diff --git a/fasthtml/core.py b/fasthtml/core.py
index 2bffa593..291b016d 100644
--- a/fasthtml/core.py
+++ b/fasthtml/core.py
@@ -145,14 +145,14 @@ def form2dict(form: FormData) -> dict:
 async def parse_form(req: Request) -> FormData:
     "Starlette errors on empty multipart forms, so this checks for that situation"
     ctype = req.headers.get("Content-Type", "")
-    if ctype=='application/json': return await req.json()
-    if not ctype.startswith("multipart/form-data"): return await req.form()
-    try: boundary = ctype.split("boundary=")[1].strip()
-    except IndexError: raise HTTPException(400, "Invalid form-data: no boundary")
-    min_len = len(boundary) + 6
-    clen = int(req.headers.get("Content-Length", "0"))
-    if clen <= min_len: return FormData()
-    return await req.form()
+    if ctype.startswith("multipart/form-data"):
+        try: boundary = ctype.split("boundary=")[1].strip()
+        except IndexError: raise HTTPException(400, "Invalid form-data: no boundary")
+        if int(req.headers.get("Content-Length", "0")) <= len(boundary) + 6: return FormData()
+        return await req.form()
+    await req.body()  # Cache body for non-multipart request types
+    return await req.json() if ctype == 'application/json' else await req.form()
+
 
 # %% ../nbs/api/00_core.ipynb #089fe388
 async def _from_body(conn, p, data):
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ def _to_xml(req, resp, indent):
     "Convert response to XML string with target URL resolution"
     resp = _apply_ft(resp)
     _find_targets(req, resp)
-    return to_xml(resp, indent)
+    return to_xml(resp, indent=indent)
 
 # %% ../nbs/api/00_core.ipynb #f1e3ed2d
 _iter_typs = (tuple,list,map,filter,range,types.GeneratorType)
diff --git a/nbs/api/00_core.ipynb b/nbs/api/00_core.ipynb
index 8d7e40ae..ef6657ca 100644
--- a/nbs/api/00_core.ipynb
+++ b/nbs/api/00_core.ipynb
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
     {
      "data": {
       "text/plain": [
-       "datetime.datetime(2026, 2, 21, 14, 0)"
+       "datetime.datetime(2026, 3, 2, 14, 0)"
       ]
      },
      "execution_count": null,
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@
     "        'client': ('127.0.0.1', 8000),\n",
     "        'server': ('127.0.0.1', 8000),\n",
     "    }\n",
-    "    receive = lambda: {\"body\": b\"\", \"more_body\": False}\n",
+    "    async def receive(): return {\"type\": \"http.request\", \"body\": b\"\", \"more_body\": False}\n",
     "    return Request(scope, receive)"
    ]
   },
@@ -573,14 +573,13 @@
     "async def parse_form(req: Request) -> FormData:\n",
     "    \"Starlette errors on empty multipart forms, so this checks for that situation\"\n",
     "    ctype = req.headers.get(\"Content-Type\", \"\")\n",
-    "    if ctype=='application/json': return await req.json()\n",
-    "    if not ctype.startswith(\"multipart/form-data\"): return await req.form()\n",
-    "    try: boundary = ctype.split(\"boundary=\")[1].strip()\n",
-    "    except IndexError: raise HTTPException(400, \"Invalid form-data: no boundary\")\n",
-    "    min_len = len(boundary) + 6\n",
-    "    clen = int(req.headers.get(\"Content-Length\", \"0\"))\n",
-    "    if clen <= min_len: return FormData()\n",
-    "    return await req.form()"
+    "    if ctype.startswith(\"multipart/form-data\"):\n",
+    "        try: boundary = ctype.split(\"boundary=\")[1].strip()\n",
+    "        except IndexError: raise HTTPException(400, \"Invalid form-data: no boundary\")\n",
+    "        if int(req.headers.get(\"Content-Length\", \"0\")) <= len(boundary) + 6: return FormData()\n",
+    "        return await req.form()\n",
+    "    await req.body()  # Cache body for non-multipart request types\n",
+    "    return await req.json() if ctype == 'application/json' else await req.form()\n"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -834,6 +833,34 @@
     "    return await _find_ps(req, data, req.headers, params)"
    ]
   },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "26df5218",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [
+    {
+     "name": "stdout",
+     "output_type": "stream",
+     "text": [
+      "ok body=19\n"
+     ]
+    }
+   ],
+   "source": [
+    "def g(test_val:int=0, item:HttpHeader=None, htmx:HtmxHeaders=None, api:ApiReturn=None): ...\n",
+    "\n",
+    "async def f(req):\n",
+    "    await _wrap_req(req, _params(g))\n",
+    "    body = await req.body()\n",
+    "    return Response(f\"ok body={len(body)}\")\n",
+    "\n",
+    "client = TestClient(Starlette(routes=[Route('/', f, methods=['POST'])]))\n",
+    "r = client.post('/', data={'test_val': '21', 'k': 'a', 'v': 'b'}, headers={'HX-Request': '1'})\n",
+    "test_eq(r.status_code, 200)\n",
+    "print(r.text)"
+   ]
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
@@ -1238,7 +1265,7 @@
     "    \"Convert response to XML string with target URL resolution\"\n",
