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Proposal: Add htmx.dispatch / HX-Dispatch aliases (disambiguating from hx-trigger) #3964

Description

@AndrewGit25

Motivation

Using the same term for both listening (hx-trigger) and firing (htmx.trigger / HX-Trigger) creates cognitive friction:

  • hx-trigger is passive listening (e.g., "when event X happens, trigger this request").

  • htmx.trigger / HX-Trigger is active dispatching (e.g., "fire/dispatch event X now").

Proposed Alternative Names

  • htmx.dispatch() / HX-Dispatch (matches native DOM dispatchEvent and Alpine.js)

  • htmx.emit() / HX-Emit

  • htmx.fire() / HX-Fire

Mental Model

  • hx-trigger="change": Listen for the change event, then issue the request.

  • htmx.dispatch(elt, "myEvent"): Dispatch myEvent on the target element.

  • HX-Dispatch: "myEvent": Instruct the client to dispatch myEvent on the <body>.

Proposal

Consider introducing HX-Dispatch / htmx.dispatch() either as:

  1. Aliases alongside HX-Trigger / htmx.trigger() for better DX and backwards compatibility, or

  2. A naming convention change considered for future major version roadmaps.

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