stefanjohansson.org
software category iconsoftware category icon

Updates to the Aardink editor v0.5.0: the same editor in a browser

byStefan Johanssononread3 mininsoftware
Post hero imagePost hero image
Outline

Notes and sources, not prose. Rewrite each section before publishing. Sources are in the aardink repo unless noted. Write it as a mirror of the 0.4.0 post: same editor, new places.

TODO: opening. The 0.4.0 post showed the editor on Android with language services and a bridge to a real language server. 0.5.0, released 27 September 2026, runs the same code on desktop and in a browser.

Upgrading on Android

  • Nothing to change: implementation("com.aardarch:aardink:0.5.0"). The public API only grew.
  • New: EditorTypography and LocalEditorTypography, hardware keyboard shortcuts, scrollbars on desktop and web, KeyboardToolbarPlacement.platformDefault, WebSocketLspTransport.
  • Changed: EditorThemeParser uses kotlinx.serialization instead of org.json.
  • Source: CHANGELOG.md 0.5.0.

The same editor in a browser

  • Side by side with 0.4.0: the same CodeEditorLayout, the same built-in languages, the same LspClient. Stdio on Android, a WebSocket in the browser.
  • How the pieces fit: your web app, then your JS exports, then AardinkWeb, then CodeEditorLayout. TODO: ReactFlow diagram, from the text diagram in WEB_INTEGRATION.md.
  • TODO: screenshots of :sample-web (language and theme pickers, stats bar).

Using it from JavaScript

  • pnpm add @aardarch/aardink-web. 0.5.0 went to npm by hand on 27 September. From 0.6 it publishes from CI.
  • Snippet: createEditor(container, onChange, options), then updateOptions, setDiagnostics, onDidChangeCursor, dispose. Monaco-shaped on purpose, so swapping one for the other is small.
  • Vite needs optimizeDeps.exclude: ['@aardarch/aardink-web']. The pre-bundler rewrites the package and breaks the new URL('./x.wasm', import.meta.url) references the loader relies on.
  • Under the hood: editors cross the JS boundary as integer handles, and every export is prefixed aardink. The export template is compiled in Aardink’s own tests so it cannot rot.
  • A grammar of your own in Kotlin means building your own small wasm module from the template. 0.6 adds registering one from JavaScript.
  • TODO: live editor in this post, or save it for part 6? See the notes in part 6 before building it.
  • Source: WEB_INTEGRATION.md.

Where 0.5.0 falls short

  • Typing gets slower as the file grows: about 50 ms a keystroke at 6 KB, 190 ms at 26 KB, 1 s at 139 KB. Compose lays out the whole text field as one paragraph, twice a frame.
  • Fast typing loses keys in big files: 15 to 29 of 30 at 10 keys a second on 5,000 lines, none at 250 lines. Found just after release, while building the 0.6 performance gate.
  • A disposed editor leaks about 275 KB. Compose Multiplatform 1.12.1 has no way to tear down a viewport; 1.13 fixes it. Reuse one editor with setValue.
  • Shipped anyway: aardflex’s XML files are a few hundred lines. Part 5 is the fix.
  • Source: KMP_MIGRATION_PLAN.md section 7.4, AARDINK_0.6_PLAN.md section 1.