Htmx/docs/Components/Skeleton.md

Skeleton

An animated loading placeholder. Use it in place of real content while data is being fetched or rendered asynchronously. The animation communicates to the user that content is loading.

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HTML structure

div.animate-pulse.rounded-md.bg-muted.{classes}

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CSS mechanics

Class	Effect
animate-pulse	Tailwind's built-in fade-in/out animation (1.5s loop)
bg-muted	Neutral muted background color from the theme
rounded-md	Slightly rounded corners
User-supplied classes	Control size and shape (e.g. h-4 w-32, h-10 w-full, rounded-full h-12 w-12)

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Constructor signature

public Skeleton(string classes = "")

Parameter	Description
classes	Tailwind classes controlling size, shape, and spacing

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Usage examples

Text line placeholders

new Skeleton("h-4 w-3/4 mb-2")
new Skeleton("h-4 w-1/2")

Avatar placeholder

new Skeleton("rounded-full h-12 w-12")

Card skeleton loader

new Card(
    content: """
        <div class="flex items-center gap-4">
          <!-- Render each Skeleton eagerly to a string or use slot injection -->
        </div>
        <div class="mt-4 space-y-2">
        </div>
    """)

Full-width block placeholder

new Skeleton("h-10 w-full")

HTMX skeleton swap pattern

<!-- Shown immediately; HTMX replaces with real content -->
<div id="user-list"
     hx-get="/users"
     hx-trigger="load"
     hx-swap="outerHTML">
  $$UserListSkeleton$$
</div>

The page renders the skeleton on initial load; the HTMX request fires immediately and replaces it once the data arrives.

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Tips and tricks

• Multiple Skeleton elements stacked in a div.space-y-2 create a convincing text-block placeholder.
• rounded-full makes a circle — useful for avatar skeletons. Combine with equal h-* and w-* values.
• The classes parameter replaces the default empty string — provide complete size + spacing classes.
• For table skeletons, render a Table with each cell containing a Skeleton HTML string (pre-rendered to a string via ArrayBufferWriter<byte>).
• Do not use Skeleton for truly empty states (no data to show) — use an Alert or empty-state illustration instead.
• Do not use Skeleton for truly empty states (no data to show) — use an Alert or empty-state illustration instead.

---

Complete page example

Templates/UserListPage.htmx

<div class="max-w-3xl mx-auto py-10">
  <h1 class="text-2xl font-bold mb-6">Users</h1>
  <div id="user-list"
     hx-get="/users/data"
     hx-trigger="load"
     hx-swap="outerHTML">
  $$LoadingSkeleton$$
  </div>
</div>

Templates/UserListPage.htmx.cs

namespace Htmx.ApiDemo.Templates;

public sealed class UserListPage : UserListPageBase
{
  private readonly byte[] _skeleton;

  public UserListPage()
  {
    // Build a table-shaped skeleton: 5 rows × 3 columns
    var row = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
    {
      row.Append("""<div class="flex gap-4 py-3 border-b">""");
      row.Append(SkeletonHtml("h-4 w-1/3"));
      row.Append(SkeletonHtml("h-4 w-1/4"));
      row.Append(SkeletonHtml("h-4 w-1/5"));
      row.Append("</div>");
    }
    _skeleton = row.ToString().ToUtf8Bytes();
  }

  private static string SkeletonHtml(string classes)
  {
    var buf = new System.Buffers.ArrayBufferWriter<byte>();
    new Components.Skeleton(classes).Render(new HtmxRenderContext(buf));
    return System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(buf.WrittenSpan);
  }

  protected override void RenderLoadingSkeleton(HtmxRenderContext ctx)
    => ctx.Writer.WriteUtf8(_skeleton);
}

GET handlers

// Shell page — renders immediately with skeleton placeholder
[Handler]
[MapGet("/users")]
public static partial class GetUsersShellHandler
{
  public record Query();
  private static Task<IResult> HandleAsync(Query _, HttpContext ctx, CancellationToken ct)
    => ctx.WriteHtmxPage(new UserListPage(), title: "Users");
}

// Data endpoint — HTMX swaps this in place of the skeleton
[Handler]
[MapGet("/users/data")]
public static partial class GetUsersDataHandler
{
  public record Query();
  private static async Task<IResult> HandleAsync(
    Query _, HttpContext ctx, MongoDbService db, CancellationToken ct)
  {
    var users = await db.GetAllUsersAsync(ct);
    var table = new Components.Table(
      headers: new[] { "Name", "Email", "Role" },
      rows: users.Select(u => new[]
      {
        System.Net.WebUtility.HtmlEncode(u.DisplayName ?? ""),
        System.Net.WebUtility.HtmlEncode(u.Email),
        "user",
      }));
    var buf = new System.Buffers.ArrayBufferWriter<byte>();
    table.Render(new HtmxRenderContext(buf));
    return Results.Content(
      System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(buf.WrittenSpan), "text/html");
  }
}