dom.md for all form elements.

Data Fetching

@ps.query — Cached async data

class UserState(ps.State):
    user_id: int = 1

    @ps.query
    async def user(self) -> dict:
        return await api.get_user(self.user_id)

    @user.key
    def _user_key(self):
        return ("user", self.user_id)  # Cache key

@ps.component
def UserProfile():
    with ps.init():
        state = UserState()

    if state.user.is_loading:
        return ps.div("Loading...")
    if state.user.is_error:
        return ps.div(f"Error: {state.user.error}")

    user = state.user.data
    return ps.div(user["name"])

Query options: stale_time, gc_time, retries, retry_delay, keep_previous_data

Query methods: .refetch(), .invalidate(), .set_data(val), .wait()

Query properties: .data, .error, .status, .is_loading, .is_fetching, .is_success, .is_error

@ps.mutation — Non-cached operations

@ps.mutation
async def update_user(self, name: str) -> dict:
    result = await api.update_user(self.user_id, name)
    self.user.invalidate()  # Refresh related query
    return result

# Callbacks
@update_user.on_success
def _on_success(self, result):
    print("Updated:", result)

@update_user.on_error
def _on_error(self, error):
    print("Failed:", error)

See references/queries.md for infinite queries, query callbacks, optimistic updates, and caching.

Global State

Share state across components:

@ps.global_state
class AppSettings(ps.State):
    theme: str = "light"
    def toggle(self):
        self.theme = "dark" if self.theme == "light" else "light"

@ps.component
def Header():
    settings = AppSettings()  # Same instance everywhere
    return ps.button(f"Theme: {settings.theme}",

App Configuration

app = ps.App(
    routes=[...],
    middleware=[LoggingMiddleware()],
    session_store=ps.CookieSessionStore(secret_key="..."),  # Production
    server_address="https://app.example.com",  # Required in prod
    mode="single-server",  # or "subdomains"
)

Commands

uv run pulse run app.py          # Dev server :8000
uv run pulse run app.py --port 3000
make all                         # Format, lint, typecheck, test

Common Patterns

Counter

class Counter(ps.State):
    count: int = 0
    def inc(self): self.count += 1
    def dec(self): self.count -= 1

@ps.component
def CounterApp():
    with ps.init():
        s = Counter()
    return ps.div(
        ps.button("-",
        ps.span(s.count),
        ps.button("+",
    )

Todo List

class Todos(ps.State):
    items: list[str] = []
    draft: str = ""

    def add(self):
        if self.draft.strip():
            self.items.append(self.draft)
            self.draft = ""

    def remove(self, idx: int):
        self.items.pop(idx)

@ps.component
def TodoApp():
    with ps.init():
        state = Todos()
    return ps.div(
        ps.input(
            value=state.draft,
            e: setattr(state, "draft", e["target"]["value"]),
            placeholder="Add item...",
        ),
        ps.button("Add",
        ps.ul(
            ps.For(
                state.items,
                lambda item, idx: ps.li(
                    item,
                    ps.button("x", i=idx: state.remove(i)),
                    key=f"{idx}-{item}",
                ),
            )
        ),
    )

Data Table with Loading

class TableState(ps.State):
    page: int = 1

    @ps.query
    async def data(self) -> list[dict]:
        return await api.fetch_page(self.page)

    @data.key
    def _key(self): return ("data", self.page)

@ps.component
def DataTable():
    with ps.init():
        state = TableState()

    if state.data.is_loading:
        return ps.div("Loading...")

    return ps.div(
        ps.table(
            ps.thead(ps.tr(ps.th("Name"), ps.th("Email"))),
            ps.tbody(
                ps.For(
                    state.data.data or [],
                    lambda row, _: ps.tr(
                        ps.td(row["name"]),
                        ps.td(row["email"]),
                        key=str(row["id"]),
                    ),
                )
            ),
        ),
        ps.div(
            ps.button("Prev", setattr(state, "page", max(1, state.page - 1))),
            ps.span(f"Page {state.page}"),
            ps.button("Next", setattr(state, "page", state.page + 1)),
        ),
    )

Rules & Best Practices

1. Always use @ps.component for component functions
2. Always use ps.init() to preserve State across renders
3. Define State fields with type annotations and defaults
4. Use key= on list items for proper reconciliation
5. Mutate state directly in methods (self.field = value)
6. Use @ps.query for data fetching with caching
7. Use ps.Link for internal navigation, not ps.a
8. Access route params via ps.route()["pathParams"]
9. Clean up in on_dispose() method or effect return
10. Run make all before committing

Working with JavaScript

NPM Dependencies

Use ps.require() to declare npm package dependencies:

# Declare dependencies (typically at module level)
ps.require("recharts")
ps.require("lodash", version="^4.17.0")

# Then import components
from pulse.transpiler import Import
LineChart = Import("LineChart", "recharts")

Calling Own FastAPI Endpoints

Use ps.call_api() to call your app's FastAPI endpoints from components:

result = await ps.call_api("/api/users", method="GET")
result = await ps.call_api("/api/login", method="POST", body={"email": email})

Executing JavaScript

Use run_js() for imperative JS execution:

from pulse import run_js
from pulse.transpiler import javascript

@javascript
def show_alert(msg: str):
    window.alert(msg)

# Fire-and-forget
run_js(show_alert("Hello!"))

# With result
result = await run_js(get_window_width(), result=True)

Production Configuration

Key ps.App parameters for production:

app = ps.App(
    routes=[...],
    mode="single-server",  # or "subdomains" for multi-tenant
    server_address="https://myapp.com",  # Required for production
    codegen=ps.CodegenConfig(router="@tanstack/react-router"),  # Optional
    session_store=ps.CookieSessionStore(secret_key="..."),  # Production sessions
)

See references/middleware.md for session store options.

Additional References

For advanced topics, see references/ folder:

Core:

• state.md — Computed properties, global state, State effects
• hooks.md — Inline effects, setup patterns, lifecycle
• refs.md — DOM refs, imperative operations, lifecycle
• reactive.md — Signal, Computed, Effect, ReactiveDict/List/Set
• routing.md — Layouts, nested routes, path parameters
• forms.md — ManualForm, file uploads, validation
• dom.md — Full HTML elements and events reference

Data & Communication:

• queries.md — Query options, infinite queries, mutations
• channels.md — Real-time bidirectional communication
• sessions.md — Session management, stores, authentication

App Setup:

• app.md — App configuration, middleware, production setup
• middleware.md — Request middleware, auth patterns
• context.md — Runtime context, hooks, call_api

JavaScript Integration:

• js-interop.md — React components, JavaScript execution
• transpiler.md — Python-to-JS transpiler, Import, syntax

Utilities:

• helpers.md — Utilities: ps.later, ps.repeat, CSSProperties
• errors.md — Exception handling, debugging
• examples.md — Complete working examples