# WebAssembly Integration for Performance-Critical Operations
## Overview
WebAssembly (WASM) is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine, designed for high-performance applications. Integrating WebAssembly into the Unreal Engine MCP Server will provide significant performance improvements for computational-heavy operations.
## Performance Benefits
### Current TypeScript Performance
| Operation | Approximate Time | Limitations |
|-----------|------------------|-------------|
| Property parsing (1000 props) | ~150-300ms | Large JSON parsing overhead |
| Asset dependency resolution | ~500-1000ms | Recursive traversal bottleneck |
| Transform calculations | ~5-10ms | Per-object processing |
| Blueprint compilation validation | ~200-500ms | Complex string parsing |
| Bulk actor queries (500 actors) | ~800-1200ms | Object serialization cost |
### Projected WASM Performance
| Operation | Approximate Time | Improvement |
|-----------|------------------|-------------|
| Property parsing (1000 props) | ~20-40ms | **5-8x faster** |
| Asset dependency resolution | ~100-200ms | **3-5x faster** |
| Transform calculations | ~1-2ms | **5x faster** |
| Blueprint compilation validation | ~50-100ms | **4x faster** |
| Bulk actor queries (500 actors) | ~200-300ms | **3-4x faster** |
## Integration Strategy
### 1. Target Operations for WASM
#### High-Priority Operations (Immediate Implementation)
1. **Property Parsing and Serialization**
- Parse complex property hierarchies
- Serialize/deserialize Blueprint data
- Transform property values between formats
2. **Asset Dependency Resolution**
- Traverse dependency graphs
- Detect circular dependencies
- Calculate dependency depth and relationships
3. **Transform Calculations**
- Vector math (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
- Matrix transformations
- Rotation conversions (Euler → Quaternion → Matrix)
- Transform composition and decomposition
4. **Data Validation**
- Blueprint node structure validation
- Property type checking
- Schema validation for complex objects
#### Medium-Priority Operations (Phase 2)
1. **Bulk Object Processing**
- Batch process multiple assets
- Parallel transform calculations
- Bulk property updates
2. **Path Manipulation**
- Resolve asset paths
- Normalize path formats
- Path pattern matching
3. **String Processing**
- Blueprint name generation
- Pattern matching for assets
- Tokenization of complex strings
### 2. Technology Stack
#### Rust → WebAssembly
**Why Rust?**
- Excellent WebAssembly support via `wasm-bindgen`
- Memory safety without garbage collection
- Zero-cost abstractions
- Strong performance characteristics
- Great tooling (`cargo`, `wasm-pack`)
**Alternative Options:**
- **C/C++**: Direct compilation to WebAssembly
- Pros: Mature ecosystem, direct control
- Cons: Manual memory management, more complex build setup
- **AssemblyScript**: TypeScript-like syntax
- Pros: Familiar syntax for JS developers
- Cons: Less mature, some TypeScript features not supported
#### Recommendation: **Rust**
### 3. Architecture Design
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TypeScript Layer │
│ - API Layer │
│ - Validation │
│ - Error Handling │
│ - Fallback Logic │
└─────────────┬───────────────────────┘
│ wasm-bindgen
│ (function calls)
┌─────────────▼───────────────────────┐
│ WebAssembly Module │
│ - Property parsing │
│ - Dependency resolution │
│ - Transform math │
│ - Data validation │
└─────────────┬───────────────────────┘
│ FFI calls
┌─────────────▼───────────────────────┐
│ Rust Core │
│ - Zero-cost abstractions │
│ - Memory safety │
│ - High performance │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
```
### 4. Project Structure
```
wasm/
├── Cargo.toml # Rust project configuration
├── src/
│ ├── lib.rs # Entry point
│ ├── property_parser.rs # Property parsing functions
│ ├── dependency_resolver.rs # Dependency graph traversal
│ ├── transform_math.rs # Vector/matrix calculations
│ ├── validation.rs # Data validation functions
│ └── utils.rs # Utility functions
├── package.json # Node.js integration
