Proxy and Reflect

A Proxy object wraps another object and intercepts operations, like reading/writing properties and others, optionally handling them on its own, or transparently allowing the object to handle them.

Proxies are used in many libraries and some browser frameworks. We’ll see many practical applications in this article.

Proxy

The syntax:

let proxy = new Proxy(target, handler)

• target – is an object to wrap, can be anything, including functions.
• handler – proxy configuration: an object with “traps”, methods that intercept operations. – e.g. get trap for reading a property of target, set trap for writing a property into target, and so on.

For operations on proxy, if there’s a corresponding trap in handler, then it runs, and the proxy has a chance to handle it, otherwise the operation is performed on target.

As a starting example, let’s create a proxy without any traps:

let target = {};
let proxy = new Proxy(target, {}); // empty handler

proxy.test = 5; // writing to proxy (1)
alert(target.test); // 5, the property appeared in target!

alert(proxy.test); // 5, we can read it from proxy too (2)

for(let key in proxy) alert(key); // test, iteration works (3)

As there are no traps, all operations on proxy are forwarded to target.

1. A writing operation proxy.test= sets the value on target.
2. A reading operation proxy.test returns the value from target.
3. Iteration over proxy returns values from target.

As we can see, without any traps, proxy is a transparent wrapper around target.

Proxy is a special “exotic object”. It doesn’t have own properties. With an empty handler it transparently forwards operations to target.

To activate more capabilities, let’s add traps.

What can we intercept with them?

For most operations on objects, there’s a so-called “internal method” in the JavaScript specification that describes how it works at the lowest level. For instance [[Get]], the internal method to read a property, [[Set]], the internal method to write a property, and so on. These methods are only used in the specification, we can’t call them directly by name.

Proxy traps intercept invocations of these methods. They are listed in the Proxy specification and in the table below.

For every internal method, there’s a trap in this table: the name of the method that we can add to the handler parameter of new Proxy to intercept the operation:

Let’s see how that works in practical examples.

Default value with “get” trap

The most common traps are for reading/writing properties.

To intercept reading, the handler should have a method get(target, property, receiver).

It triggers when a property is read, with following arguments:

• target – is the target object, the one passed as the first argument to new Proxy,
• property – property name,
• receiver – if the target property is a getter, then receiver is the object that’s going to be used as this in its call. Usually that’s the proxy object itself (or an object that inherits from it, if we inherit from proxy). Right now we don’t need this argument, so it will be explained in more detail later.

Let’s use get to implement default values for an object.

We’ll make a numeric array that returns 0 for nonexistent values.

Usually when one tries to get a non-existing array item, they get undefined, but we’ll wrap a regular array into the proxy that traps reading and returns 0 if there’s no such property:

let numbers = [0, 1, 2];

numbers = new Proxy(numbers, {
  get(target, prop) {
    if (prop in target) {
      return target[prop];
    } else {
      return 0; // default value
    }
  }
});

alert( numbers[1] ); // 1
alert( numbers[123] ); // 0 (no such item)

As we can see, it’s quite easy to do with a get trap.

We can use Proxy to implement any logic for “default” values.

Imagine we have a dictionary, with phrases and their translations:

let dictionary = {
  'Hello': 'Hola',
  'Bye': 'Adiós'
};

alert( dictionary['Hello'] ); // Hola
alert( dictionary['Welcome'] ); // undefined

Right now, if there’s no phrase, reading from dictionary returns undefined. But in practice, leaving a phrase untranslated is usually better than undefined. So let’s make it return an untranslated phrase in that case instead of undefined.

To achieve that, we’ll wrap dictionary in a proxy that intercepts reading operations:

let dictionary = {
  'Hello': 'Hola',
  'Bye': 'Adiós'
};

dictionary = new Proxy(dictionary, {
  get(target, phrase) { // intercept reading a property from dictionary
    if (phrase in target) { // if we have it in the dictionary
      return target[phrase]; // return the translation
    } else {
      // otherwise, return the non-translated phrase
      return phrase;
    }
  }
});

// Look up arbitrary phrases in the dictionary!
// At worst, they're not translated.
alert( dictionary['Hello'] ); // Hola
alert( dictionary['Welcome to Proxy']); // Welcome to Proxy (no translation)

dictionary = new Proxy(dictionary, ...);

Validation with “set” trap

Let’s say we want an array exclusively for numbers. If a value of another type is added, there should be an error.

