Custom elements API

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Svelte components can also be compiled to custom elements (aka web components) using the customElement: true compiler option. You should specify a tag name for the component using the <svelte:options> element.

<svelte:options customElement="my-element" />

<!-- in Svelte 3, do this instead:
<svelte:options tag="my-element" />
-->

<script>
  export let name = 'world';
</script>

<h1>Hello {name}!</h1>
<slot />

You can leave out the tag name for any of your inner components which you don't want to expose and use them like regular Svelte components. Consumers of the component can still name it afterwards if needed, using the static element property which contains the custom element constructor and which is available when the customElement compiler option is true.

ts
import MyElement from './MyElement.svelte';
 
customElements.define('my-element', MyElement.element);
// In Svelte 3, do this instead:
// customElements.define('my-element', MyElement);

Once a custom element has been defined, it can be used as a regular DOM element:

ts
document.body.innerHTML = `
  <my-element>
    <p>This is some slotted content</p>
  </my-element>
`;

By default, custom elements are compiled with accessors: true, which means that any props are exposed as properties of the DOM element (as well as being readable/writable as attributes, where possible).

To prevent this, add accessors={false} to <svelte:options>.

ts
const el = document.querySelector('my-element');
 
// get the current value of the 'name' prop
console.log(el.name);
 
// set a new value, updating the shadow DOM
el.name = 'everybody';

Component optionspermalink

When constructing a custom element, you can tailor several aspects by defining customElement as an object within <svelte:options> since Svelte 4. This object comprises a mandatory tag property for the custom element's name, an optional shadow property that can be set to "none" to forgo shadow root creation (note that styles are then no longer encapsulated, and you can't use slots), and a props option, which offers the following settings:

• attribute: string: To update a custom element's prop, you have two alternatives: either set the property on the custom element's reference as illustrated above or use an HTML attribute. For the latter, the default attribute name is the lowercase property name. Modify this by assigning attribute: "<desired name>".
• reflect: boolean: By default, updated prop values do not reflect back to the DOM. To enable this behavior, set reflect: true.
• type: 'String' | 'Boolean' | 'Number' | 'Array' | 'Object': While converting an attribute value to a prop value and reflecting it back, the prop value is assumed to be a String by default. This may not always be accurate. For instance, for a number type, define it using type: "Number"

<svelte:options
  customElement={{
    tag: 'custom-element',
    shadow: 'none',
    props: {
      name: { reflect: true, type: 'Number', attribute: 'element-index' }
    }
  }}
/>

<script>
  export let elementIndex;
</script>

...

Caveats and limitationspermalink

Custom elements can be a useful way to package components for consumption in a non-Svelte app, as they will work with vanilla HTML and JavaScript as well as most frameworks. There are, however, some important differences to be aware of:

• Styles are encapsulated, rather than merely scoped (unless you set shadow: "none"). This means that any non-component styles (such as you might have in a global.css file) will not apply to the custom element, including styles with the :global(...) modifier
• Instead of being extracted out as a separate .css file, styles are inlined into the component as a JavaScript string
• Custom elements are not generally suitable for server-side rendering, as the shadow DOM is invisible until JavaScript loads
• In Svelte, slotted content renders lazily. In the DOM, it renders eagerly. In other words, it will always be created even if the component's <slot> element is inside an {#if ...} block. Similarly, including a <slot> in an {#each ...} block will not cause the slotted content to be rendered multiple times
• The let: directive has no effect, because custom elements do not have a way to pass data to the parent component that fills the slot
• Polyfills are required to support older browsers

When a custom element written with Svelte is created or updated, the shadow dom will reflect the value in the next tick, not immediately. This way updates can be batched, and DOM moves which temporarily (but synchronously) detach the element from the DOM don't lead to unmounting the inner component.