Talk to a component host in callbacks, not observables

The component exposed the internal HostBridge to hosts as-is, which
carried the host's requests as rxjs observables. That made rxjs part of
the public API of a package that bundles its own copy of it, so a host
would build bridges with a different rxjs than the one Element Call
consumed them with — and asked every host to learn rxjs to change the
theme.

A component host now implements plain async callbacks for what Element
Call tells it (`ElementCallHostBridge`, all optional), and makes its own
requests through an imperative handle on the component's `ref`
(`ElementCallHandle`: setTheme, join, hangUp, setDeviceMute), each
resolving once Element Call has acted and rejecting when nothing in
Element Call can. `component/host.ts` adapts that to the HostBridge the
rest of Element Call still speaks, with a bridge whose identity never
changes, so a host re-creating its callbacks on render restarts nothing.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>

component/dev/DevHostBridge.ts

@@ -5,61 +5,18 @@ SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
 Please see LICENSE in the repository root for full details.
 */
 
-import { NEVER, Subject } from "rxjs";
+import { type ElementCallHostBridge } from "../index";
-
-import {
-  type DeviceMuteRequest,
-  type DeviceMuteState,
-  type ElementCallHostBridge,
-  type HostRequest,
-} from "../index";
 
 /**
- * A host bridge that reports everything it is told and can be driven by hand,
+ * A host bridge that reports everything it is told, so that the harness can
- * so that the harness can watch both directions of the conversation between
+ * watch what Element Call says to its host. (What the host says to Element
- * Element Call and its host.
+ * Call goes through the component's handle, and is logged by the pane.)
  */
-export interface DevHostBridge extends ElementCallHostBridge {
-  /** Tells Element Call the host has changed theme. */
-  requestTheme(name: string): void;
-  /** Tells Element Call to leave the call. */
-  requestHangUp(): void;
-  /** Asks Element Call to change, and report back, its mute state. */
-  requestDeviceMute(request: DeviceMuteRequest): void;
-}
-
 export function createDevHostBridge(
   log: (message: string) => void,
   /** What the host does when Element Call asks to be closed. */
   onClose: () => void,
-): DevHostBridge {
+): ElementCallHostBridge {
-  const themeChange$ = new Subject<HostRequest<{ name?: string }>>();
-  const hangUp$ = new Subject<HostRequest<Record<string, never>>>();
-  const deviceMute$ = new Subject<
-    HostRequest<DeviceMuteRequest, DeviceMuteState>
-  >();
-
-  const ask = <Data, Reply>(
-    subject: Subject<HostRequest<Data, Reply>>,
-    name: string,
-    data: Data,
-  ): void => {
-    // Worth saying out loud: a request nobody is subscribed to is silently
-    // dropped, and that is exactly the sort of thing the harness is for.
-    if (!subject.observed) {
-      log(`← ${name}: nothing is listening`);
-      return;
-    }
-    log(`← ${name}`);
-    subject.next({
-      data,
-      reply: (reply): void =>
-        log(
-          `→ ${name} acknowledged${reply === undefined ? "" : `: ${JSON.stringify(reply)}`}`,
-        ),
-    });
-  };
-
   /**
    * Records something Element Call told the host. Nothing is sent anywhere, so
    * this is only asynchronous because a real host's answer would have to be.
@@ -85,19 +42,5 @@ export function createDevHostBridge(
       await told("close");
       onClose();
     },
-
-    themeChange$,
-    // The harness does not preload a call, so this is never asked for
-    join$: NEVER,
-    hangUp$,
-    deviceMute$,
-
-    supportsReactions: true,
-
-    requestTheme: (name): void =>
-      ask(themeChange$, `themeChange(${name})`, { name }),
-    requestHangUp: (): void => ask(hangUp$, "hangUp", {}),
-    requestDeviceMute: (request): void =>
-      ask(deviceMute$, `deviceMute(${JSON.stringify(request)})`, request),
   };
 }

component/dev/Harness.tsx

@@ -11,12 +11,13 @@ import {
   type ReactNode,
   useCallback,
   useMemo,
+  useRef,
   useState,
 } from "react";
 import { type MatrixClient } from "matrix-js-sdk";
 import { logger } from "matrix-js-sdk/lib/logger";
 