The set trap triggers when a property is written.

set(target, property, value, receiver):

• target – is the target object, the one passed as the first argument to new Proxy,
• property – property name,
• value – property value,
• receiver – similar to get trap, matters only for setter properties.

The set trap should return true if setting is successful, and false otherwise (triggers TypeError).

Let’s use it to validate new values:

let numbers = [];

numbers = new Proxy(numbers, { // (*)
  set(target, prop, val) { // to intercept property writing
    if (typeof val == 'number') {
      target[prop] = val;
      return true;
    } else {
      return false;
    }
  }
});

numbers.push(1); // added successfully
numbers.push(2); // added successfully
alert("Length is: " + numbers.length); // 2

numbers.push("test"); // TypeError ('set' on proxy returned false)

alert("This line is never reached (error in the line above)");

Please note: the built-in functionality of arrays is still working! Values are added by push. The length property auto-increases when values are added. Our proxy doesn’t break anything.

We don’t have to override value-adding array methods like push and unshift, and so on, to add checks in there, because internally they use the [[Set]] operation that’s intercepted by the proxy.

So the code is clean and concise.

Iteration with “ownKeys” and “getOwnPropertyDescriptor”

Object.keys, for..in loop and most other methods that iterate over object properties use [[OwnPropertyKeys]] internal method (intercepted by ownKeys trap) to get a list of properties.

Such methods differ in details:

• Object.getOwnPropertyNames(obj) returns non-symbol keys.
• Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(obj) returns symbol keys.
• Object.keys/values() returns non-symbol keys/values with enumerable flag (property flags were explained in the article Property flags and descriptors).
• for..in loops over non-symbol keys with enumerable flag, and also prototype keys.

…But all of them start with that list.

In the example below we use ownKeys trap to make for..in loop over user, and also Object.keys and Object.values, to skip properties starting with an underscore _:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  age: 30,
  _password: "***"
};

user = new Proxy(user, {
  ownKeys(target) {
    return Object.keys(target).filter(key => !key.startsWith('_'));
  }
});

// "ownKeys" filters out _password
for(let key in user) alert(key); // name, then: age

// same effect on these methods:
alert( Object.keys(user) ); // name,age
alert( Object.values(user) ); // John,30

So far, it works.

Although, if we return a key that doesn’t exist in the object, Object.keys won’t list it:

let user = { };

user = new Proxy(user, {
  ownKeys(target) {
    return ['a', 'b', 'c'];
  }
});

alert( Object.keys(user) ); // <empty>

Why? The reason is simple: Object.keys returns only properties with the enumerable flag. To check for it, it calls the internal method [[GetOwnProperty]] for every property to get its descriptor. And here, as there’s no property, its descriptor is empty, no enumerable flag, so it’s skipped.

For Object.keys to return a property, we need it to either exist in the object, with the enumerable flag, or we can intercept calls to [[GetOwnProperty]] (the trap getOwnPropertyDescriptor does it), and return a descriptor with enumerable: true.

Here’s an example of that:

let user = { };

user = new Proxy(user, {
  ownKeys(target) { // called once to get a list of properties
    return ['a', 'b', 'c'];
  },

  getOwnPropertyDescriptor(target, prop) { // called for every property
    return {
      enumerable: true,
      configurable: true
      /* ...other flags, probable "value:..." */
    };
  }

});

alert( Object.keys(user) ); // a, b, c

Let’s note once again: we only need to intercept [[GetOwnProperty]] if the property is absent in the object.

Protected properties with “deleteProperty” and other traps

There’s a widespread convention that properties and methods prefixed by an underscore _ are internal. They shouldn’t be accessed from outside the object.

