diff --git a/app-proto/src/assembly.rs b/app-proto/src/assembly.rs
index 4e48c65..d1d24f4 100644
--- a/app-proto/src/assembly.rs
+++ b/app-proto/src/assembly.rs
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ pub struct Assembly {
     pub tangent: Signal<ConfigSubspace>,
     
     // indexing
-    pub elements_by_id: Signal<FxHashMap<String, ElementKey>>
+    pub elements_by_id: Signal<FxHashMap<String, Rc<dyn Element>>>
 }
 
 impl Assembly {
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ impl Assembly {
         let id = elt.id().clone();
         let elt_rc = Rc::new(elt);
         let key = self.elements.update(|elts| elts.insert(elt_rc.clone())); /* KLUDGE */ // reorganize to avoid cloning?
-        self.elements_by_id.update(|elts_by_id| elts_by_id.insert(id, key));
+        self.elements_by_id.update(|elts_by_id| elts_by_id.insert(id, elt_rc.clone())); /* KLUDGE */ // reorganize to avoid cloning?
         
         // create and insert the element's default regulators
         for reg in elt_rc.default_regulators(&self) {