How to Implement a Synapse Axon

An Axon is a client (script, sidecar, or service) that reports its status to the Synapse Core. This guide covers how to implement both "Smart" (interactive) and "Normal" (reporting-only) Axons.

1. Implement a Smart Axon (No SDK)

A "Smart Axon" reports status and can execute actions triggered from the dashboard. Since there is no official SDK yet, you must implement the MQTT protocol directly.

Prerequisites

• Transport: MQTT (TCP port 1883 or WS port 8083)
• Libraries: Any MQTT client (e.g., paho-mqtt for Python, mqtt.js for Node)

Step 1: Define the Configuration

You need to construct a JSON payload that defines your service, its widgets, and its actions.

{
  "api_version": "v1",
  "auth_token": "synapse-secret",
  "id": "my-smart-service",
  "name": "Production Database",
  "status": "online",
  "ttl": 30,
  "actions": [
    {
      "id": "restart",
      "label": "Restart Service",
      "style": "danger",
      "confirm": true
    }
  ],
  "widgets": [
    {
      "type": "stat",
      "id": "cpu_stat",
      "label": "CPU",
      "value": 45,
      "unit": "%"
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Handle Connections & Reporting

1. Connect to the MQTT Broker (localhost:1883).
2. Subscribe to the command topic: synapse/v1/command/{your_service_id}.
3. Publish your configuration payload to synapse/v1/discovery/{your_service_id}.
4. Loop: Re-publish the payload periodically (e.g., every TTL / 2 seconds) to act as a heartbeat.

Step 3: Handle Commands

When you receive a message on synapse/v1/command/{your_service_id}, parse the JSON payload to find the action_id.

# Python pseudo-code example
def on_message(client, userdata, msg):
    payload = json.loads(msg.payload)
    action = payload.get("action_id")
    
    if action == "restart":
        perform_restart()

Full Example (Python)

See examples/memory_axon.py in the codebase for a complete working example using paho-mqtt.

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2. Implement a Smart Axon (With SDK)

Current Status: SDK is not yet implemented.

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3. Implement a Normal Axon (Reporting Only)

A "Normal" or "Raw" Axon only reports status and metrics. It cannot receive commands.

Option A: MQTT (Recommended)

Same as the Smart Axon, but you do not need to define actions or subscribe to the command topic.

1. Connect to MQTT.
2. Publish payload to synapse/v1/discovery/{id}.

Option B: HTTP (Simple Scripts)

Use this for simple bash scripts or cron jobs where keeping a persistent MQTT connection is difficult.

Endpoint: POST http://core-address:8080/api/v1/discovery

Bash Example:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v1/discovery \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "api_version": "v1",
    "auth_token": "synapse-secret",
    "id": "backup-job-01",
    "name": "Nightly Backup",
    "status": "online",
    "ttl": 3600,
    "widgets": [
        { "type": "stat", "label": "Last Run", "value": "Success" }
    ]
  }'

Best Practices for Normal Axons

• Heartbeat: Ensure you send the request more frequently than the ttl value.
• Offline Status: If your script is exiting (e.g., error or shutdown), try to send one last payload with "status": "offline".

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4. Reference: Widget Types

When building your payload, you can use these widget types in the widgets list:

• stat: Key-value display (good for text/numbers).
• gauge: 0-100 visual progress bar/arc.
• status_indicator: Maps text values (e.g., "connected") to colors/icons.
• log_stream: Appends text lines to a scrolling log window.
• action_group: Buttons to trigger your actions (Smart Axons only).
• link: Static hyperlinks to external dashboards.

See docs/widget_reference.md for full JSON schemas.

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5. Implementing Notifications (Monitors)

You can add server-side alerting to any widget by adding a monitors array. Synapse evaluates these conditions every time it receives a heartbeat.

Condition Syntax

The variable value refers to the widget's current data.

• Numeric: value > 95 or value < 10
• Strings: value == 'error' or value != 'ok'
• Logs: len(value) > 0 && value[len(value)-1] contains 'CRITICAL'

Example Monitor

{
  "type": "gauge",
  "id": "temp",
  "value": 42,
  "monitors": [
    {
      "condition": "value > 40",
      "severity": "warning",
      "message": "Temperature is rising"
    }
  ]
}

Notifications (e.g., Email) are sent automatically on state change (when the condition first becomes true, and stops when it becomes false).