Remix + Hygraph

#Overview

Remix is a modern web framework that focuses on developer experience and performance by leveraging a React-based approach to build web applications and UIs. It emphasizes server-side rendering, efficient data loading, and seamless integration with various backends and cloud environments to create fast, scalable, and interactive web experiences.

#Creating a new Remix app

To initialize a new Remix project using Javascript, use the JS template flag.

Open up your terminal, navigate to where you want your project, and run the following command:

npx create-remix@latest --template remix-run/remix/templates/remix-javascript

Remix app using TypeScript:

npx create-remix@latest

#Add Tailwind CSS to your Remix app

1. To add Tailwind CSS to your Remix app, run the following command:

   npx install tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer -D && npx tailwindcss init

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2. Update the tailwind.config.js file to reflect the following:

   /** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
   export default {
     content: ["./app/**/*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}"],
     theme: {
       extend: {}
     },
     plugins: []
   };

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3. Create a postcss.config.cjs file in the root of your project with the following code:

   module.exports = {
   plugins: {
     tailwindcss: {},
     autoprefixer: {},
   },
   };

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4. Update the app/tailwind.css file (or create it if it doesn't exist), to import Tailwind's styles:

   @tailwind base;
   @tailwind components;
   @tailwind utilities;

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5. Finally, make sure to import the app/tailwind.css file in your app/root.jsx file:

   import "./tailwind.css";

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Now, you should be able to use Tailwind CSS classes in your Remix app.

#Getting data from Hygraph

Now that you have created your Remix app, it's time to add some data from Hygraph. Start by cloning our demo Hygraph project:

After cloning, you will have a simple project that contains one content model called Page that contains fields for Title, Slug, and Body; and one content entry.

If you navigate to the Schema builder and click on the Page model, you will see this:

Demo project - Page model

And if you navigate to the Content editor and view the sample entry details, you'll see this:

Demo project - Sample content entry

#Public content API

Before you can connect Remix to Hygraph, you will need to configure Public content API access permissions for unauthenticated requests.

To do this, go Project settings > Access > API Access > Public content API in your Hygraph project, scroll to find the Content Permissions box that reads Would you like us to initialize some defaults?, and click Yes, initialize defaults:

Public content API permissions

Finally, copy the High Performance Content API endpoint from Project settings > Access > API Access > Endpoints. You use it to connect Remix to Hygraph later on.

#Testing a query in the API playground

Next, you should test if you can fetch the information in the sample content entry that we showed you earlier. To do this, navigate to the API Playground in your project and use the following query:

If you execute the query, the response should fetch the sample query in the demo project you cloned.

#Connecting Remix to Hygraph

In Remix, save your VITE_HYGRAPH_URL in an .env file on the project root.

As a result, you will be able to call this key with process.env.VITE_HYGRAPH_URL in any of your files.

This will be where we paste the endpoint URL we copied from Hygraph:

VITE_HYGRAPH_URL=https://<HYGRAPH_CDN_LOCATION>.cdn.hygraph.com/content/<ID>/master

Your root directory will include the following files:

remix/
┣ app/
┣ node_modules/
┣ public/
┣ .env
┣ .eslintrc.cjs
┣ .gitignore
┣ README.md
┣ package-lock.json
┣ package.json
┣ postcss.config.cjs
┣ tailwind.config.js
┗ vite.config.js

Want to see Remix and Hygraph in action? Watch a quick video on how to connect Remix and Hygraph:

#Generating Hygraph content with Remix

After enabling API access, you can start using the Pages query with your Remix app to render content.

#Installing a GraphQL Client

GraphQL clients make communication easier by abstracting away small details and implementing additional features such as static typing of our query results.

We will use the npm package graphql-request because it is lightweight, has excellent TypeScript support, and supports both Node.js and browsers.

Use the terminal to go back to your Remix app, and type the following command:

npm i -D graphql-request graphql

This will install a GraphQL client.

#Getting a list of pages for the homepage

After installing the GraphQL client, go to the app/routes directory and modify or create a file called _index.jsx or _index.jsx if you are using TypeScript, and add the following code:

Code overview for the homepage

The code you just added creates a query function that fetches a list of pages from Hygraph and renders them on the homepage as a bulleted list of links.

When you run your Remix app by using the command npm run dev, you should get a list of pages on the homepage.

Homepage

#Creating dynamic page routes with Remix

Now, that we have a list of pages in our homepage, we need to create a dynamic route for each page. To do this, create a new file in the app/routes directory called page.$slug.jsx or page.$slug.tsx. When finished, your source directory should resemble the following structure:

// Remix app directory structure
app/
┣ routes/
┃ ┣ _index.tsx
┃ ┗ page.$slug.tsx
┣ entry.client.tsx
┣ entry.server.tsx
┣ root.tsx
┗ tailwind.css

Add the following code to your page.$slug.jsx or page.$slug.tsx file:

Code overview for dynamic page route

The code you just added will create a dynamic route for each page. It will fetch the page content from Hygraph and render it on the page.

When you run your Remix app by using the command npm run dev, you should be able to see the page content when you click on a page link.

Dynamic page

Congratulations! You have a homepage and a dynamic page route to render all pages and their content.