vega-force

This is a focused computational library that implements force-directed graph layouts for the Vega visualization ecosystem. From a security standpoint, it's refreshingly low-risk: it's purely a mathematical transformation engine with no network calls, file system access, or user authentication concerns. The API is deterministic and type-safe when used correctly.

The main security consideration is input validation. The library expects well-formed numeric data and will throw runtime errors on malformed inputs, but these errors don't expose sensitive information—they're straightforward TypeError or NaN propagation issues. You'll want to sanitize upstream data before feeding it to the force simulation, particularly when dealing with user-supplied graph structures. The dependency tree is relatively shallow, mostly other Vega packages, which reduces supply chain exposure.

In practice, it's stable and predictable. The BSD-3-Clause license is permissive and well-understood. Updates are infrequent but that reflects API stability rather than abandonment. For visualization pipelines, it does exactly what it promises without surprises.

vega-force is a specialized package for force-directed graph layouts within the Vega dataflow system. If you're building visualizations with Vega or Vega-Lite, it integrates seamlessly and provides solid force simulation capabilities. However, it's not a standalone library you'd reach for in typical React or Vue projects.

The API surface is minimal and functional, but documentation assumes deep familiarity with Vega's transform architecture. There's no dedicated documentation site—you'll be reading source code or referring to Vega's broader docs. TypeScript definitions exist but are basic, offering limited guidance on parameter shapes and transform configurations. Error messages tend to be cryptic when configurations are malformed, often failing silently or throwing generic dataflow errors.

For teams already invested in Vega's ecosystem, this does what it needs to. For everyone else, d3-force provides better DX, documentation, and flexibility. The getting-started experience is rough unless you're already comfortable with Vega's transform paradigm.

vega-force provides D3's force simulation wrapped as a Vega dataflow transform, which is great for building force-directed graphs within the Vega ecosystem. The API is reasonably clean once you understand the Vega dataflow model, but getting there requires deep familiarity with both D3-force and Vega's transform pipeline.

Performance is the elephant in the room. With datasets over a few hundred nodes, you'll see noticeable frame drops and UI blocking since simulations run synchronously on the main thread. There's no built-in web worker support or streaming results. Memory usage scales predictably but can spike during layout recalculations. The simulation doesn't expose granular observability hooks, making it hard to instrument when things slow down under load.

Timeout and iteration controls exist but require manual tuning per dataset. The transform doesn't fail gracefully with malformed data - expect cryptic errors deep in the stack. Configuration is flexible but verbose, and breaking changes between major versions have required non-trivial migration work in our dashboards.