-import { ElementCall } from "../index";
+import { ElementCall, type ElementCallHandle } from "../index";
 import { createDevHostBridge } from "./DevHostBridge";
 import { createSession, joinRoom } from "./session";
 import styles from "./Harness.module.css";
@@ -102,6 +103,29 @@ const Pane: FC<{
     [log, session.label],
   );
 
+  // What the host asks of Element Call goes through the component's handle.
+  // Worth saying out loud when a request is refused — asking to hang up when
+  // there is no call, say — since that is the sort of thing the harness is for.
+  const handle = useRef<ElementCallHandle>(null);
+  const ask = (
+    name: string,
+    make: (handle: ElementCallHandle) => Promise<unknown>,
+  ): void => {
+    if (handle.current === null) {
+      log(session.label, `← ${name}: not mounted`);
+      return;
+    }
+    log(session.label, `← ${name}`);
+    make(handle.current).then(
+      (reply) =>
+        log(
+          session.label,
+          `→ ${name} acknowledged${reply === undefined ? "" : `: ${JSON.stringify(reply)}`}`,
+        ),
+      (e: unknown) => log(session.label, `→ ${name} refused: ${e}`),
+    );
+  };
+
   return (
     <section className={styles.pane} data-testid="call-pane">
       <div className={styles.paneBar}>
@@ -110,24 +134,42 @@ const Pane: FC<{
         <button onClick={(): void => setMounted((m) => !m)}>
           {mounted ? "Unmount" : "Mount"}
         </button>
-        <button onClick={(): void => bridge.requestTheme("light")}>
-          Light
-        </button>
-        <button onClick={(): void => bridge.requestTheme("dark")}>Dark</button>
         <button
           onClick={(): void =>
-            bridge.requestDeviceMute({ audio_enabled: false })
+            ask("setTheme(light)", async (h) => await h.setTheme("light"))
+          }
+        >
+          Light
+        </button>
+        <button
+          onClick={(): void =>
+            ask("setTheme(dark)", async (h) => await h.setTheme("dark"))
+          }
+        >
+          Dark
+        </button>
+        <button
+          onClick={(): void =>
+            ask(
+              "setDeviceMute(audio: false)",
+              async (h) => await h.setDeviceMute({ audio_enabled: false }),
+            )
           }
         >
           Mute
         </button>
-        <button onClick={(): void => bridge.requestHangUp()}>Hang up</button>
+        <button
+          onClick={(): void => ask("hangUp", async (h) => await h.hangUp())}
+        >
+          Hang up
+        </button>
       </div>
       {/* Resizable, because how Element Call copes with the size it is given is
       one of the things we cannot find out from the standalone app */}
       <div className={styles.paneCall} data-testid="call-container">
         {mounted && (
           <ElementCall
+            ref={handle}
             client={session.client}
             roomId={roomId}
             hostBridge={bridge}

