Complete and document examples

[SandroMaglione]

Summary

• finish the turnstile, traffic-light, microwave, and worker/tab playground examples
• align all shipped examples with state-builder .from(...) construction
• add focused behavioral coverage and rewrite the README as a concise usage guide
• add a patch changeset for the documentation and example improvements

Changeset

• Added or updated for a library or package-metadata change
• Not required because this PR does not change src/ or package.json

Validation

• pnpm check
• Relevant example checks, when examples changed
• Reviewed the automated type-performance report, when the public TypeScript API or inference changed — not applicable; no public API or inference change
• Reviewed the automated runtime-performance report, when runtime behavior changed — not applicable; no library runtime change

Additional verification:

• playground: 8 tests plus typecheck and production build
• platformer: 4 tests plus typecheck and production build
• Pokémon: typecheck and production build
• browser smoke test: transitions, timers, microwave safety, worker execution, two-tab synchronization, and the 390px breakpoint

[github-actions]

Type performance

Measured with TypeScript 6.0.3 and skipLibCheck=true.

Scenario	Base	PR	Difference
Effect only	55	55	0 (0.0%)
Import effect-machine	55	55	0 (0.0%)
Machine.defineStates (3 states)	2,965	2,965	0 (0.0%)
Machine.make (3 states, 2 events)	8,715	8,715	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (3 states, 2 transitions)	23,492	23,492	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (depth 8)	117,075	117,075	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (depth 12)	129,713	129,713	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (depth 16)	145,055	145,055	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (depth 24)	183,851	183,851	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (wide depth 16)	214,189	214,189	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (parallel/history/choice)	132,667	132,667	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (4 successive calls)	128,674	128,674	0 (0.0%)
machine exact input/output/error/services	110,584	110,584	0 (0.0%)
execution adapter readiness	127,854	127,854	0 (0.0%)

Marginal instantiations are measured against the matching setup without that API call:

Scenario	Base	PR	Difference
Import effect-machine	0	0	0
Machine.defineStates (3 states)	2,910	2,910	0 (0.0%)
Machine.make (3 states, 2 events)	5,742	5,742	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (3 states, 2 transitions)	14,777	14,777	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (depth 8)	109,601	109,601	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (depth 12)	121,039	121,039	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (depth 16)	135,181	135,181	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (depth 24)	171,577	171,577	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (wide depth 16)	202,224	202,224	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (parallel/history/choice)	114,331	114,331	0 (0.0%)
machine.handle (4 successive calls)	113,703	113,703	0 (0.0%)
machine exact input/output/error/services	100,670	100,670	0 (0.0%)
execution adapter readiness	102,092	102,092	0 (0.0%)

Check times (informational)

Scenario	Base	PR
Effect only	0.04s	0.04s
Import effect-machine	0.04s	0.03s
Machine.defineStates (3 states)	0.10s	0.11s
Machine.make (3 states, 2 events)	0.16s	0.16s
machine.handle (3 states, 2 transitions)	0.23s	0.26s
machine.handle (depth 8)	0.54s	0.55s
machine.handle (depth 12)	0.57s	0.58s
machine.handle (depth 16)	0.63s	0.61s
machine.handle (depth 24)	0.74s	0.71s
machine.handle (wide depth 16)	0.76s	0.78s
machine.handle (parallel/history/choice)	0.64s	0.65s
machine.handle (4 successive calls)	0.62s	0.60s
machine exact input/output/error/services	0.51s	0.52s
execution adapter readiness	0.59s	0.60s

Type instantiations are the comparison metric. Check time varies with runner load and is informational only.

[github-actions]

Runtime performance

Median of 5 independent benchmark processes on AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor with Node v24.18.0.

Pull request baseline

Scenario	Effect Machine	XState 5	XState 6 alpha
Plan counter transitions	132,824 transitions/s	131,688 transitions/s	13,079 transitions/s
Drain burst with terminal fence	487,310 increments/s	392,322 increments/s	193,138 increments/s
Drain burst with a change observer	456,150 increments/s	387,273 increments/s	193,047 increments/s
Lookup and send to one child	399,604 increments/s	384,978 increments/s	183,520 increments/s
Start and stop a machine	172,087 machines/s	182,815 machines/s	140,588 machines/s
Start and stop a parent with one child	35,319 families/s	68,367 families/s	40,182 families/s
Plan transitions through a compound state	120,412 transitions/s	—	—
Plan transitions through parallel regions	90,711 transitions/s	—	—
Drain burst through a compound state	491,902 events/s	343,151 events/s	191,716 events/s
Drain burst through two parallel regions	450,135 events/s	260,032 events/s	143,464 events/s
Drain a compound-state burst with a change observer	449,729 events/s	—	—

Effect runtime reference points

Scenario	Effect Machine	Effect runtime primitives
Start and stop a raw generic process	17,045 processes/s	—
Start and stop a raw compiled process	67,852 processes/s	—
Start and interrupt a suspended fiber	—	164,447 fibers/s
Start and stop a queue worker	—	115,128 workers/s
Start and stop an actor shell	—	106,406 actors/s
Start and stop two actor shells	—	65,621 families/s
Update an owner-only mutable snapshot	—	316,856,781 updates/s
Update a synchronized snapshot	—	1,522,956 updates/s
Create, resolve, and await a terminal latch	—	1,385,713 latches/s