Technically that’s possible though:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  _password: "secret"
};

alert(user._password); // secret

Let’s use proxies to prevent any access to properties starting with _.

We’ll need the traps:

• get to throw an error when reading such property,
• set to throw an error when writing,
• deleteProperty to throw an error when deleting,
• ownKeys to exclude properties starting with _ from for..in and methods like Object.keys.

Here’s the code:

let user = {
  name: "John",
  _password: "***"
};

user = new Proxy(user, {
  get(target, prop) {
    if (prop.startsWith('_')) {
      throw new Error("Access denied");
    }
    let value = target[prop];
    return (typeof value === 'function') ? value.bind(target) : value; // (*)
  },
  set(target, prop, val) { // to intercept property writing
    if (prop.startsWith('_')) {
      throw new Error("Access denied");
    } else {
      target[prop] = val;
      return true;
    }
  },
  deleteProperty(target, prop) { // to intercept property deletion
    if (prop.startsWith('_')) {
      throw new Error("Access denied");
    } else {
      delete target[prop];
      return true;
    }
  },
  ownKeys(target) { // to intercept property list
    return Object.keys(target).filter(key => !key.startsWith('_'));
  }
});

// "get" doesn't allow to read _password
try {
  alert(user._password); // Error: Access denied
} catch(e) { alert(e.message); }

// "set" doesn't allow to write _password
try {
  user._password = "test"; // Error: Access denied
} catch(e) { alert(e.message); }

// "deleteProperty" doesn't allow to delete _password
try {
  delete user._password; // Error: Access denied
} catch(e) { alert(e.message); }

// "ownKeys" filters out _password
for(let key in user) alert(key); // name

Please note the important detail in the get trap, in the line (*):

get(target, prop) {
  // ...
  let value = target[prop];
  return (typeof value === 'function') ? value.bind(target) : value; // (*)
}

Why do we need a function to call value.bind(target)?

The reason is that object methods, such as user.checkPassword(), must be able to access _password:

user = {
  // ...
  checkPassword(value) {
    // object method must be able to read _password
    return value === this._password;
  }
}

A call to user.checkPassword() gets proxied user as this (the object before dot becomes this), so when it tries to access this._password, the get trap activates (it triggers on any property read) and throws an error.

So we bind the context of object methods to the original object, target, in the line (*). Then their future calls will use target as this, without any traps.

That solution usually works, but isn’t ideal, as a method may pass the unproxied object somewhere else, and then we’ll get messed up: where’s the original object, and where’s the proxied one?

Besides, an object may be proxied multiple times (multiple proxies may add different “tweaks” to the object), and if we pass an unwrapped object to a method, there may be unexpected consequences.

So, such a proxy shouldn’t be used everywhere.

“In range” with “has” trap

Let’s see more examples.

We have a range object:

let range = {
  start: 1,
  end: 10
};

We’d like to use the in operator to check that a number is in range.

The has trap intercepts in calls.

has(target, property)

• target – is the target object, passed as the first argument to new Proxy,
• property – property name

Here’s the demo:

let range = {
  start: 1,
  end: 10
};

range = new Proxy(range, {
  has(target, prop) {
    return prop >= target.start && prop <= target.end;
  }
});

alert(5 in range); // true
alert(50 in range); // false

Nice syntactic sugar, isn’t it? And very simple to implement.

Wrapping functions: "apply"

We can wrap a proxy around a function as well.

The apply(target, thisArg, args) trap handles calling a proxy as function:

• target is the target object (function is an object in JavaScript),
• thisArg is the value of this.
• args is a list of arguments.

For example, let’s recall delay(f, ms) decorator, that we did in the article Decorators and forwarding, call/apply.

In that article we did it without proxies. A call to delay(f, ms) returned a function that forwards all calls to f after ms milliseconds.

Here’s the previous, function-based implementation:

function delay(f, ms) {
  // return a wrapper that passes the call to f after the timeout
  return function() { // (*)
    setTimeout(() => f.apply(this, arguments), ms);
  };
}

function sayHi(user) {
  alert(`Hello, ${user}!`);
}

// after this wrapping, calls to sayHi will be delayed for 3 seconds
sayHi = delay(sayHi, 3000);

sayHi("John"); // Hello, John! (after 3 seconds)

As we’ve seen already, that mostly works. The wrapper function (*) performs the call after the timeout.

