Introducing MicroLighter
A developer introduces MicroLighter, a lightweight client-side syntax highlighter built using the CSS Custom Highlights API. The tool aims to provide efficient, dependency-free syntax highlighting by leveraging modern browser capabilities.
Why it matters
It demonstrates an innovative approach to web performance by reducing DOM manipulation and bundle sizes for developers.
microlighter Oops. I made a syntax highlighter.
August 19, 2026 #projects , #blogging , #code I made a smol client-side syntax highlighter that uses the CSS Custom Highlights API called MicroLighter . I’ll talk about why I made it in a bit but first I wanted to… ahem … highlight… some of the features.
At some point I broke syntax highlighting on my Jekyll blog. I’ve used a handful of syntax highlighters over the years (Highlight.js, PrismJS, Rouge, Shiki, etc, etc) and I’ve felt the trade-offs between different client-side and server-side implementations. Faced with picking another, I knew I wanted to explore Bramus’s technique of syntax highlighting with the CSS Custom Highlights API .
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