Building ReactiveHTML Components#

When you’re working on custom applications and dashboards, there are times when you need to extend Panel’s capabilities to meet unique requirements.

This page will walk you through using the ReactiveHTML class to craft custom components without the need for complex JavaScript build tools. You’ll be able to leverage basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to tailor your components to your specific needs.

Why Use ReactiveHTML?#

ReactiveHTML empowers you to design and build custom components that seamlessly integrate with your Panel applications. These components can enhance your applications’ interactivity and functionality, all while keeping the development process straightforward and free from the complexities of JavaScript build tools.

A Basic Example#

A ReactiveHTML component is essentially a class that you create by inheriting from the ReactiveHTML class. Within this custom class, you are required to define the _template attribute using HTML, which serves as the design blueprint for your custom component. You can use Javascript template variables ${...} as well as Python Jinja2 syntax to make the template dynamic.

Here is a basic SlideShow component

import param
import panel as pn
from panel.reactive import ReactiveHTML

pn.extension()

class Slideshow(ReactiveHTML):

    index = param.Integer(default=0)

    _template = '<img id="slideshow_el" src="https://picsum.photos/800/300?image=${index}" onclick="${_img_click}"></img>'

    def _img_click(self, event):
        self.index += 1

Slideshow(width=800, height=300)








Alternatives#


If you’re looking for simpler alternatives to ReactiveHTML, Panel provides a Viewer class that allows you to combine existing Panel components using Python only. This approach is a great choice if you want to quickly create custom components without the need for writing HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. You can learn more about creating custom Viewer components in our guide How-to > Combine Existing Components.


On the other hand, if you’re looking for a more advanced approach that gives you full control over the design and functionality of your custom components, you can use Bokeh Models. With Bokeh Models, you can leverage the full power of your IDE, TypeScript and modern JavaScript development tools to build advanced and performant custom components. Many of the built-in Panel components are built using this approach. It provides flexibility and extensibility, allowing you to create highly customized and interactive components tailored to your specific needs. We expect detailed documentation on writing custom Bokeh models will be added to the documentation in the future.






The Name#


ReactiveHTML is named for its ability to enable reactive programming in HTML. Unlike the static HTML content that the HTML pane displays, ReactiveHTML components can update their view dynamically in response to changes in parameter values and other events.


We could also have called the ReactiveHTML class for example BaseComponent, HTMLComponent, SimpleComponent or AnyComponent to give you the right associations.


It’s worth noting that the name ReactiveHTML is not related to the JavaScript framework React, although you can still use React with ReactiveHTML components.






How-to Guides#


To see ReactiveHTML in action and discover how to create your custom components, check out our detailed guide: How-to > Create Custom Components with ReactiveHTML. It’s packed with practical examples to help you get started quickly.






API Guide#


You can find it here API > ReactiveHTML.






Class Attributes#


When creating a ReactiveHTML component, there are several class attributes that you can declare to customize its behavior.


The required attribute is:


    

  • _template (str): This defines the blueprint for how your custom component should look and behave. It is defined using HTML and can use Javascript template variables ${...} as well as Python Jinja2 syntax to make the template dynamic.
    • 



You can also declare the following optional attributes:


    

  • _child_config (dict): This is a mapping that controls how children are rendered.
    • 

  • _ignored_refs (tuple[str]): This is tuple of parameter names. Use this to render Panel components as Panel components and not their value or object.
    • 

  • _dom_events (dict): This is a mapping of node IDs to DOM events to add event listeners to.
    • 

  • _extension_name (str): This is the name used to import external CSS and JS dependencies via pn.extension(_extension_name) even if the component is not initially rendered.
    • 

  • _scripts (dict): This is a mapping of JavaScript scripts that are automatically executed during the component’s life cycle and on parameter changes.
    • 

  • _stylesheets (list[str]): The _stylesheets attribute is a list of CSS instructions that define the visual appearance and styling of the component.
    • 



In addition, you can optionally declare the following attributes:


    

  • __css__ (list): This is a list of CSS dependencies required to style your component.
    • 

  • __javascript__ (list): This is a list of JavaScript dependencies that your component relies on.
    • 

  • __javascript_modules__ (list): This is a list of JavaScript module dependencies that your component relies on.
    • 







_template#


The _template attribute defines the blueprint of your component using HTML for the content and optionally CSS or JavaScript for styling and behavior.


