What is HyperBEAM?

HyperBEAM is the primary, production-ready implementation of the AO-Core protocol, built on the robust Erlang/OTP framework. It serves as a decentralized operating system, powering the AO Computer—a scalable, trust-minimized, distributed supercomputer built on permanent storage. HyperBEAM provides the runtime environment and essential services to execute AO-Core computations across a network of distributed nodes.

Why HyperBEAM Matters

HyperBEAM transforms the abstract concepts of AO-Core—such as Messages, Devices, and Paths—into a concrete, operational system. Here's why it's pivotal to the AO ecosystem:

• Modularity via Devices: HyperBEAM introduces a uniquely modular architecture centered around Devices. These pluggable components define specific computational logic—like running WASM, managing state, or relaying data—allowing for unprecedented flexibility. Users can extend the system by creating custom Devices to fit their specific computational needs.
• Decentralized OS: It equips nodes with the infrastructure to join the AO network, manage resources, execute computations, and communicate seamlessly.

Built on the Erlang/OTP framework, HyperBEAM provides a robust and secure foundation that leverages the BEAM virtual machine for exceptional concurrency, fault tolerance, and scalability. This abstracts away underlying hardware, allowing diverse nodes to contribute resources without compatibility issues. The system governs how nodes coordinate and interact.

In essence, HyperBEAM is the engine that drives the AO Computer, enabling a vision of decentralized, verifiable computing at scale.

Core Components & Features

• Modular Devices: The heart of HyperBEAM's extensibility. It includes essential built-in devices like ~meta, ~relay, ~process, ~scheduler, and ~wasm64 for core functionality, but the system is designed for easy addition of new custom devices.
• Message System: Everything in HyperBEAM is a "Message" — a map of named functions or binary data that can be processed, transformed, and cryptographically verified.
• HTTP Interface: Nodes expose an HTTP server for interaction via standard web requests and HyperPATHs, structured URLs that represent computation paths (effectively a sequence of state transformations for messages).

Architecture

• Initialization Flow: When a HyperBEAM node starts, it initializes the name service, scheduler registry, timestamp server, and HTTP server, establishing core services for process management, timing, communication, and storage.
• Compute Model: Computation follows the pattern Message1(Message2) => Message3, where messages are resolved through their devices and paths. The integrity and history of these computations are ensured by hashpaths, which serves as a cryptographic audit trail.
• Scheduler System: The scheduler component manages execution order using slots — sequential positions that guarantee deterministic computation.
• Process Slots: Each process has numbered slots starting from 0 that track message execution order, ensuring consistent computation even across distributed nodes.

HTTP API and Pathing

HyperBEAM exposes a powerful HTTP API that allows for interacting with processes and accessing data through structured URL patterns. We call URLs that represent computation paths HyperPATHs. The URL bar effectively functions as a command-line interface for AO's trustless and verifiable compute.

For a comprehensive guide on constructing and interpreting paths in HyperBEAM, including detailed examples and best practices, see HyperPATHs in HyperBEAM.

In essence, HyperBEAM is the engine that powers the AO Computer, enabling the vision of a scalable, trust-minimized, decentralized supercomputer built on permanent storage.