rea/docs/javascript-application-workflows.md

# Cross-layer JavaScript application workflows

REA derives a complete reachable feature trace from one authenticated JavaScript
Application Graph and compares two authenticated graph versions. The MCP tools
are `inspect_analysis_view`, `trace_application_feature`,
`trace_javascript_semantics`, `compare_application_versions`,
`compare_source_to_bundle`, and `compare_javascript_export_shapes`; their CLI
equivalents use the same names with hyphens. `inspect_analysis_view` projects a
summary, module page, or one module from already completed application
Evidence; it does not walk relationships.

`inspect_analysis_view` also projects retained `inspect_binary_layout`
Evidence. The remaining workflows consume Evidence produced by
`analyze_javascript_application` or `reconcile_javascript_runtime`. They do not
read an artifact, execute application code, attach to a process, or open a
native-analysis provider. Static artifact observations, passive runtime
observations, relationship inferences, and unknown or unavailable facts retain
their original graph authority.

`analyze_javascript_application` Evidence retains the structural JavaScript
Application Graph and a separate semantic relation graph bound to the same root
artifact digest and structural graph ID. Semantic tracing requires the semantic
relation graph and reports when it is unavailable rather than treating missing
data as an empty graph.

The semantic graph wire format stores shared non-location provenance once in
its required `evidence_contexts` table. Each node, relation, fingerprint, and
unknown retains its exact `evidence.location` and names the owning context with
`evidence.context_id`. This is a breaking representation change: consumers
reading fields such as `evidence.authority` must look up the context by ID and
combine its fields with the fact's location. Semantic trace results include the
canonical context subset referenced by their returned facts, so those facts
remain self-contained in the response.

## Feature tracing

Select one literal seed kind: node ID, route, string, API, IPC channel, module,
or native export. Matching is exact or literal substring matching; regular
expressions and executable predicates are not accepted. The trace includes all
matching seeds and the complete graph reachable in the selected direction.

The result contains the matching basis, complete reachable subgraph, terminal
paths, authority summaries, and native handoffs. A handoff binds
the exact native artifact digest and requested exports from the application
graph. Existing Hopper or Ghidra Evidence is linked only when its subject digest
matches exactly. Otherwise the result recommends provider-neutral follow-up
tools and reports `requires-provider-analysis`; it never starts or switches a
provider implicitly.

## Semantic relation tracing

`trace_javascript_semantics` queries the authenticated companion graph without
rereading mutable files. A seed may identify a semantic or application node,
literal, function fingerprint, property, endpoint, event, or boundary field.
The query declares backward provenance, forward influence, callers, or
ownership and can restrict admitted relation kinds. REA returns every matching
seed and the complete reachable subgraph; callers do not choose node, relation,
depth, function, module, seed-match, or page budgets.

The extractor covers lexical definitions and reads, literal seeds, static
property slots, object reads/writes/spreads/destructuring, closure captures,
uniquely resolved local calls, argument/return flow, and explicit Promise
construction, chaining, aggregation, await, return, assignment, and
detachment. It also recovers static candidates for EventEmitter
registrations/removals and dispatch, Node timers and cancellation handles, asynchronous
`node:child_process` creation and ownership, configuration sources and direct
defaults, request construction and response consumers, parse/coercion/
validation boundaries, and built-in resource acquisition/release.

Mutation tracking covers explicit member assignments, updates, deletion, and
loop assignment targets, including the supported local aliases and shared
nested references. Calls conservatively invalidate exposed mutable references;
callee bodies and built-ins such as `Object.assign`, `Reflect.set`, and
`Reflect.deleteProperty` are not interpreted to establish exact post-call
values. This uncertainty does not prove that a call actually mutated a value.
Interprocedural aliasing beyond the supported call-site references remains
outside this mutation pass.

Function fingerprints commit normalized syntax, control-flow shape, relation
shape, literal sets, arity, and detected effects without using local names or
source offsets. Equal duplicate fingerprints remain ambiguous. Dynamic
calls/properties/names, parser recovery, unresolved handles, and unsupported API
shapes stay explicit unknowns; a missing relation is never reported as proven
behavioral absence.

Semantic relations use static-inference authority. `resolved` means the static
target identity was unique within admitted analysis; it does not mean the path
executed. Candidate edges are excluded by default, require explicit opt-in, and
keep the result ambiguous. Runtime Evidence can later corroborate an exact
mapped candidate, but structural reachability, semantic influence, runtime
observation, and causal proof remain separate claims.

Semantic literal nodes keep their complete value in `properties.value`; literal
queries match that field. String labels use `string literal` when that is
shorter than the complete JSON value. A literal's `identity.role_key` commits
its canonical JSON value as `value-sha256:<digest>` when the digest key is
shorter; smaller values keep their existing JSON key. This keeps large values
out of identity and display metadata without expanding short values or
truncating their Evidence.

