diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fed870163..59cf8b0b5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -131,5 +131,9 @@
   "version": "4.0.0-beta.4",
   "logo": {
     "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marko-js/branding/master/marko-logo-small.png"
+  },
+  "minprops": {
+    "exclude": ["c", "ca", "e", "n", "r", "sa", "t"],
+    "matchPrefix": "$__"
   }
 }
diff --git a/runtime/RenderResult.js b/runtime/RenderResult.js
index cbc5166b5..2e93cfe84 100644
--- a/runtime/RenderResult.js
+++ b/runtime/RenderResult.js
@@ -1,16 +1,17 @@
 var events = require('./events');
 var domInsert = require('./dom-insert');
+var EMPTY_ARRAY = [];
 
 function checkAddedToDOM(result, method) {
-    if (!result.$__added) {
+    if (!result.$__widgets) {
         throw new Error('Cannot call ' + method + '() until after HTML fragment is added to DOM.');
     }
 }
 
 function getWidgetDefs(result) {
-    var widgetDefs = result.$__out.data.widgets;
+    var widgetDefs = result.$__widgets;
 
-    if (!widgetDefs || widgetDefs.length === 0) {
+    if (widgetDefs.length === 0) {
         throw new Error('No widget rendered');
     }
     return widgetDefs;
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ function getWidgetDefs(result) {
 
 function RenderResult(out) {
    this.out = this.$__out = out;
-   this.$__added = false;
+   this.$__widgets = null;
 }
 
 module.exports = RenderResult;
@@ -62,14 +63,9 @@ var proto = RenderResult.prototype = {
     },
 
     afterInsert: function(doc) {
-        this.$__added = true;
-
-        var data = this.$__out.data;
-
-        var widgetsContext = this.$__out.global.widgets;
-        var widgetDefs = widgetsContext ? widgetsContext.widgets : null;
-
-        data.widgets = widgetDefs;
+        var out = this.$__out;
+        var widgetsContext = out.global.widgets;
+        this.$__widgets = (widgetsContext && widgetsContext.$__widgets) || EMPTY_ARRAY;
 
         events.emit('mountNode', {
             result: this,
diff --git a/runtime/package.json b/runtime/package.json
index d07c835bf..858bc4f5a 100644
--- a/runtime/package.json
+++ b/runtime/package.json
@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
 {
     "browser": {
         "./loader/index.js": "./loader/index-browser.js"
-    },
-    "minprops": {
-        "exclude": ["c", "ca", "e", "n", "sa", "t"],
-        "matchPrefix": "$__"
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/autotests/widgets-browser-deprecated/widget-conditional/test.js b/test/autotests/widgets-browser-deprecated/widget-conditional/test.js
index ad9c6828d..4c8364ef7 100644
--- a/test/autotests/widgets-browser-deprecated/widget-conditional/test.js
+++ b/test/autotests/widgets-browser-deprecated/widget-conditional/test.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ module.exports = function(helpers) {
         includeWidget: false
     });
 
-    expect(widget).to.equal(undefined);
+    expect(widget == null).to.equal(true);
 
     expect(helpers.targetEl.innerHTML).contain('[app-conditional-widget]');
 
diff --git a/test/autotests/widgets-browser/widget-conditional/test.js b/test/autotests/widgets-browser/widget-conditional/test.js
index ad9c6828d..4c8364ef7 100644
--- a/test/autotests/widgets-browser/widget-conditional/test.js
+++ b/test/autotests/widgets-browser/widget-conditional/test.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ module.exports = function(helpers) {
         includeWidget: false
     });
 
-    expect(widget).to.equal(undefined);
+    expect(widget == null).to.equal(true);
 
     expect(helpers.targetEl.innerHTML).contain('[app-conditional-widget]');
 
diff --git a/test/autotests/widgets-compilation/widget-types/expected.js b/test/autotests/widgets-compilation/widget-types/expected.js
index 29ad1e14f..80a446105 100644
--- a/test/autotests/widgets-compilation/widget-types/expected.js
+++ b/test/autotests/widgets-compilation/widget-types/expected.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ var marko_template = module.exports = require("marko/html").t(__filename),
     marko_attr = marko_helpers.a;
 
 function render(data, out, widget, state) {
-  widget.type = marko_widgetTypes[data.isMobile ? "default" : "mobile"];
+  widget.t(marko_widgetTypes[data.isMobile ? "default" : "mobile"]);
 
   out.w("<div" +
     marko_attr("id", widget.id) +
diff --git a/test/autotests/widgets-pages/getRenderedWidgets/template.marko b/test/autotests/widgets-pages/getRenderedWidgets/template.marko
index e0797fb2f..baef95fc3 100644
--- a/test/autotests/widgets-pages/getRenderedWidgets/template.marko
+++ b/test/autotests/widgets-pages/getRenderedWidgets/template.marko
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ script marko-init
 
     function componentsDataProvider(callback) {
         componentsTemplate.renderToString({}, function(err, html, out) {
-            var widgetIds = markoWidgets.getRenderedWidgetIds(out);
+            var widgetIds = markoWidgets.getRenderedWidgets(out);
 
