`, favicon, and body of `Root()` to\nmatch your app's existing `index.html`, and stamp anything else your shell\nreferences directly (images, css) with `immutableFileUrl()`.\n\n1. Create `frontend/root.tsx`:\n\n```tsx\n/** @jsxImportSource npm:hono@4/jsx */\nimport { raw } from \"npm:hono@4/html\";\nimport { immutableFileUrl } from \"https://esm.town/v/std/utils/index.ts\";\n\n// The HTML shell for the app. It is never cached, so immutableFileUrl can stamp\n// the current val version into each asset URL — the browser caches those\n// immutably, and publishing the val changes the URLs, refetching exactly once.\nexport function Root() {\n return (\n <>\n {raw(\"<!DOCTYPE html>\")}\n <html lang=\"en\">\n <head>\n <meta charSet=\"UTF-8\" />\n <meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0\" />\n <title>React Hono Val Town Starter

[{"_1":2,"_3":-5,"_4":-5},"loaderData",{"_5":6,"_7":8,"_9":10},"actionData","errors","root",{"_257":258,"_259":260},"routes/_app.x.$handle.$name",{"_11":12,"_13":14,"_15":-7,"_18":19,"_17":-7,"_192":-5,"_20":193,"_22":194,"_195":196,"_197":198,"_26":199,"_24":200,"_201":-5,"_202":-5,"_203":59,"_204":205,"_206":56,"_207":-5,"_208":-5,"_209":210},"routes/_app.x.$handle.$name.code.$",{"_11":12,"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":-7,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":23,"_24":25,"_26":27,"_28":-5,"_29":-5,"_30":-5,"_31":-5,"_32":-5},"handle","justinstevens","name","justin-stevens","branchName","main","version","path","index.ts","project",{"_33":134,"_13":14,"_45":135,"_136":-5,"_137":59,"_138":139,"_140":139,"_141":142,"_143":-5,"_144":145,"_146":38,"_147":56,"_148":-5,"_149":-5,"_150":43,"_151":152,"_153":154,"_155":156,"_157":158,"_159":-5,"_160":161,"_162":161,"_163":164,"_165":164,"_166":164,"_167":161,"_168":161,"_169":170,"_171":172,"_173":174,"_175":59},"tree",[51,52,53,54],"file",{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_13":19,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_17":43,"_44":-5,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":14,"_18":50},"contents",[],"upstream","pull","ahead","behind","envVars","id","43feb0e2-5bfb-4982-b32c-85fb21123ef4","branchId","2a0909db-c7c3-4f2d-b143-3a350a4ab8f7","fileId","01a07807-0d1c-749e-a8cc-8472de5d06c7","content","import { parseVal, serveImmutableFile } from \"https://esm.town/v/std/utils/index.ts\";\nimport { Hono } from \"npm:hono\";\nimport { Root } from \"./frontend/root.tsx\";\n\nconst app = new Hono();\n\n// Serve the (never-cached) HTML shell at the root /\napp.get(\"/\", (c) => c.html(Root()));\n\n// Serve frontend files at the version-addressed URLs Root() stamps, cached immutably\napp.get(\"/__immutable/*\", (c) => serveImmutableFile(c.req.path));\n\n// View source redirect\napp.get(\"/source\", (c) => c.redirect(parseVal().links.self.val));\n\n// Add your API routes here\n// app.get(\"/api/data\", c => c.json({ hello: \"world\" }));\n\n// Unwrap and rethrow Hono errors as the original error\n// If you delete this, all errors will be \"Internal Server Error\"\napp.onError((err) => Promise.reject(err));\n\n// HTTP vals expect an exported \"fetch handler\"\n// This is how you \"run the server\" in Val Town with Hono\nexport default app.fetch;\n","fileType","http",0,"parentId","createdAt",["D",1788720122956],"branchVersion",1,"label",[19],{"_33":77,"_13":78,"_37":79,"_44":-5,"_35":36,"_47":48,"_55":56,"_45":80,"_17":43,"_41":81,"_39":-5,"_58":59,"_49":-5,"_60":82,"_18":83},{"_33":70,"_13":71,"_37":72,"_44":-5,"_35":36,"_47":48,"_55":56,"_45":73,"_17":43,"_41":24,"_39":74,"_58":59,"_49":-5,"_60":75,"_18":76},{"_33":63,"_13":64,"_37":65,"_44":-5,"_35":36,"_47":48,"_55":56,"_45":66,"_17":43,"_41":24,"_39":67,"_58":59,"_49":-5,"_60":68,"_18":69},{"_33":34,"_13":19,"_37":38,"_44":-5,"_35":36,"_47":48,"_55":56,"_45":57,"_17":43,"_41":42,"_39":40,"_58":59,"_49":14,"_60":61,"_18":62},"latest",true,["D",1788720122956],"deleted",false,"children",[],[19],"98469083-d8c3-41cb-aafe-6e66bea9ca64","README.md","01a07807-0d1c-749e-a8cc-83a7128d4018",["D",1788720122956],"# React + Hono Starter\n\nA minimal starter template for building client-side React apps with a Hono\nbackend on Val Town. Click **Remix** to get your own copy.\n\n## Picking a starter\n\n| Starter | When to pick it |\n| --- | --- |\n| [`basic-html-starter`](https://www.val.town/x/templates/basic-html-starter) | Static HTML pages. Sprinkle of vanilla JS. No server-side rendering. |\n| [`hono-jsx-starter`](https://www.val.town/x/templates/hono-jsx-starter) | Dynamic server-rendered HTML with JSX. API routes. No React, no SPA. |\n| **[`react-hono-starter`](https://www.val.town/x/templates/react-hono-starter)** *(you're here)* | Client-side React SPA with a Hono API backend. |\n\n**Want to build UI?** Start writing React components in\n[`frontend/components/`](/frontend/components/). Import them into `App.tsx` and\nyou're good to go. Styling is [Twind](https://twind.style/) — just use Tailwind\nutility classes, zero config.\n\n**Want to add an API?** Add routes in [`index.ts`](/index.ts) (there's a\ncommented-out example). Fetch them from your React components.\n\n## Architecture\n\n```mermaid\ngraph LR\n Browser -->|\"GET /\"| Hono[\"index.ts
