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+# ADR 0017: Parent–Child Communication = Callback Props + Scoped Cells
+
+Date: 2026-06-21
+
+Status: Accepted
+
+## Context
+
+Parent↔child communication in components has **three overlapping mechanisms**:
+
+- `emits { ... }` + `emit name(...)` in the child, observed by the parent with
+  `g:on:<event>` — discrete events.
+- `exports { ... }` in the child, observed by the parent with `g:on:exports` —
+  continuous state observation.
+- `g:bind:<ExportedState>={ParentField}` — two-way binding (already a
+  desugaring: reactive prop down + the child's `exports` event up).
+
+All three already lower to the **same wire**: a `data-gowdk-parent-on-<event>`
+attribute whose expression the parent runs when the child dispatches a bubbling
+`CustomEvent` (see `internal/viewrender/component.go` and
+`internal/clientrt/assets/island.js`). So the divergence is in the *authoring
+surface*, not the transport: three concepts for two underlying needs.
+
+That is a learnability tax and more surface than ADR 0008's "explicit, minimal"
+principle wants. The ecosystem precedent is clear: Svelte 5 collapsed events into
+callback props; Vue 3 removed its event bus. GOWDK already rejected an event bus
+(#514, closed).
+
+This ADR is part of the interactivity-unification epic (#520) and decides the
+parent–child axis of it.
+
+## Decision
+
+Split parent–child communication by the **principled axis: action vs state**, two
+mechanisms instead of three.
+
+### Actions (discrete) → callback props
+
+A callback prop is an `on<Event>` prop whose value is a parent expression. The
+child declares it as part of its prop/emit contract and "calls" it; the parent
+passes behavior:
+
+```gwdk
+<TodoItem onDone={Count++} />
+```
+
+This replaces both `emit` + `g:on:<event>` and exports-used-as-events.
+
+**Lowering (implementation honesty).** A callback prop compiles to the *existing*
+`data-gowdk-parent-on-<event>` transport — the same bubbling-`CustomEvent` wire
+`emit`/`exports`/`g:bind` use today. The child invoking a callback prop compiles
+to the same dispatch `emit` compiles to now. We are unifying the **authoring
+surface**, not inventing a new wire and not promising "just pass a function"
+across the island boundary. The compiler validates the callback-prop name against
+the child's declared callback contract and type-checks the parent expression in
+the parent's client scope, exactly as `g:on:<event>` is validated today.
+
+### Shared / observed state (continuous) → a writable scoped cell
+
+Continuous state sharing and two-way binding use a **writable scoped cell** — a
+reactive state with an explicit scope axis (`state @island|@page|@app`, ADR
+direction #517). `bind:` is sugar over passing the cell as a value prop plus a
+callback prop that writes it back:
+
+```gwdk
+<SearchBox bind:value={@page Query} />
+// sugar over: value={@page Query} + onValueChange={@page Query = event.value}
+```
+
+This replaces store-sharing, `exports`-observation, and `g:bind`'s ad-hoc
+two-way path with one model: **state lives in a scoped cell; sharing is reading
+that cell; two-way is reading it plus a write-back callback.** It depends on #517
+landing the scoped-cell primitive.
+
+### Surface details this ADR reserves
+
+Two grammar/encoding details the implementing change must honor, surfaced in
+review:
+
+- **Callback event names are lower-cased on the wire.** HTML attribute names are
+  lower-cased by the DOM, while `CustomEvent` names are case-sensitive, and the
+  runtime derives the event to listen for by slicing the
+  `data-gowdk-parent-on-<event>` attribute. So a callback prop `onDone` maps to
+  the parent-on attribute `data-gowdk-parent-on-done` and the child dispatches the
+  lower-cased event `done` (the canonical encoding is: drop the `on` prefix,
+  lower-case the remainder). Authoring is `onCamelCase`; the wire/event is the
+  lower-cased name. The compiler validates the child declares the matching
+  callback so the parent listener and child dispatch cannot drift.
+- **`bind:` is a reserved directive prefix.** Non-`g:` attributes that contain a
+  colon are currently parsed as `target:source` component prop renames, so
+  `bind:value={…}` would otherwise be read as a prop named `bind` sourced from
+  `value`. This ADR reserves `bind:*` as a binding directive that is matched
+  *before* the prop-rename rule; `bind` is not usable as a rename target. (If a
+  future need for a literal `bind` prop arises, it uses the rename's escape form,
+  not the bare `bind:`.)
