I think people mistake what htmx is - they think it is a way to not write react/js in a node environment.
Where HTMX really shines is being able to bring the experience of writing React-like code without a nodejs environment in Java for e.g. (or Golang, Rust, etc)
FWIW, if that's all you're after, and you've mastered the Rust borrow checker, Yew (a React-like experience), or Leptos (a SolidJS-like experience) might be interesting to look at.
Yew is writing Rust to create html. Same as Java Thymeleaf. Here's the problem - Java developers are bad at UI. And good UI designers/developers think in HTML. I am not pro or anti this situation...im just talking about the reality.
The tooling is also around html. Figma-to-HTML is the most effective way to have your design cycle work.
This is where HTMX shines. HTMX is just HTML++. It is is not Rust or Java. Which means your design cycles will continue to work.
I was just suggesting, if, by "react-like" code, you meant "a UI library that uses a vDOM to transform functionally written code into DOM nodes", Yew fits the bill.
Also, typically, one writes JSX when writing react, not HTML. It's similar with Yew[0].
If you're already aware of Yew, I'm not trying to change your mind. I was just trying to make you aware if you weren't already.
[0] It says so right on the homepage: https://yew.rs/