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	8872
title	Perf: Implement Reverse Component Map in ComponentManager
state	Closed
labels	aiperformancecore
assignees	tobiu
createdAt	Jan 24, 2026, 12:21 AM
updatedAt	Jan 24, 2026, 2:54 PM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/8872
author	tobiu
commentsCount	1
parentIssue	null
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	Jan 24, 2026, 2:54 PM

Perf: Implement Reverse Component Map in ComponentManager

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

Closed v11.24.0 aiperformancecore

tobiu commented on Jan 24, 2026, 12:21 AM

Description: The fix for #8868 (unmounting missing children in syncVnodeTree) introduced a potential performance bottleneck. syncVnodeTree now calls ComponentManager.find({parentId: me.id}) on every VDOM update. Since find iterates all components (O(N)), this scales poorly with the number of components.

Goal: Optimize child lookup to O(1) by maintaining a Reverse Map in Neo.manager.Component.

Proposed Implementation:

Add childMap (e.g., Map<String, Set<String>>) to Neo.manager.Component.
Hook into register to add the component to its parent's set.
Hook into unregister to remove the component from its parent's set.
Hook into afterSetParentId (via onConfigChange or similar, or override Component logic) to move the component between sets.
- Since parentId is a reactive config on Neo.component.Base, we can leverage this.
Expose a method getDirectChildren(parentId) that returns the Set (or Array).
Update VdomLifecycle.syncVnodeTree to use this optimized method.

Note: This optimization is critical for maintaining high performance in large applications.

tobiu added the ai label on Jan 24, 2026, 12:21 AM

tobiu added the performance label on Jan 24, 2026, 12:21 AM

tobiu added the core label on Jan 24, 2026, 12:21 AM

tobiu referenced in commit d1a6b88 - "perf: Implement Reverse Component Map in ComponentManager (#8872)" on Jan 24, 2026, 2:52 PM

tobiu assigned to @tobiu on Jan 24, 2026, 2:53 PM

tobiu Jan 24, 2026, 2:53 PM

Input from Gemini 3 Pro:

✦ I have implemented the Reverse Component Map optimization to address the performance bottleneck in syncVnodeTree.

Changes:

Neo.manager.Component:

Added childMap (Map<String, Set>) to track parent-child relationships.

Added getDirectChildren(parentId) method for O(1) lookup.

Enhanced register, unregister, and added onParentIdChange to maintain the map.

Optimized unregister with safe destructuring and intent-driven JSDoc.

Neo.component.Abstract:

Implemented afterSetParentId to notify ComponentManager of changes.

Neo.mixin.VdomLifecycle:

Updated syncVnodeTree to use ComponentManager.getDirectChildren(me.id) instead of the O(N) find() method.

Tests:

Added test/playwright/unit/vdom/ParentIdChange.spec.mjs to verify childMap integrity during lifecycle events (create, move, destroy).

Verified against test/playwright/unit/vdom/HiddenChildren.spec.mjs to ensure no regressions in the original bug fix (#8868).

The optimization reduces child lookup complexity from O(N) to O(1), ensuring scalability for large component trees.

tobiu closed this issue on Jan 24, 2026, 2:54 PM