Panel Raw Messages Skill

Message-inspection panels that display structured message data as expandable trees. There are two implementations sharing one logic/diff core.

Two Implementations

Both registered in packages/suite-base/src/panels/index.ts:

• panelType: "RawMessages" — legacy (react-json-tree <Tree>, full DOM render of expanded nodes)
• panelType: "RawMessagesVirtual" — performant (@tanstack/react-virtual windowed rendering)

Shared code lives in panels/RawMessagesCommon/:

• types.ts (TreeNode, NodeState, configs, props)
• constants.ts (PATH_NAME_AGGREGATOR, CUSTOM_METHOD, PREV_MSG_METHOD)
• useSharedRawMessagesLogic.ts (topic resolution, expansion state)
• useRenderers.ts, getDiff.ts, Value.tsx, getValueActionForValue.ts, utils.ts, …

VirtualizedTree (Performant Path)

const virtualizer = useVirtualizer({
  count: flatData.length,
  getScrollElement,
  estimateSize: () => fontSize ?? DEFAULT_FONT_SIZE,  // 12px
  overscan: SCROLLL_OVERSCAN,                          // 5
  measureElement: (el) => el.getBoundingClientRect().height,
  useAnimationFrameWithResizeObserver: true,
});

Key constants: ROW_HEIGHT 24px, TREE_NODE_INDENTATION 16px/level, DEFAULT_FONT_SIZE 12px, SCROLLL_OVERSCAN 5.

flattenTreeData

Converts a nested object → flat TreeNode[] for virtualization:

function flattenTreeData(
  data: unknown,
  expandedNodes: Set<string>,
  parentPath?: string,
  depth?: number,
  keyPath?: (string | number)[],
): TreeNode[]

• Skips null, non-objects, and ArrayBuffer.isView values (typed arrays like point-cloud buffers)
• Only recurses into children of expanded nodes
• Path keys joined with PATH_NAME_AGGREGATOR in reverse order (child~|~parent)

type TreeNode = {
  key: string;           // unique path string, e.g. "x~|~position~|~pose"
  label: string;         // display name, e.g. "x"
  value: unknown;
  depth: number;         // nesting level for indentation
  isExpandable: boolean;
  keyPath: (string | number)[];
  parentPath: string;
};

Expansion State

• useSharedRawMessagesLogic manages expansion: "all" | "none" | Record<string, NodeState>
• RawMessagesVirtual converts it to Set<string> via useMemo
  • "all" → all possible paths (recursive generateDeepKeyPaths)
  • "none" → empty set
  • object mode → keys where state === NodeState.Expanded
• toggleExpansion() flips a node Expanded ↔ Collapsed

Diff Mode

• Shared via getDiff() — compares baseItem (current topic) vs diffItem (another topic or the previous message)
• CUSTOM_METHOD diffs against a different topic path; PREV_MSG_METHOD against the prior message

Key Files

• packages/suite-base/src/panels/RawMessages/
• packages/suite-base/src/panels/RawMessagesVirtual/
• packages/suite-base/src/panels/RawMessagesCommon/

Skills Reference

• For message-path value actions: load message-path skill