             // Serialize the HTML and the widget IDs to the browser
             callback(null, {
diff --git a/widgets/Widget.js b/widgets/Widget.js
index 98855cb63..c754950a2 100644
--- a/widgets/Widget.js
+++ b/widgets/Widget.js
@@ -123,12 +123,12 @@ function resetWidget(widget) {
 
 function hasCompatibleWidget(widgetsContext, existingWidget) {
     var id = existingWidget.id;
-    var newWidgetDef = widgetsContext.getWidget(id);
+    var newWidgetDef = widgetsContext.$__widgetsById[id];
     if (!newWidgetDef) {
         return false;
     }
 
-    return existingWidget.$__type === newWidgetDef.type;
+    return existingWidget.$__type === newWidgetDef.$__type;
 }
 
 function handleCustomEventWithMethodListener(widget, targetMethodName, args, extraArgs) {
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ Widget.prototype = widgetProto = {
                 }
 
                 if (widgetsContext && id) {
-                    var preserved = widgetsContext.preserved[id];
+                    var preserved = widgetsContext.$__preserved[id];
 
                     if (preserved && !preserved.bodyOnly) {
                         if (preserved.bodyEl) {
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ Widget.prototype = widgetProto = {
             function onBeforeElChildrenUpdated(el) {
                 var id = el.id;
                 if (widgetsContext && id) {
-                    var preserved = widgetsContext.preserved[id];
+                    var preserved = widgetsContext.$__preserved[id];
                     if (preserved && preserved.bodyOnly) {
                         // Don't morph the children since they are preserved
                         return MORPHDOM_SKIP;
diff --git a/widgets/WidgetDef.js b/widgets/WidgetDef.js
index fde842e8e..eeac28374 100644
--- a/widgets/WidgetDef.js
+++ b/widgets/WidgetDef.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 var repeatedId = require('./repeated-id');
 var repeatedRegExp = /\[\]$/;
+var uniqueId = require('./uniqueId');
 
 /**
  * A WidgetDef is used to hold the metadata collected at runtime for
@@ -8,35 +9,45 @@ var repeatedRegExp = /\[\]$/;
  * later (after the rendered HTML has been added to the DOM)
  */
 function WidgetDef(config, endFunc, out) {
-    this.type = config.type; // The widget module type name that is passed to the factory
+    this.$__type = config.$__type; // The widget module type name that is passed to the factory
     this.id = config.id; // The unique ID of the widget
-    this.config = config.config; // Widget config object (may be null)
-    this.state = config.state; // Widget state object (may be null)
-    this.scope = config.scope; // The ID of the widget that this widget is scoped within
-    this.customEvents = config.customEvents; // An array containing information about custom events
+    this.$__config = config.$__config; // Widget config object (may be null)
+    this.$__state = config.$__state; // Widget state object (may be null)
+    this.$__scope = config.$__scope; // The ID of the widget that this widget is scoped within
+    this.$__customEvents = config.$__customEvents; // An array containing information about custom events
     this.bodyElId = config.bodyElId; // The ID for the default body element (if any any)
-    this.roots = config.roots;
+    this.$__roots = config.$__roots;
     this.body = config.body;
+    this.$__existingWidget = config.$__existingWidget;
 
-    this.children = null; // An array of nested WidgetDef instances
-    this.end = endFunc; // A function that when called will pop this widget def off the stack
-    this.domEvents = null; // An array of DOM events that need to be added (in sets of three)
-    this.out = out; // The AsyncWriter that this widget is associated with
-    this._nextId = 0; // The unique integer to use for the next scoped ID
+    this.$__children = null; // An array of nested WidgetDef instances
+    this.$__end = endFunc; // A function that when called will pop this widget def off the stack
+    this.$__domEvents = null; // An array of DOM events that need to be added (in sets of three)
+    this.$__out = out; // The AsyncWriter that this widget is associated with
+    this.$__nextIdIndex = 0; // The unique integer to use for the next scoped ID
+    this.widget = null; // This ised by RenderResult to reference the associated widget instance after creation
 }
 
