Introduction

Natrix is a Rust-first frontend framework. Where other frameworks aim to bring React-style development to rust, Natrix embraces Rust’s strengths—leveraging smart pointers, derive macros, the builder pattern, and other idiomatic Rust features to create a truly native experience.

A Simple Example

A simple counter in Natrix looks like this:

#[derive(Component)]
struct Counter(usize);

impl Component for Counter {
    fn render() -> impl Element<Self::Data> {
        e::button()
            .text(|ctx: R<Self>| *ctx.0)
            .on::<events::Click>(|ctx: &mut S<Self>, _| {
                *ctx.0 += 1;
            })
    }
}

See the book for more information

Standout features

• ✅ No macro DSL – Macro-based DSLs break formatting & Rust Analyzer support. Natrix avoids them completely for a smoother dev experience.
• ✅ Derive macros for reactive state – No need for useSignal everywhere, state is directly tied to Rust’s type system.
• ✅ Callbacks use references to state – Instead of closures capturing state setters, Natrix callbacks take a reference to the state, which better aligns with Rust’s ownership model.
• ✅ Fine-grained reactivity – Natrix only updates what's necessary, minimizing re-renders and maximizing performance.
• ✅ Smart feature selection - Natrix will automatically use nightly-only optimizations if possible without needing a explicit nightly flag.
• ✅ Borrow Safety - We only use one RefCell per component instance, all other state is managed within the rust borrowing rules, which gives stronger guarantees of no panics as well as performance.

Design Goals

• Developer experience first – Natrix is designed to feel natural for Rust developers.
• Idiomatic Rust – We use Rust-native features & patterns, not what worked for js.
• Stop porting JS to Rust – Rust is an amazing language, let’s build a frontend framework that actually feels like Rust.