Turbo
Hotwire Turbo provides SPA-like speed with server-rendered HTML. No JavaScript to write. Three components work together:
- Drive -- Automatic AJAX navigation for all links and forms (zero config)
- Frames -- Scoped navigation that updates only one section of the page
- Streams -- Server-pushed DOM mutations (append, replace, remove, etc.)
Decision Tree
Need to update the page?
+-- Full page navigation -> Turbo Drive (automatic, already active)
+-- Single section from user click -> Turbo Frame
+-- Multiple sections from action -> Turbo Stream (HTTP response)
+-- Real-time from server/others -> Turbo Stream (Mercure / SSE)
Installation
composer require symfony/ux-turbo
That's it. Turbo Drive is active immediately -- all links and forms become AJAX.
Turbo Drive
Automatic SPA-like navigation. Every <a> click and <form> submit is intercepted, fetched via AJAX, and the <body> is swapped. The browser URL and history update normally.
Disabling for Specific Elements
<!-- Disable on link/form -->
<a href="/external" data-turbo="false">External Link</a>
<!-- Disable for entire section -->
<div data-turbo="false">
<a href="/normal">Normal link (no Turbo)</a>
</div>
History and Caching
<!-- Replace history instead of push -->
<a href="/page" data-turbo-action="replace">Replace History</a>
<!-- Force full reload when asset changes -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/app.css" data-turbo-track="reload">
<script src="/app.js" data-turbo-track="reload"></script>
Turbo Frames
Scope navigation to a section of the page. Links and forms inside a frame update only that frame's content. The rest of the page stays untouched.
Basic Frame
<!-- Page with frame -->
<turbo-frame id="messages">
<h2>Messages</h2>
<a href="/messages/1">View Message 1</a> <!-- Updates only this frame -->
</turbo-frame>
<!-- /messages/1 response must contain a matching frame ID -->
<turbo-frame id="messages">
<h2>Message 1</h2>
<p>Content here...</p>
<a href="/messages">Back to list</a>
</turbo-frame>
The server response is a full HTML page, but Turbo extracts only the matching <turbo-frame> and swaps it in.
Lazy Loading
Load frame content asynchronously after the page renders:
<turbo-frame id="notifications" src="/notifications" loading="lazy">
<p>Loading...</p>
</turbo-frame>
Target Another Frame
A link inside one frame can update a different frame:
<turbo-frame id="sidebar">
<a href="/item/1" data-turbo-frame="main-content">View Item</a>
</turbo-frame>
<turbo-frame id="main-content">
<!-- Content replaced here -->
</turbo-frame>
Break Out of Frame
Navigate the entire page from within a frame:
<turbo-frame id="modal">
<a href="/dashboard" data-turbo-frame="_top">Go to Dashboard</a>
</turbo-frame>
Frame with Form
Forms inside frames submit and update within that frame:
<turbo-frame id="search-results">
<form action="/search" method="get">
<input type="search" name="q">
<button>Search</button>
</form>
<ul>
{% for item in results %}
<li>{{ item.name }}</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>
</turbo-frame>
URL Sync
Update the browser URL when a frame navigates (useful for bookmarkable state):
<turbo-frame id="products" data-turbo-action="advance">
<!-- Browser URL updates when this frame navigates -->
</turbo-frame>
Turbo Streams
Update multiple DOM elements from a single server response. Eight actions available (append, prepend, replace, update, remove, before, after, refresh), each targeting elements by ID or CSS selector.