component/host.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2026 Element Creations Ltd.
+
+SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
+Please see LICENSE in the repository root for full details.
+*/
+
+import { renderHook } from "@testing-library/react";
+import { createRef } from "react";
+import { describe, expect, test, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import {
+  type ElementCallHandle,
+  type ElementCallHostBridge,
+  useComponentHostBridge,
+} from "./host";
+
+describe("useComponentHostBridge", () => {
+  test("keeps one identity while the host supplies new objects", () => {
+    const { result, rerender } = renderHook(
+      ({ supplied }: { supplied: ElementCallHostBridge }) =>
+        useComponentHostBridge(supplied, undefined),
+      { initialProps: { supplied: {} } },
+    );
+    const first = result.current;
+    rerender({ supplied: { notifyJoined: async () => {} } });
+    expect(result.current).toBe(first);
+  });
+
+  test("forwards to whatever the host most recently supplied", async () => {
+    const before = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+    const after = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+    const { result, rerender } = renderHook(
+      ({ supplied }: { supplied: ElementCallHostBridge }) =>
+        useComponentHostBridge(supplied, undefined),
+      { initialProps: { supplied: { notifyJoined: before } } },
+    );
+    rerender({ supplied: { notifyJoined: after } });
+
+    await result.current.notifyJoined();
+    expect(before).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(after).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  });
+
+  test("is quiet about what the host did not implement", async () => {
+    const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+      useComponentHostBridge(undefined, undefined),
+    );
+    await expect(result.current.contentLoaded()).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+    await expect(
+      result.current.notifyDeviceMute({
+        audio_enabled: true,
+        video_enabled: false,
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+    expect(result.current.supportsReactions).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("only has a close when the host has one, since that is a signal", () => {
+    const { result, rerender } = renderHook(
+      ({ supplied }: { supplied: ElementCallHostBridge }) =>
+        useComponentHostBridge(supplied, undefined),
+      { initialProps: { supplied: {} } },
+    );
+    expect(result.current.close).toBeUndefined();
+
+    const close = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+    rerender({ supplied: { close } });
+    expect(result.current.close).toBeDefined();
+  });
+
+  test("never offers profile changes, since the account is the host's", () => {
+    const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+      useComponentHostBridge(undefined, undefined),
+    );
+    expect(result.current.supportsProfileChanges).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  describe("the handle", () => {
+    test("delivers a request to what is listening and resolves on its reply", async () => {
+      const ref = createRef<ElementCallHandle>();
+      const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+        useComponentHostBridge(undefined, ref),
+      );
+
+      const received = vi.fn();
+      result.current.deviceMute$.subscribe(({ data, reply }) => {
+        received(data);
+        reply({ audio_enabled: data.audio_enabled!, video_enabled: true });
+      });
+
+      await expect(
+        ref.current!.setDeviceMute({ audio_enabled: false }),
+      ).resolves.toEqual({ audio_enabled: false, video_enabled: true });
+      expect(received).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ audio_enabled: false });
+    });
+
+    test("refuses a request nothing in Element Call is listening for", async () => {
+      const ref = createRef<ElementCallHandle>();
+      renderHook(() => useComponentHostBridge(undefined, ref));
+
+      await expect(ref.current!.hangUp()).rejects.toThrow(
+        "Nothing in Element Call can hang up right now",
+      );
+    });
+
+    test("passes the theme name through", async () => {
+      const ref = createRef<ElementCallHandle>();
+      const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+        useComponentHostBridge(undefined, ref),
+      );
+      const names: (string | undefined)[] = [];
+      result.current.themeChange$.subscribe(({ data, reply }) => {
+        names.push(data.name);
+        reply();
+      });
+
+      await ref.current!.setTheme("light");
+      expect(names).toEqual(["light"]);
+    });
+  });
+});

