Mutation Observer

<sl-mutation-observer> | SlMutationObserver

Since 2.0

stable

The Mutation Observer component offers a thin, declarative interface to the MutationObserver API.

The mutation observer will report changes to the content it wraps through the sl-mutation event. When emitted, a collection of MutationRecord objects will be attached to event.detail that contains information about how it changed.

Click to mutate

👆 Click the button and watch the console

<div class="mutation-overview">
  <sl-mutation-observer attr="variant">
    <sl-button variant="primary">Click to mutate</sl-button>
  </sl-mutation-observer>

  <br />
  👆 Click the button and watch the console

  <script>
    const container = document.querySelector('.mutation-overview');
    const mutationObserver = container.querySelector('sl-mutation-observer');
    const button = container.querySelector('sl-button');
    const variants = ['primary', 'success', 'neutral', 'warning', 'danger'];
    let clicks = 0;

    // Change the button's variant attribute
    button.addEventListener('click', () => {
      clicks++;
      button.setAttribute('variant', variants[clicks % variants.length]);
    });

    // Log mutations
    mutationObserver.addEventListener('sl-mutation', event => {
      console.log(event.detail);
    });
  </script>

  <style>
    .mutation-overview sl-button {
      margin-bottom: 1rem;
    }
  </style>
</div>

import { useState } from 'react';
import { SlButton, SlMutationObserver } from '@shoelace-style/shoelace/dist/react';

const css = `
  .resize-observer-overview div {
    display: flex;
    border: solid 2px var(--sl-input-border-color);
    align-items: center;
    justify-content: center;
    text-align: center;
    padding: 4rem 2rem;
  }
`;

const variants = ['primary', 'success', 'neutral', 'warning', 'danger'];
let clicks = 0;

const App = () => {
  const [variant, setVariant] = useState('primary');

  function handleClick() {
    clicks++;
    setVariant(variants[clicks % variants.length]);
  }

  return (
    <>
      <SlMutationObserver attr="*" onSlMutation={event => console.log(event.detail)}>
        <SlButton variant={variant} onClick={handleClick}>
          Click to mutate
        </SlButton>
      </SlMutationObserver>

      <style>{css}</style>
    </>
  );
};

When you create a mutation observer, you must indicate what changes it should respond to by including at least one of attr, child-list, or char-data. If you don’t specify at least one of these attributes, no mutation events will be emitted.

Examples

Child List

Use the child-list attribute to watch for new child elements that are added or removed.

Add button

👆 Add and remove buttons and watch the console

<div class="mutation-child-list">
  <sl-mutation-observer child-list>
    <div class="buttons">
      <sl-button variant="primary">Add button</sl-button>
    </div>
  </sl-mutation-observer>

  👆 Add and remove buttons and watch the console

  <script>
    const container = document.querySelector('.mutation-child-list');
    const mutationObserver = container.querySelector('sl-mutation-observer');
    const buttons = container.querySelector('.buttons');
    const button = container.querySelector('sl-button[variant="primary"]');
    let i = 0;

    // Add a button
    button.addEventListener('click', () => {
      const button = document.createElement('sl-button');
      button.textContent = ++i;
      buttons.append(button);
    });

    // Remove a button
    buttons.addEventListener('click', event => {
      const target = event.target.closest('sl-button:not([variant="primary"])');
      event.stopPropagation();

      if (target) {
        target.remove();
      }
    });

    // Log mutations
    mutationObserver.addEventListener('sl-mutation', event => {
      console.log(event.detail);
    });
  </script>

  <style>
    .mutation-child-list .buttons {
      display: flex;
      gap: 0.25rem;
      flex-wrap: wrap;
      margin-bottom: 1rem;
    }
  </style>
</div>

import { useState } from 'react';
import { SlButton, SlMutationObserver } from '@shoelace-style/shoelace/dist/react';

const css = `
  .mutation-child-list .buttons {
    display: flex;
    gap: .25rem;
    flex-wrap: wrap;
    margin-bottom: 1rem;
  }
`;

let buttonCount = 0;

const App = () => {
  const [buttonIds, setButtonIds] = useState([]);

  function addButton() {
    setButtonIds([...buttonIds, ++buttonCount]);
  }

  function removeButton(id) {
    setButtonIds(buttonIds.filter(i => i !== id));
  }

  return (
    <>
      <div className="mutation-child-list">
        <SlMutationObserver child-list onSlMutation={event => console.log(event.detail)}>
          <div className="buttons">
            <SlButton variant="primary" onClick={addButton}>
              Add button
            </SlButton>
            {buttonIds.map(id => (
              <SlButton key={id} variant="default" onClick={() => removeButton(id)}>
                {id}
              </SlButton>
            ))}
          </div>
        </SlMutationObserver>
      </div>
      👆 Add and remove buttons and watch the console
      <style>{css}</style>
    </>
  );
};

Importing

If you’re using the autoloader or the traditional loader, you can ignore this section. Otherwise, feel free to use any of the following snippets to cherry pick this component.

Script

Import

Bundler

React

To import this component from the CDN using a script tag:

<script type="module" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shoelace-style/shoelace@2.5.2/cdn/components/mutation-observer/mutation-observer.js"></script>

To import this component from the CDN using a JavaScript import:

import 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shoelace-style/shoelace@2.5.2/cdn/components/mutation-observer/mutation-observer.js';

To import this component using a bundler:

import '@shoelace-style/shoelace/dist/components/mutation-observer/mutation-observer.js';

To import this component as a React component:

import { SlMutationObserver } from '@shoelace-style/shoelace/dist/react';

Slots

Name	Description
(default)	The content to watch for mutations.

Learn more about using slots.

Properties

Name	Description	Type	Default
`attr`	Watches for changes to attributes. To watch only specific attributes, separate them by a space, e.g. `attr="class id title"`. To watch all attributes, use `*`.	`string`	-
`attrOldValue` `attr-old-value`	Indicates whether or not the attribute’s previous value should be recorded when monitoring changes.	`boolean`	`false`
`charData` `char-data`	Watches for changes to the character data contained within the node.	`boolean`	`false`
`charDataOldValue` `char-data-old-value`	Indicates whether or not the previous value of the node’s text should be recorded.	`boolean`	`false`
`childList` `child-list`	Watches for the addition or removal of new child nodes.	`boolean`	`false`
`disabled`	Disables the observer.	`boolean`	`false`
`updateComplete`	A read-only promise that resolves when the component has finished updating.

Learn more about attributes and properties.

Events

Name	React Event	Description	Event Detail
`sl-mutation`	`onSlMutation`	Emitted when a mutation occurs.	`{ mutationList: MutationRecord[] }`

Learn more about events.