     "    resp = _apply_ft(resp)\n",
     "    _find_targets(req, resp)\n",
-    "    return to_xml(resp, indent)"
+    "    return to_xml(resp, indent=indent)"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -2226,13 +2253,7 @@
      "name": "stderr",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      "/var/folders/51/b2_szf2945n072c0vj2cyty40000gn/T/ipymini_43537/1456865336.py:30: UserWarning: `self has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stderr",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      "/var/folders/51/b2_szf2945n072c0vj2cyty40000gn/T/ipymini_43537/1456865336.py:30: UserWarning: `self has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\n",
       "  if arg!='resp': warn(f\"`{arg} has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\")\n"
      ]
     },
@@ -2295,34 +2316,10 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      " <!doctype html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " <html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "   <div hx-post=\"a yoyo\">Text.</div>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " </html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      " <!doctype html>\n",
+      " <html>\n",
+      "   <div hx-post=\"a yoyo\">Text.</div>\n",
+      " </html>\n",
       "\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -2343,48 +2340,12 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      " <!doctype html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " <html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "   <body>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "     <div class=\"px-2\" hx-post=\"/hostie?a=b\">Text.</div>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "   </body>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " </html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      " <!doctype html>\n",
+      " <html>\n",
+      "   <body>\n",
+      "     <div class=\"px-2\" hx-post=\"/hostie?a=b\">Text.</div>\n",
+      "   </body>\n",
+      " </html>\n",
       "\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -2405,34 +2366,10 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      " <!doctype html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " <html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "   <div hx-get=\"/hostie\">Text.</div>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " </html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      " <!doctype html>\n",
+      " <html>\n",
+      "   <div hx-get=\"/hostie\">Text.</div>\n",
+      " </html>\n",
       "\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -2476,34 +2413,10 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      " <!doctype html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " <html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "   <div href=\"/user/Alexis\">Text.</div>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " </html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      " <!doctype html>\n",
+      " <html>\n",
+      "   <div href=\"/user/Alexis\">Text.</div>\n",
+      " </html>\n",
       "\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -2999,13 +2912,7 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      "200\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      "200\n",
       "content1,content2\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -3460,13 +3367,7 @@
      "name": "stderr",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      "/var/folders/51/b2_szf2945n072c0vj2cyty40000gn/T/ipymini_43537/1456865336.py:30: UserWarning: `self has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stderr",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      "/var/folders/51/b2_szf2945n072c0vj2cyty40000gn/T/ipymini_43537/1456865336.py:30: UserWarning: `self has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\n",
       "  if arg!='resp': warn(f\"`{arg} has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\")\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -3566,13 +3467,7 @@
      "name": "stderr",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      "/var/folders/51/b2_szf2945n072c0vj2cyty40000gn/T/ipymini_43537/1456865336.py:30: UserWarning: `self has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stderr",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      "/var/folders/51/b2_szf2945n072c0vj2cyty40000gn/T/ipymini_43537/1456865336.py:30: UserWarning: `self has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\n",
