distribute

Typed distributed messaging for Gleam on the BEAM.

distribute is a thin typed safety layer over Erlang’s distribution primitives. It puts binary codecs in front of :global and Subject so the compiler catches protocol mismatches before messages leave the process. Payload size and dead-target detection are enforced at every I/O boundary, so a misbehaving peer cannot OOM your node or hang it.

Install

gleam add distribute

Requires Gleam 1.16 or newer, Erlang targetÉ only.

30-second taste

import distribute
import distribute/codec
import distribute/receiver

let greeter = distribute.named("greeter", codec.string())

let assert Ok(_gs) =
  distribute.start_registered(greeter, Nil, fn(msg, _state) {
    io.println("got: " <> msg)
    receiver.Continue(Nil)
  })

let assert Ok(target) = distribute.lookup(greeter)
let assert Ok(Nil) = distribute.send(target, "hello")

For the full walkthrough see docs/quickstart.md.

Documentation

All long-form docs live in docs/:

• Quickstart. Boot, configure, send.
• Recipes. Counter, pool, versioned protocol, cluster events, custom records.
• Actors and registry.
• Messaging. send / receive / call.
• Codecs and types. Wire format, custom records, tagged messages.
• Safety and limits. Payload limits, threat model, recommended sizing.

What you get

• Typed boundary. TypedName(msg) binds a name to a codec. Registration and lookup share the same msg type, and the compiler rejects mismatches.
• Hard payload caps. max_payload_size_bytes is enforced before encode and before decode on every path: send, receive, call, reply, actor handlers, selectors.
• Fast-fail calls. global.call monitors the target. A dead target returns Error(TargetDown) immediately. Late replies and DOWN messages are drained from the caller’s mailbox.
• OTP-native. Real OTP gen_server-flavored actors via gleam_otp/actor, real supervisors, real child specs. observer, sys:get_status, restart strategies all work. No magic.
• Single-source codec. Encoding and decoding happen through one Codec(a) value. Combinators (map, list, option, tuple, tagged) cover the common cases without macros.

Custom Type Codecs

Seamlessly encode and decode your Algebraic Data Types (enums) with a fluent builder.

pub type MyMessage {
  Text(String)
  Ping
}

import distribute/codec
import distribute/codec/variant

let my_codec = 
  variant.new()
  |> variant.add(0, "Text", codec.string(), Text, fn(m) {
    case m { Text(s) -> Ok(s); _ -> Error(Nil) }
  })
  |> variant.unit(1, "Ping", Ping, fn(m) { m == Ping })
  |> variant.build()

Cluster Monitoring

Subscribe to cluster events (NodeUp, NodeDown) to react to node topology changes.

import distribute
import distribute/cluster/monitor

let subj = process.new_subject()
let assert Ok(m) = distribute.subscribe(subj)

// In your actor/process
case process.receive(subj, 5000) {
  Ok(monitor.NodeUp(node)) -> io.println("Node joined: " <> node)
  Ok(monitor.NodeDown(node)) -> io.println("Node left: " <> node)
  _ -> Nil
}

// Later
distribute.unsubscribe(m)

Caveats

• Two codebases, one wire. TypedName enforces type safety inside one codebase. Mismatched codecs across separate codebases produce runtime decode errors, not compile errors.
• No auto-derive. Gleam has no macros, so complex codecs are manual. The combinators keep them short.
• terminate caveat in gleam_otp/actor 1.x. External shutdown paths do not currently invoke an OTP-style terminate callback. If an actor owns files, sockets, ETS tables, ports, or other external resources, use the linked resource-owner pattern documented in docs/recipes.md and docs/safety_and_limits.md.
• One internal coupling. We construct Subject from a remote PID via one Erlang FFI function. That is the single point that depends on gleam_erlang’s subject layout.

Development

gleam test          # full suite (includes mandatory real-cluster Z2/Z3)
epmd -daemon        # start Erlang distribution daemon if not already running
gleam dev           # multi-node playground
gleam docs build    # local API docs

License

MIT. See LICENSE.