diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index a4fa441120..925bbb08c8 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ BugReports: https://github.com/insightsengineering/teal/issues
 Depends:
     R (>= 4.0),
     shiny (>= 1.7.0),
-    teal.data (>= 0.3.0),
-    teal.slice (>= 0.4.0.9011),
-    teal.transform (>= 0.4.0)
+    teal.data (>= 0.3.0.9010),
+    teal.slice (>= 0.4.0.9023),
+    teal.transform (>= 0.4.0.9007)
 Imports:
     checkmate,
     jsonlite,
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index e8f450b895..9bc9a00682 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 S3method(c,teal_slices)
 S3method(get_code,tdata)
-S3method(get_join_keys,tdata)
 S3method(get_metadata,default)
 S3method(get_metadata,tdata)
+S3method(join_keys,tdata)
 S3method(print,teal_module)
 S3method(print,teal_modules)
 S3method(srv_nested_tabs,default)
diff --git a/R/module_filter_manager.R b/R/module_filter_manager.R
index 69a31fdc12..1856b6816b 100644
--- a/R/module_filter_manager.R
+++ b/R/module_filter_manager.R
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 #'   }
 #' )
 #' if (interactive()) {
-#'   runApp(app)
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
 #'
 #' @keywords internal
diff --git a/R/module_nested_tabs.R b/R/module_nested_tabs.R
index b84fb45277..0eb274c0aa 100644
--- a/R/module_nested_tabs.R
+++ b/R/module_nested_tabs.R
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
 #'   }
 #' )
 #' if (interactive()) {
-#'   runApp(app)
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
 #' @keywords internal
 NULL
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ ui_nested_tabs.teal_modules <- function(id, modules, datasets, depth = 0L, is_mo
 #' @rdname module_nested_tabs
 #' @export
 ui_nested_tabs.teal_module <- function(id, modules, datasets, depth = 0L, is_module_specific = FALSE) {
-  checkmate::assert_class(datasets, class = "FilteredData")
+  checkmate::assert_class(datasets, classes = "FilteredData")
   ns <- NS(id)
 
   args <- isolate(teal.transform::resolve_delayed(modules$ui_args, datasets))
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ srv_nested_tabs.teal_module <- function(id, datasets, modules, is_module_specifi
 #' @param trigger_data (`reactiveVal`) to trigger getting the filtered data
 #' @return list of reactive datasets with following attributes:
 #' - `code` (`character`) containing datasets reproducible code.
-#' - `join_keys` (`JoinKeys`) containing relationships between datasets.
+#' - `join_keys` (`join_keys`) containing relationships between datasets.
 #' - `metadata` (`list`) containing metadata of datasets.
 #'
 #' @keywords internal
diff --git a/R/module_tabs_with_filters.R b/R/module_tabs_with_filters.R
index 7f2fca1406..7c42fc2ea0 100644
--- a/R/module_tabs_with_filters.R
+++ b/R/module_tabs_with_filters.R
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 #'   }
 #' )
 #' if (interactive()) {
-#'   runApp(app)
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
 #'
 NULL
diff --git a/R/module_teal.R b/R/module_teal.R
index 277ccdd198..c3b3028e48 100644
--- a/R/module_teal.R
+++ b/R/module_teal.R
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
 #'   }
 #' )
 #' if (interactive()) {
-#'   runApp(app)
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
 NULL
 