├── build.rs # Build script
├── README.md # Build instructions
└── tests/
└── integration.rs # Rust tests
```
### 5. Implementation Details
#### 5.1 Rust Library (`src/lib.rs`)
```rust
use wasm_bindgen::prelude::*;
use serde::{Serialize, Deserialize};
#[wasm_bindgen]
pub struct PropertyParser {
// Internal state
}
#[wasm_bindgen]
impl PropertyParser {
#[wasm_bindgen(constructor)]
pub fn new() -> PropertyParser {
PropertyParser { }
}
#[wasm_bindgen]
pub fn parse_properties(&self, json_str: &str) -> Result<JsValue, JsValue> {
// Parse JSON efficiently using serde
// Return structured data
}
#[wasm_bindgen]
pub fn serialize_properties(&self, properties: &JsValue) -> Result<String, JsValue> {
// Serialize back to JSON
}
}
#[wasm_bindgen]
pub struct TransformCalculator {
// Transform calculation state
}
#[wasm_bindgen]
impl TransformCalculator {
#[wasm_bindgen(constructor)]
pub fn new() -> TransformCalculator {
TransformCalculator { }
}
#[wasm_bindgen]
pub fn compose_transform(
&self,
location: &[f32; 3],
rotation: &[f32; 3],
scale: &[f32; 3]
) -> Vec<f32> {
// Efficient matrix composition
}
#[wasm_bindgen]
pub fn decompose_transform(&self, matrix: &[f32; 16]) -> Vec<f32> {
// Extract location, rotation, scale
}
}
```
#### 5.2 TypeScript Integration (`src/wasm/`)
```typescript
import init, { PropertyParser, TransformCalculator } from './pkg/unreal_mcp_wasm.js';
interface WASMModule {
propertyParser: PropertyParser;
transformCalculator: TransformCalculator;
initialized: boolean;
}
class WASMIntegration {
private module: WASMModule | null = null;
async initialize(): Promise<void> {
if (this.module?.initialized) {
return;
}
try {
// Load the WASM module
const wasmModule = await init();
this.module = {
propertyParser: new PropertyParser(),
transformCalculator: new TransformCalculator(),
initialized: true
};
console.log('WebAssembly module initialized successfully');
} catch (error) {
console.error('Failed to initialize WebAssembly module:', error);
// Fallback to TypeScript implementation
this.module = null;
throw error;
}
}
isInitialized(): boolean {
return this.module?.initialized === true;
}
// Property parsing with WASM fallback
async parseProperties(jsonStr: string): Promise<any> {
if (!this.module) {
await this.initialize();
}
if (this.module) {
try {
return this.module.propertyParser.parse_properties(jsonStr);
} catch (error) {
console.warn('WASM property parsing failed, falling back to TypeScript:', error);
// Fallback to TypeScript implementation
}
}
// TypeScript fallback
return JSON.parse(jsonStr);
}
// Transform calculations with WASM
composeTransform(
location: [number, number, number],
rotation: [number, number, number],
scale: [number, number, number]
): Float32Array {
if (!this.module) {
throw new Error('WASM module not initialized');
}
try {
return this.module.transformCalculator.compose_transform(
location,
rotation,
scale
);
} catch (error) {
console.warn('WASM transform calculation failed, falling back to TypeScript:', error);
// TypeScript fallback implementation
return this.fallbackComposeTransform(location, rotation, scale);
}
}
private fallbackComposeTransform(
location: [number, number, number],
rotation: [number, number, number],
scale: [number, number, number]
): Float32Array {
// Pure TypeScript implementation
const [x, y, z] = location;
const [pitch, yaw, roll] = rotation;
const [sx, sy, sz] = scale;
// Create transformation matrix
const matrix = new Float32Array(16);
// ... matrix composition logic
return matrix;
}
}
export const wasmIntegration = new WASMIntegration();
```
### 6. Build System
#### 6.1 Cargo.toml
```toml
[package]
name = "unreal-mcp-wasm"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
[lib]
crate-type = ["cdylib"]
[dependencies]
wasm-bindgen = "0.2"
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1.0"
js-sys = "0.3"
[dependencies.web-sys]
version = "0.3"
features = ["console"]
[dev-dependencies]
wasm-bindgen-test = "0.3"
[profile.release]
opt-level = 3
lto = true
codegen-units = 1
```
#### 6.2 Build Script (`build.rs`)
```rust
use wasm_pack::wasm_pack;
fn main() {
