This documents framework v1, which is deprecated. Games already on it keep running and their authors can keep editing them, but new games are created on the current framework — start with React frontends.
BWSS styling
BWSS (Boardweaver Styling System) is a strict, structured subset of CSS. PieceDef.render() and SpaceDef.render() return BWSS nodes; the framework validates and serializes them to safe DOM. Raw CSS strings are never accepted.
const node = {
type: "Box",
style: {
width: 120,
height: 80,
padding: 8,
borderRadius: 6,
backgroundColor: "$colors.surface.canvas", // theme-token ref
display: "flex",
alignItems: "center",
justifyContent: "center",
color: "#222",
},
children: [
"Score: 5", // text is a string child
{ type: "Image", src: "TrophyIcon", style: { width: 16, height: 16 } },
],
};
Node types
type |
Allowed inside | Notes |
|---|---|---|
"Box" |
piece renders, space renders | Generic container. Children: BWSS nodes or strings (text). |
"Image" |
piece renders, space renders | { src: GameImageKey, alt?, style? }. See images. |
"Svg" |
piece renders, space renders | { viewBox: {width,height}, paths: [{d, fill?, stroke?, ...}], style? }. Only <svg> + <path> are emitted. |
"Pieces" |
space renders only | Insertion-point marker for laid-out piece children. See spaces. |
There is no Text node — text is a plain string in a Box's children array.
Box
type PieceBoxNode = { type: "Box"; style?: BwssStyle; children?: (PieceBwssNode | string)[] };
type SpaceBoxNode = { type: "Box"; style?: BwssStyle; children?: (SpaceBwssNode | string)[] };
Same JSON shape; the recursive child union differs: piece-side excludes Pieces.
Image
type ImageNode = { type: "Image"; src: GameImageKey; alt?: string; style?: BwssStyle };
src is resolved through the game's images map at render time. Unknown keys render nothing.
Svg
type SvgNode = {
type: "Svg";
viewBox: { width: number; height: number };
paths: SvgPathChild[];
style?: BwssStyle;
};
type SvgPathChild = {
d: string; // SVG path-data string
fill?: string;
stroke?: string;
strokeWidth?: number | string;
fillRule?: "nonzero" | "evenodd";
strokeLinecap?: "butt" | "round" | "square";
strokeLinejoin?: "miter" | "round" | "bevel";
opacity?: number | string;
};
- Only
<svg>and<path>are emitted. No<g>,<defs>,<linearGradient>,<use>,<foreignObject>,<script>,<text>,<image>. dis a character-class-validated string: digits, command letters (MLHVCSQTAZmlhvcsqtaz), whitespace,+-.eE,. Anything else (incl.<>"'();) is rejected.- Caps: max 16 paths per
Svg; max 4000 chars perd; max 16,000 chars total across paths;viewBoxsides ≤ 10,000.
Pieces
type PiecesNode = { type: "Pieces"; style?: BwssStyle };
Only valid inside a space's render tree. The framework substitutes it with the space's laid-out piece children. style layers over the type-defaulted flex props (Stack / Horizontal / Vertical) — author overrides win.
BwssStyle — the allow-list
Strict (unknown properties throw). Categories below; values are typed.
Layout
display, flexDirection, flexWrap, justifyContent, alignItems, gap,
flex, flexBasis, flexGrow, flexShrink,
width, height, minWidth, maxWidth, minHeight, maxHeight,
padding, paddingX, paddingY, paddingTop, paddingRight, paddingBottom, paddingLeft,
margin, marginX, marginY, marginTop, marginRight, marginBottom, marginLeft,
position, top, right, bottom, left,
overflow
display: "flex" | "block" | "inline-flex" | "none". position: "relative" | "absolute". overflow: "hidden" | "auto" | "visible".
