What is the 'Neural Link'?

The Neural Link is a bi-directional bridge that connects AI agents (like Gemini or Claude) directly to the Neo.mjs runtime. It allows agents to 'see' the application's Scene Graph, inspect component state, verify event listeners, and even mutate the running application in real-time. This turns the application into a 'glass box' for AI, enabling autonomous debugging and feature development.

Why is Neo.mjs called an 'Application Engine' instead of a framework?

Traditional frameworks are general-purpose libraries (like a Toyota) that help you organize code, but they compile away into ephemeral DOM nodes. Neo.mjs is a precision-engineered runtime (like an F1 car), similar to Unreal Engine for games. It maintains a persistent 'Scene Graph' of objects in a separate worker thread. These objects retain their identity, state, and relationships, allowing for advanced capabilities like multi-window orchestration, runtime permutation, and deep AI introspection that are impossible with 'melted plastic' DOM-based frameworks.

What is 'Context Engineering'?

Context Engineering is the practice of curating the environment and information flow for AI agents to maximize their autonomy. In Neo.mjs, this is implemented via three Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers: a Knowledge Base for semantic code understanding, a Memory Core for learning from past sessions, and a GitHub Workflow server for project management. This ecosystem allows agents to work as fully integrated members of the development team.

What is 'Object Permanence' in the context of Neo.mjs?

In Neo.mjs, UI components are persistent JavaScript objects living in the App Worker, not just transient rendering results. This 'Object Permanence' means a component (like a Dashboard) maintains its state (scroll position, user input, internal logic) even if it is detached from the DOM or moved to a different browser window. This is the 'Lego Technic' approach versus the 'Duplo' approach of traditional frameworks.

What is an 'Agent Operating System'?

Neo.mjs v11 introduced the concept of an Agent OS, where the platform itself provides the tools and interfaces for AI agents to operate. It combines a standalone, type-safe AI SDK for autonomous 'Code Execution' with the Neural Link for runtime control. This enables agents to monitor, debug, and heal the application autonomously, effectively acting as an operating system for synthetic intelligence.

How does Neo.mjs handle multi-window applications?

Neo.mjs uses shared web workers to run a single application instance across multiple browser windows. All windows share the same application state and data in real-time. Components can even move between windows while retaining their JavaScript instances. This enables desktop-class experiences like multi-window IDEs, browser-based email clients, and multi-screen control rooms.

What makes Neo.mjs different from React, Angular, or Vue?

Neo.mjs is fundamentally different in its architecture: (1) It uses True Multithreading via web workers to prevent UI jank, (2) It is an AI-Native Application Engine with built-in bridges for AI collaboration, and (3) It treats components as persistent objects in a Scene Graph, enabling native multi-window support and runtime permutation.

Frontmatter

id	11290
title	Fail loudly on stale GitHub Workflow archive config
state	Closed
labels	enhancementaiarchitecturebuild
assignees	neo-opus-4-7
createdAt	May 13, 2026, 9:43 AM
updatedAt	May 13, 2026, 2:59 PM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/11290
author	neo-gpt
commentsCount	0
parentIssue	11187
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	May 13, 2026, 2:59 PM

Fail loudly on stale GitHub Workflow archive config

Name: Neo.mjs Application Engine
Author: Neo.mjs

Closedenhancementaiarchitecturebuild

neo-gpt commented on May 13, 2026, 9:43 AM

Context

This is the missing B0a companion for Epic #11187, surfaced during the 2026-05-13 clone-local config sync recovery.

PR #11282 merged the MetadataManager pruning prerequisite. During the follow-up archive-structure readiness check, the swarm found that ai/mcp/server/github-workflow/config.template.mjs had the archive fields, but each agent's gitignored clone-local ai/mcp/server/github-workflow/config.mjs needed manual sync. The Codex/GPT clone and Gemini real repo clone were patched cleanly. Claude's persistent checkout briefly entered a worse partial state: archiveRoot present while archiveChunkThreshold and archiveChunkPrefix were missing.

That state is more dangerous than a fully stale config: code that only checks for archiveRoot can proceed into archive planning while the lazy chunking contract is undefined.

The Problem

The GitHub Workflow runtime config has no loud shape validation for the archive substrate fields required by Epic #11187:

issueSync.archiveRoot
issueSync.archiveChunkThreshold
issueSync.archiveChunkPrefix

Template/local drift is expected because config.mjs is gitignored and clone-local. #10559 already added PR workflow guidance for template-change notification, and #11189 added the initial archive config fields. Those are necessary but not sufficient: when a local runtime config is stale or partially patched, archive sync/release tooling should fail early with an operator-actionable error instead of running with undefined chunk semantics.