component/host.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2026 Element Creations Ltd.
+
+SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
+Please see LICENSE in the repository root for full details.
+*/
+
+/**
+ * How a host application and the Element Call component talk to each other.
+ *
+ * Inside Element Call the host is a {@link HostBridge}, which carries the
+ * host's requests as rxjs observables because that is what the widget API and
+ * the view models work in. A host should not have to know about rxjs, or agree
+ * with us on a version of it, so a component host sees neither: it implements
+ * plain async callbacks for what Element Call tells it, and makes its own
+ * requests through an imperative handle on the component, the way it would
+ * call `play()` on a video element. This module adapts the one to the other.
+ */
+
+import { type Ref, useImperativeHandle } from "react";
+import { Subject } from "rxjs";
+
+import {
+  type DeviceMuteRequest,
+  type DeviceMuteState,
+  type HostBridge,
+  type HostRequest,
+} from "../src/HostBridge";
+import { type JoinCallData } from "../src/widget";
+import { useInitial } from "../src/useInitial";
+import { useLatest } from "../src/useLatest";
+
+/**
+ * What Element Call tells the application embedding it. Everything is
+ * optional: a host implements what it wants to hear about.
+ *
+ * Compared by nothing — Element Call always calls whichever one it was most
+ * recently given, so this may be written inline.
+ */
+export interface ElementCallHostBridge {
+  /**
+   * Asks the host to keep Element Call on screen (or stop doing so), so that a
+   * call in progress is not torn down when the user navigates elsewhere.
+   */
+  setAlwaysOnScreen?(alwaysOnScreen: boolean): Promise<void>;
+  /** Tells the host that Element Call has finished loading. */
+  contentLoaded?(): Promise<void>;
+  /** Tells the host that the user has joined the call. */
+  notifyJoined?(): Promise<void>;
+  /** Tells the host that the user has hung up. */
+  notifyHungUp?(): Promise<void>;
+  /** Tells the host the user's current audio and video mute state. */
+  notifyDeviceMute?(state: DeviceMuteState): Promise<void>;
+  /**
+   * Asks the host to close Element Call: to unmount the component. Its
+   * presence is what makes Element Call offer a close button on its error
+   * screens, and leave the host to decide what is shown once a call has ended.
+   * Without it, Element Call shows its own post-call screen, if it has one for
+   * the situation, or nothing.
+   */
+  close?(): Promise<void>;
+  /**
+   * Whether Element Call may send and receive reactions in this room.
+   * Defaults to true.
+   */
+  readonly supportsReactions?: boolean;
+  /**
+   * Fetches media on Element Call's behalf, for hosts that do not want it
+   * touching the homeserver's media endpoints itself. Absent, Element Call
+   * fetches media with the client it was given.
+   */
+  downloadMedia?(mxcUri: string): Promise<Blob>;
+}
+
+/**
+ * What a host can ask of a mounted Element Call, reached through the
+ * component's `ref`. Each request resolves once Element Call has acted on it,
+ * and rejects if nothing in Element Call is in a position to act: hanging up
+ * when there is no call, say.
+ */
+export interface ElementCallHandle {
+  /** Switches Element Call to the named theme, `light` or `dark`. */
+  setTheme(name: string): Promise<void>;
+  /**
+   * Joins the call, when Element Call was configured to `preload` and is
+   * waiting to be told to. Says which devices to join with.
+   */
+  join(devices: JoinCallData): Promise<void>;
+  /** Leaves the call. */
+  hangUp(): Promise<void>;
+  /**
+   * Changes the mute state, for whichever of audio and video is given, and
+   * reports the state that results.
+   */
+  setDeviceMute(request: DeviceMuteRequest): Promise<DeviceMuteState>;
+}
+
+/** Hands a request to Element Call and waits for it to be acknowledged. */
+async function request<Data, Reply>(
+  listeners: Subject<HostRequest<Data, Reply>>,
+  what: string,
+  data: Data,
+): Promise<Reply> {
+  if (!listeners.observed)
+    throw new Error(`Nothing in Element Call can ${what} right now`);
+  return await new Promise((resolve) =>
+    listeners.next({ data, reply: resolve }),
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * The {@link HostBridge} the rest of Element Call sees, built from what a
+ * component host supplies and wired to the handle it is given.
+ *
+ * The bridge is created once and never changes identity — everything that
+ * depends on it would otherwise restart when the host re-rendered with a new
+ * object — and forwards each call to whatever the host most recently passed.
+ */
+export function useComponentHostBridge(
+  supplied: ElementCallHostBridge | undefined,
+  ref: Ref<ElementCallHandle> | undefined,
+): HostBridge {
+  const latest = useLatest(supplied ?? {});
+
+  const requests = useInitial(() => ({
+    themeChange$: new Subject<HostRequest<{ name?: string }>>(),
+    join$: new Subject<HostRequest<JoinCallData>>(),
+    hangUp$: new Subject<HostRequest<Record<string, never>>>(),
+    deviceMute$: new Subject<HostRequest<DeviceMuteRequest, DeviceMuteState>>(),
+  }));
+
+  const bridge = useInitial(
+    (): HostBridge => ({
+      setAlwaysOnScreen: async (alwaysOnScreen) => {
+        await latest.current.setAlwaysOnScreen?.(alwaysOnScreen);
+      },
+      contentLoaded: async () => {
+        await latest.current.contentLoaded?.();
+      },
+      notifyJoined: async () => {
+        await latest.current.notifyJoined?.();
+      },
+      notifyHungUp: async () => {
+        await latest.current.notifyHungUp?.();
+      },
+      notifyDeviceMute: async (state) => {
+        await latest.current.notifyDeviceMute?.(state);
+      },
+      // Whether these exist is itself information, so they are read through
+      // rather than wrapped unconditionally
+      get close() {
+        const close = latest.current.close;
+        return close === undefined
+          ? undefined
+          : async (): Promise<void> => await close();
+      },
+      get downloadMedia() {
+        const downloadMedia = latest.current.downloadMedia;
+        return downloadMedia === undefined
+          ? undefined
+          : async (mxcUri: string): Promise<Blob> =>
+              await downloadMedia(mxcUri);
+      },
+      get supportsReactions(): boolean {
+        return latest.current.supportsReactions ?? true;
+      },
+      // Whatever the host says or does not say, the account is its own: it
+      // signed the user in and handed us the client. So Element Call never
+      // offers to edit the profile from inside a component.
+      supportsProfileChanges: false,
+      ...requests,
+    }),
+  );
+
+  useImperativeHandle(
+    ref,
+    (): ElementCallHandle => ({
+      setTheme: async (name) =>
+        await request(requests.themeChange$, "change theme", { name }),
+      join: async (devices) =>
+        await request(requests.join$, "join a call", devices),
+      hangUp: async () => await request(requests.hangUp$, "hang up", {}),
+      setDeviceMute: async (muteRequest) =>
+        await request(
+          requests.deviceMute$,
+          "change the mute state",
+          muteRequest,
+        ),
+    }),
+    [requests],
+  );
+
+  return bridge;
+}