(Hono server)\"]\n Hono -->|serves| HTML[\"root.tsx\"]\n HTML -->|loads| Entry[\"index.tsx\"]\n Entry -->|renders| App[\"App.tsx\"]\n App -->|renders| Counter[\"Counter.tsx\"]\n```\n\n## File structure\n\n```\nindex.ts ← Hono backend (serves frontend + API routes)\nfrontend/\n root.tsx ← HTML shell (stamps immutable asset URLs)\n index.tsx ← React entrypoint (mounts )\n favicon.svg ← App icon\n components/\n App.tsx ← Root component (layout + view source link)\n Counter.tsx ← Example component with state\n```\n\n## How it works\n\n1. **`index.ts`** is the HTTP entrypoint — a Hono server that serves the\n frontend and any API routes you add.\n2. **`frontend/root.tsx`** is the HTML shell — it loads Twind and stamps\n immutable asset URLs for the favicon and React entrypoint.\n3. **`frontend/index.tsx`** mounts the React app.\n4. **`frontend/components/App.tsx`** is the root layout — add new components\n alongside it.\n5. **`frontend/components/Counter.tsx`** is an example stateful component —\n replace it with your own!\n\n## Next steps\n\n- Add API routes in `index.ts`\n- Add new components in `frontend/components/`\n- Add a SQLite database — see the\n [React Hono Example](https://www.val.town/x/stevekrouse/reactHonoExample) for\n a full-stack example with database, queries, and shared types\n\nTemplate updates and upgrade paths for existing remixes: [CHANGELOG.md](/CHANGELOG.md)\n",[],[64],"e4d87919-89c2-4bf0-9a91-771a4484f20b","CHANGELOG.md","01a07807-0d1c-749e-a8cc-7eba1c3fa4bc",["D",1788720122956],"# Changelog\n\n## 2026-07-30 — Immutable asset caching\n\nFrontend files are now served at version-addressed URLs\n(`/__immutable/45/frontend/index.tsx`) with\n`Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable`, so repeat visits load the\nwhole client graph from the browser cache — roughly 3× faster (~665ms → ~157ms\nmeasured). Publishing your val bumps its version, which changes every URL, so\ncaches invalidate automatically. Old-version URLs return 404 after a publish\n(like Next.js build assets); a reload picks up the new version.\n\nWhat changed in the template:\n\n- `frontend/index.html` → [`frontend/root.tsx`](/frontend/root.tsx): the HTML\n shell is now JSX and stamps asset URLs with `immutableFileUrl()`\n- [`index.ts`](/index.ts): serves `Root()` at `/`, and one\n `app.get(\"/__immutable/*\", (c) => serveImmutableFile(c.req.path))` route\n serves all frontend files\n\n### Upgrading an existing remix\n\nYour copy of this template doesn't update automatically. Two options:\n\n**Minimal (most of the benefit):** point both routes at `serveImmutableFile` —\nyour existing bare URLs redirect into versioned space, the new route serves\nthem, and the whole module graph gets cached (costs one redirect per page view):\n\n```ts\nimport { serveImmutableFile } from \"https://esm.town/v/std/utils/index.ts\";\n\napp.get(\"/__immutable/*\", (c) => serveImmutableFile(c.req.path));\napp.get(\"/frontend/**/*\", (c) => serveImmutableFile(c.req.path)); // was serveFile\n```\n\n**Full upgrade (also removes the redirect):** three self-contained steps —\nno other files needed. Adjust the ``, favicon, and body of `Root()` to\nmatch your app's existing `index.html`, and stamp anything else your shell\nreferences directly (images, css) with `immutableFileUrl()`.\n\n1. Create `frontend/root.tsx`:\n\n```tsx\n/** @jsxImportSource npm:hono@4/jsx */\nimport { raw } from \"npm:hono@4/html\";\nimport { immutableFileUrl } from \"https://esm.town/v/std/utils/index.ts\";\n\n// The HTML shell for the app. It is never cached, so immutableFileUrl can stamp\n// the current val version into each asset URL — the browser caches those\n// immutably, and publishing the val changes the URLs, refetching exactly once.\nexport function Root() {\n return (\n <>\n {raw(\"<!DOCTYPE html>\")}\n <html lang=\"en\">\n <head>\n <meta charSet=\"UTF-8\" />\n <meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0\" />\n <title>React Hono Val Town Starter\n