diff --git a/R/module_teal_with_splash.R b/R/module_teal_with_splash.R
index f1e933cf19..e8a5ae92be 100644
--- a/R/module_teal_with_splash.R
+++ b/R/module_teal_with_splash.R
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ srv_teal_with_splash <- function(id, data, modules, filter = teal_slices()) {
         teal.data::teal_data,
         c(
           lapply(data$get_datasets(), function(x) x$get_raw_data()),
-          code = data$get_code(),
-          join_keys = data$get_join_keys()
+          list(code = data$get_code()),
+          list(join_keys = teal.data::join_keys(data))
         )
       )
       reactiveVal(new_data) # will trigger by setting it
@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ srv_teal_with_splash <- function(id, data, modules, filter = teal_slices()) {
             teal.data::teal_data,
             c(
               lapply(data$get_datasets(), function(x) x$get_raw_data()),
-              code = data$get_code(),
-              join_keys = data$get_join_keys()
+              list(code = data$get_code()),
+              list(join_keys = teal.data::join_keys(data))
             )
           )
         }
diff --git a/R/modules.R b/R/modules.R
index 789083e669..3f4d191437 100644
--- a/R/modules.R
+++ b/R/modules.R
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
 #'   )
 #' )
 #' if (interactive()) {
-#'   runApp(app)
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
 modules <- function(..., label = "root") {
   checkmate::assert_string(label)
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ is_arg_used <- function(modules, arg) {
 #'   )
 #' )
 #' if (interactive()) {
-#'   runApp(app)
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
 module <- function(label = "module",
                    server = function(id, ...) {
diff --git a/R/modules_debugging.R b/R/modules_debugging.R
index 6260f3908c..66be4e121b 100644
--- a/R/modules_debugging.R
+++ b/R/modules_debugging.R
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #'   header = "Simple teal app"
 #' )
 #' if (interactive()) {
-#'   runApp(app)
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
 filter_calls_module <- function(label = "Filter Calls Module") { # nolint
   checkmate::assert_string(label)
diff --git a/R/tdata.R b/R/tdata.R
index d3fe151b95..1806b68d23 100644
--- a/R/tdata.R
+++ b/R/tdata.R
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #' (or `MultiAssayExperiment`), with attributes:
 #' \itemize{
 #'   \item{`code` (`reactive`) containing code used to generate the data}
-#'   \item{join_keys (`JoinKeys`) containing the relationships between the data}
+#'   \item{join_keys (`join_keys`) containing the relationships between the data}
 #'   \item{metadata (`named list`) containing any metadata associated with the data frames}
 #' }
 #' @name tdata
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #'   the code used to generate the data. This should be `reactive` if the code is changing
 #'   during a reactive context (e.g. if filtering changes the code). Inside this
 #'   object `code` will be made reactive
-#' @param join_keys A `teal.data::JoinKeys` object containing relationships between the
+#' @param join_keys A `teal.data::join_keys` object containing relationships between the
 #'   datasets.
 #' @param metadata A `named list` each element contains a list of metadata about the named data.frame
 #' Each element of these list should be atomic and length one.
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ new_tdata <- function(data, code = "", join_keys = NULL, metadata = NULL) {
     any.missing = FALSE, names = "unique",
     types = c("data.frame", "reactive", "MultiAssayExperiment")
   )
-  checkmate::assert_class(join_keys, "JoinKeys", null.ok = TRUE)
+  checkmate::assert_class(join_keys, "join_keys", null.ok = TRUE)
   checkmate::assert_multi_class(code, c("character", "reactive"))
 
   checkmate::assert_list(metadata, names = "unique", null.ok = TRUE)
@@ -123,15 +123,15 @@ get_code_tdata <- function(data) {
   get_code(data)
 }
 
-#' Extract `JoinKeys` from `tdata`
-#' @rdname get_join_keys
-#' @param data (`tdata`) object
-#' @keywords internal
+#' Extract `join_keys` from `tdata`
+#' @param data A `tdata` object
+#' @param ... Additional arguments (not used)
 #' @export
-get_join_keys.tdata <- function(data) {
+join_keys.tdata <- function(data, ...) {
   attr(data, "join_keys")
 }
 