The Architectural Reality

Observed current surfaces:

ai/mcp/server/github-workflow/config.template.mjs declares archiveRoot, archiveChunkThreshold: 100, and archiveChunkPrefix: 'chunk-'.
ai/mcp/server/github-workflow/config.mjs is gitignored and can drift in each real repo clone.
ai/services/github-workflow/shared/archivePath.mjs consumes the archive config contract for path construction.
ai/services/github-workflow/sync/IssueSyncer.mjs, PullRequestSyncer.mjs, and DiscussionSyncer.mjs pass archive config into archive path planning.
Release/archive runs also route through buildScripts/release/publish.mjs and GitHub Workflow sync services.

Duplicate sweep notes:

#11189 is closed and covered adding the config fields, not runtime validation of stale clone-local configs.
#10559 is closed and covered PR author/reviewer workflow guidance, not service-level fail-loud validation.
No open ticket found for archive config shape validation.

The Fix

Add a narrow runtime validation path for the GitHub Workflow archive config. The implementation should validate that all three archive fields are present and structurally valid before any archive planning, sync, or release archive operation can proceed.

Recommended behavior:

Fail loudly when any required field is missing, with an error naming the exact config key and local file surface.
Treat the three archive fields as an all-or-nothing contract for archive operations.
Keep clone-local value overrides legal; validate shape and type, not byte-identical template equality.
Reuse existing config/service validation patterns where available instead of adding a broad new config framework.

Contract Ledger Matrix

Target Surface	Source of Authority	Proposed Behavior	Fallback	Docs	Evidence
GitHub Workflow archive config shape	Epic #11187 + #11189 + this ticket	Archive operations require `archiveRoot`, `archiveChunkThreshold`, and `archiveChunkPrefix` to be present and valid	Abort before archive planning with operator-actionable error	Inline JSDoc/error text; reference #10559 for clone-local sync guidance	Unit or targeted smoke test with one missing field
Clone-local `config.mjs` drift handling	#10559 + 2026-05-13 recovery	Local overrides allowed; missing required archive keys fail loudly	Manual sync from template	Existing PR workflow guide remains author/reviewer layer	Reproducer fixture or temporary config object test

Acceptance Criteria

GitHub Workflow archive operations validate issueSync.archiveRoot, issueSync.archiveChunkThreshold, and issueSync.archiveChunkPrefix before archive path planning proceeds.
Missing archiveRoot fails loudly with an error naming issueSync.archiveRoot.
Missing archiveChunkThreshold fails loudly with an error naming issueSync.archiveChunkThreshold.
Missing archiveChunkPrefix fails loudly with an error naming issueSync.archiveChunkPrefix.
Validation distinguishes required key presence/type from clone-local value equality; operator-specific local config values remain supported.
Targeted test coverage exercises the partial-patch state observed on 2026-05-13: archiveRoot present, chunk threshold/prefix missing.
PR body documents the local manual sync evidence for all three active agent clones, or explains why runtime validation makes a manual sync gap non-blocking.

Out of Scope

Committing any config.mjs file.
Forcing byte-identical local configs across clones.
Replacing the #10559 PR workflow guidance.
Implementing the actual archive data migration.
Changing archive path semantics beyond fail-loud validation.

Avoided Traps

Template-only confidence. Rejected because runtime servers read gitignored config.mjs, not only the tracked template.
Byte-identical config policing. Rejected because clone-local config values can legitimately differ; the invariant is required key presence and valid type.
Silent fallback defaults. Rejected for archive paths because defaults can hide a stale clone and create inconsistent corpus layout.
Broad config framework extraction. Rejected unless implementation evidence shows multiple validators need the same abstraction.

Epic #11187
#11189 — initial archive config fields
#10559 — PR workflow guard for MCP config template changes across three clones
PR #11282 — MetadataManager pruning prerequisite for archive planning
ai/mcp/server/github-workflow/config.template.mjs
ai/services/github-workflow/shared/archivePath.mjs

Origin Session ID: d6d89930-f408-42a0-b60e-ec4487a8cc46

Handoff Retrieval Hints:

query_raw_memories(query="B0a clone-local config sync archiveChunkThreshold archiveChunkPrefix partial patch")
ask_knowledge_base(query="GitHub Workflow archive config validation archiveRoot archiveChunkThreshold archiveChunkPrefix")
A2A anchors: MESSAGE:64642b5e-6f33-4293-ae3b-76899ec71702, MESSAGE:4133e07c-5ef1-44c6-b3dd-f316734da5a9

tobiu referenced in commit 86ec2e6 - "feat(github-workflow): fail loudly on stale archive config in syncer entry points (#11290) (#11297) on May 13, 2026, 2:59 PM

tobiu closed this issue on May 13, 2026, 2:59 PM