Installation

To add the GLOW JS library to your website, include the following <script> tag in your HTML. This must be loaded before any other scripts that depend on the library.

<script src="https://glowfireworks.com/sdk/js/v1"></script>

When the script executes, it creates a single global variable: glow. Nothing else happens automatically – this variable serves as the entry point for all functionality.

Automatic Updates

The GLOW JS library is served from a CDN and automatically updates. This ensures your site is always ready to take advantage of new features and that patches are applied automatically. GLOW will never introduce breaking changes without a major version change, to allow for a manual and coordinated upgrade.

Performance Tips

The GLOW library is small and is served from a CDN; as of version 1.7.0 it is 21 kB, compressed. Each unique version is cached indefinitely, and GLOW should barely impact your page loading performance. As such, the following advice is completely optional – but is useful if you'd like everything to load as quickly as physically possible with the absolute smallest impact on your site.

• Place the GLOW <script> at the end of your <body> element to avoid render blocking and de-prioritize downloading until other on-screen elements like images have started loading. Just remember it must come before any script that uses it.
• With the script at the end of the <body> the browser won't even attempt to connect to the GLOW CDN until it needs to, which adds some overhead on cold visits. Modern browsers can perform a DNS lookup and establish a TCP connection early and completely in the background to speed up future requests. To take advantage of this, add <link rel="preconnect" href="https://glowfireworks.com"> in the <head> of your pages that use the GLOW library.

Note

If these steps aren't easy to implement on your website, don't worry – GLOW works well no matter how you load it.

Browser Support

All browsers from the past several years are supported, including Safari on iOS back to iOS version 12.5 (devices stuck on this are from 2015). We aim to support a wide range of devices and browsers, but as hardware and software age, the likelihood of issues beyond our control – especially with a GPU accelerated experience like GLOW – naturally increases.

We routinely test across Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari on Windows/Mac OS, and Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on iOS/Android.

Next Steps

Explore our guides for step-by-step instructions on common setups.

Need details on a specific function? Check out the API reference for in-depth documentation.