component/index.tsx

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import {
   type FC,
   type JSX,
   type ReactNode,
+  type Ref,
   useEffect,
   useMemo,
   useState,
@@ -53,11 +54,7 @@ import EN from "../locales/en/app.json";
 import { ElementCallView } from "../src/ElementCallView";
 import { ErrorPage } from "../src/FullScreenView";
 import { ClientProvider } from "../src/ClientContext";
-import {
+import { HostBridgeProvider } from "../src/HostBridge";
-  type HostBridge,
-  HostBridgeProvider,
-  nullHostBridge,
-} from "../src/HostBridge";
 import { RootElementProvider } from "../src/RootElementContext";
 import {
   configurationForIntent,
@@ -76,13 +73,17 @@ import { i18n } from "../src/utils/i18n";
 import { useTheme } from "../src/useTheme";
 import { useStableValue } from "../src/useStableValue";
 import styles from "./ElementCall.module.css";
+import {
+  type ElementCallHandle,
+  type ElementCallHostBridge,
+  useComponentHostBridge,
+} from "./host";
 
-// Everything needed to implement a HostBridge, not just the interface itself
+// How the host and Element Call talk to each other, and what they say
+export { type ElementCallHandle, type ElementCallHostBridge } from "./host";
 export {
   type DeviceMuteRequest,
   type DeviceMuteState,
-  type HostBridge,
-  type HostRequest,
 } from "../src/HostBridge";
 export { type JoinCallData } from "../src/widget";
 // The deployment-wide configuration, as distinct from ElementCallConfiguration
@@ -102,14 +103,6 @@ export {
  */
 export type ElementCallConfiguration = Partial<UrlParams>;
 
-/**
- * What a host embedding Element Call implements to talk to it. This is the
- * {@link HostBridge} less what Element Call already knows about such a host:
- * the account is the host's, since the client is, so the profile is not
- * Element Call's to change.
- */
-export type ElementCallHostBridge = Omit<HostBridge, "supportsProfileChanges">;
-
 export interface ElementCallProps {
   /**
    * The client to place the call with. Element Call does not authenticate
@@ -138,11 +131,16 @@ export interface ElementCallProps {
    */
   config?: ElementCallConfiguration;
   /**
-   * How to reach the host while the call is running — to be told the user has
+   * What Element Call tells the host while the call is running: that the user
-   * joined or hung up, to be asked to keep the call on screen, and so on.
+   * has joined or hung up, that it would like to be kept on screen, and so on.
-   * Without one, Element Call assumes it has no host to talk to.
+   * Without one, Element Call assumes nobody is listening.
    */
   hostBridge?: ElementCallHostBridge;
+  /**
+   * What the host tells Element Call: to change theme, to hang up, to mute.
+   * Available once the component has rendered.
+   */
+  ref?: Ref<ElementCallHandle>;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -191,18 +189,10 @@ export const ElementCall: FC<ElementCallProps> = ({
   roomId,
   intent = UserIntent.JoinExistingCall,
   config,
-  hostBridge: suppliedHostBridge = nullHostBridge,
+  hostBridge: suppliedHostBridge,
+  ref,
 }): ReactNode => {
-  // Whatever the host says or does not say, the account is its own: it signed
+  const hostBridge = useComponentHostBridge(suppliedHostBridge, ref);
-  // the user in and handed us the client. So Element Call never offers to edit
-  // the profile from inside a component.
-  const hostBridge = useMemo(
-    (): HostBridge => ({
-      ...suppliedHostBridge,
-      supportsProfileChanges: false,
-    }),
-    [suppliedHostBridge],
-  );
 
   // The container is what Element Call decorates and portals into, so nothing
   // inside can render until we have it.