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	7297
title	Create a Modern 'Getting Started' Guide
state	Closed
labels	documentationhelp wantedgood first issuehacktoberfest
assignees	Mariam-Saeed
createdAt	Sep 28, 2025, 2:48 PM
updatedAt	Oct 8, 2025, 3:26 PM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/7297
author	tobiu
commentsCount	6
parentIssue	7296
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	Oct 8, 2025, 3:26 PM

Create a Modern 'Getting Started' Guide

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

Closed v11.0.0 documentationhelp wantedgood first issuehacktoberfest

tobiu commented on Sep 28, 2025, 2:48 PM

Description

The current learn/gettingstarted/Workspaces.md guide is outdated and relies heavily on images, which are not accessible to AI tools or screen readers.

The goal of this ticket is to create a new, modern guide in the learn/gettingstarted/ folder to replace it.

Tasks:

Create a new markdown file (e.g., learn/gettingstarted/CreatingYourFirstApp.md).
Write a text-based tutorial that walks a new user through the npx neo-app command.
Describe the modern workspace and application folder structure.
Explain the purpose of the key files in a minimal app (app.mjs, MainView.mjs, etc.).
Ensure all code examples are in text-based, copy-pastable code blocks.

tobiu added parent issue #7296 on Sep 28, 2025, 2:48 PM

tobiu added the documentation label on Sep 28, 2025, 2:48 PM

tobiu added the help wanted label on Sep 28, 2025, 2:48 PM

tobiu added the good first issue label on Sep 28, 2025, 2:48 PM

tobiu added the hacktoberfest label on Sep 28, 2025, 2:48 PM

tobiu assigned to @Mariam-Saeed on Sep 28, 2025, 3:46 PM

tobiu Sep 28, 2025, 3:47 PM

Sure, and thanks for your interest. Make sure to not submit a PR before october 1st, or it would not count for the event.

tobiu Sep 29, 2025, 11:47 AM

I just finished this one: https://github.com/neomjs/neo/blob/dev/.github/WORKING_WITH_AGENTS.md

Hope it helps, in case you want to try out the new "AI Native" workflows.

@Mariam-Saeed - 2025-09-30T10:36:28Z

Thanks for sharing! I’ll check it out.

@Mariam-Saeed - 2025-10-01T13:53:46Z

@tobiu, I noticed that there are two ways to create an app: npx neo-app (creates a workspace and an app in one step) npm run create-app-minimal (adds an app to an existing workspace) The difference I see is that the create-app-minimal option generates more starter files inside the view folder compared to the npx neo-app approach. Would you recommend highlighting the create-app-minimal command when explaining how to add a new app to a workspace, or should we stick with the npx neo-app flow?

tobiu Oct 1, 2025, 5:12 PM

Let me give you some input: there are 2 ways to work with neo: we can create a repo fork, or use npx neo-app to create a workspace. The folder structure is super similar: both provide the app, docs, resources and src folders. The main difference is that inside a workspace, neo is a dependency. meaning: it is located inside node_modules/neo.mjs. Close to all scripts/programs inside buildScripts are designed to work inside both environments.

So, if someone wanted to create an app and work on the framework in parallel, a fork makes more sense. We can super easily move an app from the repo to a workspace or from a workspace to the repo, with just using a folder-wide regex to adjust the import paths inside .mjs files. For a production deployment of an app, the workspace is better, since bundle sizes get smaller.

Inside the repo or a workspace, we can create more apps using npm run create-app. I think @maxrahder created the create-app-minimal for a client neo training, which starts with an empty viewport, instead of the dummy tab container.

There is also npm run create-class, which is quite smart. E.g. if you have MyApp.view.Viewport and use it to create MyApp.view.ViewportController, it will not only create the class shell, but also import it into the view and assign it as a config.

To be fair: I have not used most scripts in a while, since I can now just tell Gemini CLI to build and connect new files.

2025-10-02T00:06:54Z @Mariam-Saeed cross-referenced by PR #7323

tobiu closed this issue on Oct 8, 2025, 3:26 PM