Skeleton v3 Release Candidate 🎉

[endigo9740]

Hey everyone, Chris here from the Skeleton team. Today we're thrilled to share the initial release candidate for Skeleton v3. The release candidate represents the final stage of development leading up to our official full release. Let's dive in.

• v3 Documentation: https://next.skeleton.dev/
• v3 Theme Generator: https://themes.skeleton.dev/
• v3 RC Walkthrough Video: https://youtu.be/k0p76Lm5h4Y

News & Announcements

You can find progress updates and announcements for the duration of the v3 development cycle here:

• View the latest GitHub Announcements
• View the latest YouTube Announcements

Getting Started

Installation Guides

• Install the Skeleton v3 RC

Migration Guide

Note

We are actively developing a v3 migration CLI to help automate the process for the full release!

• Read the Migration Guide
• Migration Video Tutorial

Skeleton v2 End of Life

Warning

Alongside the v3 RC today, we wanted to share our End of Life warning for Skeleton v2:

• Notice of End of Life for Skeleton v2 #3063

What's New in the Release Candidate

Stability and Bugfixes

Today's release is one of our largest patches, including bugfixes and improvements the core and component packages. We've also updated all underlying dependencies. Together this should help ensure better stability overall.

New Onboarding Guides

Now available for Next.js, SvelteKit, Vite+React, Vite+Svelte, and Astro. Along with a generic fallback for other frameworks.

Documentation Improvements

Since the v3 Beta, we've released a number of new Integration Guides for Code Blocks, Iconography, Popovers, and Toasts. As well as greatly expand our Cookbook recipes for smaller more self contained tutorials. Additionally, every component now has a dedicated API Reference which draws all information directly from our source code using a new in-house framework agnostic tool called Necroparser, developed by long time contributor @Hugos68

Note that we do hope to open source Necroparser in the future!

What's New in Skeleton v3

Modular Packages

• @skeletonlabs/skeleton - this contains the core design system features as provided by the Tailwind Plugin
• @skeletonlabs/skeleton-react - a library of React components built using the Skeleton design system.
• @skeletonlabs/skeleton-svelte - a library of Svelte components built using the Skeleton design system.
• As well as integration for third party libraries, such as Floating UI and Shiki.

Design System

• A professional-grade Figma UI Kit and accompanying theme import plugin.
• A completely revamped Tailwind plugin
• New and improved Theme system and Theme Generator with nearly 3x the custom CSS properties
• Expanded color palette and utility classes
• Overhauled Presets system
• Overhauled Typography system
• A brand new Spacing system, for dynamic spacing based on a scaling factor
• An opinionated Iconography integration guide.

Tailwind Plugin

• Focuses on expanding Tailwind's standard utility classes, while also providing a number of unique utilities.
• Now features 20+ themes out of the box, including updates to our legacy themes.
• Tailwind Elements (ex: buttons, cards, etc) are much easier to implement and style.

Components

• All components have been rewritten from the ground up, including new names, features, and properties.
• Full support for React and Svelte 5, with more planned for the future.
• All components now use Zag.js as their foundation to maintain cross-framework parity.

Documentation

• Simpler onboarding and support for a number of new meta-frameworks.
• A deep dive into the fundamentals of using Skeleton.
• Complete code examples showcasing the entire process for implementing each feature.
• Numerous integration guides for implementing third party libraries such as Floating UI and Shiki.
• A new Cookbook recipe section illustrating how to mix Skeleton and Tailwind primitives to generate complex UI.
• Streamlined navigation, UX, and search to help you find what you're looking for.

FAQs

What does a "Release Candidate" mean?

For us, this means the Skeleton next branch is both feature complete and near production-ready. In the following week's we'll continue refine and improve both the library and documentation until we feel it's ready for the full release.

Is the v3 RC ready for production?

Not quite. While we consider the v3 RC to be feature complete, a small allotment of issues to address. These are primarily focused on cosmetic fixes and improvements, minor feature requests, with a focus on several major improvements still pending for our documentation website. Including a redesign of the homepage.

Why does Skeleton v3 have so many changes?

If you review the original proposal, you'll understand the motivation. It comes down to a single question: "If we were going to build Skeleton today, what would we do differently?". Turns out the answer is: a lot! Though we think these changes are healthy for life and longevity of the project. The update to Svelte 5 serves as a prime example of this.

Is it possible to migrate from a Skeleton v2 project?

Yes, we've provided a migration guide for this process. Note that we do have a automated migration CLI pending for the full release!.

Should I begin testing the Skeleton v3 RC?

Yes, please do! And make sure to submit feedback on what you think! We can only improve what you communicate to us! We can't promise every request will make it before launch, but we will continue to publish maintenance release at our usual cadence post-release.

When will Skeleton v3 Launch?

Currently we're slating this for sometime in January 2025. We're dropping the Release Candidate just prior to the end of year holidays, which means our contributors will be taking a much needed break to spend with friends and family. After the 1st of the year, we'll resume operations, which will lead straight to launch.

Reporting Issues

Please report all issues via GitHub, Discord, or the comments section below.