+
 #' Function to get metadata from a `tdata` object
 #' @param data `tdata` - object to extract the data from
 #' @param dataname `character(1)` the dataset name whose metadata is requested
diff --git a/R/teal_slices.R b/R/teal_slices.R
index bd3aaf1ce7..fe380a4b78 100644
--- a/R/teal_slices.R
+++ b/R/teal_slices.R
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
 #' )
 #'
 #' if (interactive()) {
-#'   shiny::runApp(app)
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
 #'
 #' @export
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index 1da63cf8bf..904109976d 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ include_parent_datanames <- function(dataname, join_keys) {
   parents <- character(0)
   for (i in dataname) {
     while (length(i) > 0) {
-      parent_i <- join_keys$get_parent(i)
+      parent_i <- teal.data::parent(join_keys, i)
       parents <- c(parent_i, parents)
       i <- parent_i
     }
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ report_card_template <- function(title, label, description = NULL, with_filter,
 #' When `datanames` is set to `"all"` it is replaced with all available datasets names.
 #' @param modules (`teal_modules`) object
 #' @param datanames (`character`) names of datasets available in the `data` object
-#' @param join_keys (`JoinKeys`) object
+#' @param join_keys (`join_keys`) object
 #' @return `teal_modules` with resolved `datanames`
 #' @keywords internal
 resolve_modules_datanames <- function(modules, datanames, join_keys) {
diff --git a/_pkgdown.yml b/_pkgdown.yml
index 46955166dc..eb95ee303d 100644
--- a/_pkgdown.yml
+++ b/_pkgdown.yml
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ reference:
       - get_metadata
       - tdata2env
       - show_rcode_modal
+      - join_keys.tdata
   # - title: Functions Moved to Other Packages
     # desc: These functions have been moved from teal and will be deprecated
     # contents:
diff --git a/man/dot-datasets_to_data.Rd b/man/dot-datasets_to_data.Rd
index 56b078b7db..c484adeb75 100644
--- a/man/dot-datasets_to_data.Rd
+++ b/man/dot-datasets_to_data.Rd
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 list of reactive datasets with following attributes:
 \itemize{
 \item \code{code} (\code{character}) containing datasets reproducible code.
-\item \code{join_keys} (\code{JoinKeys}) containing relationships between datasets.
+\item \code{join_keys} (\code{join_keys}) containing relationships between datasets.
 \item \code{metadata} (\code{list}) containing metadata of datasets.
 }
 }
diff --git a/man/filter_calls_module.Rd b/man/filter_calls_module.Rd
index 70383766d1..f7c7cde320 100644
--- a/man/filter_calls_module.Rd
+++ b/man/filter_calls_module.Rd
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ app <- init(
   header = "Simple teal app"
 )
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 }
 \keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/get_join_keys.Rd b/man/get_join_keys.Rd
deleted file mode 100644
index 977a4b3145..0000000000
--- a/man/get_join_keys.Rd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/tdata.R
-\name{get_join_keys.tdata}
-\alias{get_join_keys.tdata}
-\title{Extract \code{JoinKeys} from \code{tdata}}
-\usage{
-\method{get_join_keys}{tdata}(data)
-}
-\arguments{
-\item{data}{(\code{tdata}) object}
-}
-\description{
-Extract \code{JoinKeys} from \code{tdata}
-}
-\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/join_keys.tdata.Rd b/man/join_keys.tdata.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..19d022c7c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/join_keys.tdata.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/tdata.R
+\name{join_keys.tdata}
+\alias{join_keys.tdata}
+\title{Extract \code{join_keys} from \code{tdata}}
+\usage{
+\method{join_keys}{tdata}(data, ...)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{data}{A \code{tdata} object}
+
+\item{...}{Additional arguments (not used)}
+}
+\description{
+Extract \code{join_keys} from \code{tdata}
+}
diff --git a/man/module.Rd b/man/module.Rd
index d7267630cd..9a81569787 100644
--- a/man/module.Rd
+++ b/man/module.Rd
@@ -102,6 +102,6 @@ app <- init(
   )
 )
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 }
diff --git a/man/module_filter_manager_modal.Rd b/man/module_filter_manager_modal.Rd
index 4ae0922fba..dea4ad4955 100644
--- a/man/module_filter_manager_modal.Rd
+++ b/man/module_filter_manager_modal.Rd
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ app <- shinyApp(
   }
 )
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/man/module_nested_tabs.Rd b/man/module_nested_tabs.Rd
index b21eeaa139..e4d2620e15 100644
--- a/man/module_nested_tabs.Rd
+++ b/man/module_nested_tabs.Rd
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ app <- shinyApp(
   }
 )
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 }
 \keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/module_tabs_with_filters.Rd b/man/module_tabs_with_filters.Rd
index 1be1c16d21..03163535dc 100644
--- a/man/module_tabs_with_filters.Rd
+++ b/man/module_tabs_with_filters.Rd
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ app <- shinyApp(
   }
 )
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/man/module_teal.Rd b/man/module_teal.Rd
index 50524636c4..5017667dd9 100644
--- a/man/module_teal.Rd
+++ b/man/module_teal.Rd
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ app <- shinyApp(
   }
 )
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 }
 \keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/modules.Rd b/man/modules.Rd
index c86a83be06..996f468fd9 100644
--- a/man/modules.Rd
+++ b/man/modules.Rd
@@ -87,6 +87,6 @@ app <- init(
   )
 )
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 }
diff --git a/man/resolve_modules_datanames.Rd b/man/resolve_modules_datanames.Rd
index 0509844daf..928a381884 100644
--- a/man/resolve_modules_datanames.Rd
+++ b/man/resolve_modules_datanames.Rd
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ resolve_modules_datanames(modules, datanames, join_keys)
 