Memory profile	Effect Machine	XState 5	XState 6 alpha	Effect runtime primitives
Idle machine	1.5 KiB	3.8 KiB	2.2 KiB	—
Raw generic managed process	12.7 KiB	—	—	—
Raw compiled process	2.8 KiB	—	—	—
Two independent idle machines	3.0 KiB	7.3 KiB	3.9 KiB	—
Idle parent with one child	4.8 KiB	5.5 KiB	4.0 KiB	—
Parent with observed child registry	9.0 KiB	—	—	—
Parent with observed invoked child snapshots	5.0 KiB	—	—	—
Suspended Effect fiber	—	—	—	0.6 KiB
Effect queue with waiting fiber	—	—	—	2.8 KiB
Effect mailbox actor shell	—	—	—	3.2 KiB
Two Effect actor shells	—	—	—	6.8 KiB

Effect Machine change from base

Metric	Base	Base variability	PR	PR variability	Difference
Plan counter transitions	131,919 transitions/s	1.7% MAD	132,824 transitions/s	1.8% MAD	+0.7%
Drain burst with terminal fence	512,061 increments/s	0.5% MAD	487,310 increments/s	1.4% MAD	-4.8%
Drain burst with a change observer	469,902 increments/s	1.0% MAD	456,150 increments/s	1.7% MAD	-2.9%
Lookup and send to one child	400,437 increments/s	1.4% MAD	399,604 increments/s	2.6% MAD	-0.2%
Start and stop a machine	168,039 machines/s	0.8% MAD	172,087 machines/s	3.2% MAD	+2.4%
Start and stop a parent with one child	32,822 families/s	2.5% MAD	35,319 families/s	7.6% MAD	+7.6%
Plan transitions through a compound state	119,411 transitions/s	1.1% MAD	120,412 transitions/s	0.6% MAD	+0.8%
Plan transitions through parallel regions	90,600 transitions/s	1.4% MAD	90,711 transitions/s	0.1% MAD	+0.1%
Drain burst through a compound state	495,921 events/s	1.0% MAD	491,902 events/s	1.4% MAD	-0.8%
Drain burst through two parallel regions	458,354 events/s	0.7% MAD	450,135 events/s	1.1% MAD	-1.8%
Drain a compound-state burst with a change observer	454,670 events/s	0.7% MAD	449,729 events/s	2.0% MAD	-1.1%
Idle machine heap per unit	1.5 KiB	0.1% MAD	1.5 KiB	0.1% MAD	-0.1%
Raw generic managed process heap per unit	12.7 KiB	0.0% MAD	12.7 KiB	0.0% MAD	-0.0%
Raw compiled process heap per unit	2.8 KiB	0.0% MAD	2.8 KiB	0.1% MAD	+0.4%
Two independent idle machines heap per unit	3.0 KiB	0.0% MAD	3.0 KiB	0.0% MAD	+0.0%
Idle parent with one child heap per unit	4.8 KiB	0.0% MAD	4.8 KiB	0.0% MAD	-0.0%
Parent with observed child registry heap per unit	9.0 KiB	0.0% MAD	9.0 KiB	0.0% MAD	+0.0%
Parent with observed invoked child snapshots heap per unit	5.0 KiB	0.0% MAD	5.0 KiB	0.0% MAD	0.0%

Effect runtime reference change from base

Metric	Base	Base variability	PR	PR variability	Difference
Start and stop a raw generic process	16,616 processes/s	0.8% MAD	17,045 processes/s	1.3% MAD	+2.6%
Start and stop a raw compiled process	67,714 processes/s	1.0% MAD	67,852 processes/s	0.7% MAD	+0.2%
Start and interrupt a suspended fiber	164,989 fibers/s	0.2% MAD	164,447 fibers/s	0.3% MAD	-0.3%
Start and stop a queue worker	117,014 workers/s	0.2% MAD	115,128 workers/s	0.8% MAD	-1.6%
Start and stop an actor shell	107,216 actors/s	0.6% MAD	106,406 actors/s	0.3% MAD	-0.8%
Start and stop two actor shells	65,407 families/s	2.4% MAD	65,621 families/s	0.8% MAD	+0.3%
Update an owner-only mutable snapshot	316,856,781 updates/s	0.0% MAD	316,856,781 updates/s	0.0% MAD	0.0%
Update a synchronized snapshot	1,549,672 updates/s	1.0% MAD	1,522,956 updates/s	1.1% MAD	-1.7%
Create, resolve, and await a terminal latch	1,393,043 latches/s	3.3% MAD	1,385,713 latches/s	1.6% MAD	-0.5%

Versions and interpretation

• Effect Machine: 0.5.0
• XState 5: 5.32.5
• XState 6 alpha: 6.0.0-alpha.31
• Effect runtime primitives: 4.0.0-beta.107

Higher throughput is better; lower heap is better. Variability is the median absolute deviation across independent processes, relative to their median. Runtime measurements on shared GitHub-hosted hardware remain informational, so small differences should be confirmed across multiple workflow runs.