For example, the following _template variable defines an image component that displays a slideshow:


_template = '<img id="slideshow_el" src="https://picsum.photos/800/300?image=${index}" onclick="${_img_click}"></img>'





In this case, the _template variable consists of an HTML img tag that displays an image and includes a dynamic parameter ${index} that changes the image displayed. It also includes an onclick event listener that triggers a Python method _img_click when the image is clicked.




Template Variables#


You can use JavaScript template variables of the form ${...} to link the parameters of a component to the attributes of HTML elements.


For example, the following _template variable sets the class attribute of a div element to the value of the some_parameter parameter:


_template = '<div id="custom_id" class="${some_parameter}"></div>'





In addition to providing attributes, you can also provide children to HTML elements using JavaScript template variables:


_template = '<div id="custom_id">${some_parameter}</div>'





You can also use JavaScript template variables to trigger Python methods on the component:


_template = '<div id="custom_id" onclick="${some_python_method}"></div>'





and to trigger JavaScript scripts defined in the _scripts attribute:


_template = '<div id="custom_id" onclick="${script('some_javascript_script')}"></div>'





Note that you must declare an id on components that contain a template variable.


If the parameter is a list, each item in the list will be inserted in sequence unless declared otherwise. However, if you want to wrap each child in some custom HTML, you will have to use Jinja2 loop syntax:


class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    value = param.List(["value **1**", "value **2**", "value **3**"])

    _template = """
<div id="loop_el">
  {% for obj in value %}
  <div id="option_el">${obj}</div>
  {% endfor %}
</div>
"""
CustomComponent(width=500)








Note that you must wrap a {% for ... %} loop in an HTML element with an id attribute just as we do in the example.






Jinja2 templating#


You can use Jinja2 syntax to layout your template. When using Jinja2 syntax you can refer to parameters using {{...}} syntax. This will insert your parameter values as a literal string values.


For example, the following CustomComponent class uses Jinja2 syntax to insert the value literal value into a div element:


class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    value = param.String("A **value**")

    _template = """
<div>{{value}}</div>
"""
CustomComponent(width=500)








If the parameter is a list you can insert the children as literal values using the syntax:


class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    value = param.List(["value **1**", "value **2**", "value **3**"])

    _template = """
<div id="loop_el">
  {% for obj in value %}
  <div id="option">{{obj}}</div>
  {% endfor %}
</div>
"""

CustomComponent(width=500)








Note that you must wrap a {% for ... %} loop in an HTML element with an id attribute as shown in the example.


In addition you can use the following context variables:


    

  • param: The param namespace object allows templating parameter names, labels, docstrings and other attributes.
    • 

  • __doc__: The class docstring
    • 



For example, the following CustomComponent class uses Jinja2 syntax to insert the value parameter and display some information about it:


class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    """I'm a custom ReactiveHTML component"""
    value = param.String("My value", doc="My Documentation")

    _template = """
<p>value: {{value}} ({{ param.value.default }}, {{ param.value.doc }})</p>
<h2>List of parameters</p>
<p id="loop">
{% for object in param.params().values() %}{% if loop.index0 < 3 %}
<div>{{ loop.index0 }}. {{object.name}}: {{object.owner[object.name]}} ({{object.default}}, {{object.doc | replace("`", "'")}})</div><hr/>
{% endif %}{% endfor %}
</p>
"""

CustomComponent(value="A new value", width=500)








Check out the How-to > Create Layouts With ReactiveHTML guide for lots of Jinja2 examples.






Template variables vs Jinja2#


There are several differences between JavaScript template variables and Jinja2 templating.


    

  • Time of Rendering: Jinja2 templating is rendered on the Python side during initial rendering, while JavaScript template variables are inserted later on the JavaScript side.
    • 

  • Type of Rendering: Jinja2 templating provides literal string values, while JavaScript template variables provide Panel objects by default.
    • 

  • Element ids: With Jinja2 templating, you don’t need to add an id attribute except when using {% for … %} loops. With JavaScript template variables, you must add an id attribute.
    • 

  • Parameter Linking: Jinja2 {{...}} template variables are not dynamically linked, while JavaScript template variables `${…} are dynamically linked.
    • 



Here’s an example that illustrates the differences. If you change the color, only the JavaScript template variable section will update:


class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    """I'm a custom component"""
    text = param.String("I'm **bold**")
    color = param.Color("silver", label="Select a color", doc="""The color of the component""")

    _template = """
<p style="background:{{ color }}">Jinja literal value. {{ text }}</p>
<p id="el" style="background:${color}">Javascript template variable. ${text}</p>
"""

component = CustomComponent(width=500)

pn.Column(component.param.color, component, )














_child_config#


The optional attribute _child_config attribute controls how template variables ${...} will
be rendered when inserted as children into an HTML element.


