I'm trying to write an "interesting" js program and it keeps being frustrating to try and manage lifetime in the C API. The problems that I keep hitting is that JSValueProtect/Unprotect require a context argument, that means a smart pointer has to carry both the value and context references. The other problem is weak and conditional ownership. I think an API along the lines of typedef JSHandleRef JSHandleRef JSHandleMake(JSContextRef) JSHandleRef JSHandleMakeWeak(JSContextRef, nullable JSWeakCallback) // Note the lack of a context here -- I believe that is completely achievable. void JSHandleRetain(JSHandleRef) void JSHandleRelease(JSHandleRef) // While it would be nice to just have a "get slot" style api, I think that would // result in ABI heartbreak down the road JSValueRef JSHandleGetValue(JSHandleRef) void JSHandleSetValue(JSHandleRef, JSValueRef)