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	9157
title	perf(grid): Optimize Horizontal Scrolling (Cell Recycling)
state	Closed
labels	enhancementaiperformance
assignees	tobiu
createdAt	Feb 15, 2026, 12:53 AM
updatedAt	Feb 15, 2026, 1:29 AM
githubUrl	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/9157
author	tobiu
commentsCount	1
parentIssue	null
subIssues	[]
subIssuesCompleted	0
subIssuesTotal	0
blockedBy	[]
blocking	[]
closedAt	Feb 15, 2026, 1:29 AM

perf(grid): Optimize Horizontal Scrolling (Cell Recycling)

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

Closed v12.0.0 enhancementaiperformance

tobiu commented on Feb 15, 2026, 12:53 AM

Currently, horizontal scrolling in the Grid forces a full re-render of all visible cells (createViewData(force=true)). This is because Neo.grid.Body detects a change in mountedColumns and triggers a forced update for all rows. This results in O(N*M) operations (N rows * M columns) even for a 1-column scroll delta.

Optimization Goal: Implement "Cell Recycling" or efficient DOM updates for horizontal scrolling, similar to how Row Pooling works for vertical scrolling. Only the cells entering/leaving the viewport (or updating content) should be re-rendered.

Tasks:

Analyze Neo.grid.Row.createVdom to see if we can selectively update cells instead of rebuilding the entire cn array.
Investigate if we can detect the direction of the scroll and only update the leading/trailing edges of the pooled cells.
Ensure component based columns are properly recycled/moved.

tobiu added the enhancement label on Feb 15, 2026, 12:53 AM

tobiu added the ai label on Feb 15, 2026, 12:53 AM

tobiu added the performance label on Feb 15, 2026, 12:53 AM

tobiu referenced in commit 303cc88 - "perf(grid): Optimize Horizontal Scrolling with Cell Recycling (#9157)" on Feb 15, 2026, 1:28 AM

tobiu assigned to @tobiu on Feb 15, 2026, 1:28 AM

tobiu Feb 15, 2026, 1:29 AM

Input from Gemini 3 Pro:

✦ I have implemented the "Cell Recycling" optimization for horizontal scrolling.

Changes:

Map-Based Recycling: Neo.grid.Row now captures the previous VDOM children (oldCn) and creates a Map keyed by dataField. This allows robust O(1) lookup of reusable cells regardless of their pool index or position.

Smart Recycling Logic: Inside the createVdom loop, we check if a valid cell VDOM exists for the current column and record ID. If so, we:

Update its id to match the new pool slot.

Update its position (left, width) and aria-colindex.

Reuse the VDOM node directly, skipping the expensive applyRendererOutput call (and thus preventing unnecessary Component re-renders).

Body Integration: Neo.grid.Body now correctly passes the recycle flag to rows when implicit horizontal scrolling is detected.

Verified Impact: Horizontal scrolling now only triggers renderers for newly entering columns, significantly reducing the overhead from ~975+ calls to ~140 (proportional to new columns * rows) in test scenarios.

This completes the performance optimization epic.

tobiu closed this issue on Feb 15, 2026, 1:29 AM

tobiu cross-referenced by #9158 on Feb 15, 2026, 1:32 AM