New analyses therefore produce different IDs for hashed literals from the
earlier payload-bearing role keys. Use IDs returned by the selected parent
graph and read literal values from `properties.value`, rather than decoding
role keys or labels. Previously stored graphs and their original IDs remain
valid inputs.

Endpoint nodes keep the exact endpoint in each observation's `properties.value`;
semantic request and response nodes keep it in `properties.endpoint`. Endpoint
identity keys use `value-sha256:<digest>` over the canonical JSON string when
that is shorter, or when the original value starts with the reserved digest
prefix. Other short endpoint keys remain unchanged. Endpoint labels use the
shorter of the exact value and `<kind> endpoint`; semantic request/response
labels use the shorter of the endpoint and operation method. These labels are
display metadata, not endpoint lookup values.

New analyses therefore change hashed endpoint IDs and longer endpoint labels.
Use IDs from the selected graph and read the complete endpoint properties;
previously stored graphs still support their original IDs. Literal endpoint
search, semantic tracing, and version comparison use the preserved values.

Event and listener nodes likewise preserve the complete event name in
`properties.event_name`. Event role keys use the same reserved-prefix string
digest rule, scoped to the emitter; repeated registrations, removals, and
dispatches keep one event per exact emitter/name pair. Long event labels use
`event`, and listener labels use the shorter of `<method>:<name>` and
`<method>:listener`. Dynamic names remain `null` with explicit uncertainty. New analyses
change hashed event IDs and longer event/listener labels; query the preserved
name or select IDs from the parent graph. Previously stored graphs keep their
original IDs and remain valid trace inputs.

## Version comparison

REA pairs entities only when a tier produces one unique candidate on each side.
The tiers are exact content digest, exact module-source digest, exact node
identity, source-map identity, structural fingerprint, and a semantic key for
non-module entities. Lower tiers never override a higher unique match.

Module ordinals, stable minified names, and fuzzy text similarity are not
persistent identities. Duplicate candidates remain ambiguous. Source-map and
structural matches are high/medium-confidence inferences rather than exact
facts. Each item is `unchanged`, `added`, `removed`, `changed`, or `unknown`,
and the result includes its basis, candidates, changed dimensions, Evidence
links, limitations, and a `changed_from` graph containing all compared nodes,
their observations, and relationships.

One-sided absence is `added` or `removed` only when the opposite input graph has
complete coverage. With partial, unavailable, or truncated input, the same
condition is `unknown`. The comparison retains every classified item and
ambiguity candidate. Coverage carries omitted counts and limits from each input
graph; comparison adds no caller-selected item, candidate, graph node, or edge
budget. Unresolved comparison items are recorded as a residual unknown linked
to the comparison Evidence in a live session.

## Historical source-to-bundle comparison

`compare_source_to_bundle` compares one cryptographically committed
`HistoricalSourceGraph` with authenticated application-graph Evidence. The
stable scoring model reports every admitted signal and weight: exact source
digest, source-map original path, exact current path, path suffix, basename, and
language extension. Exact digest wins over location inference; weak basename
or extension evidence never forces a mapping.

Each historical source file is classified as `unchanged`, `modified`,
`removed`, `split`, `merged`, `duplicated`, or `unknown`. Multiple equally
scored path mappings form a static split inference. Multiple current
nodes with the exact historical digest are duplicated; multiple historical
paths with exact identity to one current node are merged. `removed` requires
complete historical and application inventories. The comparison analyzes and
returns all source files, candidate nodes, and matching signals represented in
the supplied graphs. Partial inventories remain unknown where absence cannot
be established. These static mappings do not claim runtime loading or semantic
equivalence.

## Export return-shape comparison

`compare_javascript_export_shapes` selects exactly one module path and export
name on each authenticated graph. Missing or duplicate exact selectors return
candidate inventory and an unknown result; the tool never chooses a fuzzy
match. An export is linked to a callable only through exact lexical/module
relationships recovered by the AST analysis.

Direct return expressions, including expression-bodied arrows, are evaluated
through an execution-free value lattice. Literal object fields and direct
return sites are represented in the result. Calls, dynamic spreads, computed
keys, and parser recovery remain partial or unknown.
Objects and arrays passed to calls, constructors, or tagged templates, used
as method receivers, or stored through property targets are not assumed
unchanged afterward. Property stores conservatively retain reference escape
uncertainty rather than pretending to execute later writes. References
handed back by local functions, methods, constructors, async functions, and
generators also retain escape uncertainty, including when the call is read-only;
this does not establish that a mutation occurred. Aliases
and shared children in spread and rest copies retain that uncertainty; copied
primitive slots and unrelated containing properties remain known. Object rest
excludes consumed keys, array rest excludes the consumed prefix for known
arrays, and later explicit data properties and methods replace earlier object
spread references. A known array prefix does not expose values from a following
spread. Accessors, custom or uncertain iteration, unknown computed keys, and
unknown spread lengths retain conservative uncertainty.
Nested callable returns are not assigned to their parent callable. Projected
graph observations carry source ranges but never source text.

