Bretzel

Server-Driven UI for Python — typed state, zero npm, batteries included.

Bretzel is a full-stack Python web framework for reactive web apps. Python owns the application state and the interface that follows it. The browser receives targeted HTML updates through a small runtime built on HTMX and idiomorph: no React application, no duplicated client store and no npm pipeline to operate in production.

_{One Python app, two windows: drag on the left, the right follows; undo on the right, both follow. No JavaScript written.}

Alpha: the latest public alpha is 0.1.0a3. APIs may change between alpha releases; only the latest alpha receives fixes.

See it first: component gallery · documentation · live Kanban and its API.

Quickstart

Requires Python 3.12, 3.13 or 3.14.

python -m pip install bretzel
bretzel new hello
cd hello
python -m pip install -e .
bretzel dev

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000, then edit app/features/home.py.

For an existing application:

bretzel dev my_package.main:app --port 8010

The model

from bretzel import page, refreshable, ui
from bretzel.state import SessionState


class Counter(SessionState):
    value: int = 0


def increment() -> None:
    Counter().value += 1


@refreshable(deps=[Counter])
def count() -> None:
    ui.heading(str(Counter().value))


@page("/", title="Counter")
def home() -> None:
    count()
    ui.button("+1", on_click=increment)

deps= names the typed state read by a fragment. When that state changes, Bretzel renders and ships only that fragment. broadcast= can send the same mutation to other open windows without polling or subscription code.

What is included

• typed server and client state;
• more than 100 UI components;
• partial navigation and refreshable fragments;
• realtime updates over SSE;
• signed actions, CSRF protection and security headers;
• OAuth/OIDC doors and signed-cookie identity;
• drag-and-drop with server arbitration;
• server-rendered SVG charts;
• bretzel describe, bretzel check and browser probes;
• a production wheel containing the readable and minified runtime.

Start with examples/pomodoro for a small application, examples/kanban for realtime collaboration, examples/playground for the component catalogue and examples/docs for the live reference.

How it compares

NiceGUI keeps a live server-side UI object tree, Reflex compiles Python into a React application, and FastHTML stays deliberately close to HTML. Bretzel instead combines typed state and declared dependencies with targeted server-rendered fragments, multi-user updates and 100+ integrated components, without a Node or Bun build pipeline. Coming from Streamlit or Dash, you keep the Python-first workflow and gain explicit state with partial updates instead of reruns or callback wiring. The detailed comparison, with sources: https://docs.bretzel-py.dev/compare.

Repository

bretzel/             framework source
examples/            complete demonstration applications
tests/               unit, integration, consistency and browser suites
.claude/bretzel/     detailed framework reference checked against the code

A bare pytest runs the fast unit, integration and consistency suites. Heavy suites are explicit:

pytest -m e2e
pytest -m browser
pytest -m probes
pytest -m audit

The public repository contains 262 consistency-test modules. They pin API, rendering, accessibility and architecture invariants so that fixes cannot silently drift back.

Production

Run the generated application as a regular ASGI app and provide a private secret through the environment:

BRETZEL_MODE=prod BRETZEL_SECRET_KEY="replace-with-a-random-secret" \
  uvicorn app.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

See SECURITY.md for private vulnerability reports and CONTRIBUTING.md for the development workflow.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.