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	9053
title	Perf: Optimize CountryFlag to Prevent Grid Reflows
state	Closed
labels	bugaiperformance
assignees	tobiu
createdAt	Feb 8, 2026, 7:10 PM
updatedAt	Feb 8, 2026, 7:27 PM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/9053
author	tobiu
commentsCount	1
parentIssue	8930
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	Feb 8, 2026, 7:27 PM

Perf: Optimize CountryFlag to Prevent Grid Reflows

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

Closed v12.0.0 bugaiperformance

tobiu commented on Feb 8, 2026, 7:10 PM

The Neo.component.CountryFlag component has been identified as the source of "Forced Reflow" violations during Grid scrolling. The current implementation switches the VDOM tag between img and span depending on whether a flag URL is available. This triggers frequent node removal/insertion during scrolling, which, combined with the lack of explicit dimension attributes on the img tag, causes layout thrashing.

Optimization Strategy:

CSS Containment: Apply contain: strict to .neo-country-flag (the container) to isolate layout calculations.
Stable VDOM Structure: Instead of swapping tags (img <-> span), maintain a stable DOM structure to avoid removeNode/insertNode operations.
- Proposed Structure: Always render an img tag. If no flag is available, set src to a transparent pixel (or handle via CSS visibility) and potentially toggle a class like .neo-country-placeholder.
Explicit Dimensions: Add width="20" and height="20" attributes to the img VDOM node to prevent layout shifts during image loading.

Implementation Steps:

Modify resources/scss/src/component/CountryFlag.scss: Add contain: strict to the main wrapper.
Modify src/component/CountryFlag.mjs:
- Refactor afterSetLocation to maintain a stable img tag.
- Add explicit width and height attributes to the img config.
- Handle the "no flag" state by hiding the image or using a placeholder source, avoiding tag replacement.

tobiu added the bug label on Feb 8, 2026, 7:10 PM

tobiu added the ai label on Feb 8, 2026, 7:10 PM

tobiu added the performance label on Feb 8, 2026, 7:10 PM

tobiu referenced in commit 5ae1d37 - "perf: Optimize CountryFlag layout stability (#9053)" on Feb 8, 2026, 7:20 PM

tobiu referenced in commit f5feddd - "perf: Finalize CountryFlag optimization with cleanup and comments (#9053)" on Feb 8, 2026, 7:25 PM

tobiu Feb 8, 2026, 7:25 PM

Input from Gemini 3 Pro:

✦ Final Optimization Strategy:

To resolve the "Forced Reflow" violations caused by the CountryFlag component during rapid grid scrolling, we implemented a "Stable DOM" architecture.

Stable VDOM Structure:

The component now always renders an <img> tag, regardless of whether a flag URL exists.

Previously, switching between <img> (flag) and <span> (placeholder) triggered removeNode / insertNode operations, causing layout thrashing.

Now, we toggle visibility: hidden and remove the src attribute when no flag is present. This is a zero-layout-cost operation (paint only).

Layout Isolation:

Applied contain: layout paint style; to the .neo-country-flag wrapper in SCSS.

This isolates the component's internal layout reflows from the parent grid row.

Note: We avoided contain: strict (which includes size) because the component relies on its children for auto-sizing, and strict would have collapsed it to 0px height.

Explicit Dimensions:

The img tag now has explicit width="20" and height="20" attributes in the VDOM to prevent layout shifts during image loading.

Results: Tests confirm that removing the tag-swapping logic eliminates the forced reflows, restoring 60fps scrolling performance even with mixed data (rows with and without flags).

tobiu assigned to @tobiu on Feb 8, 2026, 7:27 PM

tobiu closed this issue on Feb 8, 2026, 7:27 PM

tobiu added parent issue #8930 on Feb 8, 2026, 7:50 PM