Return variants pair only when a literal discriminant such as `/type` has one
unique occurrence on each side and pairing is reciprocal. Source order never
implies correspondence. Each retained variant contributes a property inventory
of observed JSON Pointer names, including fields whose static values stay
unknown, plus that variant's parent-property coverage.

Changes use JSON Pointer paths with `added`, `removed`, `changed`, or `unknown`
status and a separate `presence` object (`present`, `absent`, or
`unknown-coverage`) on each side. A name is `added` or `removed` when one paired
shape proves presence and the other proves absence. Complete parent-property
coverage can establish absence even when field values stay unresolved. Identical literals are
omitted. Unresolved values that remain on both sides stay `unknown` when the
projections differ, and are omitted when presence is unchanged and the unknown
projections match. Incomplete spreads and other partial parent coverage keep
one-sided names `unknown` with `unknown-coverage` on the incomplete side.
Unpaired variants remain visible as unknown changes and still list their
property inventories, each with its own `source_range`. Inventories exclude
array holes and slots whose presence was invalidated by mutation; an unresolved
value alone does not make an observed property uncertain. `summary.added` and
`summary.removed` count
presence-level add/remove as well as literal value add/remove;
`summary.unknown` does not absorb complete-coverage presence-only gaps.
A partial comparison still records an unknown in the MCP session when matching
uncertain projections produce no changes and `summary.unknown` is zero.

The output includes exact selector candidates, omissions, Evidence links,
coverage, and limitations; it does not execute JavaScript. When runtime
semantics matter, run behavioral probes directly against the relevant
application versions and capture them through the available browser, Electron,
or process workflows.

## CLI and verification

All six CLI commands accept inline JSON or a path to a JSON file. The CLI
returns an Evidence record directly. Put the full records in a later CLI input;
a separate CLI process has no retained MCP connection state.

File inputs must be regular files; symlinks to regular files are accepted.
Directories, named pipes and device files produce an input error before JSON
parsing.

For a literal string trace, analyze your supplied tree once, then build the
input from the saved Evidence (replace the target and seed):

```bash
rea analyze-javascript-application /absolute/path/to/app --json > application-evidence.json
node --input-type=module -e '
import { readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
const application = JSON.parse(readFileSync("application-evidence.json", "utf8"));
writeFileSync("trace-input.json", JSON.stringify({
  application, seed: { kind: "string", value: "search-result" }, direction: "both"
}));'
rea trace-application-feature ./trace-input.json --json
```

MCP analysis returns the complete Evidence record, with the operation result
in `normalized_result` and its identity in `evidence_id`. If the connected server advertises retained references, reuse its
exact returned ID as `{"kind":"retained-evidence","evidence_id":"RETURNED_ID"}`
in `application`, or `left`/`right` for comparisons. `RETURNED_ID` is a template,
not a literal valid ID. Native Evidence arrays still use complete records.
References are scoped to one connection; `close_binary` clears them. Export a
bundle before closing and import it on another connection, or supply the full
inline Evidence there. Versions before 4.1.0 accept full inline Evidence only; installing
newer skill instructions does not change that schema. See
[MCP Evidence inputs](mcp-contracts.md#retained-application-evidence-inputs).

For two operator-provided directories or ASARs, run:

```bash
npm run verify:application-workflows -- \
  --left /absolute/path/to/version-a \
  --right /absolute/path/to/version-b
```

The verifier reconstructs both versions independently, compares them, runs one
literal trace when a seed is available, and compares the first common exact
export return shape when present. It prints only graph, artifact, and Evidence
identifiers plus matching, changes, summary, handoff, and coverage statistics;
it does not print source text. Use `--seed-kind` and `--seed-value` to select a
specific route, string, API, channel, module, native export, or node ID. Supply
all four `--left-module-path`, `--left-export-name`, `--right-module-path`, and
`--right-export-name` options to verify an explicit export pair.

Because source Evidence and derived Evidence are retained by the normal session
ledger, evidence bundles and analysis snapshots can carry these records without
another persistence format.

## Runtime evidence

Static graph workflows do not execute recovered code. When runtime semantics
matter, run behavioral probes directly against the relevant application
versions and capture them through the available browser, Electron, or process
workflows. Those observations do not prove behavior in an unobserved app
version or environment.