 \item{datanames}{(\code{character}) names of datasets available in the \code{data} object}
 
-\item{join_keys}{(\code{JoinKeys}) object}
+\item{join_keys}{(\code{join_keys}) object}
 }
 \value{
 \code{teal_modules} with resolved \code{datanames}
diff --git a/man/tdata.Rd b/man/tdata.Rd
index 1fb33f1e25..d686b0f621 100644
--- a/man/tdata.Rd
+++ b/man/tdata.Rd
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ the code used to generate the data. This should be \code{reactive} if the code i
 during a reactive context (e.g. if filtering changes the code). Inside this
 object \code{code} will be made reactive}
 
-\item{join_keys}{A \code{teal.data::JoinKeys} object containing relationships between the
+\item{join_keys}{A \code{teal.data::join_keys} object containing relationships between the
 datasets.}
 
 \item{metadata}{A \verb{named list} each element contains a list of metadata about the named data.frame
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Create a new object called \code{tdata} which contains \code{data}, a \code{reac
 (or \code{MultiAssayExperiment}), with attributes:
 \itemize{
 \item{\code{code} (\code{reactive}) containing code used to generate the data}
-\item{join_keys (\code{JoinKeys}) containing the relationships between the data}
+\item{join_keys (\code{join_keys}) containing the relationships between the data}
 \item{metadata (\verb{named list}) containing any metadata associated with the data frames}
 }
 }
diff --git a/man/teal_slices.Rd b/man/teal_slices.Rd
index 0036fb8176..9956a44d55 100644
--- a/man/teal_slices.Rd
+++ b/man/teal_slices.Rd
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ app <- teal::init(
 )
 
 if (interactive()) {
-  shiny::runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-module_nested_tabs.R b/tests/testthat/test-module_nested_tabs.R
index f4479988b9..87b2b78ea4 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-module_nested_tabs.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-module_nested_tabs.R
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ testthat::test_that(".datasets_to_data returns tdata object", {
 
   # join_keys
   testthat::expect_equal(
-    get_join_keys(data),
+    join_keys(data),
     teal.data::join_keys(teal.data::join_key("d1", "d2", c("pk" = "id")))
   )
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-tdata.R b/tests/testthat/test-tdata.R
index 7f486f3c9f..6511a35bc6 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-tdata.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-tdata.R
@@ -62,14 +62,14 @@ testthat::test_that("new_tdata accepts character and reactive characters for cod
   )
 })
 
-testthat::test_that("new_tdata throws error if join_keys is not of class JoinKeys", {
+testthat::test_that("new_tdata throws error if join_keys is not of class join_keys", {
   testthat::expect_error(
     new_tdata(list(x = iris), join_keys = "x"),
-    "Assertion on 'join_keys' failed: Must inherit from class 'JoinKeys'"
+    "Assertion on 'join_keys' failed: Must inherit from class 'join_keys'"
   )
 })
 
