my $o = __PACKAGE__->reflect; 
# The next line returns 
# Class::Prototyped::Mirror=REF(0x816811c) at nullapp.pl line 23. 
# Why does it not return CGI::Prorotype::Mirror=REF 
# or  main::MIRROR=REF 
warn $o;   

# Why does this fail? 
warn $o->engine; 
warn $o->display('hi'); 

CGI::Prototype->activate;
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it fails because you did not call object(). You only called reflect(). The docs for Class::Prototyped state that reflect should be called when you want to modify the structure of an object, but to get the object you must call object()