       "  if arg!='resp': warn(f\"`{arg} has no type annotation and is not a recognised special name, so is ignored.\")\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -3671,76 +3566,16 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      " <!doctype html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " <html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "   <head>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "     <title>FastHTML page</title>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "     <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https://testserver/setcookie\">\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "     <meta charset=\"utf-8\">\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "     <meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1, viewport-fit=cover\">\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "<script src=\"https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/htmx.org@2.0.7/dist/htmx.js\"></script><script src=\"https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/answerdotai/fasthtml-js@1.0.12/fasthtml.js\"></script><script src=\"https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/answerdotai/surreal@main/surreal.js\"></script><script src=\"https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/gnat/css-scope-inline@main/script.js\"></script>   </head>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "   <body></body>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      " </html>\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      " <!doctype html>\n",
+      " <html>\n",
+      "   <head>\n",
+      "     <title>FastHTML page</title>\n",
+      "     <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https://testserver/setcookie\">\n",
+      "     <meta charset=\"utf-8\">\n",
+      "     <meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1, viewport-fit=cover\">\n",
+      "<script src=\"https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/htmx.org@2.0.7/dist/htmx.js\"></script><script src=\"https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/answerdotai/fasthtml-js@1.0.12/fasthtml.js\"></script><script src=\"https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/answerdotai/surreal@main/surreal.js\"></script><script src=\"https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/gnat/css-scope-inline@main/script.js\"></script>   </head>\n",
+      "   <body></body>\n",
+      " </html>\n",
       "\n"
      ]
     },
@@ -3944,13 +3779,7 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      "Starting slow task\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      "Starting slow task\n",
       "Finished slow task\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -4003,41 +3832,11 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.0s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Slept for 0.0s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.001s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Slept for 0.001s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.002s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      "Sleeping for 0.0s\n",
+      "Slept for 0.0s\n",
+      "Sleeping for 0.001s\n",
+      "Slept for 0.001s\n",
+      "Sleeping for 0.002s\n",
       "Slept for 0.002s\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -4063,41 +3862,11 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.0s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Slept for 0.0s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.001s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Slept for 0.001s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.002s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      "Sleeping for 0.0s\n",
+      "Slept for 0.0s\n",
+      "Sleeping for 0.001s\n",
+      "Slept for 0.001s\n",
+      "Sleeping for 0.002s\n",
       "Slept for 0.002s\n"
      ]
     }
@@ -4122,41 +3891,11 @@
      "name": "stdout",
      "output_type": "stream",
      "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.0s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Slept for 0.0s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.001s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Slept for 0.001s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
-      "Sleeping for 0.002s\n"
-     ]
-    },
-    {
-     "name": "stdout",
-     "output_type": "stream",
-     "text": [
+      "Sleeping for 0.0s\n",
+      "Slept for 0.0s\n",
+      "Sleeping for 0.001s\n",
+      "Slept for 0.001s\n",
+      "Sleeping for 0.002s\n",
       "Slept for 0.002s\n"
      ]
     },
diff --git a/nbs/ref/defining_xt_component.ipynb b/nbs/ref/defining_xt_component.ipynb
index b5bdb42b..eb9c74dd 100644
--- a/nbs/ref/defining_xt_component.ipynb
+++ b/nbs/ref/defining_xt_component.ipynb
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@
    ],
    "source": [
     "div_NotStr = NotStr('<div>I look like a string but render with to_xml</div>') \n",
-    "to_xml(div_NotStr)"
+    "div_NotStr"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -355,13 +355,7 @@
    "source": []
   }
  ],
- "metadata": {
-  "kernelspec": {
-   "display_name": "python3",
-   "language": "python",
-   "name": "python3"
-  }
- },
+ "metadata": {},
  "nbformat": 4,
  "nbformat_minor": 5
 }