The configuration can be one of


    

  • model (default): Render as Panel component
    • 

  • literal: Render as HTML string
    • 

  • template: Render as string
    • 



For example:


import panel as pn
import param

class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    v_model = param.String(default="I'm a **model** value. <em>emphasize</em>")
    v_literal = param.String(default="I'm a **literal** value. <em>emphasize</em>")
    v_template = param.String(default="I'm a **template** value. <em>emphasize</em>")

    _child_config = {
        "v_model": "model",
        "v_literal": "literal",
        "v_template": "template",
    }

    _template = """
<div id="el_model">${v_model}</div>
<div id="el_literal">${v_literal}</div>
<div id="el_template">${v_template}</div>
"""

component = CustomComponent(width=500, height=200)
component








As you can see the parameters are rendered very differently.


If we change any of the parameter values the component is updated


component.v_model=component.v_model.replace("**", "*")
component.v_literal=component.v_model.replace("**", "*")
component.v_template=component.v_model.replace("**", "*")





Here is a another example illustrating the difference


svg = """<svg style="stroke: #e62f63;" width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" slot="collapsed-icon">
<path d="M15.2222 1H2.77778C1.79594 1 1 1.79594 1 2.77778V15.2222C1 16.2041 1.79594 17 2.77778 17H15.2222C16.2041 17 17 16.2041 17 15.2222V2.77778C17 1.79594 16.2041 1 15.2222 1Z" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"></path>
<path d="M9 5.44446V12.5556" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"></path>
<path d="M5.44446 9H12.5556" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"></path></svg>"""

CustomComponent(v_literal=svg, v_template=svg, width=500, height=200)








Please note you cannot set v_model=svg because ReactiveHTML tries to set the v_model to a pn.pane.SVG pane.


try:
    CustomComponent(v_model=svg, v_literal=svg, v_template=svg, width=500, height=200)
except Exception as ex:
    print(ex)





String parameter 'ReactiveHTMLMetaclass.v_model' only takes a string value, not value of <class 'panel.pane.image.SVG'>.

For a complex object like DataFrame you can only use model. Using literal or template
will raise a bokeh.core.serialization.SerializationError.






_dom_events#


In certain cases it is necessary to explicitly declare event listeners on the HTML element to ensure that changes in their properties are synced when an event is fired.


To make this possible the HTML element in question must be given an id and the id + event name must be defined in _dom_events.


For example:


class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    value = param.String()

    _template = """
<input id="input_el" value="${value}"></input>
"""

    _dom_events = {'input_el': ['change']}

component=CustomComponent(width=500)
pn.Column(component, component.param.value)








Once subscribed, the class may also define a method following the _{element-id}_{event} naming convention, which will fire when the DOM event triggers. For example we could define a _input_el_change method. Any such callback will be given a DOMEvent object as the first and only argument.


The DOMEvent contains information about the event on the .data attribute, like declaring the type of event on .data.type.


For example:


class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    value = param.String()

    event = param.Parameter()

    _template = """
<input id="input_el" value="${value}"></input>
"""

    _dom_events = {"input_el": ["change"]}

    def _input_el_change(self, event):
        self.event = event.data


component = CustomComponent(width=500)
pn.Column(
    component, component.param.value, pn.pane.JSON(component.param.event)
)












_extension_name#


The _extension_name attribute allows you to easily import the CSS and JavaScript dependencies required by your custom component, even if the component is not initially rendered. By adding the _extension_name to the list of extensions in the pn.extension call, you ensure that the necessary resources are loaded when your component is used.


For example, if you have a custom component called CustomComponent and it requires specific CSS and JavaScript dependencies, you can define the _extension_name attribute in the class definition:


class CustomComponent(ReactiveHTML):
    _extension_name = "custom-component"
    ...





Then, when you want to use the CustomComponent in your notebook or app, you simply include the _extension_name in the pn.extension call:


import panel as pn
from my_components import CustomComponent

pn.extension("custom-component", ...)





This ensures that the necessary CSS and JavaScript dependencies are imported and available for your component to function correctly.






_scripts#


In addition to declaring callbacks in Python it is also possible to declare Javascript callbacks on the _scripts attribute of the ReactiveHTML class.


