Serializes a component tree to JSON and passes it to the platform NIF in a single call. Compose (Android) and SwiftUI (iOS) handle diffing and rendering internally.

Node format

%{
  type: :column,
  props: %{padding: :space_md, background: :surface},
  children: [
    %{type: :text,   props: %{text: "Hello", text_size: :xl, text_color: :on_surface}, children: []},
    %{type: :button, props: %{text: "Tap", on_tap: self()},    children: []}
  ]
}

Token resolution

Atom values for color props, spacing props, radius props, and text sizes are resolved at render time through the active Dala.Theme and the base palette.

Color props (:background, :text_color, :border_color, :color, :placeholder_color): resolved via theme semantic tokens first, then the base palette. E.g. :primary → theme's primary → :blue_500 → 0xFF2196F3.

Spacing props (:padding, :padding_top, etc., :gap): accept spacing tokens (:space_xs, :space_sm, :space_md, :space_lg, :space_xl) that are scaled by theme.space_scale.

Radius props (:corner_radius): accept :radius_sm, :radius_md, :radius_lg, :radius_pill from the active theme.

Border (currently honored on :box only): set both :border_color (a color token like :primary or :border) and :border_width (an integer pt/dp value, e.g. 1). When width is 0 or color is unset, no border draws.

Text size props (:text_size, :font_size): token atoms (:xl, :lg, etc.) are multiplied by theme.type_scale.

Component defaults

When a component's props omit styling keys, the renderer injects sensible defaults from the active theme. Explicit props always win over defaults.

# Gets primary background, white text, medium radius automatically:
%{type: :button, props: %{text: "Save", on_tap: {self(), :save}}, children: []}

Style structs

A %Dala.Style{} value under the :style key is merged into the node's own props before serialisation. Inline props override style values.

Platform blocks

Props scoped to one platform are silently ignored on the other:

props: %{padding: 12, ios: %{padding: 20}}
# iOS sees padding: 20; Android sees padding: 12

Injecting a mock NIF

Dala.Renderer.render(tree, :android, MockNIF)