Typography
fontSize, lineHeight, letterSpacing,
fontWeight, fontStyle, fontFamily,
textAlign, textTransform, whiteSpace, textOverflow,
textDecorationLine, textDecorationStyle, textDecorationColor,
textDecorationThickness, textUnderlineOffset,
color, textGradient
fontWeight: "normal" | "bold" | "100"–"900". fontFamily: "sans" | "serif" | "mono" or a GameFontKey string. textAlign: "left" | "right" | "center" | "justify". textTransform: "none" | "uppercase" | "lowercase" | "capitalize". whiteSpace: "normal" | "nowrap" | "pre" | "pre-line" | "pre-wrap". textOverflow: "clip" | "ellipsis". textDecorationLine: "none" | "underline" | "overline" | "line-through" | "underline overline" | "underline line-through" | "overline line-through" | "underline overline line-through". textDecorationStyle: "solid" | "double" | "dotted" | "dashed" | "wavy".
A text decoration draws in currentColor, and textGradient sets that to transparent. On a node that uses both, set textDecorationColor explicitly or the line is drawn but never visible.
Background
backgroundColor, backgroundImage, backgroundGradient,
backgroundSize, backgroundPosition, backgroundRepeat
backgroundGradient is a structured linear | radial array (max 4 layers). No raw CSS linear-gradient(...) strings.
Border
borderRadius,
borderWidth, borderStyle, borderColor,
borderTopWidth, borderTopStyle, borderTopColor,
borderRightWidth, borderRightStyle, borderRightColor,
borderBottomWidth, borderBottomStyle, borderBottomColor,
borderLeftWidth, borderLeftStyle, borderLeftColor
borderStyle (and per-side): "none" | "solid" | "dashed" | "dotted". There is no border / borderTop shorthand — split into width / style / color.
Effects
boxShadow, opacity, filter, clipPath, transform
boxShadow:"none"OR an array of structured layers{ offsetX, offsetY, blur?, spread?, color, inset? }.opacity: number in[0, 1]or"0%"–"100%".filter: array of single-key function objects:{ blur },{ brightness },{ contrast },{ grayscale },{ hueRotate },{ invert },{ saturate },{ sepia },{ dropShadow: {...} }. Max 8 entries.clipPath: a single-key object:{ polygon },{ circle },{ ellipse }, or{ inset }.transform: array of single-key function objects:{ rotate },{ translateX },{ translateY },{ scale }. Max 4 entries.
Value types
Color (color, backgroundColor, borderColor, boxShadow[*].color, dropShadow.color, Svg fill / stroke)
One of:
"#abc"/"#abcdef"/"#abcdef12"(hex, 3/6/8 digits)"rgb(r, g, b)"/"rgba(r, g, b, a)"with numeric args- a named CSS color
- a theme-token ref:
"$colors.surface.canvas","$semanticTokens.fg.muted", etc. (lt;segment>(.<segment>)+, alphanumerics +_)
No url(), var(), calc().
Length (width, padding, top, borderRadius, ...)
One of:
- a
number(treated aspx) - a unit string:
<number>(px|%|em|rem) - a
$theme-tokenref
No calc(), no vh / vw / vmin / vmax / ch / ex.
A length is a single value. Multi-value shorthands such as "padding": "12px 28px" or "margin": "0 0 16px 0" are rejected; use paddingX / paddingY (or marginX / marginY) or the per-side properties instead.
Theme tokens
A theme token ref starts with $, has at least two dotted segments, and only contains alphanumerics, _, and .:
$colors.surface.canvas // OK
$semanticTokens.fg.muted // OK
$spacing.lg // OK
$linear-gradient(...) // REJECTED — parens disallowed
$colors // REJECTED — needs ≥ 2 segments
The resolver returns values that have already been validated as colors / lengths. An unknown token resolves to nothing.
Gotchas
- Style validation is
.strict(): an unknown style property (e.g.transformtypoed astranform, orbackgroundshorthand) is REJECTED, not silently dropped. - No CSS shorthand parsing anywhere —
border,background,font,transition,animationetc. are absent by design. - A piece's
render()MUST NOT return aPiecesnode (or contain one in its children) — piece-side BWSS rejects it. - A space's
render()MUST return exactly onePiecesnode for piece children to appear (zero → no pieces + warning; multiple → fallback to default container + warning). Image.srcis aGameImageKeystring — unknown keys render nothing. Seeimages.Svg.paths[*].dis character-class restricted: digits,MLHVCSQTAZmlhvcsqtaz, whitespace,+-.eE,only. URLs, parens, and quote marks throw.- Text inside a
Boxis a plain string child — there's noTextnode. To style text, set typography style fields on the enclosingBox.