Node

The Node module provides distributed actor capabilities, allowing actors to communicate across machines with location transparency. Messages are automatically serialized for network transport.

Node Identity

Nodes use the format name@host:port for identification, e.g., worker-1@192.168.1.10:9000.

Node Lifecycle

Node.start

String -> Result Unit NodeError

Starts this node with the given identity. Listens for incoming connections.

Node.start "worker-1@192.168.1.10:9000"

Node.stop

() -> Unit

Stops the node, closing all connections gracefully.

Node.name

() -> Option String

Returns the current node's identity if started.

Node.is-running?

() -> Bool

Returns true if the node is running.

Connection Management

Node.connect

String -> Result Unit NodeError

Connects to another node at the given address.

Node.connect "worker-2@192.168.1.11:9000"

Node.disconnect

String -> Unit

Disconnects from the specified node gracefully.

Node.connections

() -> List String

Returns list of all connected node addresses.

Remote Actors

Node.actor

String -> String -> Option Int

Gets a reference to a remote actor by node address and actor name. The returned handle can be used with Actor.send or the <- operator.

match Node.actor "worker-2@192.168.1.11:9000" "counter"
  | Some actor -> actor <- :inc
  | None -> println "Actor not found"

Node.nodes

() -> List String

Returns list of all known nodes (self + connected).

Error Types

type NodeError =
  | ConnectionFailed { address: String, reason: String }
  | ConnectionClosed { address: String }
  | HandshakeFailed { address: String, reason: String }
  | SerializationError { type-name: String, reason: String }
  | NodeNotStarted
  | NodeAlreadyStarted
  | ActorNotFound { name: String, node: String }
  | Timeout { operation: String }
  | InvalidAddress { address: String }
  | BindFailed { address: String, reason: String }