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Numax

Introduction

What Numax is

Numax is a runtime for distributed applications, written in Rust.

Three things, only three:

  1. Runs WebAssembly modules in a sandbox. You write a module in any language that compiles to WASM. Numax loads it, links the host API, and calls run(). The module cannot touch anything outside what the host explicitly exposes.

  2. Keeps state local. Every node has an embedded key/value datastore (sled) on disk. State lives next to the code, not on a remote server. The node stays useful even when the network is gone.

  3. Syncs state across nodes with CRDTs and gossip. When nodes are connected, they exchange operations and converge automatically. You don’t write reconciliation code. You don’t resolve conflicts by hand. The data structures handle it.

That’s the whole model. You write the logic. Numax handles the environment.

Why it exists

Building distributed software today usually means: containers, orchestrators, remote databases, a separate sync layer, and three different toolchains depending on where the code runs.

Most of that weight exists to solve problems that come from the architecture itself, not from the original problem you were trying to solve.

Numax tries a different path: keep the runtime small, keep the state local, let CRDTs handle convergence. The hard parts of distributed systems don’t disappear, but you stop paying for the ones you didn’t actually need.

When to use it

Numax is a good fit when:

  • you have multiple nodes or devices that share state and need to stay in sync
  • you need the system to keep working when the network is down or slow
  • you want to ship logic as a WASM module and let the runtime handle storage and sync
  • you want something self-contained - no external database, no coordination service

Concrete examples: edge inventory systems, offline-capable apps, sensor networks, collaborative tools, config propagation across nodes, small multiplayer state.

When not to use it (for now)

  • Strong consistency or transactions across nodes - CRDTs converge eventually, not immediately. This is on the roadmap.
  • Data models that don’t fit CRDT semantics - grow-only, last-writer-wins, set operations. More primitives are coming.
  • General-purpose database with rich queries - not what Numax is.
  • Critical production workloads - Numax is at v0.1.x, tested and usable, but still early. The remaining limits are documented in the Roadmap.

These are current limits, not permanent ones. If something is blocking you, open an issue - that’s exactly how priorities get shaped.

What’s inside

PieceWhat it does
nxThe CLI - nx run module.wasm, nx config validate, nx config show
nx-coreThe runtime engine - WASM loading, host API, datastore, sync
nx-sdkThe guest SDK - Rust library for writing WASM modules
nx-siteThis documentation site
examples/Seven working examples, each under ~100 lines

WASM execution is powered by Wasmtime. The local datastore uses sled. Sync uses gossip with periodic anti-entropy for recovery.

Current status

v0.1.x - first stable release line, intended for controlled and non-critical workloads.

It works. The examples run. The two nodes converge. The remaining limits are documented in the Roadmap.

Where to go next