 WidgetDef.prototype = {
+    t: function(typeName) {
+        this.$__type = typeName;
+    },
+
+    c: function(config) {
+        this.$__config = config;
+    },
+
     /**
      * Register a nested widget for this widget. We maintain a tree of widgets
      * so that we can instantiate nested widgets before their parents.
      */
-    addChild: function (widgetDef) {
-        var children = this.children;
+    $__addChild: function (widgetDef) {
+        var children = this.$__children;
 
         if (children) {
             children.push(widgetDef);
         } else {
-            this.children = [widgetDef];
+            this.$__children = [widgetDef];
         }
     },
     /**
@@ -52,7 +63,7 @@ WidgetDef.prototype = {
             return this.id;
         } else {
             if (typeof nestedId === 'string' && repeatedRegExp.test(nestedId)) {
-                return repeatedId.$__nextId(this.out, this.id, nestedId);
+                return repeatedId.$__nextId(this.$__out, this.id, nestedId);
             } else {
                 return this.id + '-' + nestedId;
             }
@@ -66,47 +77,39 @@ WidgetDef.prototype = {
      * @param  {String} targetMethod The name of the method to invoke on the scoped widget
      * @param  {String} elId The DOM element ID of the DOM element that the event listener needs to be added too
      */
-    addDomEvent: function(type, targetMethod, elId, extraArgs) {
+     e: function(type, targetMethod, elId, extraArgs) {
         if (!targetMethod) {
             // The event handler method is allowed to be conditional. At render time if the target
             // method is null then we do not attach any direct event listeners.
             return;
         }
 
-        if (!this.domEvents) {
-            this.domEvents = [];
-        }
-        this.domEvents.push(type);
-        this.domEvents.push(targetMethod);
-        this.domEvents.push(elId);
-        this.domEvents.push(extraArgs);
-    },
-    /**
-     * Returns a string representation of the DOM events data.
-     */
-    getDomEventsAttr: function() {
-        if (this.domEvents) {
-            return this.domEvents.join(',');
+        if (!this.$__domEvents) {
+            this.$__domEvents = [];
         }
+        this.$__domEvents.push(type);
+        this.$__domEvents.push(targetMethod);
+        this.$__domEvents.push(elId);
+        this.$__domEvents.push(extraArgs);
     },
     /**
      * Returns the next auto generated unique ID for a nested DOM element or nested DOM widget
      */
-    nextId: function() {
-        return this.id + '-w' + (this._nextId++);
+    $__nextId: function() {
+        return this.id ? this.id + '-w' + (this.$__nextIdIndex++) : uniqueId(this.$__out);
     },
 
-    toJSON: function() {
+    $__toJSON: function() {
         return  {
-            type: this.type,
+            $__type: this.$__type,
             id: this.id,
-            config: this.config,
-            state: this.state,
-            scope: this.scope,
-            domEvents: this.domEvents,
-            customEvents: this.customEvents,
+            $__config: this.$__config,
+            $__state: this.$__state,
+            $__scope: this.$__scope,
+            $__domEvents: this.$__domEvents,
+            $__customEvents: this.$__customEvents,
             bodyElId: this.bodyElId,
-            roots: this.roots
+            $__roots: this.$__roots
         };
     }
 };
diff --git a/widgets/WidgetsContext.js b/widgets/WidgetsContext.js
index d26317c32..641788f97 100644
--- a/widgets/WidgetsContext.js
+++ b/widgets/WidgetsContext.js
@@ -1,95 +1,73 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var WidgetDef = require('./WidgetDef');
-var uniqueId = require('./uniqueId');
 var initWidgets = require('./init-widgets');
 var EMPTY_OBJECT = {};
 
-function WidgetsContext(out) {
-    this.out = out;
-    this.widgets = [];
-    this.widgetStack = [];
-    this.preserved = EMPTY_OBJECT;
-    this.reusableWidgets = null;
-    this.reusableWidgetsById = null;
-    this.widgetsById = {};
+function WidgetsContext(out, root) {
+    if (!root) {
+        root = new WidgetDef(EMPTY_OBJECT, null, out);
+    }
+
+    this.$__out = out;
+    this.$__widgetStack = [root];
+    this.$__preserved = EMPTY_OBJECT;
+    this.$__widgetsById = {};
 }
 
 WidgetsContext.prototype = {
-    getWidgets: function () {
-        return this.widgets;
+    get $__widgets() {
+        return this.$__widgetStack[0].$__children;
     },
 
-    getWidgetStack: function() {
-        return this.widgetStack;
-    },
-
-    getCurrentWidget: function() {
-        return this.widgetStack.length ? this.widgetStack[this.widgetStack.length - 1] : undefined;
-    },
-
-    beginWidget: function (widgetInfo, callback) {
+    $__beginWidget: function (widgetInfo, callback) {
         var self = this;
-        var widgetStack = self.widgetStack;
+        var widgetStack = self.$__widgetStack;
         var origLength = widgetStack.length;
-        var parent = origLength ? widgetStack[origLength - 1] : null;
+        var parent = widgetStack[origLength - 1];
 
         var widgetId = widgetInfo.id;
 
         if (!widgetId) {
-            widgetId = self._nextWidgetId();
-            widgetInfo.id = widgetId;
+            widgetInfo.id = widgetId = parent.$__nextId();
         }
 