All callback scripts have a number of objects available in their namespace that allow accessing (and setting) the parameter values, store state, update the layout and access any named DOM nodes declared as part of the template. Specifically the following objects are declared in each callbacks namespace:


    

  • self: A namespace model which provides access to all scripts on the class, e.g. self.do_something() will call the script named do_something.
    • 

  • data:   The data model holds the current values of the synced parameters, e.g. data.value will reflect the current value of the parameter named value.
    • 

  • model:  The ReactiveHTML model which declares the layout parameters (e.g. width and height) and the component definition.
    • 

  • state:  An empty state dictionary which scripts can use to store state for the lifetime of the view.
    • 

  • view: Bokeh View class responsible for rendering the component. This provides access to method like view.resize_layout() to signal to Bokeh that  it should recompute the layout of the element.
    • 

  • <node_el>: All HTML elements given an id, e.g. the slideshow_el or input_el element found in the examples above.
    • 

  • state.event: If the script is invoked via an inline callback the corresponding event will be available as state.event.
    • 



Here is a small example illustrating some of the concepts


class Counter(ReactiveHTML):
    count = param.Integer()

    _template = """
    <div>
        <p>Count: ${count}</p>
        <button id="increment_btn" onclick="${script('increment')}">Increment</button>
    </div>
    """

    _scripts = {
        "increment": "data.count += 1",
        "count": "if (data.count>=3){data.count=0}",
    }

counter = Counter()
pn.Column(counter, counter.param.count)





In this example, we have a Counter component that displays a count value and an Increment Button. The _template defines the HTML structure of the component, including the template variable ${count} for the count value.


The _scripts attribute is used to define two JavaScript callbacks: increment and count. The increment callback increases the count value by 1, while the count callback resets the count value to 0 if the count value reaches 3 or higher. Each callback can access the data object, which holds the current values of synced parameters (in this case, the count parameter).


When the Increment button is clicked, the corresponding JavaScript callback is invoked, updating the count value.


When the count value is changed, the corresponding count JavaScript callback is invoked, optionally resetting the count value to zero.


By combining Python callbacks and JavaScript callbacks, you can create dynamic and interactive components that respond to user interactions.




Parameter callbacks#


If the key in the _scripts dictionary matches one of the parameters declared on the class the callback will automatically fire whenever the synced parameter value changes. As an example let’s say we have a class which declares a count parameter


    count = param.Integer()





We can now declare a 'count' key in the _scripts dictionary, which will fire whenever the count is updated:


   _scripts = {
     "count": "if (data.count>=3){data.count=0}",
   }









Lifecycle callbacks#


In addition to parameter callbacks there are a few reserved keys in the _scripts which are fired during rendering of the component:


    

  • "render": This callback is invoked during initial rendering of the component.
    • 

  • "after_layout": This callback is invoked after the component has been fully rendered and the layout is fully computed.
    • 

  • "remove": This callback is invoked when the component is removed from the document.
    • 



For example:


This example will show the timestamp when "render" and "after_layout" scripts are automatically invoked. You will notice the "after_layout" callback is automatically invoked a few milliseconds later.






Explicit calls#


It is also possible to explicitly invoke one script from the namespace of another script using the self object, e.g. we might define a get_datetime method that returns the current date and time in a
particular format:






Inline callbacks#


We can invoke the Javascript code declared in the _scripts dictionary from an HTML element by
using the script function, e.g.:


    <button id="increment_btn" onclick="${script('increment')}">Increment</button>





will invoke the "increment" script defined below when the button is clicked:


    _scripts = {
        "increment": "data.count += 1",
   }





Note that the event that triggered the callback will be made available in the namespace via state.event value.








External Dependencies#


Often the components you build will have dependencies on some external Javascript or CSS files. To make this possible ReactiveHTML components may declare __javascript__, __javascript_modules__ and __css__ attributes, specifying the external dependencies to load. Note that in a notebook as long as the component is imported before the call to pn.extension all its dependencies will be loaded automatically. If you want to require users to load the components as an extension explicitly via a pn.extension call you can declare an _extension_name.