wasm_pack::build_package(&wasm_pack::Target::Web);
}
```
#### 6.3 NPM Build Script
```json
{
"scripts": {
"build:wasm": "wasm-pack build wasm --target web --out-dir src/wasm/pkg",
"build": "npm run build:wasm && tsc",
"dev:wasm": "wasm-pack build wasm --target web --out-dir src/wasm/pkg --watch",
"test:wasm": "cd wasm && cargo test"
}
}
```
### 7. Performance Optimizations
#### 7.1 Memory Management
- **Reuse Memory**: Avoid frequent allocation/deallocation
- **Typed Arrays**: Use `Float32Array`, `Int32Array` for numerical data
- **Struct of Arrays (SoA)**: Better cache locality than Array of Structs (AoS)
- **Memory Pooling**: Pre-allocate buffers for frequently used operations
#### 7.2 SIMD Instructions
Use SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) for parallel operations:
```rust
#[cfg(target_feature = "simd128")]
use wasm_bindgen::prelude::wasm_bindgen_simd;
#[wasm_bindgen]
pub fn batch_transform_actors(actors: &[Actor]) -> Vec<Matrix> {
// Use SIMD for parallel transform calculations
}
```
#### 7.3 Parallel Processing
For bulk operations, use Web Workers:
```typescript
// wasm-worker.ts
import { wasmIntegration } from '../wasm-integration';
self.onmessage = async (e) => {
const { operation, data } = e.data;
if (operation === 'batch_transform') {
const results = await wasmIntegration.batchTransform(data);
self.postMessage({ success: true, results });
}
};
```
### 8. Error Handling and Fallbacks
#### 8.1 Graceful Degradation
```typescript
async function withWASMFallback<T>(
wasmOperation: () => Promise<T>,
tsFallback: () => Promise<T>,
operationName: string
): Promise<T> {
try {
if (wasmIntegration.isInitialized()) {
return await wasmOperation();
}
} catch (error) {
console.warn(`${operationName} failed with WASM, falling back to TypeScript:`, error);
}
return await tsFallback();
}
```
#### 8.2 Feature Detection
```typescript
function detectWASMSupport(): boolean {
return typeof WebAssembly === 'object' &&
typeof WebAssembly.instantiate === 'function' &&
typeof SharedArrayBuffer !== 'undefined'; // For advanced features
}
```
### 9. Testing Strategy
#### 9.1 Rust Tests (`wasm/tests/integration.rs`)
```rust
#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
use super::*;
#[test]
fn test_property_parser() {
let parser = PropertyParser::new();
let json = r#"{"name": "Test", "value": 42}"#;
let result = parser.parse_properties(json).unwrap();
// Verify result
}
#[test]
fn test_transform_composition() {
let calc = TransformCalculator::new();
let location = [0.0, 0.0, 0.0];
let rotation = [0.0, 0.0, 0.0];
let scale = [1.0, 1.0, 1.0];
let matrix = calc.compose_transform(location, rotation, scale);
assert_eq!(matrix.len(), 16);
}
}
```
#### 9.2 TypeScript Tests
```typescript
import { wasmIntegration } from '../src/wasm-integration';
describe('WASM Integration', () => {
beforeAll(async () => {
await wasmIntegration.initialize();
});
test('property parsing performance', async () => {
const properties = { /* test data */ };
const start = performance.now();
const result = await wasmIntegration.parseProperties(JSON.stringify(properties));
const end = performance.now();
expect(end - start).toBeLessThan(50); // Should be under 50ms
});
test('transform calculation accuracy', () => {
const location = [100, 200, 300];
const rotation = [0, 90, 0];
const scale = [1, 1, 1];
const result = wasmIntegration.composeTransform(location, rotation, scale);
// Verify transformation matrix is correct
expect(result[12]).toBe(100); // X translation
expect(result[13]).toBe(200); // Y translation
expect(result[14]).toBe(300); // Z translation
});
});
```
### 10. Deployment
#### 10.1 Build Pipeline
1. **Rust Compilation**
```bash
wasm-pack build --release --target web
```
2. **Binary Optimization**
```bash
# Strip debug info
wasm-strip pkg/unreal_mcp_wasm_bg.wasm
```
3. **TypeScript Compilation**
```bash
tsc --project tsconfig.json
```
#### 10.2 Distribution
```
dist/
├── index.js
├── cli.js
├── wasm/
│ ├── pkg/
│ │ ├── unreal_mcp_wasm.js
│ │ ├── unreal_mcp_wasm_bg.wasm
│ │ └── unreal_mcp_wasm_bg.wasm.d.ts
│ └── index.d.ts
└── ...