-        widgetInfo.parent = parent;
-
         function end() {
             widgetStack.length = origLength;
         }
 
-        var widgetDef = new WidgetDef(widgetInfo, end, this.out);
-
-        this.widgetsById[widgetId] = widgetDef;
-
-        if (parent) {
-            //Check if it is a top-level widget
-            parent.addChild(widgetDef);
-        } else {
-            self.widgets.push(widgetDef);
-        }
+        var widgetDef = new WidgetDef(widgetInfo, end, this.$__out);
+        this.$__widgetsById[widgetId] = widgetDef;
+        parent.$__addChild(widgetDef);
         widgetStack.push(widgetDef);
 
         return widgetDef;
     },
-    getWidget: function(id) {
-        return this.widgetsById[id];
+    $__clearWidgets: function () {
+        this.$__widgetStack = [new WidgetDef(EMPTY_OBJECT, null, this.$__out)];
     },
-    hasWidgets: function () {
-        return this.widgets.length !== 0;
-    },
-    clearWidgets: function () {
-        this.widgets = [];
-        this.widgetStack = [];
-    },
-    _nextWidgetId: function () {
-        return uniqueId(this.out);
-    },
-    initWidgets: function (document) {
-        var widgetDefs = this.widgets;
-        initWidgets.initClientRendered(widgetDefs, document);
-        this.clearWidgets();
-    },
-
-    preservedDOMNode: function(existingEl, bodyOnly, bodyEl) {
-        var preserved = this.preserved ;
-        if (preserved === EMPTY_OBJECT) {
-            preserved = this.preserved = {};
+    $__initWidgets: function (document) {
+        var widgetDefs = this.$__widgets;
+        if (widgetDefs) {
+            initWidgets.initClientRendered(widgetDefs, document);
+            this.$__clearWidgets();
         }
-        preserved[existingEl.id] = { bodyOnly: bodyOnly, bodyEl: bodyEl};
+    },
+    $__nextWidgetId: function() {
+        var widgetStack = this.$__widgetStack;
+        var parent = widgetStack[widgetStack.length - 1];
+        return parent.$__nextId();
+    },
+    $__preserveDOMNode: function(existingEl, bodyOnly, bodyEl) {
+        var preserved = this.$__preserved ;
+        if (preserved === EMPTY_OBJECT) {
+            preserved = this.$__preserved = {};
+        }
+        preserved[existingEl.id] = { bodyOnly: bodyOnly, bodyEl: bodyEl };
     }
 };
 
-WidgetsContext.getWidgetsContext = function (out) {
+WidgetsContext.$__getWidgetsContext = function (out) {
     var global = out.global;
 
     return out.data.widgets ||
@@ -97,5 +75,4 @@ WidgetsContext.getWidgetsContext = function (out) {
         (global.widgets = new WidgetsContext(out));
 };
 
-
 module.exports = WidgetsContext;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/widgets/index-browser.js b/widgets/index-browser.js
index 8e1d33051..78a1692b9 100644
--- a/widgets/index-browser.js
+++ b/widgets/index-browser.js
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@ var Widget = require('./Widget');
 var initServerRendered = require('./init-widgets').initServerRendered;
 var updateManager = require('./update-manager');
 var events = require('../runtime/events');
-var WidgetsContext = exports.WidgetsContext = require('./WidgetsContext');
 
-exports.getWidgetsContext = WidgetsContext.getWidgetsContext;
 exports.Widget = Widget;
 
 exports.onInitWidget = function(listener) {
@@ -76,7 +74,7 @@ events.on('dom/beforeRemove', function(eventArgs) {
         var out = eventArgs.out;
         var widgetsContext = out.global.widgets;
         if (widgetsContext) {
-            widgetsContext.initWidgets(eventArgs.document);
+            widgetsContext.$__initWidgets(eventArgs.document);
         }
     });
 
diff --git a/widgets/index.js b/widgets/index.js
index 8b89364e1..7877cc6e9 100644
--- a/widgets/index.js
+++ b/widgets/index.js
@@ -17,30 +17,28 @@ WrappedString.prototype = {
     }
 };
 
-exports.WidgetsContext = WidgetsContext;
-exports.getWidgetsContext = WidgetsContext.getWidgetsContext;
 exports.uniqueId = require('./uniqueId');
 
 function flattenHelper(widgets, flattened) {
     for (var i = 0, len = widgets.length; i < len; i++) {
         var widgetDef = widgets[i];
-        if (!widgetDef.type) {
+        if (!widgetDef.$__type) {
             continue;
         }
 