But a wrapper function does not forward property read/write operations or anything else. After the wrapping, the access is lost to properties of the original functions, such as name, length and others:

function delay(f, ms) {
  return function() {
    setTimeout(() => f.apply(this, arguments), ms);
  };
}

function sayHi(user) {
  alert(`Hello, ${user}!`);
}

alert(sayHi.length); // 1 (function length is the arguments count in its declaration)

sayHi = delay(sayHi, 3000);

alert(sayHi.length); // 0 (in the wrapper declaration, there are zero arguments)

Proxy is much more powerful, as it forwards everything to the target object.

Let’s use Proxy instead of a wrapping function:

function delay(f, ms) {
  return new Proxy(f, {
    apply(target, thisArg, args) {
      setTimeout(() => target.apply(thisArg, args), ms);
    }
  });
}

function sayHi(user) {
  alert(`Hello, ${user}!`);
}

sayHi = delay(sayHi, 3000);

alert(sayHi.length); // 1 (*) proxy forwards "get length" operation to the target

sayHi("John"); // Hello, John! (after 3 seconds)

The result is the same, but now not only calls, but all operations on the proxy are forwarded to the original function. So sayHi.length is returned correctly after the wrapping in the line (*).

We’ve got a “richer” wrapper.

Other traps exist: the full list is in the beginning of this article. Their usage pattern is similar to the above.

Reflect

Reflect is a built-in object that simplifies creation of Proxy.

It was said previously that internal methods, such as [[Get]], [[Set]] and others are specification-only, they can’t be called directly.

The Reflect object makes that somewhat possible. Its methods are minimal wrappers around the internal methods.

Here are examples of operations and Reflect calls that do the same:

For example:

let user = {};

Reflect.set(user, 'name', 'John');

alert(user.name); // John

In particular, Reflect allows us to call operators (new, delete…) as functions (Reflect.construct, Reflect.deleteProperty, …). That’s an interesting capability, but here another thing is important.

For every internal method, trappable by Proxy, there’s a corresponding method in Reflect, with the same name and arguments as the Proxy trap.

So we can use Reflect to forward an operation to the original object.

In this example, both traps get and set transparently (as if they didn’t exist) forward reading/writing operations to the object, showing a message:

let user = {
  name: "John",
};

user = new Proxy(user, {
  get(target, prop, receiver) {
    alert(`GET ${prop}`);
    return Reflect.get(target, prop, receiver); // (1)
  },
  set(target, prop, val, receiver) {
    alert(`SET ${prop}=${val}`);
    return Reflect.set(target, prop, val, receiver); // (2)
  }
});

let name = user.name; // shows "GET name"
user.name = "Pete"; // shows "SET name=Pete"

Here:

• Reflect.get reads an object property.
• Reflect.set writes an object property and returns true if successful, false otherwise.

That is, everything’s simple: if a trap wants to forward the call to the object, it’s enough to call Reflect.<method> with the same arguments.

In most cases we can do the same without Reflect, for instance, reading a property Reflect.get(target, prop, receiver) can be replaced by target[prop]. There are important nuances though.

Proxying a getter

Let’s see an example that demonstrates why Reflect.get is better. And we’ll also see why get/set have the third argument receiver, that we didn’t use before.

We have an object user with _name property and a getter for it.

Here’s a proxy around it:

let user = {
  _name: "Guest",
  get name() {
    return this._name;
  }
};

let userProxy = new Proxy(user, {
  get(target, prop, receiver) {
    return target[prop];
  }
});

alert(userProxy.name); // Guest

The get trap is “transparent” here, it returns the original property, and doesn’t do anything else. That’s enough for our example.

Everything seems to be all right. But let’s make the example a little bit more complex.

