Jeppe hosts with Brittany. Guests: Patak (Matias Capeletto, Vite core team) and Zeu Capua (zeu.dev, software engineer, Svelte ambassador).

What is npmx?

A fast, open-source browser for the npm registry. It consumes the npmjs REST API and adds a better UI and more useful data on top. Started by Daniel Roe (Nuxt lead) ~40 days before recording. Patak joined as co-steward after seeing a two-day prototype.

Features beyond npmjs.com

• ESM vs CJS detection per package
• Bundle size and install size
• Color-coded dependency freshness (yellow = patch behind, red = major behind)
• e18e module replacement warnings when a lighter modern alternative exists
• Package claiming via UI (available locally if you fork the repo)
• Planned: publishing and package management flows

Svelte is #1

Most liked package on npmx at time of recording: Svelte (173), Nuxt (101), Vite (96).

Picks

• Zeu: Hypermedia Systems by Carson Gross. Free online at hypermedia.systems.
• Brittany: Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Comedy about inheriting a villain business.
• Patak: The community blog posts from the npmx launch. Read them if you need a reminder that open source can still be fun.
• Jeppe: Cordless hot glue guns. 10 seconds to heat up, fixes everything.

Hot takes

• Zeu: Stop putting "blue" or "sky" in AT Proto app names. The protocol needs to grow beyond Blue Sky.
• Patak: He's stopped coding in open source. Focusing on people, calls, community. Open source needs more non-coders.

Links

• npmx Alpha Launch Blog Post
• npmx.dev
• npmx GitHub
• npmx Discord
• npmx Open Collective
• Zeu Capua / @zeu.dev on Blue Sky
• Eurosky
• Open Source Pledge
• Hypermedia Systems

Kev and Jeppe, discuss the cold weather in Denmark and Sweden compared to Hawaii. They highlight that "Svelte Radio" has ranked number 13 (effectively number 12) in the podcast section of the State of JS 2025 survey, placing them among the "mainstream" podcasts and slightly increasing the pressure to produce relevant content.

State of JS: Frameworks
The hosts analyze the survey results for JavaScript frameworks:

• Svelte: Usage increased slightly to 27% (up from 26%). It maintains the highest interest rating for the sixth consecutive year, though interest is slightly declining—a trend seen across most frameworks. Satisfaction remains high at number two (86%), just behind Solid.
• React: Continues to dominate with 70 million weekly downloads, but interest and satisfaction are declining. The hosts discuss the complexity of React Server Components (RSC) and the risks of framework developers losing touch with practical usage ("dogfooding").
• Solid: Rising in interest and taking the number one spot for satisfaction.
• HTMX: Saw a significant drop in interest, described as a "meme" that has cooled down.
• Web Components: Chatter is growing (e.g., Lit), but usage remains relatively low compared to the push from DevRel teams.

State of JS: Meta-Frameworks

• Next.js: Leads usage significantly at 59% but has low satisfaction, barely beating out Gatsby.
• Astro: Growing rapidly (27% usage) and ranked number one in satisfaction. Its strength lies in supporting multiple frameworks (React, Vue, Svelte).
• SvelteKit: Ranked number two in satisfaction. Interest is declining, likely due to the framework maturing.
• TanStack Start: Noted as a popular write-in option and a strong new alternative to Next.js.
• Analog: Mentioned as an Angular meta-framework powered by Vite.

Libraries & Developer Tools

• The hosts discuss various libraries and tools featured in the survey:
• Validation: Zod is the most used, but Valibot is recommended as a smaller, tree-shakable alternative. Both libraries support the new "Standard Schema" initiative.
• Linting: Oxlint is highlighted as a much faster, Rust-based alternative to ESLint.
• Package Management: The tool ni is recommended for running package manager commands (install, run scripts) agnostically without needing to remember if a project uses npm, yarn, or pnpm.
• Date Libraries: Day.js, date-fns, and Luxon remain popular. The hosts anticipate the upcoming JavaScript Temporal API may eventually replace these.
• jQuery: A new version was released that drops Internet Explorer 11 support and migrates to ES modules.

Picks & Actionable Items
The hosts conclude with their picks for the week:

• Kev's Pick: The TV show "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" (Game of Thrones universe).
• Jeppes's Pick: npmx.dev, a modern, interactive interface for the NPM registry that includes vulnerability alerts and dependency graphs.

Actionable Items:

• Try ni: Use the ni CLI tool to handle package manager commands automatically across different projects.
• Contribute to npmx.dev: The project is looking for contributors. It is described as a friendly community for those wanting to get into open source.
• Avoid AI Spam PRs: If contributing to npmx.dev or other projects, ensure contributions are genuine and not low-effort, AI-generated pull requests.

Sorry about Jeppe's audio in this one, he accidentally picked the wrong microphone during recording and there's not much we can do about it :(

The gang kicks back for their first episode of the new year, catching up on holidays before diving into AI and vibe coding. Kevin talks bout a gym tracking app he built almost entirely with LLMs.

They cover updates to the Svelte Society website (job board, sponsorships, newsletter), debate whether Mozilla/Firefox can survive by pivoting to AI, and wrap with hot takes: Kevin warns devs to learn AI tools or risk obsolescence, Brittney shares Claude's take that TypeScript's type system has become its own technical debt, and Jeppe champions the glory of two ultra-wide curved monitors.