monad.ai

Initiating Monads ​

A monad is an Express HTTP runtime that holds a single ME kernel instance. It starts from one thing: a SEED.

bash
SEED=<64-hex-string> node dist/server.js

The SEED is the namespace authority — the root from which the kernel derives every identity, path, and secret in that surface. Without it, the monad does not start.

What happens at startup ​

  1. getKernel() calls new ME(process.env.SEED) — once, as a singleton.
  2. The kernel hydrates from me-state/snapshot.json if one exists (prior state).
  3. The Express app mounts its routers: /.monads/*, /me/*, /claims/*, /apps/*, /resolve.
  4. The monad registers itself with netget (see below).
  5. The heartbeat loop starts — every MONAD_NETGET_HEARTBEAT_MS (default 3000ms), the monad re-reports its presence.

Self-registration with netget ​

Netget runs at a fixed address (local.netget / port 80 via nginx). Every monad can run on an arbitrary port — the port is chosen at startup and is unknown to netget until the monad announces it.

This is why monad registers with netget, not the other way around:

monad Express (any port)
  └─ POST /apps/report → local.netget:80
       { name, port, host, metadata, health }

Netget stores the entry in memory with a TTL of 4 × heartbeatMs. If the heartbeat stops — monad crashed, was killed, or the process exited — the entry expires and netget considers that surface gone.

Environment ​

VariableRequiredPurpose
SEED / ME_SEED✓Namespace authority key
ME_NAMESPACE—Canonical rootspace name (e.g. suis-macbook-air.local)
MONAD_NAME—Human name of this surface instance
MONAD_PRIVATE_KEY—Ed25519 surface identity key — generate and persist one per instance
ME_STATE_DIR—Where snapshot.json lives (default: me-state/)

Multiple monads, one namespace ​

Several monad processes can share the same ME_NAMESPACE (e.g. monad:cleaker, monad:netget). Each reports separately to netget under a different name. Netget's mesh scoring picks the healthiest one when routing a request — this is subtractive synthesis: the namespace stays stable while individual monads come and go.