Server-Side Rendering (SSR)

Render typestyles on the server for better performance and SEO

TypeStyles supports SSR out of the box. Instead of injecting styles into the DOM during rendering, you can collect all the CSS on the server and include it in the HTML response.

Request-safe collection

Every collectStyles() call runs inside an isolated sheet store. On Node, that isolation uses AsyncLocalStorage, so concurrent SSR requests (multiple Express handlers, parallel Remix bots, overlapping renderToString passes) each get their own CSS buffer. CSS from request A never leaks into request B.

This matters for:

Concurrent HTTP handlers — two users hitting your server at the same time
The two-pass streaming pattern — a sync renderToString pass for CSS, then renderToPipeableStream for the response (see below)
Async renders — collectStyles(async () => …) is supported; isolation holds for the full await

collectStylesFromModules() (build extraction) uses the same isolation. In the browser bundle, isolation is a no-op because there is only one document.

Basic setup

Import collectStyles from typestyles/server:

import { collectStyles } from 'typestyles/server';
import { renderToString } from 'react-dom/server';

const { html, css } = collectStyles(() => renderToString(<App />));

The collectStyles function:

Starts collecting CSS instead of injecting it
Runs your render function
Returns the rendered HTML and collected CSS

Full example

Here's a complete Express.js example:

import express from 'express';
import { collectStyles } from 'typestyles/server';
import { renderToString } from 'react-dom/server';
import { App } from './App';

const app = express();

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  const { html, css } = collectStyles(() => renderToString(<App />));

  res.send(`
    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
      <head>
        <meta charset="utf-8" />
        <title>My App</title>
        <style id="typestyles">${css}</style>
      </head>
      <body>
        <div id="root">${html}</div>
        <script src="/client.js"></script>
      </body>
    </html>
  `);
});

app.listen(3000);

How it works

During SSR:

Collection mode: When collectStyles() wraps your render, TypeStyles switches to collection mode
CSS capture: All styles, tokens, themes, and keyframes are captured to a buffer instead of being injected into the DOM
Single style tag: The collected CSS is returned as a single string ready to embed in your HTML

On the client:

Hydration detection: TypeStyles looks for an existing <style id="typestyles"> element
Reuse: If found, it reuses that element and avoids re-injecting the CSS
Seamless transition: No flicker or style recalculation during hydration

React Server Components (Next.js App Router)

Next.js streams HTML by default. TypeStyles supports three patterns — pick based on whether you extract CSS at build time or collect at request time.

Pattern	When to use
Build-time extraction	Production apps — static `typestyles.css`, no runtime sheet. See Zero-runtime extraction.
`getRegisteredCss()` in root layout	Runtime mode; styles are imported on the server before layout runs. Simplest request-time setup.
`TypestylesStylesheet` + `useServerInsertedHTML`	Runtime mode; styles register during the same streamed render as `{children}`. Use when lazy boundaries or client-only imports would make Option B miss rules.

Build-time extraction (recommended for production)

Import the extracted stylesheet in your root layout. No collectStyles() per request — CSS is static:

tsx

// app/layout.tsx
import './typestyles.css';

export default function RootLayout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

Configure extraction with @typestyles/next/build — see Zero-runtime extraction.

Runtime: server layout + `getRegisteredCss`

When style modules load synchronously on the server, the registered sheet already contains everything the layout needs:

tsx

// app/layout.tsx
import { getRegisteredCss } from '@typestyles/next';

export default function RootLayout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  const css = getRegisteredCss();

  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        {css ? <style id="typestyles" dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: css }} /> : null}
      </head>
      <body>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

This works in Server Components — no 'use client' required. Request isolation from AsyncLocalStorage applies when you also call collectStyles() elsewhere in the same request (for example a streaming pre-pass).

Runtime: streaming collection with `TypestylesStylesheet`

For styles that register during the streamed React tree (client boundaries, lazy imports, or useServerInsertedHTML timing), use the client component wrapper:

tsx

// app/layout.tsx
import { TypestylesStylesheet } from '@typestyles/next/client';

export default function RootLayout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>
        <TypestylesStylesheet />
        {children}
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

TypestylesStylesheet calls React's useServerInsertedHTML so CSS collected during the real SSR pass is injected into the streamed document — no separate renderToString pass and no CSS leakage between concurrent requests.

Next.js

Install the official integration so App Router, useServerInsertedHTML, and server helpers stay aligned:

bash

pnpm add @typestyles/next typestyles

See the @typestyles/next package README for build-time extraction (withTypestylesExtract) and Turbopack notes.

App Router (runtime) — quick reference

The RSC section above has full examples and a decision table. The options below are the same patterns in brief:

tsx

// app/layout.tsx
import { getRegisteredCss } from '@typestyles/next';

export default function RootLayout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  const css = getRegisteredCss();

  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        {css ? <style id="typestyles" dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: css }} /> : null}
      </head>
      <body>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

Option B — TypestylesStylesheet (client): uses Next’s useServerInsertedHTML so CSS collected during the real SSR pass is injected into the streamed document. Prefer this when you rely on the same render tree as {children} (for example lazy boundaries or patterns where Option A would miss rules).

tsx

// app/layout.tsx
import { TypestylesStylesheet } from '@typestyles/next/client';

export default function RootLayout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>
        <TypestylesStylesheet />
        {children}
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

Subtree-only CSS (advanced): collectStylesFromComponent / getTypestylesMetadata from @typestyles/next/server run renderToString on a specific element and return the CSS registered during that pass. Each call is request-isolated via collectStyles().

