drift Docs
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What is Drift?
The tour, if you are new here.
Why Drift?
The case for a smaller cloud.
Getting started
Nothing to deployed, in one command.
Architecture
How a slice is put together.
What it costs
The free grant, five unit prices, two rules.
Build
Atomic
Serverless functions.
Write a function
The handler shape, and what you pay for.
The directive
Trigger, route, auth and secrets on one line.
Six languages
Go, Python, Node, Ruby, PHP, Rust.
Runtime versions
Which interpreter version your function runs on.
Authentication
The auth= gate, and per-route API keys.
Request headers
What reaches your handler, and what does not.
Triggers
Queue-triggered and scheduled functions.
Streaming
SSE and WebSocket from one function.
Outbound egress
What a slice may dial.
Limits and alerts
Timeout, memory and rate, and being told.
Elements
One language, one manifest, many functions.
The CLI surface
Every drift atomic command.
Backbone
Secrets, data, blobs, queues.
NoSQL
JSON collections, upserted on _id.
SQL
Per-slice SQLite, with transactions.
Blobs
Files and uploads, organised by bucket.
Secrets
Encrypted config a function declares.
Queues
FIFO messages that trigger functions.
Cache
Key/value strings with a TTL.
Locks
Stop two workers doing one job.
Realtime
In-slice pub/sub over WebSocket.
Canvas
Static sites, same origin as your API.
Deed
Identity, devices and wallets.
KeyAuth
Passwordless login with device keys.
JWT
Sign and verify with the slice's own key.
Vault
Ciphertext the slice cannot read.
Link
Enroll a second device by attestation.
Pocket
E2EE app data that follows an identity.
Tools
CLI
One binary, every noun.
Reference
The binary, and every noun.
account
Sign up, log in, delete.
slice
Create, resize, snapshot, domains.
project
Deploy, diff, run locally.
file
Lint and explain a Driftfile.
atomic
One function at a time.
backbone
Reach into the data plane.
deed
One read-only status command.
canvas
Deploy a static site.
migrate
Move off another cloud.
Dashboard
What bare drift opens.
SDK
Six languages, zero dependencies.
Writing a handler
Arguments, request, return.
API reference
Both namespaces, every call.
NoSQL
Documents, by _id or storage key.
SQL
Queries and transactions.
Cache
Strings with a TTL.
Secrets
Read what the function declared.
Blobs
Bytes, addressed bucket/key.
Queues
Push, and pull if you must.
Locks
A token you hand back.
Realtime
Publish, and count who heard.
Deed
KeyAuth, JWT, Vault, Link, Pocket.
Utilities
Logs, egress, cross-slice calls.
Languages
The same handler, six ways.
Driftfile
One file that describes your app.
Anatomy
Every top-level key, and the name rules.
A worked example
One app with every section written out.
Atomic
Function limits, schedules, alerts, egress.
Backbone
Collections, databases, buckets, secrets.
Canvas
Sites, and the route each mounts on.
Domains
Custom hostnames the slice answers on.
Environments
One project, several slices, one file.
Deploying
Lint it, hook a build on, read its errors.
Operate
Auth
Accounts, tokens and scopes.
Security
Boundaries, sandboxing and hardening.

API reference

Every call a handler can make, at a glance. Each primitive has its own page with exact signatures, return shapes and the edges worth knowing. The tables below are the map.

Method names follow each language's conventions: Go's drift.Backbone.Secret.Get is drift.backbone.secret.get in the interpreted SDKs. In Node.js every Backbone call is async, so await it.

Backbone state

One namespace, drift.Backbone, is the sole entrypoint for every state primitive.

EntrypointMethods
  • NoSQL
    Entrypoint
    drift.Backbone.NoSQL.Collection(c)
    Methods
    Insert · Get · Read · List · Delete · Drop
  • SQL
    Entrypoint
    drift.Backbone.SQL(name)
    Methods
    Query · Execute · Begin
  • Cache
    Entrypoint
    drift.Backbone.Cache
    Methods
    Set · Get · Del (Go) / delete
  • Secrets
    Entrypoint
    drift.Backbone.Secret
    Methods
    Get · Set · Delete
  • Blobs
    Entrypoint
    drift.Backbone.Blob
    Methods
    Put · Get
  • Queues
    Entrypoint
    drift.Backbone.Queue(q)
    Methods
    Push · Pop
  • Locks
    Entrypoint
    drift.Backbone.Lock
    Methods
    Acquire · Release
  • Realtime
    Entrypoint
    drift.Backbone.Realtime.Channel(c)
    Methods
    Publish · Presence

Deed identity

A peer namespace, drift.Deed, not one of Backbone's primitives, because identity is a different kind of problem from storage. All five live on one page.

EntrypointMethods
  • KeyAuth
    Entrypoint
    drift.Deed.KeyAuth
    Methods
    Challenge · Verify
  • JWT
    Entrypoint
    drift.Deed.JWT
    Methods
    Issue · Verify · SliceID
  • Vault
    Entrypoint
    drift.Deed.Vault
    Methods
    Put · Get
  • Link
    Entrypoint
    drift.Deed.Link
    Methods
    Begin · SessionInfo · Attest · Complete · Revoke · QR
  • Pocket
    Entrypoint
    drift.Deed.Pocket
    Methods
    Set · Get · Delete · List

Top level

Area Calls
Utilities & cross-sliceHTTPRequest · Slice(name) · CallerSlice · Env · Log

The handler's own types (its signature, the Request struct, the streaming arguments) are on Writing a handler, since they describe the function rather than something it calls.

Signatures are shown in Go

, the statically-typed reference. The dynamically-typed SDKs (Python, Node.js, Ruby, PHP) hand you parsed values, a dict or array rather than raw bytes, so the “decode the bytes” and “unmarshal each” notes apply to Go and Rust; elsewhere the value arrives ready to use.

Three surfaces need a running slice.

SQL is unserved locally, every Deed call errors, and Realtime is callable but inert. What runs locally has the detail.