pubsub/docs/architecture/event-targets/worker.md

status, last_updated

status	last_updated
draft	2026-05-07

Worker Event Target

Import: @alkdev/pubsub/event-target-worker Peer dep: none (Web Worker / Node worker_threads are standard) Status: Not yet implemented. Needs R&D on Node vs Web Worker API differences.

Enables createPubSub to work across Worker boundaries. Two factory functions: one for the main thread side, one for the worker thread side.

API

// Main thread — wraps a Worker instance
function createWorkerEventTarget<TEvent extends TypedEvent>(
  worker: Worker,
): TypedEventTarget<TEvent>;

// Worker thread — wraps parent message port
function createMainThreadEventTarget<TEvent extends TypedEvent>(): TypedEventTarget<TEvent>;

Protocol

Worker messages use the EventEnvelope format over postMessage:

{ "type": "call.responded", "id": "uuid-123", "payload": { "output": 42 } }

Main Thread → Worker

dispatchEvent(event) {
  this.worker.postMessage(event.detail);
  // event.detail is the EventEnvelope
  return true;
}

Worker → Main Thread

dispatchEvent(event) {
  globalThis.postMessage(event.detail);
  return true;
}

Receiving

// Main thread side
this.worker.onmessage = (msg) => {
  const envelope = msg.data;
  const topic = `${envelope.type}:${envelope.id}`;
  const event = new CustomEvent(topic, { detail: envelope });
  // dispatch to listeners
};

// Worker thread side
globalThis.onmessage = (msg) => {
  const envelope = msg.data;
  const topic = `${envelope.type}:${envelope.id}`;
  const event = new CustomEvent(topic, { detail: envelope });
  // dispatch to listeners
};

Key Properties

• Bidirectional — both sides can publish and subscribe
• Per-worker — each worker gets its own event target on the main thread side
• Structured clone — Web Workers use structured clone for serialization, but the JSON-serializable EventEnvelope ensures cross-platform compatibility
• No native deps — works in any environment with Worker support

Open Questions / R&D Needed

Node vs Web Worker API

The APIs differ significantly:

Feature	Web Worker	Node worker_threads
Create	new Worker(url)	new Worker(path)
Send	worker.postMessage(msg)	worker.postMessage(msg)
Receive	worker.onmessage	worker.on('message')
Worker send	self.postMessage(msg)	parentPort.postMessage(msg)
Worker receive	self.onmessage	parentPort.on('message')
Transfer	postMessage(msg, [transfer])	postMessage(msg, [transferList])
MessagePort	No built-in	Yes — MessageChannel for direct ports

Options:

1. Two adapters — event-target-web-worker and event-target-node-worker
2. One adapter with runtime detection — detect environment and use appropriate API
3. One adapter abstracting both — wrap the differences behind a common interface

Recommendation: Start with a single adapter that targets Web Workers (browser + Deno + Bun all support this API). Add Node worker_threads support later if needed, potentially with a MessagePort-based approach for direct channels.

Worker Pool Pattern

The original sandbox implementation used a worker pool pattern. A WorkerPoolManager would:

1. Maintain a pool of workers
2. Assign tasks to available workers
3. Collect results and fan out to subscribers

This is not part of the WorkerEventTarget — it's a downstream concern for @alkdev/operations. The event target just wraps a single postMessage/onmessage channel. Pool management belongs higher.

Transferable Objects

Web Workers support Transferable objects (ArrayBuffers, etc.) for zero-copy transfer. The current EventEnvelope is JSON, which gets structured-cloned. If large payloads need zero-copy transfer, the envelope could support a Transferable field, but this adds complexity and is not needed for the initial implementation.

Relationship to Downstream

Workers can subscribe to events and publish results through the event target, allowing @alkdev/operations to dispatch work to worker threads via the same pubsub transport. The correlation (id field in the envelope) connects request to response.

Test Plan

1. Main → Worker send — dispatchEvent from main posts message to worker
2. Worker → Main send — dispatchEvent from worker posts message to main
3. Bidirectional — both sides can subscribe and publish
4. Topic scoping — type:id topics correctly formed
5. Envelope round-trip — full envelope survives serialization
6. Worker termination — cleanup when worker exits