-        var children = widgetDef.children;
+        var children = widgetDef.$__children;
 
         if (children) {
             // Depth-first search (children should be initialized before parent)
             flattenHelper(children, flattened);
         }
 
-        flattened.push(widgetDef.toJSON());
+        flattened.push(widgetDef.$__toJSON());
     }
 }
 
 function getRenderedWidgets(widgetsContext) {
-    var widgets = widgetsContext.getWidgets();
+    var widgets = widgetsContext.$__widgets;
     if (!widgets || !widgets.length) {
         return;
     }
@@ -65,7 +63,7 @@ function writeInitWidgetsCode(widgetsContext, out) {
         warp10.stringify(renderedWidgets).replace(escapeEndingScriptTagRegExp, '\\u003C/') +
          ')})()</script>');
 
-    widgetsContext.clearWidgets();
+    widgetsContext.$__clearWidgets();
 }
 
 exports.writeInitWidgetsCode = writeInitWidgetsCode;
@@ -77,7 +75,7 @@ exports.writeInitWidgetsCode = writeInitWidgetsCode;
  * @param  {WidgetsContext|AsyncWriter} widgetsContext A WidgetsContext or an AsyncWriter
  * @return {Object} An object with information about the rendered widgets that can be serialized to JSON. The object should be treated as opaque
  */
-exports.getRenderedWidgets = exports.getRenderedWidgetIds /* deprecated */ = function(widgetsContext) {
+exports.getRenderedWidgets = function(widgetsContext) {
     if (!(widgetsContext instanceof WidgetsContext)) {
         // Assume that the provided "widgetsContext" argument is
         // actually an AsyncWriter
@@ -86,7 +84,7 @@ exports.getRenderedWidgets = exports.getRenderedWidgetIds /* deprecated */ = fun
             throw new Error('Invalid argument: ' + widgetsContext);
         }
 
-        widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.getWidgetsContext(out);
+        widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.$__getWidgetsContext(out);
     }
 
     var renderedWidgets = getRenderedWidgets(widgetsContext);
diff --git a/widgets/init-widgets-browser.js b/widgets/init-widgets-browser.js
index 3a1a9a359..14622877e 100644
--- a/widgets/init-widgets-browser.js
+++ b/widgets/init-widgets-browser.js
@@ -48,15 +48,15 @@ function getNestedEl(widget, nestedId, document) {
 }
 
 function initWidget(widgetDef, doc) {
-    var type = widgetDef.type;
+    var type = widgetDef.$__type;
     var id = widgetDef.id;
-    var config = widgetDef.config;
-    var state = widgetDef.state;
-    var scope = widgetDef.scope;
-    var domEvents = widgetDef.domEvents;
-    var customEvents = widgetDef.customEvents;
+    var config = widgetDef.$__config;
+    var state = widgetDef.$__state;
+    var scope = widgetDef.$__scope;
+    var domEvents = widgetDef.$__domEvents;
+    var customEvents = widgetDef.$__customEvents;
     var bodyElId = widgetDef.bodyElId;
-    var existingWidget = widgetDef.existingWidget;
+    var existingWidget = widgetDef.$__existingWidget;
 
     var el;
     var i;
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ function initWidget(widgetDef, doc) {
     }
 
     var els;
-    var rootIds = widgetDef.roots;
+    var rootIds = widgetDef.$__roots;
     var rootWidgets;
 
     if (rootIds) {
@@ -218,11 +218,11 @@ function initClientRendered(widgetDefs, doc) {
     for (var i=0,len=widgetDefs.length; i<len; i++) {
         var widgetDef = widgetDefs[i];
 
-        if (widgetDef.children) {
-            initClientRendered(widgetDef.children, doc);
+        if (widgetDef.$__children) {
+            initClientRendered(widgetDef.$__children, doc);
         }
 
-        if (!widgetDef.type) {
+        if (!widgetDef.$__type) {
             continue;
         }
 
diff --git a/widgets/package.json b/widgets/package.json
index 3c1ec67b2..483643a36 100644
--- a/widgets/package.json
+++ b/widgets/package.json
@@ -4,9 +4,5 @@
         "./uniqueId.js": "./uniqueId-browser.js",
         "./init-widgets.js": "./init-widgets-browser.js",
         "./defineWidget.js": "./defineWidget-browser.js"
-    },
-    "minprops": {
-        "exclude": ["r"],
-        "matchPrefix": "$__"
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/widgets/registry.js b/widgets/registry.js
index 79d3b8262..7abaa9287 100644
--- a/widgets/registry.js
+++ b/widgets/registry.js
@@ -1,26 +1,10 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2011 eBay Software Foundation
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
 var registered = {};
 var loaded = {};
 var widgetTypes = {};
 var defineWidget;
 var defineRenderer;
 
