For about two years, my default stack for interactive server-rendered apps was HTMX for the network and Alpine.js for the sprinkles of client state. It worked. It also meant I was running two libraries that didn't know the other existed, and I was the glue holding them together.

I wrote about why I finally switched to Datastar. That post is the why. This one is the how. It's the guide I wish I'd had: a comprehensive, pattern-by-pattern map for moving an HTMX + Alpine app over to Datastar, with a bias toward Astro because that's where I live.

If you've got an existing app and you're wondering whether the migration is a weekend or a quarter, the short answer is: smaller than you think, and you can do it one feature at a time. Let's get into it.