Initiating Monads

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

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

Variable	Required	Purpose
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.