After inheriting another object admin from user, we can observe the incorrect behavior:

let user = {
  _name: "Guest",
  get name() {
    return this._name;
  }
};

let userProxy = new Proxy(user, {
  get(target, prop, receiver) {
    return target[prop]; // (*) target = user
  }
});

let admin = {
  __proto__: userProxy,
  _name: "Admin"
};

// Expected: Admin
alert(admin.name); // outputs: Guest (?!?)

Reading admin.name should return "Admin", not "Guest"!

What’s the matter? Maybe we did something wrong with the inheritance?

But if we remove the proxy, then everything will work as expected.

The problem is actually in the proxy, in the line (*).

1. When we read admin.name, as admin object doesn’t have such own property, the search goes to its prototype.

2. The prototype is userProxy.

3. When reading name property from the proxy, its get trap triggers and returns it from the original object as target[prop] in the line (*).

   A call to target[prop], when prop is a getter, runs its code in the context this=target. So the result is this._name from the original object target, that is: from user.

To fix such situations, we need receiver, the third argument of get trap. It keeps the correct this to be passed to a getter. In our case that’s admin.

How to pass the context for a getter? For a regular function we could use call/apply, but that’s a getter, it’s not “called”, just accessed.

Reflect.get can do that. Everything will work right if we use it.

Here’s the corrected variant:

let user = {
  _name: "Guest",
  get name() {
    return this._name;
  }
};

let userProxy = new Proxy(user, {
  get(target, prop, receiver) { // receiver = admin
    return Reflect.get(target, prop, receiver); // (*)
  }
});


let admin = {
  __proto__: userProxy,
  _name: "Admin"
};

alert(admin.name); // Admin

Now receiver that keeps a reference to the correct this (that is admin), is passed to the getter using Reflect.get in the line (*).

We can rewrite the trap even shorter:

get(target, prop, receiver) {
  return Reflect.get(...arguments);
}

Reflect calls are named exactly the same way as traps and accept the same arguments. They were specifically designed this way.

So, return Reflect... provides a safe no-brainer to forward the operation and make sure we don’t forget anything related to that.

Proxy limitations

Proxies provide a unique way to alter or tweak the behavior of the existing objects at the lowest level. Still, it’s not perfect. There are limitations.

Built-in objects: Internal slots

Many built-in objects, for example Map, Set, Date, Promise and others make use of so-called “internal slots”.

These are like properties, but reserved for internal, specification-only purposes. For instance, Map stores items in the internal slot [[MapData]]. Built-in methods access them directly, not via [[Get]]/[[Set]] internal methods. So Proxy can’t intercept that.

Why care? They’re internal anyway!

Well, here’s the issue. After a built-in object like that gets proxied, the proxy doesn’t have these internal slots, so built-in methods will fail.

For example:

let map = new Map();

let proxy = new Proxy(map, {});

proxy.set('test', 1); // Error

Internally, a Map stores all data in its [[MapData]] internal slot. The proxy doesn’t have such a slot. The built-in method Map.prototype.set method tries to access the internal property this.[[MapData]], but because this=proxy, can’t find it in proxy and just fails.

Fortunately, there’s a way to fix it:

let map = new Map();

let proxy = new Proxy(map, {
  get(target, prop, receiver) {
    let value = Reflect.get(...arguments);
    return typeof value == 'function' ? value.bind(target) : value;
  }
});

proxy.set('test', 1);
alert(proxy.get('test')); // 1 (works!)

Now it works fine, because get trap binds function properties, such as map.set, to the target object (map) itself.

Unlike the previous example, the value of this inside proxy.set(...) will be not proxy, but the original map. So when the internal implementation of set tries to access this.[[MapData]] internal slot, it succeeds.

Private fields

A similar thing happens with private class fields.

For example, getName() method accesses the private #name property and breaks after proxying:

class User {
  #name = "Guest";

  getName() {
    return this.#name;
  }
}

let user = new User();

user = new Proxy(user, {});

alert(user.getName()); // Error

The reason is that private fields are implemented using internal slots. JavaScript does not use [[Get]]/[[Set]] when accessing them.

In the call getName() the value of this is the proxied user, and it doesn’t have the slot with private fields.

