---
title: Imperative component API
---
In Svelte 3 and 4, the API for interacting with a component is different than in Svelte 5. Note that this page does _not_ apply to legacy mode components in a Svelte 5 application.
## Creating a component
```ts
// @noErrors
const component = new Component(options);
```
A client-side component — that is, a component compiled with `generate: 'dom'` (or the `generate` option left unspecified) is a JavaScript class.
```ts
// @noErrors
import App from './App.svelte';
const app = new App({
target: document.body,
props: {
// assuming App.svelte contains something like
// `export let answer`:
answer: 42
}
});
```
The following initialisation options can be provided:
| option | default | description |
| --------- | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `target` | **none** | An `HTMLElement` or `ShadowRoot` to render to. This option is required |
| `anchor` | `null` | A child of `target` to render the component immediately before |
| `props` | `{}` | An object of properties to supply to the component |
| `context` | `new Map()` | A `Map` of root-level context key-value pairs to supply to the component |
| `hydrate` | `false` | See below |
| `intro` | `false` | If `true`, will play transitions on initial render, rather than waiting for subsequent state changes |
Existing children of `target` are left where they are.
The `hydrate` option instructs Svelte to upgrade existing DOM (usually from server-side rendering) rather than creating new elements. It will only work if the component was compiled with the [`hydratable: true` option](/docs/svelte-compiler#compile). Hydration of `<head>` elements only works properly if the server-side rendering code was also compiled with `hydratable: true`, which adds a marker to each element in the `<head>` so that the component knows which elements it's responsible for removing during hydration.
Whereas children of `target` are normally left alone, `hydrate: true` will cause any children to be removed. For that reason, the `anchor` option cannot be used alongside `hydrate: true`.
The existing DOM doesn't need to match the component — Svelte will 'repair' the DOM as it goes.
```ts
/// file: index.js
// @noErrors
import App from './App.svelte';
const app = new App({
target: document.querySelector('#server-rendered-html'),
hydrate: true
});
```
> [!NOTE]
> In Svelte 5+, use [`mount`](svelte#mount) instead
## `$set`
```ts
// @noErrors
component.$set(props);
```
Programmatically sets props on an instance. `component.$set({ x: 1 })` is equivalent to `x = 1` inside the component's `<script>` block.
Calling this method schedules an update for the next microtask — the DOM is _not_ updated synchronously.
```ts
// @noErrors
component.$set({ answer: 42 });
```
> [!NOTE]
> In Svelte 5+, use `$state` instead to create a component props and update that
>
> ```js
> // @noErrors
> let props = $state({ answer: 42 });
> const component = mount(Component, { props });
> // ...
> props.answer = 24;
> ```
## `$on`
```ts
// @noErrors
component.$on(ev, callback);
```
Causes the `callback` function to be called whenever the component dispatches an `event`.
A function is returned that will remove the event listener when called.
```ts
// @noErrors
const off = component.$on('selected', (event) => {
console.log(event.detail.selection);
});
off();
```
> [!NOTE]
> In Svelte 5+, pass callback props instead
## `$destroy`
```js
// @noErrors
component.$destroy();
```
Removes a component from the DOM and triggers any `onDestroy` handlers.
> [!NOTE]
> In Svelte 5+, use [`unmount`](svelte#unmount) instead
## Component props
```js
// @noErrors
component.prop;
```
```js
// @noErrors
component.prop = value;
```
If a component is compiled with `accessors: true`, each instance will have getters and setters corresponding to each of the component's props. Setting a value will cause a _synchronous_ update, rather than the default async update caused by `component.$set(...)`.
By default, `accessors` is `false`, unless you're compiling as a custom element.
```js
// @noErrors
console.log(component.count);
component.count += 1;
```
> [!NOTE]
> In Svelte 5+, this concept is obsolete. If you want to make properties accessible from the outside, `export` them
## Server-side component API
```js
// @noErrors
const result = Component.render(...)
```
Unlike client-side components, server-side components don't have a lifespan after you render them — their whole job is to create some HTML and CSS. For that reason, the API is somewhat different.
A server-side component exposes a `render` method that can be called with optional props. It returns an object with `head`, `html`, and `css` properties, where `head` contains the contents of any `<svelte:head>` elements encountered.
You can import a Svelte component directly into Node using `svelte/register`.
```js
// @noErrors
require('svelte/register');
const App = require('./App.svelte').default;
const { head, html, css } = App.render({
answer: 42
});
```
The `.render()` method accepts the following parameters:
| parameter | default | description |
| --------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| `props` | `{}` | An object of properties to supply to the component |
| `options` | `{}` | An object of options |
The `options` object takes in the following options:
| option | default | description |
| --------- | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `context` | `new Map()` | A `Map` of root-level context key-value pairs to supply to the component |
```js
// @noErrors
const { head, html, css } = App.render(
// props
{ answer: 42 },
// options
{
context: new Map([['context-key', 'context-value']])
}
);
```
> [!NOTE]
> In Svelte 5+, use [`render`](svelte-server#render) instead