Studio Ghibli Meets ShadCN, and Why ‘server-only’ Just Saved My App


Hey Reader,

🎨 Ever wanted your website to feel like it came straight out of a Studio Ghibli movie?

I just discovered a Ghibli-inspired ShadCN UI theme that brings that dreamy, hand-painted magic to your components — and it’s absolutely stunning.

If you're as obsessed with that aesthetic as I am, you're gonna love this.

video preview

I also share a Github Repo you can check out too that goes along well with the video.

🍿 Weekly Snack: 'server-only' vs 'use server'

Next.js has two easily confused directives: 'use server' and server-only.

💡 server-only has nothing to do with Server Actions.

'use server' marks a function to run on the server and be exposed as an HTTP endpoint — that’s a Server Action.

But it doesn't prevent the file from being imported in a client component — which causes runtime failures, often in production.

That’s why server-only exists: It enforces a hard boundary, throwing an error if you import server code on the client — so mistakes fail early, not late.

'use server'

Specifically for Server Actions

→ This function is allowed to run on the server only, and can be called from the client via form submissions or imperative actions

→ Enforced at runtime, not build time


server-only

Not related to Server Actions at all

Just a safety guard 🔐 that says: “This file must never be used in a client component or client context”

→ Enforced at build time, not runtime


⚠️ Key TakeAways

Don’t use server-only on Server Actions but for database helpers, private APIs, or files that access environment variables.
You can’t rely on 'use server' to protect sensitive server modules.

→ Use them side-by-side in a project, but not in the same file.

🚀 Latest Frontend News

🧰 Supabase dropped their official UI Library ↗ — built with ShadCN registry, works with React, Next.js, TanStack.
Includes login, dropzone, real-time avatars/chat, and AI prompts.

Vite published a dev server security patch. Update if you're on any of these versions: 6.2.4, 6.1.3, 6.0.13, 5.4.16, 4.5.11

⚙️ Next.js 15.2.3 includes a security fix too update or follow the mitigation steps ↗. Hosted apps on Vercel, Netlify, and Cloudflare are safe.

🚢 Windsurf Wave 6 is live — now supports one-click deployment ↗. Fast and super dev-friendly.

Ready to multithread everything with Cursor 0.48 ↗ few cool things are,

  • 🧩 Multi-tab chats for parallel workflows (Cmd+T).
  • 🔎 Faster Indexing: Shared codebases now index dramatically faster (e.g., Cursor repo: 20 min → under 1 min).
  • 🔔 Sound Notification: Audio cue when AI response is ready.
  • 🤑 Cost Visibility: See cost per chat (usage-based plans).

⚙️ Prisma published 2 ways to integrate Trigger.dev into a Next.js + Turborepo app ↗ — with working monorepo setups.

🚀 Deploy Next.js anywhere you like, check this RFC

React 19.1 just dropped 💥 — here’s what’s worth a look:

  • 🕵️‍♀️ Debug smarter with the new Owner Stack (dev-only), making it easier to trace who rendered what.
  • Suspense is now everywhere — client, server, even during hydration — with cleaner fallback behavior and better scheduling.
  • 🧪 Experiment with unstable_prerender in React Server Components, now with edge streaming support.

🧰 Recommended Tools

🧱 I shared my Tech stack for my First SaaS ProofyBubble

⚡ Convert your Vercel + Next.js app and auto-deploy it to Cloudflare. Check it out

My Daily Dev Toolkit (What I Actually Use) I use on a daily basis

Vercel is providing platform credits, exclusive community support, and extra benefits for your open source project, apply here.

🎥 Weekly Youtube Videos

Check it out and subscribe to my channel ↗️ for more Frontend, Leadership and Career Development content.

I Just Found the BEST Ghibli Shadcn UI Components!

video preview

Build and Deploy a Full Stack AI SaaS Full Course (2025)

video preview

What do you think of today's Newsletter? Simply click on one of the links below.

🔥 Love it!

😐 It’s okay

👎 Not good



All past newsletters
can be found here.

You can email me at me@kulkarniankita.com to advertise/sponsor the newsletter.

For those curious, I write all my emails using Convertkit.

Ankita Kulkarni

Join 9200+ subscribers reading by weekly personalized Newsletter that helps developers level up their skills through weekly Frontend and Leadership Snacks. You get a deep dive into a Tech topic, Actionable tips to excel in your career and a toolbox!

Read more from Ankita Kulkarni
React 19.2 Activity

Hey Reader, I’ve been diving deep into React 19.2 and Next.js 16 Beta this week, and honestly, it’s such a solid update. I have started to incorporate so many of the features in my Next.js Custom Course Platform and have seen massive improvements. But before we jump into this week’s snack, let’s hear it from our sponsor. 👇 But before that, let's hear it from our Sponsor. PRESENTED BY CODERABBIT AI Most AI test tools just throw random assertions at your code and call it “coverage.” But they...

useEffectEvent

Hey Reader, This week was huge for web dev 🚀. React 19.2 just landed with fixes for some of the most annoying bugs, Sonnet 4.5 dropped with major AI upgrades, and the ecosystem feels like it’s moving faster than ever. I’ve rounded up the highlights (and why they matter) along with this week’s Snack for you below 👇 But before that, let's hear it from our Sponsor. PRESENTED BY CODERABBIT AI Most AI code reviewers feel shallow, they look at syntax, patterns, maybe a guideline or two, but they...

use-cache

Hey Reader, I’ve got some fun news to share 🎉 I’m beyond excited to share that I’ll be speaking at the official Next.js Conf 💖. I’m one of the featured speakers (!!) and would love for you to join me. My talk is called:“Build. Scale. Teach: Architecting and Scaling a Production-Ready Modern Course Platform with Next.js” Make sure to sign up here and come hang out during my sessions 🚀 And... I finally made the move to Italy 🇮🇹. Back in 2019 I almost moved to Europe, but the world had other...