-exports.register = function(typeName, def) {
+function register(typeName, def) {
     if (typeof def === 'function') {
         // We do this to kick off registering of nested widgets
         // but we don't use the return value just yet since there
@@ -32,7 +16,7 @@ exports.register = function(typeName, def) {
     delete loaded[typeName];
     delete widgetTypes[typeName];
     return typeName;
-};
+}
 
 function load(typeName) {
     var target = loaded[typeName];
@@ -86,9 +70,7 @@ function getWidgetClass(typeName) {
     return WidgetClass;
 }
 
-exports.load = load;
-
-exports.createWidget = function(typeName, id, document) {
+function createWidget(typeName, id, document) {
     var WidgetClass = getWidgetClass(typeName);
     var widget;
     if (typeof WidgetClass === 'function') {
@@ -99,7 +81,11 @@ exports.createWidget = function(typeName, id, document) {
         widget.$__document = document;
     }
     return widget;
-};
+}
+
+exports.register = register;
+exports.createWidget = createWidget;
+exports.load = load;
 
 defineWidget = require('./defineWidget');
 defineRenderer = require('./defineRenderer');
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/widgets/renderer.js b/widgets/renderer.js
index 921835220..9d870322b 100644
--- a/widgets/renderer.js
+++ b/widgets/renderer.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ var includeTag = require('./taglib/include-tag');
 var repeatedId = require('./repeated-id');
 var getRootEls = markoWidgets.$__roots;
 var repeatedRegExp = /\[\]$/;
+var WidgetsContext = require('./WidgetsContext');
 
 var RERENDER_WIDGET_INDEX = 0;
 var RERENDER_WIDGET_STATE_INDEX = 1;
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ function preserveWidgetEls(existingWidget, out, widgetsContext, widgetBody) {
 
         out.endElement();
 
-        widgetsContext.preservedDOMNode(el, false, bodyEl); // Mark the element as being preserved (for morphdom)
+        widgetsContext.$__preserveDOMNode(el, false, bodyEl); // Mark the element as being preserved (for morphdom)
     }
 
     existingWidget._reset(); // The widget is no longer dirty so reset internal flags
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ function handleBeginAsync(event) {
     var widgetsContext = asyncOut.global.widgets;
     var widgetStack;
 
-    if (widgetsContext && (widgetStack = widgetsContext.widgetStack).length) {
+    if (widgetsContext && (widgetStack = widgetsContext.$__widgetStack)) {
         // All of the widgets in this async block should be
         // initialized after the widgets in the parent. Therefore,
         // we will create a new WidgetsContext for the nested
@@ -81,8 +82,7 @@ function handleBeginAsync(event) {
         // stack (to begin with). This will result in top-level widgets
         // of the async block being added as children of the widget in the
         // parent block.
-        var nestedWidgetsContext = new markoWidgets.WidgetsContext(asyncOut);
-        nestedWidgetsContext.widgetStack = [widgetStack[widgetStack.length-1]];
+        var nestedWidgetsContext = new markoWidgets.WidgetsContext(asyncOut, widgetStack[widgetStack.length-1]);
         asyncOut.data.widgets = nestedWidgetsContext;
     }
     asyncOut.data.$w = parentOut.data.$w;
@@ -230,14 +230,10 @@ module.exports = function createRendererFunc(templateRenderFunc, widgetProps, re
             customEvents = widgetArgs[2];
         }
 
-        var widgetsContext = markoWidgets.getWidgetsContext(out);
+        var widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.$__getWidgetsContext(out);
 
         if (!id) {
-            var parentWidget = widgetsContext.getCurrentWidget();
-
-            if (parentWidget) {
-                id = parentWidget.nextId();
-            }
+            id = widgetsContext.$__nextWidgetId();
         }
 
         var existingWidget;
@@ -292,16 +288,16 @@ module.exports = function createRendererFunc(templateRenderFunc, widgetProps, re
             existingWidget.$__emitLifecycleEvent('beforeUpdate');
         }
 
-        var widgetDef = widgetsContext.beginWidget({
-            type: typeName,
+        var widgetDef = widgetsContext.$__beginWidget({
+            $__type: typeName,
             id: id,
-            config: widgetConfig,
-            state: widgetState,
-            customEvents: customEvents,
-            scope: scope,
-            existingWidget: existingWidget,
+            $__config: widgetConfig,
+            $__state: widgetState,
+            $__customEvents: customEvents,
+            $__scope: scope,
+            $__existingWidget: existingWidget,
             bodyElId: bodyElId,
-            roots: roots,
+            $__roots: roots,
             body: widgetBody
         });
 
@@ -309,6 +305,6 @@ module.exports = function createRendererFunc(templateRenderFunc, widgetProps, re
         // data that we constructed
         templateRenderFunc(templateData, out, widgetDef, widgetState);
 
