ChainGraph Frontend Architecture

ChainGraph Frontend Architecture

This skill provides architectural guidance for the @badaitech/​chaingraph-frontend package - a React-based visual programming interface for designing computational graphs.

Package Overview

Location: apps/​chaingraph-frontend/ Purpose: Visual flow editor for ChainGraph using XYFlow Stack: React 19 + Vite + TypeScript + Effector + XYFlow + Tailwind + Radix UI

Directory Structure

apps/​chaingraph-frontend/​src/
├── main.tsx                 # Entry point, store initialization
├── App.tsx                  # Router setup
├── FlowLayout.tsx           # Layout: Sidebar + Flow
├── config.ts                # Environment configuration
│
├── components/
│   ├── flow/                # Main flow editor (see below)
│   ├── ui/                  # Radix UI components (31 files)
│   ├── sidebar/             # Navigation & flow list
│   ├── dnd/                 # Drag-and-drop (dnd-kit)
│   ├── debug/               # Debug tools
│   └── theme/               # Theme switching
│
├── store/                   # Effector state (15 domains)
│   ├── domains.ts           # Domain definitions
│   ├── initialization.ts    # App init orchestration
│   ├── nodes/               # Node CRUD, positions
│   ├── edges/               # Edge connections, anchors
│   ├── flow/                # Active flow, metadata
│   ├── ports-v2/            # Port values, configs, UI
│   ├── execution/           # Execution state
│   ├── trpc/                # tRPC clients (2 servers)
│   └── ...                  # 20+ more domains
│
├── hooks/                   # Global custom hooks
└── providers/               # Provider hierarchy

Flow Component Structure

components/​flow/
├── Flow.tsx                 # Main XYFlow container (13.6KB)
├── nodes/
│   ├── ChaingraphNode/      # Main node component (17 files)
│   │   ├── ChaingraphNodeOptimized.tsx  # Perf-optimized
│   │   └── ports/           # ArrayPort, ObjectPort
│   ├── AnchorNode/          # Edge anchor visualization
│   └── GroupNode/           # Group nodes
├── edges/
│   ├── components/          # Edge UI
│   └── utils/               # Edge calculations
└── hooks/                   # 18 flow-specific hooks
    ├── useNodeDragHandling.ts
    ├── useNodeSelection.ts
    ├── useFlowCopyPaste.ts
    ├── useKeyboardShortcuts.ts
    └── ...

Key Architectural Patterns

1. Two tRPC Clients

The app manages TWO separate WebSocket connections:

// Main Server (flows, nodes, edges)
$trpcClient → ws://localhost:3001

// Executor Server (execution events)
$trpcClientExecutor → ws://localhost:4021

2. Effector Domain-Based Stores

15 domains organized by feature:

3. Optimistic Updates + Debouncing

// Pattern: Local update → Debounce → Server sync
updateNodePositionLocal(event)  // Immediate UI update
// After NODE_POSITION_DEBOUNCE_MS (300ms)...
updateNodePositionFx(event)     // Send to server

4. Provider Hierarchy

ChainGraphProvider
  └─ RootProvider
      ├─ ThemeProvider
      ├─ ReactFlowProvider
      │   ├─ ZoomProvider
      │   ├─ DndContextProvider
      │   └─ MenuPositionProvider
      └─ [children]

Store Patterns

Creating a Store

import { nodesDomain } from '../​domains'

// Events (commands)
export const addNode = nodesDomain.createEvent<INode>()
export const removeNode = nodesDomain.createEvent<string>()

// Effects (async operations)
export const addNodeFx = nodesDomain.createEffect(async (params) => {
  const client = $trpcClient.getState()
  return client.flow.addNode.mutate(params)
})

// Stores
export const $nodes = nodesDomain.createStore<Record<string, INode>>({})
  .on(addNode, (nodes, node) => ({ ...nodes, [node.id]: node }))
  .on(removeNode, (nodes, id) => {
    const { [id]: _, ...rest } = nodes
    return rest
  })

// Derived stores
export const $selectedNodeIds = combine($nodes, (nodes) =>
  Object.keys(nodes).filter(id => nodes[id].isSelected)
)

Global Reset Pattern

All stores support global reset:

import { globalReset } from '../​global'

$myStore.reset(globalReset)

Component Patterns

Using Effector in Components

import { useUnit } from 'effector-react'
import { $nodes, addNode } from '@/​store/​nodes'

function MyComponent() {
  const [nodes, handleAddNode] = useUnit([$nodes, addNode])
  // ...
}

Lazy Loading

const LazyComponent = lazy(() => import('./​HeavyComponent'))

// In render
<Suspense fallback={<Loading />}>
  <LazyComponent />
</​Suspense>

Performance Considerations

1. Node Position Interpolation - Smooth animations via position-interpolation-advanced.ts
2. XYFlow Store - Combined render data per node to reduce re-renders
3. Effector Sampling - Accumulate rapid updates, sample at intervals
4. Debounce Constants:
   • NODE_POSITION_DEBOUNCE_MS = 300
   • NODE_DIMENSIONS_DEBOUNCE_MS = 500
   • NODE_UI_DEBOUNCE_MS = 1000

Key Files Reference

Best Practices

1. Use domain-based stores - Create stores within appropriate domains
2. Optimistic updates first - Update local store immediately, sync to server with debounce
3. Avoid direct tRPC calls in components - Use Effector effects
4. Use useUnit - Not useStore or useEvent separately
5. Reset on globalReset - All stores should support global reset
6. Lazy load heavy components - Especially documentation/​tooltips
7. Use ports-v2 - Legacy ports/ is being phased out

Related Skills

• effector-patterns - Effector state management anti-patterns
• xyflow-patterns - XYFlow integration patterns
• subscription-sync - Real-time data synchronization
• optimistic-updates - Optimistic UI patterns
• chaingraph-concepts - Core domain concepts
• trpc-patterns - tRPC framework patterns
• trpc-flow-editing - Flow editing tRPC procedures