diff --git a/packages/core/index.js b/packages/core/index.js
index 2638631..a850e05 100644
--- a/packages/core/index.js
+++ b/packages/core/index.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // Same API, same event flow; ESM, consolidated nano* internals in ./lib.
 
 import morph from '@choojs/html/morph'
+import hydrate from '@choojs/html/hydrate'
 import nanotiming from './lib/timing.js'
 import Nanorouter from './lib/router.js'
 import Nanobus from './lib/bus.js'
@@ -213,8 +214,20 @@ export class Choo {
         self._tree.nodeName.toLowerCase() + '> is not the same type as the new node <' +
         newTree.nodeName.toLowerCase() + '>.')
 
+      // First render adopts the existing (usually server-rendered) DOM:
+      // matching nodes are left in place, and any server/client markup
+      // disagreement is reported before the client render wins.
       const morphTiming = nanotiming('choo.morph')
-      morph(self._tree, newTree)
+      hydrate(self._tree, newTree, {
+        onMismatch: function (diff) {
+          console.warn(
+            'choo.mount: server and client markup differ at ' + diff.path +
+            ' (' + diff.reason + '): server rendered ' + diff.server +
+            ', client rendered ' + diff.client +
+            '. The client version wins; fix the view so both sides agree.'
+          )
+        }
+      })
       morphTiming()
 
