Remove proxies

[adebola-io]

This PR removes the automatic proxy-based reactivity system from SourceCell. Previously, when reading a value from a source cell via .get(), the returned value was wrapped in a Proxy that intercepted property access and mutations, allowing patterns like cell.get().a = 2 to trigger reactive updates. With the optional deep: true flag, this proxying extended recursively to nested properties.

This approach had several issues:

• Surprising semantics — returning a proxy from .get() means the caller is never working with the actual value, which can cause subtle bugs with identity checks, serialization, and interop with external libraries.
• Performance overhead — every .get() call created a new Proxy, and every property access on the returned object went through trap handlers, including instanceof checks against Map, Set, Date, Array, and ArrayBuffer views.
• Implicit mutation model — intercepting mutations on the returned object conflates reading and writing, making data flow harder to reason about. Explicit .set() calls are clearer and more predictable.
• Maintenance burden — the proxy logic required maintaining lists of mutative methods for Map, Set, Date, and Array, and each new collection type would need additional special-casing.

Changes

• library/classes.js: Removed the #proxy() method from SourceCell, so .get() now returns the raw value directly. Removed the mutative method sets (mutativeMapMethods, mutativeSetMethods, mutativeArrayMethods, mutativeDateMethods) that supported the proxy logic. Removed the deep option from CellOptions and related JSDoc.
• README.md: Removed documentation of the deep option from the source cell configuration example.
• tests/index.test.js: Removed the entire Nested cells test suite and proxy-related cell option tests. Updated the deep equality test to no longer use the deep option or test mutation-through-get patterns.

Migration

Code that relied on mutating values through .get():

// Before
const cell = Cell.source({ a: 1 });
cell.get().a = 2; // implicitly triggered update

// After
const cell = Cell.source({ a: 1 });
cell.set({ ...cell.get(), a: 2 }); // explicit update

Code that used the deep option can simply remove it — the option no longer exists and will be ignored.

Summary by CodeRabbit

Release Notes

• Removed Features
  • Removed deep reactivity support for cells; cells now only track top-level property changes. Nested object modifications will no longer trigger updates.

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR removes deep reactivity capabilities from the library. The deep option is removed from Cell options, the SourceCell.get() implementation is simplified to return values directly without deep proxy traversal, and all corresponding tests for nested deep reactivity are deleted.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Documentation README.md	Removes documentation of the deep option from Cell.source constructor options.
Core Implementation library/classes.js	Removes the deep property from CellOptions interface and simplifies SourceCell.get() to return the underlying revalued value directly, eliminating deep proxy traversal behavior.
Test Suite tests/index.test.js	Removes all tests related to deep reactivity, including "Nested cells" test block, complex nested scenario validations, and deep vs. shallow proxy behavior tests. Modifies remaining tests to use default shallow behavior only.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• Separate computation/effect phases. #7 — Modifies proxy and scheduling behavior in library/classes.js with different approach to cell value access and update mechanisms.

Poem

🐰 Deep roots are plucked away today,
Shallow paths now light the way,
Proxies fade to simple code,
Tests cascade down a cleaner road,
Simpler cells go hop and play! 🌿

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 2 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title 'Remove proxies' accurately reflects the main objective of the PR, which is to remove Proxy-based reactivity from SourceCell. It is concise, clear, and directly summarizes the primary change.

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✨ Finishing touches

• 📝 Generate docstrings

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch remove-proxy

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