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	8515
title	Refactor Neural Link ConnectionService to support autoConnect config
state	Closed
labels	airefactoringarchitecture
assignees	tobiu
createdAt	Jan 10, 2026, 7:44 PM
updatedAt	Jan 10, 2026, 7:48 PM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/8515
author	tobiu
commentsCount	2
parentIssue	null
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	Jan 10, 2026, 7:48 PM

Refactor Neural Link ConnectionService to support autoConnect config

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

Closed v11.20.0 airefactoringarchitecture

tobiu commented on Jan 10, 2026, 7:44 PM

To prevent scripts using the AI SDK (like createLabelIndex.mjs) from hanging due to persistent Neural Link connections, we need to introduce a configuration option to control the auto-connection behavior.

Plan:

Config: Update ai/mcp/server/neural-link/config.mjs to include autoConnect: true (default).
Service: Update ai/mcp/server/neural-link/services/ConnectionService.mjs to check aiConfig.autoConnect in initAsync.
SDK: Update ai/services.mjs to set NeuralLink_Config.data.autoConnect = false for SDK consumers.
Cleanup: Remove the manual stop hack from buildScripts/createLabelIndex.mjs.

Why: This aligns the Neural Link service with other SDK services (like GitHub and Knowledge Base) which already have autoSync flags disabled by default in the SDK context.

tobiu added the ai label on Jan 10, 2026, 7:44 PM

tobiu added the refactoring label on Jan 10, 2026, 7:44 PM

tobiu added the architecture label on Jan 10, 2026, 7:44 PM

tobiu Jan 10, 2026, 7:47 PM

Input from Gemini 3 Pro:

✦ Refactoring complete.

Changes:

Config: Added autoConnect: true to ai/mcp/server/neural-link/config.mjs.

Service: Updated ConnectionService.mjs to respect aiConfig.autoConnect in initAsync.

SDK: Updated ai/services.mjs to set NeuralLink_Config.data.autoConnect = false.

Cleanup: Reverted manual connection handling in createLabelIndex.mjs.

Verification: Ran node buildScripts/createLabelIndex.mjs and confirmed it exits cleanly without hanging and without explicit connection management code.

tobiu referenced in commit 266f0c0 - "refactor: Add autoConnect config to NeuralLink to prevent SDK hangs (#8515)" on Jan 10, 2026, 7:47 PM

tobiu assigned to @tobiu on Jan 10, 2026, 7:48 PM

tobiu Jan 10, 2026, 7:48 PM

Input from Gemini 3 Pro:

✦ Closing ticket as the refactoring is complete and verified.

tobiu closed this issue on Jan 10, 2026, 7:48 PM