Stream Actions
<turbo-stream action="append" target="messages">
<template><div id="msg_1">New message</div></template>
</turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="prepend" target="messages">
<template><div id="msg_0">First!</div></template>
</turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="replace" target="notification">
<template><div id="notification">Updated!</div></template>
</turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="update" target="counter">
<template>42</template>
</turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="remove" target="msg_5"></turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="before" target="msg_3">
<template><div id="msg_2">Inserted before</div></template>
</turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="after" target="msg_3">
<template><div id="msg_4">Inserted after</div></template>
</turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="refresh"></turbo-stream>
replace and update support an optional method="morph" attribute for smooth DOM morphing instead of full replacement:
<turbo-stream action="replace" method="morph" target="user-card">
<template><div id="user-card">Updated content</div></template>
</turbo-stream>
Target Multiple Elements (CSS Selector)
Use targets (plural) with a CSS selector to affect multiple elements:
<turbo-stream action="remove" targets=".notification.read"></turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="update" targets=".price">
<template>99.00 EUR</template>
</turbo-stream>
Twig Component Syntax for Streams
Since Symfony UX 2.22+, you can use <twig:Turbo:Stream:*> components instead of raw HTML:
<twig:Turbo:Stream:Append target="comments">
{{ include('comment/_comment.html.twig') }}
</twig:Turbo:Stream:Append>
<twig:Turbo:Stream:Update target="comment-count">
{{ count }}
</twig:Turbo:Stream:Update>
<twig:Turbo:Stream:Remove target="msg_5" />
Symfony Integration
Stream Response from Controller
use Symfony\UX\Turbo\TurboBundle;
#[Route('/messages', name: 'message_create', methods: ['POST'])]
public function create(Request $request): Response
{
$message = new Message();
// ... handle form
$this->em->persist($message);
$this->em->flush();
// Return stream response for Turbo requests
$request->setRequestFormat(TurboBundle::STREAM_FORMAT);
return $this->render('message/create.stream.html.twig', [
'message' => $message,
'count' => $count,
]);
}
You can also use the TurboStreamResponse helper or TurboStream helper methods for programmatic stream building.
Stream Template
{# templates/message/create.stream.html.twig #}
<turbo-stream action="append" target="messages">
<template>
{{ include('message/_message.html.twig', {message: message}) }}
</template>
</turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="update" target="message-count">
<template>{{ count }}</template>
</turbo-stream>
<turbo-stream action="replace" target="new-message-form">
<template>
{{ include('message/_form.html.twig', {message: null}) }}
</template>
</turbo-stream>
Detect Frame Request
public function show(Request $request, int $id): Response
{
if ($request->headers->has('Turbo-Frame')) {
$frameId = $request->headers->get('Turbo-Frame');
// Return only the frame content (or a full page -- Turbo extracts the frame)
}
return $this->render('page/show.html.twig');
}
Mercure Broadcasts (Real-time)
Push changes to all connected browsers via SSE:
use Symfony\UX\Turbo\Attribute\Broadcast;
#[Broadcast]
class Message
{
// Entity changes broadcast automatically to subscribed clients
}
{# Subscribe to Mercure topic #}
<turbo-stream-source src="{{ mercure('chat-room-1')|escape('html_attr') }}">
</turbo-stream-source>
<div id="messages">
{# Messages appear here in real-time #}
</div>
Common Patterns
Inline Edit
<!-- Display mode -->
<turbo-frame id="task_{{ task.id }}">
<span>{{ task.title }}</span>
<a href="/tasks/{{ task.id }}/edit">Edit</a>
</turbo-frame>
<!-- Edit mode (response from /tasks/1/edit) -->
<turbo-frame id="task_1">
<form action="/tasks/1" method="post">
<input name="title" value="Task title">
<button>Save</button>
<a href="/tasks/1">Cancel</a>
</form>
</turbo-frame>
Modal in Frame
<turbo-frame id="modal"><!-- Empty by default --></turbo-frame>
<a href="/items/1/delete" data-turbo-frame="modal">Delete</a>
<!-- /items/1/delete response -->
<turbo-frame id="modal">
<dialog open>
<p>Confirm delete?</p>
<form method="post">
<button>Delete</button>
</form>
<a href="/items" data-turbo-frame="modal">Cancel</a>
</dialog>
</turbo-frame>
Flash Messages with Stream
<turbo-stream action="prepend" target="flash-messages">
<template>
<div class="alert alert-success" role="alert">
Item saved successfully!
</div>
</template>
</turbo-stream>
Key Principles
Server returns full HTML pages. Turbo works best when the server always returns a complete, valid HTML page. Turbo Drive replaces the body, Turbo Frames extract the matching frame. Don't try to return partial HTML snippets (except for Stream templates).
Frame IDs must match. The frame in the response must have the same id as the frame on the page. If they don't match, Turbo shows an error.
Streams are for side effects. Use Streams when a single action needs to update multiple unrelated parts of the page. If you're only updating one section, a Frame is simpler.
Stimulus complements Turbo. Turbo handles navigation and server communication. Stimulus handles client-side behavior (animations, toggles, clipboard). They work together -- Stimulus controllers survive Turbo Frame swaps within their scope, and reconnect properly on Drive navigation.
References
See Also
- UX Map works inside Turbo Frames. The map Stimulus controller reconnects properly on frame swaps.
- UX Icons are inline SVG and survive Turbo Drive navigation and Frame swaps with no special handling.