docs: adopt Rive's "new runtime" / "legacy runtime" terminology - #351
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Rive's docs call the CommandQueue-based runtimes the "New Runtime" (Apple) / "New Compose API" (Android) and the previous ones "legacy" - "experimental" is our own invention and now off-message. Update docs and spec JSDoc to the new/legacy vocabulary. The getBackend() API string stays 'experimental' for stability, with a note where it is documented.
Follow-up wording sweep (comments, harness prose, user-facing error messages now say "new runtime - use data binding" instead of "experimental API"). The getBackend() value stays 'experimental' and the API is now documented @internal: it exists for internal testing during the rollout, and it and the legacy runtime are slated for removal in 0.6.
…contributor-only Backends exist only for internal behavior-comparison testing - API docs should document what the library does, not compare runtimes users cannot (and should not) switch. Drop the "Backend note:" framing from the spec JSDoc, describe the actual 0.5 behavior plainly, and stop advertising the legacy switch in the updateReferencedAssets runtime warning. The contributor guide (docs/runtime-backends.md) remains the only place the backend switch is described.
HayesGordon
reviewed
Jul 20, 2026
Keep the firm 0.6 target only for the deprecated JS APIs (the migration driver). The legacy runtime is an internal fallback whose value is being droppable at our discretion - 0.6 may be breaking for other reasons while we still want the fallback available, so no version commitment for it.
mfazekas
enabled auto-merge (squash)
July 21, 2026 12:49
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Aligns our wording with Rive's official docs, which call the CommandQueue-based runtimes the "New Runtime" (Apple) / "New Compose API" (Android) and the previous ones "legacy" — "experimental" was our own term and is now off-message.
getBackend()is documented@internal(its'experimental' | 'legacy'return value is unchanged), theupdateReferencedAssetswarning no longer suggests switching to the legacy backend, and backend talk lives only in the contributor guide (docs/runtime-backends.md).docs/migrating-to-0.5.md: migrate to the async APIs on 0.4.x (full deprecated→replacement table), try the 0.5 beta, 0.5 stable keeps runtime deprecation warnings, and removal of the deprecated APIs is planned for 0.6.No behavior change; the only code deltas are two warning-message strings.