From 938fc1783a00a8dd30107780ddb3c38d0fabfabe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dennis Kobert <dennis@kobert.dev>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:27:39 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Treat a single-lane leveled value as invariant under the
 addressed lane

---
 node-graph/graph-craft/src/document/value.rs | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++
 node-graph/graph-craft/src/proto.rs          |  6 ++++--
 2 files changed, 26 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/node-graph/graph-craft/src/document/value.rs b/node-graph/graph-craft/src/document/value.rs
index 583cc760d3..a2bff765a0 100644
--- a/node-graph/graph-craft/src/document/value.rs
+++ b/node-graph/graph-craft/src/document/value.rs
@@ -304,6 +304,28 @@ macro_rules! tagged_value {
 				}
 			}
 
+			/// The lane count of the level [`Self::to_edge`] serves, or `None` for a
+			/// scalar. At most one lane serves the same record at every index, so
+			/// the addressed lane cannot reach the value.
+			pub fn lane_count(&self) -> Option<usize> {
+				match self {
+					Self::TypeDefault(td) => {
+						let name = td.name.as_ref();
+						if name == std::any::type_name::<List<Graphic>>() { return Some(0); }
+						if name == std::any::type_name::<List<Artboard>>() { return Some(0); }
+						if name == std::any::type_name::<List<Raster<CPU>>>() { return Some(0); }
+						if name == std::any::type_name::<List<Vector>>() { return Some(1); }
+						if name == std::any::type_name::<List<String>>() { return Some(0); }
+						None
+					}
+					Self::F64Array(values) => Some(values.len()),
+					Self::Color(color) => Some(color.iter().count()),
+					Self::Gradient(_) => Some(1),
+					Self::BrushStrokes(strokes) => Some(strokes.len()),
+					_ => None,
+				}
+			}
+
 			/// Materializes the value as [`Self::to_dynany`] does, wrapped in a `ClonedNode` edge typed by [`Self::ty`].
 			pub fn to_edge(self) -> Result<EdgeHandle, String> {
 				match self {
diff --git a/node-graph/graph-craft/src/proto.rs b/node-graph/graph-craft/src/proto.rs
index f1763c55ee..147a991d6f 100644
--- a/node-graph/graph-craft/src/proto.rs
+++ b/node-graph/graph-craft/src/proto.rs
@@ -556,8 +556,10 @@ impl ProtoNetwork {
 			// We pretend like we have already placed context modification nodes after ourselves because value nodes don't need to be cached
 			ConstructionArgs::Value(value) => {
 				let mut deps = own_deps;
-				// A leveled value serves its lanes by the innermost index.
-				if value.value_layout().is_some_and(|layout| layout.depth > 0) {
+				// A leveled value serves its lanes by the innermost index, unless
+				// it holds at most one lane to serve.
+				let leveled = value.value_layout().is_some_and(|layout| layout.depth > 0);
+				if leveled && value.lane_count().is_none_or(|lanes| lanes > 1) {
 					deps |= core_types::context::ContextFeatures::INDEX;
 					deps.index_levels |= core_types::context::IndexLevels::innermost();
 				}