       renderTiming()
diff --git a/packages/core/test/hydration-integration.test.js b/packages/core/test/hydration-integration.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91df5c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/hydration-integration.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+// The isomorphic handshake: server-render a view to a string, parse it
+// into the document the way a browser would, then mount() the same app —
+// the server DOM must be adopted (same element references), handlers must
+// come alive, and a tampered server render must produce a console warning.
+
+import { test, before } from 'node:test'
+import assert from 'node:assert'
+import { Window } from 'happy-dom'
+
+let choo, browserHtml, serverString
+
+before(async () => {
+  // Server side first, before any window exists — exactly like production,
+  // and toString() enforces it.
+  ;({ default: choo } = await import('@choojs/core'))
+  const { default: serverHtml } = await import('@choojs/html/server')
+  serverString = makeApp(serverHtml).toString('/')
+
+  const win = new Window({ url: 'http://localhost/' })
+  globalThis.window = win
+  globalThis.document = win.document
+  globalThis.requestAnimationFrame = win.requestAnimationFrame.bind(win)
+  ;({ default: browserHtml } = await import('@choojs/html/browser'))
+})
+
+const tick = (ms = 30) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms))
+
+// One view definition, parameterized by renderer — mirrors how the import
+// map serves browser.js to the browser and server.js to Node.
+function makeApp (html) {
+  const app = choo()
+  app.use((state, emitter) => {
+    state.count = state.count || 0
+    emitter.on('increment', (n) => {
+      state.count += n
+      emitter.emit('render')
+    })
+  })
+  app.route('/', (state, emit) => html`
+    <div class="app">
+      <h1>count is ${state.count}</h1>
+      <button onclick=${() => emit('increment', 1)}>Increment</button>
+    </div>
+  `)
+  return app
+}
+
+test('mount adopts server-rendered DOM and brings it alive', async () => {
+  document.body.innerHTML = serverString
+  const serverEl = document.querySelector('.app')
+  const serverH1 = serverEl.querySelector('h1')
+
+  const warnings = []
+  const warn = console.warn
+  console.warn = (msg) => warnings.push(msg)
+
+  const app = makeApp(browserHtml)
+  app.mount('.app')
+  await tick()
+
+  console.warn = warn
+
+  assert.strictEqual(document.querySelector('.app'), serverEl, 'server root adopted, not replaced')
+  assert.strictEqual(serverEl.querySelector('h1'), serverH1, 'server child adopted, not replaced')
+  assert.deepStrictEqual(warnings, [], 'identical markup produced no mismatch warnings')
+
+  serverEl.querySelector('button').click()
+  await tick()
+  assert.strictEqual(serverH1.textContent, 'count is 1', 'adopted DOM is live')
+})
+
+test('a tampered server render produces one mismatch warning, client wins', async () => {
+  document.body.innerHTML = serverString.replace('count is 0', 'count is 999')
+
+  const warnings = []
+  const warn = console.warn
+  console.warn = (msg) => warnings.push(msg)
+
+  const app = makeApp(browserHtml)
+  app.mount('.app')
+  await tick()
+
+  console.warn = warn
+
+  assert.strictEqual(warnings.length, 1, 'exactly one warning')
+  assert.match(warnings[0], /server and client markup differ/)
+  assert.match(warnings[0], /count is 999/)
+  assert.strictEqual(
+    document.querySelector('h1').textContent,
+    'count is 0',
+    'client render won'
+  )
+})
diff --git a/packages/html/hydrate.js b/packages/html/hydrate.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c433e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/html/hydrate.js
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+// Hydration: adopt server-rendered DOM instead of replacing it.
+//
+// Because the server and browser renderers serialize identically, morphing
+// the first client render onto the server DOM leaves matching nodes
+// untouched — the server DOM is adopted in place (same element references,
+// form state preserved) and only real differences mutate. What hydrate
+// adds over a bare morph is detection: before morphing it walks both trees
+// and reports the first place server and client markup disagree, which is
+// exactly the class of bug (Date.now() in views, user-specific content,
+// stale caches) that otherwise surfaces as a silent flash of changed
+// content. The client render always wins.
+
+import morph from './morph.js'
+
+export default function hydrate (oldNode, newNode, opts) {
+  // The client tree can hold adjacent text nodes ("count is " + "0")
+  // where the parsed server HTML has one merged run ("count is 0") —
+  // identical serialization, different granularity. Fold the client tree
+  // to parser granularity so comparison and morph see matching shapes.
+  if (newNode.normalize) newNode.normalize()
+
+  const onMismatch = opts && opts.onMismatch
+  if (onMismatch) {
+    const diff = firstDifference(oldNode, newNode, [])
+    if (diff) onMismatch(diff)
+  }
+  return morph(oldNode, newNode)
+}
+
+export { hydrate }
+
+// Depth-first parallel walk; returns { path, reason, server, client } for
+// the first disagreement, or null when the trees agree.
+function firstDifference (a, b, path) {
+  if (a.nodeType !== b.nodeType || a.nodeName !== b.nodeName) {
+    return {
+      path: pathString(path),
+      reason: 'node',
+      server: describe(a),
+      client: describe(b)
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (a.nodeType === 3 || a.nodeType === 8) { // text, comment
+    if (a.nodeValue !== b.nodeValue) {
+      return {
+        path: pathString(path),
+        reason: 'text',
+        server: a.nodeValue,
+        client: b.nodeValue
+      }
+    }
+    return null
+  }
+
+  if (a.nodeType === 1) {
+    const attrDiff = attrDifference(a, b)
+    if (attrDiff) {
+      return {
+        path: pathString(path.concat(a.nodeName.toLowerCase())),
+        reason: 'attribute',
+        server: attrDiff.server,
+        client: attrDiff.client
+      }
+    }
+
+    const aKids = a.childNodes
+    const bKids = b.childNodes
+    if (aKids.length !== bKids.length) {
+      return {
+        path: pathString(path.concat(a.nodeName.toLowerCase())),
+        reason: 'children',
+        server: aKids.length + ' child node(s)',
+        client: bKids.length + ' child node(s)'
+      }
+    }
+    for (let i = 0; i < aKids.length; i++) {
+      const diff = firstDifference(aKids[i], bKids[i], path.concat(a.nodeName.toLowerCase()))
+      if (diff) return diff
+    }
+  }
+
+  return null
+}
+
+function attrDifference (a, b) {
+  const aAttrs = a.attributes
+  const bAttrs = b.attributes
+  for (let i = 0; i < bAttrs.length; i++) {
+    const name = bAttrs[i].name
+    if (a.getAttribute(name) !== bAttrs[i].value) {
+      return {
+        server: name + '=' + JSON.stringify(a.getAttribute(name)),
+        client: name + '=' + JSON.stringify(bAttrs[i].value)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  for (let i = 0; i < aAttrs.length; i++) {
+    const name = aAttrs[i].name
+    if (!b.hasAttribute(name)) {
+      return {
+        server: name + '=' + JSON.stringify(aAttrs[i].value),
+        client: name + ' (absent)'
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return null
+}
+
+function describe (node) {
+  if (!node) return '(missing)'
+  if (node.nodeType === 3) return 'text ' + JSON.stringify(node.nodeValue)
+  if (node.nodeType === 8) return 'comment'
+  return '<' + node.nodeName.toLowerCase() + '>'
+}
+
+function pathString (path) {
+  return path.length ? path.join(' > ') : '(root)'
+}
diff --git a/packages/html/package.json b/packages/html/package.json
index 695ffd5..7a29923 100644
--- a/packages/html/package.json
+++ b/packages/html/package.json
@@ -10,12 +10,14 @@
     },
     "./browser": "./browser.js",
     "./server": "./server.js",
+    "./hydrate": "./hydrate.js",
     "./raw": "./raw.js",
     "./morph": "./morph.js"
   },
   "files": [
     "browser.js",
     "server.js",
+    "hydrate.js",
     "raw.js",
     "morph.js"
   ],
diff --git a/packages/html/server.js b/packages/html/server.js
index 309b084..50807ae 100644
--- a/packages/html/server.js
+++ b/packages/html/server.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ const BOOL_PROPS = [
 ]
 
 const boolPropRx = new RegExp('([^-a-z](' + BOOL_PROPS.join('|') + '))=["\']?$', 'i')
+const handlerRx = /[^-a-z](on[a-z]+)=$/i
 const query = /(?:="|&)[^"]*=$/
 
