Primitives — Docs · U Framework

Design draft. The notation below is illustrative. It is not a released API and will change.

The framework concept is organized around six primitives. Each expresses one intention and absorbs the work that intention normally requires.

Primitive	Intention	Absorbs
`deploy`	Run this service in an environment	Build pipelines, environments, secrets, rollbacks, health checks
`distribute`	Deliver these assets and versions	CDN rules, cache invalidation, artifact versioning, regions
`push`	Deliver this message to these clients	Device tokens, fan-out, retries, delivery receipts, rate limits
`connect`	Let these services talk	Discovery, service authentication, queues, timeouts, schemas
`expose`	Publish this API	Routing, validation, rate limiting, documentation, versioning
`observe`	Tell me how it is doing	Metrics, logs, traces, alerts, backups

Illustrative notation

The sketch below shows the shape of intent we are designing for — a declarative description of a small system.

TypeScript

// Concept notation — not a released API.
const system = framework.system("orders", {
  services: {
    api: deploy({ from: "./services/api", env: ["production", "staging"] }),
    worker: deploy({ from: "./services/worker" }),
  },
  apis: {
    public: expose("api", { version: "v1", rateLimit: "100/min" }),
  },
  links: [connect("api", "worker", { via: "queue" })],
  delivery: distribute("./web/dist", { cache: "immutable" }),
  notifications: push({ channels: ["ios", "android", "web"] }),
  operations: observe({ alerts: "on-call", backups: "daily" }),
});

Principles applied to every primitive

Defaults are safe. TLS everywhere, least-privilege credentials, encrypted backups.
Defaults are visible. Every primitive reports what it did and why.
Everything can be overridden. A primitive can be replaced by explicit configuration at any layer.

Primitive

Intention

Absorbs

deploy

Run this service in an environment

Build pipelines, environments, secrets, rollbacks, health checks

distribute

Deliver these assets and versions

CDN rules, cache invalidation, artifact versioning, regions

push

Deliver this message to these clients

Device tokens, fan-out, retries, delivery receipts, rate limits

connect

Let these services talk

Discovery, service authentication, queues, timeouts, schemas

expose

Publish this API

Routing, validation, rate limiting, documentation, versioning

observe

Tell me how it is doing

Metrics, logs, traces, alerts, backups

Illustrative notation

The sketch below shows the shape of intent we are designing for — a declarative description of a small system.

TypeScript

// Concept notation — not a released API.
const system = framework.system("orders", {
  services: {
    api: deploy({ from: "./services/api", env: ["production", "staging"] }),
    worker: deploy({ from: "./services/worker" }),
  },
  apis: {
    public: expose("api", { version: "v1", rateLimit: "100/min" }),
  },
  links: [connect("api", "worker", { via: "queue" })],
  delivery: distribute("./web/dist", { cache: "immutable" }),
  notifications: push({ channels: ["ios", "android", "web"] }),
  operations: observe({ alerts: "on-call", backups: "daily" }),
});