-testthat::test_that("new_tdata throws no error if join_keys is of class JoinKeys", {
+testthat::test_that("new_tdata throws no error if join_keys is of class join_keys", {
   testthat::expect_error(
     new_tdata(list(x = iris), join_keys = teal.data::join_keys()),
     NA
@@ -200,12 +200,12 @@ testthat::test_that("tdata2env throws error if argument is not tdata", {
 })
 
 # ---- get_join_keys ----
-testthat::test_that("get_join_keys returns NULL if no JoinKeys object exists inside tdata", {
+testthat::test_that("join_keys returns NULL if no join_keys object exists inside tdata", {
   my_tdata <- new_tdata(data = list(iris = iris, mae = reactive(miniACC)))
-  testthat::expect_null(get_join_keys(my_tdata))
+  testthat::expect_null(join_keys(my_tdata))
 })
 
-testthat::test_that("get_join_keys returns JoinKeys object if it exists inside tdata", {
+testthat::test_that("join_keys returns join_keys object if it exists inside tdata", {
   jk <- teal.data::join_keys(teal.data::join_key("A", "B", c("id" = "fk")))
 
   my_tdata <- new_tdata(
@@ -216,5 +216,5 @@ testthat::test_that("get_join_keys returns JoinKeys object if it exists inside t
     join_keys = jk
   )
 
-  testthat::expect_equal(get_join_keys(my_tdata), jk)
+  testthat::expect_equal(join_keys(my_tdata), jk)
 })
diff --git a/vignettes/creating-custom-modules.Rmd b/vignettes/creating-custom-modules.Rmd
index 9e68150c0e..dbaa62b1e4 100644
--- a/vignettes/creating-custom-modules.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/creating-custom-modules.Rmd
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ srv_histogram_example <- function(id, data, histogram_var) {
       id = "histogram_var",
       datasets = data,
       data_extract_spec = histogram_var,
-      join_keys = get_join_keys(data)
+      join_keys = teal.data::join_keys(data)
     )
 
     dataname <- reactive(extracted()$dataname)
diff --git a/vignettes/filter-panel.Rmd b/vignettes/filter-panel.Rmd
index 009b7f5aae..bf2a3b1be0 100644
--- a/vignettes/filter-panel.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/filter-panel.Rmd
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ app <- init(
 )
 
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 ```
 
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ app <- init(
   )
 )
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 ```
 
@@ -111,6 +111,6 @@ app <- init(
 )
 
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 ```
diff --git a/vignettes/teal-bs-themes.Rmd b/vignettes/teal-bs-themes.Rmd
index 6f4be77f9a..7c138def60 100644
--- a/vignettes/teal-bs-themes.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/teal-bs-themes.Rmd
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ If you want to update the theme in a regular `shiny::fluidPage`-like app, you do
 
 ### Interactive Theming Guide
 
-In this section we provide a step-by-step guide to customizing a `teal` application theme interactively with `bslib::run_with_themer()`. We recommend starting with a simple case and once you are satisfied, verifying with your full application. To that end we will use the `teal` application below. For this example we assume that we want to use Bootstrap 5. To start, we launch the app with `bslib::run_with_themer(app$ui, app$server)` instead of `shiny::runApp`.
+In this section we provide a step-by-step guide to customizing a `teal` application theme interactively with `bslib::run_with_themer()`. We recommend starting with a simple case and once you are satisfied, verifying with your full application. To that end we will use the `teal` application below. For this example we assume that we want to use Bootstrap 5. To start, we launch the app with `bslib::run_with_themer(app$ui, app$server)` instead of `shiny::shinyApp`.
 
 ```{r, eval = FALSE}
 options("teal.bs_theme" = bslib::bs_theme(version = "5"))
diff --git a/vignettes/teal.Rmd b/vignettes/teal.Rmd
index 76d47a65e0..5b79234de0 100644
--- a/vignettes/teal.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/teal.Rmd
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ app <- init(
 )
 
 if (interactive()) {
-  runApp(app)
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 ```
 <img src="images/example_app.png" alt="Example application" style="width: 100%;"/>