+
+### Net model
+
+**Events are callbacks, state is scoped cells.** Two principled mechanisms
+replace three fuzzy ones, with no new transport and no event bus.
+
+### Migration
+
+`emit`/`emits`, `exports`, and `g:on:exports`, and `g:bind:` are deprecated. In
+0.x, breaking is acceptable: each deprecated form gets a diagnostic that names
+the new form (callback prop, or `bind:`/scoped cell), in the same "no silent
+alias, precise migration nudge" style used for the v0.6.0 lane rename. Migration
+notes ship with the implementing change.
+
+This stays consistent with #384: the parent expression and the child callback use
+the one bounded-client IR/evaluator; nothing here adds a second semantics.
+
+## Consequences
+
+### Positive
+
+- Three concepts → two, along a principled action/state axis: less to learn,
+  smaller compiler surface (ADR 0008).
+- No wire change: callback props reuse the proven `data-gowdk-parent-on-*`
+  transport, so the risk is in parsing/validation, not the runtime.
+- `bind:` becomes a transparent two-line desugaring instead of a bespoke
+  two-way path, which is easier to explain and to type-check.
+- Aligns with current framework consensus (callback props; no event bus).
+
+### Negative
+
+- A breaking surface change: existing `emit`/`exports`/`g:bind` sources must
+  migrate. Mitigated by precise migration diagnostics and 0.x status.
+- The state half is blocked on #517 (scoped cells); until then only the
+  callback-prop (action) half is implementable.
+
+### Neutral
+
+- The transport, island ABI, and `g:on:*` DOM-event surface are unchanged.
+- This is the decided direction; implementation is phased (see Follow-Up) and
+  the existing mechanisms keep working until their replacement lands with
+  migration diagnostics.
+
+## Alternatives Considered
+
+- **Keep all three mechanisms.** Rejected: it is the status quo learnability tax
+  this ADR removes; three surfaces for a two-axis need.
+- **A component event bus.** Rejected and already closed (#514): implicit
+  coupling over explicit ownership.
+- **Callback props as real passed functions across the island boundary.**
+  Rejected as over-promising: islands are independent runtimes; the honest model
+  is that callback props *compile to* the bubbling-event transport, like `g:bind`
+  desugars today.
+- **A single two-way `bind:` without scoped cells.** Rejected: that is today's
+  `g:bind` ad-hoc path; the scope axis (#517) is what makes shared state
+  ownership explicit instead of implicit.
+
+## Follow-Up
+
+- Depends on **#384** (single-source client semantics) and **#517** (scoped
+  cells) for the state half.
+- **Phase 1 (action half, #517-independent):** callback-prop syntax + lowering
+  to the existing `data-gowdk-parent-on-<event>` transport; validation and
+  type-checking; deprecation diagnostics for `emit`/`g:on:<event>`.
+- **Phase 2 (state half, gated on #517):** `bind:` desugars to value-prop +
+  callback-prop over a scoped cell; deprecate `exports`/`g:on:exports`/`g:bind`.
+- Each phase ships diagnostics, migration notes, an example, and tests, per the
+  #518 checklist. Tracked under the interactivity-unification epic #520.
diff --git a/docs/engineering/decisions/README.md b/docs/engineering/decisions/README.md
index 6724e985..3936ff51 100644
--- a/docs/engineering/decisions/README.md
+++ b/docs/engineering/decisions/README.md
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ Recommended naming:
   packages and request-time runtime helper packages.
 - `0015-generated-binary-lifecycle-services.md`: accepted generated binary
   lifecycle service contracts.
+- `0017-callback-props-and-scoped-cells.md`: accepted collapse of parent-child
+  communication into callback props (actions) + scoped cells (state), with
+  `bind:` as sugar, replacing `emit`/`exports`/`g:bind`.
 - `0016-pure-go-helpers-from-bounded-client.md`: accepted direction to call pure
   Go helpers from the bounded client by compiling them to WASM (single-source
   semantics, purity validation, JSON type bridging).