Synod documentation

Synod is a small language for watching distributed systems think. You write the nodes, the messages and the faults; the simulator runs them; you watch what happened and check what must never happen.

Everything on these pages runs the same synod that you install on your machine, compiled to WebAssembly: edit a program, press Run, and read the diagnostics or watch the animation. If you are new, start with the tutorial; it builds up from one sentence to a working Raft election.

• Tutorial

  Fifteen short chapters, from one sentence to a working Raft election.

• Reference

  The specification of the language, one page per chapter.

• Library

  Every standard package and phrase, each with a runnable example.

• Examples

  Raft, Paxos, two-phase commit and more. Run them, edit them, break them.

• Guides

  Install Synod, write a look, publish a package, use agents.

• Errors

  Every diagnostic code: what it means, a program that shows it, and the fix.

• Design

  The principles behind the language and the decisions that shaped it.

• Tribute

  Leslie Lamport's Part-Time Parliament and why we call it Synod.