hx-target

The hx-target attribute allows you to target a different element for swapping than the one issuing the AJAX request. The value of this attribute can be:

• A CSS query selector of the element to target.
• this which indicates that the element that the hx-target attribute is on is the target.
• closest <CSS selector> which will find the closest ancestor element or itself, that matches the given CSS selector (e.g. closest tr will target the closest table row to the element).
• find <CSS selector> which will find the first child descendant element that matches the given CSS selector.
• next which resolves to element.nextElementSibling
• next <CSS selector> which will scan the DOM forward for the first element that matches the given CSS selector. (e.g. next .error will target the first element with the error class that follows this element in the document)
• previous which resolves to element.previousElementSibling
• previous <CSS selector> which will scan the DOM backwards for the first element that matches the given CSS selector. (e.g. previous .error will target the first element with the error class that precedes this element in the document)

Here is an example that targets a div:

<div>
    <div id="response-div"></div>
    <button hx-post="/register" hx-target="#response-div" hx-swap="beforeend">
        Register!
    </button>
</div>

The response from the /register url will be appended to the div with the id response-div.

This example uses hx-target="this" to make a link that updates itself when clicked:

<a hx-post="/new-link" hx-target="this" hx-swap="outerHTML">New link</a>

Notes

• hx-target is inherited and can be placed on a parent element