 export default function html (pieces, ...values) {
@@ -19,6 +20,15 @@ export default function html (pieces, ...values) {
   for (let i = 0; i < pieces.length; i++) {
     const piece = pieces[i]
     if (i < pieces.length - 1) {
+      // Event handlers are behavior, not markup: `onclick=${fn}` renders
+      // nothing at all, matching the browser renderer (which sets the
+      // handler as a property). v7 serialized a useless onclick="".
+      const handlerMatch = handlerRx.exec(piece)
+      if (handlerMatch && typeof values[i] === 'function') {
+        output += piece.slice(0, handlerMatch.index + 1).replace(/\s+$/, ' ')
+        continue
+      }
+
       if ((boolMatch = boolPropRx.exec(piece))) {
         output += piece.slice(0, boolMatch.index)
         if (values[i]) {
@@ -59,6 +69,9 @@ function handleValue (value) {
   if (typeof value === 'object') {
     if (typeof value.outerHTML === 'string') return value.outerHTML
     return Object.keys(value).reduce(function (str, key) {
+      // handlers in spread objects are behavior too — never serialized
+      if (typeof value[key] === 'function') return str
+
       if (str.length > 0) str += ' '
 
       if (BOOL_PROPS.indexOf(key) !== -1) {
diff --git a/packages/html/test/hydrate.test.js b/packages/html/test/hydrate.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6c80e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/html/test/hydrate.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+// Hydration: adoption semantics and mismatch detection.
+
+import { test, before } from 'node:test'
+import assert from 'node:assert'
+import { Window } from 'happy-dom'
+
+let html, hydrate
+
+before(async () => {
+  const win = new Window()
+  globalThis.window = win
+  globalThis.document = win.document
+  ;({ default: html } = await import('../browser.js'))
+  ;({ default: hydrate } = await import('../hydrate.js'))
+})
+
+test('agreeing trees hydrate without a mismatch report', () => {
+  const a = html`<div class="x"><h1>hi</h1><p>body</p></div>`
+  const b = html`<div class="x"><h1>hi</h1><p>body</p></div>`
+  let reported = null
+  hydrate(a, b, { onMismatch: (d) => { reported = d } })
+  assert.strictEqual(reported, null)
+})
+
+test('adoption: matching child nodes keep their identity through hydrate', () => {
+  const server = html`<div><h1>hi</h1><input value="typed by user" /></div>`
+  const serverH1 = server.querySelector('h1')
+  const serverInput = server.querySelector('input')
+
+  const client = html`<div><h1>hi</h1><input value="typed by user" /></div>`
+  hydrate(server, client)
+
+  assert.strictEqual(server.querySelector('h1'), serverH1, 'h1 adopted in place')
+  assert.strictEqual(server.querySelector('input'), serverInput, 'input adopted in place')
+})
+
+test('text mismatches are reported with a path, client wins', () => {
+  const server = html`<div><h1>count is 0</h1></div>`
+  const client = html`<div><h1>count is 7</h1></div>`
+  let reported = null
+  hydrate(server, client, { onMismatch: (d) => { reported = d } })
+
+  assert.strictEqual(reported.reason, 'text')
+  assert.match(reported.path, /div > h1/)
+  assert.strictEqual(reported.server, 'count is 0')
+  assert.strictEqual(reported.client, 'count is 7')
+  assert.strictEqual(server.textContent, 'count is 7', 'client render won')
+})
+
+test('attribute mismatches are reported', () => {
+  const server = html`<div><a href="/old">go</a></div>`
+  const client = html`<div><a href="/new">go</a></div>`
+  let reported = null
+  hydrate(server, client, { onMismatch: (d) => { reported = d } })
+
+  assert.strictEqual(reported.reason, 'attribute')
+  assert.match(reported.server, /\/old/)
+  assert.match(reported.client, /\/new/)
+})
+
+test('child count mismatches are reported', () => {
+  const server = html`<ul><li>a</li></ul>`
+  const client = html`<ul><li>a</li><li>b</li></ul>`
+  let reported = null
+  hydrate(server, client, { onMismatch: (d) => { reported = d } })
+
+  assert.strictEqual(reported.reason, 'children')
+})
+
+test('mismatch detection is optional and hydrate still morphs without it', () => {
+  const server = html`<p>old</p>`
+  const client = html`<p>new</p>`
+  hydrate(server, client)
+  assert.strictEqual(server.textContent, 'new')
+})
diff --git a/packages/html/test/server.test.js b/packages/html/test/server.test.js
index 8f29295..30027b2 100644
--- a/packages/html/test/server.test.js
+++ b/packages/html/test/server.test.js
@@ -45,9 +45,14 @@ test('boolean attributes render when truthy and drop when falsy', () => {
   assert.strictEqual(off.toString(), '<input  />'.replace('  ', ' '))
 })
 
-test('event handler functions are stripped', () => {
+test('event handler functions leave no trace in markup', () => {
   const res = html`<button onclick=${() => {}}>go</button>`
-  assert.strictEqual(res.toString(), '<button onclick="">go</button>')
+  assert.strictEqual(res.toString(), '<button >go</button>')
+})
+
+test('handler-shaped attributes with non-function values still render', () => {
+  const res = html`<a onclick=${'confirm()'}>x</a>`
+  assert.strictEqual(res.toString(), '<a onclick="confirm()">x</a>')
 })
 
 test('spread-style object interpolation renders attributes', () => {