Once again, the solution with binding the method makes it work:

class User {
  #name = "Guest";

  getName() {
    return this.#name;
  }
}

let user = new User();

user = new Proxy(user, {
  get(target, prop, receiver) {
    let value = Reflect.get(...arguments);
    return typeof value == 'function' ? value.bind(target) : value;
  }
});

alert(user.getName()); // Guest

That said, the solution has drawbacks, as explained previously: it exposes the original object to the method, potentially allowing it to be passed further and breaking other proxied functionality.

Proxy != target

The proxy and the original object are different objects. That’s natural, right?

So if we use the original object as a key, and then proxy it, then the proxy can’t be found:

let allUsers = new Set();

class User {
  constructor(name) {
    this.name = name;
    allUsers.add(this);
  }
}

let user = new User("John");

alert(allUsers.has(user)); // true

user = new Proxy(user, {});

alert(allUsers.has(user)); // false

As we can see, after proxying we can’t find user in the set allUsers, because the proxy is a different object.

Revocable proxies

A revocable proxy is a proxy that can be disabled.

Let’s say we have a resource, and would like to close access to it any moment.

What we can do is to wrap it into a revocable proxy, without any traps. Such a proxy will forward operations to object, and we can disable it at any moment.

The syntax is:

let {proxy, revoke} = Proxy.revocable(target, handler)

The call returns an object with the proxy and revoke function to disable it.

Here’s an example:

let object = {
  data: "Valuable data"
};

let {proxy, revoke} = Proxy.revocable(object, {});

// pass the proxy somewhere instead of object...
alert(proxy.data); // Valuable data

// later in our code
revoke();

// the proxy isn't working any more (revoked)
alert(proxy.data); // Error

A call to revoke() removes all internal references to the target object from the proxy, so they are no longer connected.

Initially, revoke is separate from proxy, so that we can pass proxy around while leaving revoke in the current scope.

We can also bind revoke method to proxy by setting proxy.revoke = revoke.

Another option is to create a WeakMap that has proxy as the key and the corresponding revoke as the value, that allows to easily find revoke for a proxy:

let revokes = new WeakMap();

let object = {
  data: "Valuable data"
};

let {proxy, revoke} = Proxy.revocable(object, {});

revokes.set(proxy, revoke);

// ..somewhere else in our code..
revoke = revokes.get(proxy);
revoke();

alert(proxy.data); // Error (revoked)

We use WeakMap instead of Map here because it won’t block garbage collection. If a proxy object becomes “unreachable” (e.g. no variable references it any more), WeakMap allows it to be wiped from memory together with its revoke that we won’t need any more.

References

• Specification: Proxy.
• MDN: Proxy.

Summary

Proxy is a wrapper around an object, that forwards operations on it to the object, optionally trapping some of them.

It can wrap any kind of object, including classes and functions.

The syntax is:

let proxy = new Proxy(target, {
  /* traps */
});

…Then we should use proxy everywhere instead of target. A proxy doesn’t have its own properties or methods. It traps an operation if the trap is provided, otherwise forwards it to target object.

We can trap:

• Reading (get), writing (set), deleting (deleteProperty) a property (even a non-existing one).
• Calling a function (apply trap).
• The new operator (construct trap).
• Many other operations (the full list is at the beginning of the article and in the docs).

That allows us to create “virtual” properties and methods, implement default values, observable objects, function decorators and so much more.

We can also wrap an object multiple times in different proxies, decorating it with various aspects of functionality.

The Reflect API is designed to complement Proxy. For any Proxy trap, there’s a Reflect call with same arguments. We should use those to forward calls to target objects.

Proxies have some limitations:

• Built-in objects have “internal slots”, access to those can’t be proxied. See the workaround above.
• The same holds true for private class fields, as they are internally implemented using slots. So proxied method calls must have the target object as this to access them.
• Object equality tests === can’t be intercepted.
• Performance: benchmarks depend on an engine, but generally accessing a property using a simplest proxy takes a few times longer. In practice that only matters for some “bottleneck” objects though.