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	8118
title	Support OffscreenCanvas node movement between windows (SharedWorkers)
state	Closed
labels	enhancementai
assignees	tobiu
createdAt	Dec 15, 2025, 11:13 PM
updatedAt	Dec 16, 2025, 12:25 AM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/8118
author	tobiu
commentsCount	1
parentIssue	null
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	Dec 16, 2025, 12:25 AM

Support OffscreenCanvas node movement between windows (SharedWorkers)

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

Closed v11.17.0 enhancementai

tobiu commented on Dec 15, 2025, 11:13 PM

This ticket covers the changes required to support moving OffscreenCanvas nodes between windows when using Neo.config.useSharedWorkers. This is critical for drag-and-drop scenarios where a canvas component is moved from a container to a popup window and back, preventing "ownership already transferred" errors.

Changes

1. `src/worker/Canvas.mjs`

Feature: Introduced canvasWindowMap to track canvas instances by window ID.
Update: onRegisterCanvas now populates this map.
New Method: onRetrieveCanvas allows components to reclaim an existing canvas reference if it's already held by the worker for a specific window.

2. `src/component/Canvas.mjs`

Logic Update: afterSetMounted now safely handles canvas transfer.
Flow:
1. Requests offscreen canvas from Main thread.
2. If Main reports transferred: true (indicating prior transfer) AND shared workers are enabled:
  - Falls back to requesting the existing canvas from the worker via retrieveCanvas.
3. If Main provides a new offscreen canvas:
  - Registers it normally via registerCanvas (now including windowId).

3. `src/main/DomAccess.mjs`

Robustness: onGetOffscreenCanvas now wraps transferControlToOffscreen() in a try-catch block.
Return Value: Returns { transferred: true } if the transfer fails, instead of throwing an error.
Safety: Added a check for undefined node to prevent runtime errors.

4. `apps/agentos/view/ViewportController.mjs`

Fix: Added widget.mounted = true in onDragBoundaryEntry to ensure correct component lifecycle state during re-integration.

Goal

Enable seamless canvas reuse across windows without losing the OffscreenCanvas context or triggering DOM exceptions.

tobiu added the enhancement label on Dec 15, 2025, 11:13 PM

tobiu added the ai label on Dec 15, 2025, 11:13 PM

tobiu assigned to @tobiu on Dec 15, 2025, 11:14 PM

tobiu referenced in commit 9a5c96c - "Support OffscreenCanvas node movement between windows (SharedWorkers) #8118" on Dec 15, 2025, 11:15 PM

tobiu Dec 15, 2025, 11:17 PM

Input from Gemini 2.5 pro:

✦ For additional context, these changes were driven by two specific use cases:

Advanced Dashboard Drag & Drop: Supporting a scenario where a canvas node is effectively duplicated into a new popup window during a drag operation, and then potentially re-used (via the original node) if the popup is resolved back into an in-app drag proxy within the same drag operation. This requires the system to handle "already transferred" states gracefully when reusing the same DOM node.

Standard Cross-Window Movement: Ensuring the logic remains robust for the standard pattern where a node is destroyed in Window A and a new node (with a new ID) is created in Window B, and potentially back again.

The refactored logic in onRetrieveCanvas and DomAccess ensures both the "hacky" reuse and the standard lifecycle work without errors.

tobiu cross-referenced by #8119 on Dec 16, 2025, 12:00 AM

tobiu closed this issue on Dec 16, 2025, 12:25 AM

Support OffscreenCanvas node movement between windows (SharedWorkers)

Changes

1. src/worker/Canvas.mjs

2. src/component/Canvas.mjs

3. src/main/DomAccess.mjs

4. apps/agentos/view/ViewportController.mjs

Goal

1. `src/worker/Canvas.mjs`

2. `src/component/Canvas.mjs`

3. `src/main/DomAccess.mjs`

4. `apps/agentos/view/ViewportController.mjs`