Below we will create a Material UI text field and declare the Javascript and CSS components to load:


import panel as pn
from panel.reactive import ReactiveHTML
import param

class MaterialTextField(ReactiveHTML):

    value = param.String(default='')

    _template = """
    <label id="text-field" class="mdc-text-field mdc-text-field--filled">
      <span class="mdc-text-field__ripple"></span>
      <span class="mdc-floating-label">Label</span>
      <input id="text-input" type="text" class="mdc-text-field__input" aria-labelledby="my-label" value="${value}"></input>
      <span class="mdc-line-ripple"></span>
    </label>
    """

    _dom_events = {'text-input': ['change']}

    # By declaring an _extension_name the component should be loaded explicitly with pn.extension('material-components')
    _extension_name = 'material-components'

    _scripts = {
        'render': "mdc.textField.MDCTextField.attachTo(text_field);"
    }

    __javascript__ = [
        'https://unpkg.com/material-components-web@latest/dist/material-components-web.min.js'
    ]

    __css__ = [
        'https://unpkg.com/material-components-web@latest/dist/material-components-web.min.css'
    ]

pn.extension('material-components') # for notebook

text_field = MaterialTextField(value="Some value")

pn.Column(text_field, text_field.param.value).servable()








In a notebook dependencies for this component will not be loaded unless the user explicitly loads them with a pn.extension('material-components'). In a server context you will also have to explicitly load this extension unless the component is rendered on initial page load, i.e. if the component is only added to the page in a callback you will also have to explicitly run pn.extension('material-components').




Bootstrap#


Bootstrap is one of the most popular design frameworks. We recommend not using Bootstrap with Panel.


You can use its CSS to style your components, but in our experience its javascript does not work well with Panel. It simply cannot select and update HTML elements inside the shadowroot of ReactiveHTML components.






Web Components#


Web Components are custom HTML elements. Web components work really great with ReactiveHTML and in the same way as built in HTML elements like button, div and img.


Some web components that work well with Panels designs are


    

  • Shoelace: A large, mature collection of components that integrate well with the Bootstrap design.
    • 

  • Fast: A relatively large and mature collection of components that integrate well with the Fast design.
    • 

  • Material: A growing collection of components that integrate well with the Material design.
    • 



For more inspiration check out the awesome-web-components list.






React, Preact and Vue#


ReactiveHTML can be used with React, Preact and Vue.








ReactiveHTML vs AnyWidget#


Both ReactiveHTML in the Panel ecosystem and AnyWidget in the Jupyter ipywidgets ecosystem allow you to develop custom components using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, there are some differences in terms of parameter layout and event handling between the two.




AnyWidget#


    

  • Parameter Layout: In AnyWidget, you use JavaScript in the _esm attribute to layout your parameter values.
    • 

  • Event Handling: You configure event handlers using JavaScript code within the _esm attribute. You can listen for parameter changes and update the widget accordingly.
    • 



Here is an example of a CounterWidget using AnyWidget:


import anywidget
import traitlets

class CounterWidget(anywidget.AnyWidget):
    value = traitlets.Int(0).tag(sync=True)

    _esm = """
    export function render({ model, el }) {
      let button = document.createElement("button");
      button.innerHTML = `count is ${model.get("value")}`;
      button.addEventListener("click", () => {
        model.set("value", model.get("value") + 1);
        model.save_changes();
      });
      model.on("change:value", () => {
        button.innerHTML = `count is ${model.get("value")}`;
      });
      el.appendChild(button);
    }
    """









ReactiveHTML#


    

  • Parameter Layout: In ReactiveHTML, you typically use HTML, JavaScript template variables ${...}, and Python Jinja2 syntax to layout your parameter values.
    • 

  • Event Handling: You can configure event handlers using JavaScript code within the _template attribute. Additionally, you can use the _scripts attribute to define JavaScript callbacks that respond to events or parameter changes.
    • 



Here is an example of a CounterWidget using ReactiveHTML:


import param
from panel.reactive import ReactiveHTML

class CounterWidget(ReactiveHTML):
    value = param.Integer(default=0)

    _template = """
    <button id="button_el" class="styled-button" onclick="${script('click_handler')}"></button>
    """

    _scripts = {
        "render": "button_el.innerHTML = `count is ${data.value}`",
        "click_handler": "data.value += 1",
        "value": "button_el.innerHTML = `count is ${data.value}`"
    }









Additional Notes#


    

  • Custom CSS and JavaScript files: AnyWidget allows you to easily develop CSS and JavaScript in separate files, providing a great developer experience with hot reload. ReactiveHTML does not currently have built-in support for separate files, but there are plans to add similar features in the future.
    • 

  • Integration with other ecosystems: AnyWidget is part of the Jupyter ipywidgets ecosystem, while ReactiveHTML is part of the Panel ecosystem. There are ongoing efforts to make it easier for Panel users to integrate with the growing AnyWidget ecosystem.
    •