-        widgetDef.end();
+        widgetDef.$__end();
     };
 };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/widgets/repeated-id.js b/widgets/repeated-id.js
index 3d0155e9f..758e0aa39 100644
--- a/widgets/repeated-id.js
+++ b/widgets/repeated-id.js
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
 var REPEATED_ID_KEY = '$rep';
 
 function RepeatedId() {
-    this.nextIdLookup = {};
+    this.$__nextIdLookup = {};
 }
 
 RepeatedId.prototype = {
-    nextId: function(parentId, id) {
+    $__nextId: function(parentId, id) {
         var indexLookupKey = parentId + '-' + id;
-        var currentIndex = this.nextIdLookup[indexLookupKey];
+        var currentIndex = this.$__nextIdLookup[indexLookupKey];
         if (currentIndex == null) {
-            currentIndex = this.nextIdLookup[indexLookupKey] = 0;
+            currentIndex = this.$__nextIdLookup[indexLookupKey] = 0;
         } else {
-            currentIndex = ++this.nextIdLookup[indexLookupKey];
+            currentIndex = ++this.$__nextIdLookup[indexLookupKey];
         }
 
         return indexLookupKey.slice(0, -2) + '[' + currentIndex + ']';
@@ -24,5 +24,5 @@ exports.$__nextId = function(out, parentId, id) {
         repeatedId = out.global[REPEATED_ID_KEY] = new RepeatedId();
     }
 
-    return repeatedId.nextId(parentId, id);
+    return repeatedId.$__nextId(parentId, id);
 };
diff --git a/widgets/taglib/TransformHelper/handleWidgetBind.js b/widgets/taglib/TransformHelper/handleWidgetBind.js
index a69a9caad..3f32337f0 100644
--- a/widgets/taglib/TransformHelper/handleWidgetBind.js
+++ b/widgets/taglib/TransformHelper/handleWidgetBind.js
@@ -110,12 +110,14 @@ module.exports = function handleWidgetBind() {
         }
 
         el.insertSiblingBefore(
-            builder.assignment(
-                builder.memberExpression(builder.identifier('widget'), builder.identifier('type')),
-                builder.memberExpression(
-                    builder.identifier('marko_widgetTypes'),
-                    bindAttrValue,
-                    true /* computed */)));
+            builder.functionCall(
+                builder.memberExpression(builder.identifier('widget'), builder.identifier('t')),
+                [
+                    builder.memberExpression(
+                        builder.identifier('marko_widgetTypes'),
+                        bindAttrValue,
+                        true /* computed */)
+                ]));
     }
 
     var renderingLogic;
@@ -165,9 +167,11 @@ module.exports = function handleWidgetBind() {
 
     if (el.hasAttribute('w-config')) {
         el.insertSiblingBefore(
-            builder.assignment(
-                builder.memberExpression(builder.identifier('widget'), builder.identifier('config')),
-                el.getAttributeValue('w-config')));
+            builder.functionCall(
+                builder.memberExpression(builder.identifier('widget'), builder.identifier('c')),
+                [
+                    el.getAttributeValue('w-config')
+                ]));
 
         el.removeAttribute('w-config');
     }
diff --git a/widgets/taglib/TransformHelper/handleWidgetEvents.js b/widgets/taglib/TransformHelper/handleWidgetEvents.js
index fa1ad7ede..cf8892187 100644
--- a/widgets/taglib/TransformHelper/handleWidgetEvents.js
+++ b/widgets/taglib/TransformHelper/handleWidgetEvents.js
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ function addDirectEventListener(transformHelper, eventType, targetMethod, extraA
 
     var addDomEvent = builder.memberExpression(
         builder.identifier('widget'),
-        builder.identifier('addDomEvent'));
+        builder.identifier('e'));
 
     let widgetIdInfo = transformHelper.assignWidgetId(true /* repeated */);
     let idVarNode = widgetIdInfo.idVarNode ? null : widgetIdInfo.createIdVarNode();
diff --git a/widgets/taglib/helpers/getCurrentWidget.js b/widgets/taglib/helpers/getCurrentWidget.js
index 1e4905d08..b70cf9f51 100644
--- a/widgets/taglib/helpers/getCurrentWidget.js
+++ b/widgets/taglib/helpers/getCurrentWidget.js
@@ -1,35 +1,17 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2011 eBay Software Foundation
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
 /**
- * Helper method to return the metadata for the current widget being rendered.
+ * Helper method to return the WidgetDef for the current widget being rendered.
  * This is, it returns the widget at the top of the widget stack.
  * @param  {AsyncWriter} out The current rendering context that holds info about rendered widgets.
  * @return {WidgetDef} The WidgetDef instance
  */
 module.exports = function getCurrentWidget(out) {
-    var widgets = out.global.widgets;
-    if (!widgets) {
+    var widgetsContext = out.global.widgets;
+    var widgetStack;
+    var len;
+
+    if (!widgetsContext || (len = (widgetStack = widgetsContext.$__widgetStack).length) < 2) {
         throw new Error('No widget found');
     }
 