Pages Router

Wrap the page tree with TypestylesStylesheet so collection lines up with what Next renders:

tsx

// pages/_app.tsx
import { TypestylesStylesheet } from '@typestyles/next';
import type { AppProps } from 'next/app';

export default function App({ Component, pageProps }: AppProps) {
  return (
    <TypestylesStylesheet>
      <Component {...pageProps} />
    </TypestylesStylesheet>
  );
}

Custom pages/_document.tsx with collectStyles(() => ctx.renderPage()) is fragile because renderPage can be asynchronous and does not return a React element. Prefer the _app pattern above unless you maintain a custom synchronous pipeline.

Remix

renderToString(<RemixServer />) usually returns your app/root.tsx tree, which in the default template already includes <head>…</head>. Collect CSS from that same render, inject the tag before </head>, then prefix <!DOCTYPE html> if the string does not already include it:

tsx

// app/entry.server.tsx
import type { EntryContext } from '@remix-run/node';
import { RemixServer } from '@remix-run/react';
import { renderToString } from 'react-dom/server';
import { collectStyles, injectStylesIntoHtml } from 'typestyles/server';

export default function handleRequest(
  request: Request,
  responseStatusCode: number,
  responseHeaders: Headers,
  remixContext: EntryContext,
) {
  const { html, css } = collectStyles(() =>
    renderToString(<RemixServer context={remixContext} url={request.url} />),
  );

  responseHeaders.set('Content-Type', 'text/html; charset=utf-8');

  if (!html.includes('</head>')) {
    throw new Error(
      'typestyles SSR: expected </head> in Remix output. Ensure app/root.tsx renders a <head> (default Remix template does).',
    );
  }

  let documentHtml = injectStylesIntoHtml(html, css);
  if (!documentHtml.trimStart().toLowerCase().startsWith('<!doctype')) {
    documentHtml = `<!DOCTYPE html>${documentHtml}`;
  }

  return new Response(documentHtml, { status: responseStatusCode, headers: responseHeaders });
}

Streaming: the stock Remix entry.server.tsx uses renderToPipeableStream and never builds a single HTML string, so the pattern above targets synchronous document responses (for example the bot path in Remix’s default entry, or a custom non-streaming entry). To keep streaming, you still need a strategy for CSS: a prior collectStyles(() => renderToString(<RemixServer … />)) pass, build-time CSS extraction, or adapting the streaming pipeline—see Remix streaming and entry.server.

Streaming SSR (Express / Node)

React's renderToPipeableStream does not give you a complete HTML string up front, so TypeStyles cannot collect CSS from the stream itself. The supported pattern is two renders:

CSS pass — collectStyles(() => renderToString(<App />)) inside the same request (isolated via AsyncLocalStorage)
Stream pass — renderToPipeableStream(<App />) for the response body

Open your HTML shell (including the style tag) before pipe(res), then finish the document when React signals the stream is done. Exact callbacks depend on Suspense boundaries — see React renderToPipeableStream.

Helpers from typestyles/server reduce boilerplate:

typestylesStyleHtml(css) — <style id="typestyles">…</style>
streamingDocumentShell(css) — doctype + <head> with charset and styles + <body>
injectStylesIntoHtml(html, css) — insert before </head> (Remix-style full documents)
TYPESTYLES_STYLE_ID — the stable "typestyles" id (must match client hydration)

tsx

import { renderToString, renderToPipeableStream } from 'react-dom/server';
import type { Response } from 'express';
import { collectStyles, streamingDocumentShell } from 'typestyles/server';

app.get('/', (req, res: Response) => {
  const { css } = collectStyles(() => renderToString(<App />));

  const { pipe } = renderToPipeableStream(<App />, {
    onShellReady() {
      res.statusCode = 200;
      res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html; charset=utf-8');
      res.write(streamingDocumentShell(css));
      pipe(res);
    },
    onShellError(error) {
      res.statusCode = 500;
      console.error(error);
      res.end();
    },
  });
});

If your shell opens wrappers around <App />, add the matching closing tags in the appropriate callback (onAllReady when streaming deferred content, or follow the full pattern in the React docs) so you never write to res after it has ended.

Next.js App Router already streams — prefer TypestylesStylesheet or build-time extraction instead of manual two-pass rendering.

Important considerations

Style deduplication

TypeStyles automatically deduplicates CSS during collection. If multiple components use the same style variant, it's only included once in the output.

Critical CSS

All CSS is included by default. For large applications, you might want to implement critical CSS extraction (only including styles for above-the-fold content). This isn't built into TypeStyles—you'd need to implement it at the framework level.

Client-side hydration

Always use the same id="typestyles" on both server and client. Import TYPESTYLES_STYLE_ID from typestyles/server or use typestylesStyleHtml() so the id stays consistent:

html

<!-- Server -->
<style id="typestyles">
  ${css}
</style>

<!-- Client finds and reuses this element -->

If the IDs don't match, you'll get duplicate styles.

Memory and cleanup

collectStyles() manages collection state automatically. After the render function completes and CSS is collected, the internal state is reset. You don't need to manually clean up.

Troubleshooting

Styles missing in SSR output

Make sure you're actually rendering components that use typestyles during the collectStyles() call. If styles are defined but the component isn't rendered, no CSS will be generated.

Styles appearing twice

This happens when the client can't find the server-rendered style tag:

Check that the id is exactly "typestyles"
Make sure the style tag is present in the initial HTML
Verify no ad blockers or CSP are interfering

Flash of unstyled content (FOUC)

If you see FOUC:

Ensure styles are in the <head>, not the body
Check that the CSS string isn't empty
Verify that collectStyles() wraps the actual component render, not just an empty render

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