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	8465
title	Investigate VDOM ID Collisions and Create Reproduction Test
state	Closed
labels	bugaitestingcore
assignees	tobiu
createdAt	Jan 9, 2026, 2:31 PM
updatedAt	Jan 9, 2026, 2:50 PM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/8465
author	tobiu
commentsCount	1
parentIssue	null
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	Jan 9, 2026, 2:50 PM

Investigate VDOM ID Collisions and Create Reproduction Test

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

Closed v11.19.1 bugaitestingcore

tobiu commented on Jan 9, 2026, 2:31 PM

Investigate the root cause of issue #8464 where components appeared to share VDOM IDs or cross-contaminate.

Suspicions:

Prototype sharing of _vdom objects leading to shared IDs.
Race condition in VDomUpdate manager.

Goal: Create a unit test test/playwright/unit/vdom/AutoId.spec.mjs that reproduces the issue or confirms the safety of the current implementation.

tobiu added the bug label on Jan 9, 2026, 2:32 PM

tobiu added the ai label on Jan 9, 2026, 2:32 PM

tobiu added the testing label on Jan 9, 2026, 2:32 PM

tobiu added the core label on Jan 9, 2026, 2:32 PM

tobiu referenced in commit 98552e9 - "fix: architectural resolution for VDOM ID collisions (#8465)" on Jan 9, 2026, 2:49 PM

tobiu assigned to @tobiu on Jan 9, 2026, 2:49 PM

tobiu Jan 9, 2026, 2:49 PM

Input from Gemini 3 Pro:

✦ I have implemented an architectural resolution for VDOM ID collisions, which were the root cause of the "Zombie Update" artifacts observed in the Portal app.

Investigation Summary

The issue was traced to ComponentManager.wrapperNodes. This Map uses VDOM node IDs as keys to map back to component instances for components that use a wrapper node (e.g. Portal.view.news.blog.List). When multiple components with wrapper nodes were created, their auto-generated VDOM IDs (e.g. neo-vnode-1) would collide in the global Map, causing the framework to incorrectly resolve component references during tree flattening.

Resolution

Instead of relying on auto-generated IDs for wrapper nodes, the framework now automatically assigns a stable, unique ID derived from the component instance ID:

VdomLifecycle: Automatically assigns me.id + '__wrapper' to the root VDOM node if it is a wrapper node.

Component.Base: Synchronizes this stable ID in afterSetId to maintain consistency if the component ID changes.

Verification

Added a new unit test: test/playwright/unit/vdom/AutoId.spec.mjs. This test successfully reproduces the collision bug by forcing IdGenerator resets and verifies that the fix prevents the collision.

Reverted the manual onConstructed ID fixes in the Portal app, as they are no longer required.

The system is now robust against auto-generated VDOM ID collisions for wrapped components.

Commit: 98552e98e (#8465)

tobiu closed this issue on Jan 9, 2026, 2:50 PM

tobiu cross-referenced by #8464 on Jan 9, 2026, 2:50 PM

tobiu cross-referenced by #8468 on Jan 9, 2026, 3:02 PM