-    var widget = widgets.getCurrentWidget();
-    if (!widget) {
-        throw new Error('No widget found');
-    }
-
-    return widget;
+    return widgetStack[len - 1];
 };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/widgets/taglib/include-tag.js b/widgets/taglib/include-tag.js
index ddaae88bd..09d3c1ad5 100644
--- a/widgets/taglib/include-tag.js
+++ b/widgets/taglib/include-tag.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 var isBrowser = typeof window !== 'undefined';
 var normalInclude = require('../../taglibs/core/include-tag');
-var markoWidgets = require('../');
+var WidgetsContext = require('../WidgetsContext');
 
 module.exports = function include(input, out) {
     var target = input._target;
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ module.exports = function include(input, out) {
         // the existing body content in the DOM
         var existingEl = document.getElementById(elId);
         if (existingEl) {
-            var widgetsContext = markoWidgets.getWidgetsContext(out);
-            widgetsContext.preservedDOMNode(existingEl, true /* body only */);
+            var widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.$__getWidgetsContext(out);
+            widgetsContext.$__preserveDOMNode(existingEl, true /* body only */);
         }
     }
 };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/widgets/taglib/init-widgets-tag.js b/widgets/taglib/init-widgets-tag.js
index e6e6b7a54..01020729c 100644
--- a/widgets/taglib/init-widgets-tag.js
+++ b/widgets/taglib/init-widgets-tag.js
@@ -25,18 +25,13 @@ module.exports = function render(input, out) {
         });
 
         if (out.isSync()) {
-            var widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.getWidgetsContext(out);
-            if (widgetsContext.hasWidgets()) {
-                writeInitWidgetsCode(widgetsContext, out);
-            }
+            var widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.$__getWidgetsContext(out);
+            writeInitWidgetsCode(widgetsContext, out);
         } else {
             var asyncOut = out.beginAsync({ last: true, timeout: -1 });
             out.onLast(function(next) {
-                var widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.getWidgetsContext(out);
-                if (widgetsContext.hasWidgets()) {
-                    writeInitWidgetsCode(widgetsContext, asyncOut);
-                }
-
+                var widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.$__getWidgetsContext(out);
+                writeInitWidgetsCode(widgetsContext, asyncOut);
                 asyncOut.end();
                 next();
             });
diff --git a/widgets/taglib/preserve-tag.js b/widgets/taglib/preserve-tag.js
index 1246b12fe..6820fcbed 100644
--- a/widgets/taglib/preserve-tag.js
+++ b/widgets/taglib/preserve-tag.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-var widgets = require('../');
+var WidgetsContext = require('../WidgetsContext');
 
 module.exports = function render(input, out) {
 
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ module.exports = function render(input, out) {
         if (condition !== false) {
             var existingEl = document.getElementById(id);
             if (existingEl) {
-                var widgetsContext = widgets.getWidgetsContext(out);
+                var widgetsContext = WidgetsContext.$__getWidgetsContext(out);
                 var bodyOnly = input.bodyOnly === true;
                 // Don't actually render anything since the element is already in the DOM,
                 // but keep track that the node is being preserved so that we can ignore
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ module.exports = function render(input, out) {
                     out.endElement();
                 }
 
-                widgetsContext.preservedDOMNode(existingEl, bodyOnly);
+                widgetsContext.$__preserveDOMNode(existingEl, bodyOnly);
                 return;
             }
         }
diff --git a/widgets/uniqueId.js b/widgets/uniqueId.js
index 2b4e6abde..8654ddf53 100644
--- a/widgets/uniqueId.js
+++ b/widgets/uniqueId.js
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 function IdProvider(out) {
     var global = this.global = out.global;
-    this.prefix = global.widgetIdPrefix || 'w';
+    this.$__prefix = global.widgetIdPrefix || 'w';
 
     if (global._nextWidgetId == null) {
         global._nextWidgetId = 0;
     }
 }
 
-IdProvider.prototype.nextId = function() {
-    return this.prefix + (this.global._nextWidgetId++);
+IdProvider.prototype.$__nextId = function() {
+    return this.$__prefix + (this.global._nextWidgetId++);
 };
 
 module.exports = function (out) {
@@ -16,5 +16,5 @@ module.exports = function (out) {
     var idProvider = global._widgetIdProvider ||
         (global._widgetIdProvider = new IdProvider(out));
 
-    return idProvider.nextId();
+    return idProvider.$__nextId();
 };
\ No newline at end of file