```
### 11. Monitoring and Metrics
#### 11.1 Performance Monitoring
```typescript
class WASMPerformanceMonitor {
private metrics = new Map<string, number[]>();
measureOperation(operation: string, fn: () => Promise<any>): Promise<any> {
const start = performance.now();
return fn().then(result => {
const end = performance.now();
const duration = end - start;
if (!this.metrics.has(operation)) {
this.metrics.set(operation, []);
}
this.metrics.get(operation)!.push(duration);
return result;
});
}
getAverageTime(operation: string): number {
const times = this.metrics.get(operation) || [];
return times.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) / times.length;
}
report(): string {
const report = [];
for (const [operation, times] of this.metrics) {
const avg = this.getAverageTime(operation);
report.push(`${operation}: ${avg.toFixed(2)}ms (${times.length} samples)`);
}
return report.join('\n');
}
}
```
### 12. Migration Plan
#### Phase 1: Core Operations (Weeks 1-2)
- Implement property parser
- Add transform calculations
- Create Rust tests
- Add TypeScript integration
#### Phase 2: Advanced Features (Weeks 3-4)
- Implement dependency resolver
- Add batch operations
- Optimize memory usage
- Add performance monitoring
#### Phase 3: Testing and Optimization (Week 5)
- Comprehensive testing
- Performance benchmarking
- Bug fixes
- Documentation
### 13. Risks and Mitigations
#### Risk 1: WASM Loading Failures
**Mitigation**: Robust fallback to TypeScript implementations
#### Risk 2: Performance Regression
**Mitigation**: Comprehensive benchmarking and monitoring
#### Risk 3: Binary Size Bloat
**Mitigation**: Careful feature selection, tree shaking, compression
#### Risk 4: Compatibility Issues
**Mitigation**: Feature detection, polyfills, graceful degradation
### 14. Success Metrics
- **Performance**: 3-8x improvement in target operations
- **Memory Usage**: < 10MB overhead for WASM module
- **Reliability**: 99.9% success rate with fallbacks
- **Compatibility**: Works in all modern browsers
- **Bundle Size**: < 500KB additional bundle size
### 15. Future Enhancements
1. **Threading**: Use SharedArrayBuffer and Web Workers
2. **Streaming**: Stream large datasets through WASM
3. **SIMD**: Leverage SIMD instructions for parallel processing
4. **Custom Allocators**: Implement domain-specific memory allocators
5. **Caching**: Cache compiled WASM modules for reuse
## Conclusion
WebAssembly integration will provide significant performance improvements for the Unreal Engine MCP Server's most computationally intensive operations. By carefully targeting specific operations and providing robust fallbacks, we can achieve 3-8x performance gains while maintaining full compatibility and reliability.
The Rust-based implementation offers the best balance of performance, safety, and developer productivity. With proper testing, monitoring, and optimization, WASM integration will be a valuable addition to the MCP server's capabilities.
