Some big personal news: The Laravel team is officially taking over my Inertia.js project.
Almost exactly six years ago, I started a project inspired by Turbolinks that let developers using classic server-side frameworks like Laravel and Rails build rich client-side SPAs with libraries like React and Vue. That project became Inertia.js.
The goal was simple—I wanted to build apps using the classic monolith architecture while leveraging modern JavaScript frameworks as the templating layer.
At the time, there was no standard way to do this. Everyone told me the “right” approach was to turn my server-side app into a REST or GraphQL API and build a separate client-side app to consume it.
While that approach makes sense for some projects, it was total overkill for what I was building. I just wanted Laravel, but with React or Vue as my templating layer—yet, that meant adopting an entirely different architecture.
Back then, I used Turbolinks a lot to give my apps an SPA feel, but it didn't work well with React or Vue. That's when it hit me: what if I could create something like Turbolinks, but optimized for modern JavaScript frameworks?
I started hacking, and pretty quickly, I had a working prototype!
The two key ideas that made Inertia work so well:
1. Dynamic components – Modern JavaScript frameworks can dynamically swap one page component for another as you navigate.
2. Reactivity – These frameworks automatically re-render when props change. So, simply visiting the same page with different data (props) updates it automatically—no manual handling required.
With the proof of concept in place, I kept building. We ended up with:
- A core client-side routing library
- Client-side adapters for React, Vue, and Svelte
- Server-side adapters for Laravel, Rails, and many other frameworks (thanks to community contributions)
Exciting times! Well, mostly...
Along this journey I got deeply involved in another project—Tailwind CSS. And while it's incredible when your open-source projects succeed, it's also stressful when you don't have the capacity to give them the attention they need. And, for a while, Inertia suffered because of this.
Thankfully, my friend Taylor Otwell stepped in. He dedicated Laravel staff to help with GitHub issues and bug fixes, including having Joe Tannenbaum effectively rewrite the entire library for v2.0. This was a huge help for me.
Recently, Taylor and I talked and decided that it was in the best interest of the project for Laravel to take it over officially. I'm incredibly grateful for this—Inertia.js will now get the dedicated long-term care it requires.
As for me, while the Laravel team will handle the day-to-day upkeep of the project, I plan to stay involved in an advisory role.
Huge thanks to Taylor Otwell and everyone else who has supported me and the project over the last six years—it's been an incredible journey ❤️
Almost exactly six years ago, I started a project inspired by Turbolinks that let developers using classic server-side frameworks like Laravel and Rails build rich client-side SPAs with libraries like React and Vue. That project became Inertia.js.
The goal was simple—I wanted to build apps using the classic monolith architecture while leveraging modern JavaScript frameworks as the templating layer.
At the time, there was no standard way to do this. Everyone told me the “right” approach was to turn my server-side app into a REST or GraphQL API and build a separate client-side app to consume it.
While that approach makes sense for some projects, it was total overkill for what I was building. I just wanted Laravel, but with React or Vue as my templating layer—yet, that meant adopting an entirely different architecture.
Back then, I used Turbolinks a lot to give my apps an SPA feel, but it didn't work well with React or Vue. That's when it hit me: what if I could create something like Turbolinks, but optimized for modern JavaScript frameworks?
I started hacking, and pretty quickly, I had a working prototype!
The two key ideas that made Inertia work so well:
1. Dynamic components – Modern JavaScript frameworks can dynamically swap one page component for another as you navigate.
2. Reactivity – These frameworks automatically re-render when props change. So, simply visiting the same page with different data (props) updates it automatically—no manual handling required.
With the proof of concept in place, I kept building. We ended up with:
- A core client-side routing library
- Client-side adapters for React, Vue, and Svelte
- Server-side adapters for Laravel, Rails, and many other frameworks (thanks to community contributions)
Exciting times! Well, mostly...
Along this journey I got deeply involved in another project—Tailwind CSS. And while it's incredible when your open-source projects succeed, it's also stressful when you don't have the capacity to give them the attention they need. And, for a while, Inertia suffered because of this.
Thankfully, my friend Taylor Otwell stepped in. He dedicated Laravel staff to help with GitHub issues and bug fixes, including having Joe Tannenbaum effectively rewrite the entire library for v2.0. This was a huge help for me.
Recently, Taylor and I talked and decided that it was in the best interest of the project for Laravel to take it over officially. I'm incredibly grateful for this—Inertia.js will now get the dedicated long-term care it requires.
As for me, while the Laravel team will handle the day-to-day upkeep of the project, I plan to stay involved in an advisory role.
Huge thanks to Taylor Otwell and everyone else who has supported me and the project over the last six years—it's been an incredible journey ❤️
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