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Version: 4.6

Harper Architecture

Before diving deep into APIs and configuration, it helps to understand the big picture of how Harper works.
Harper uses a three-layer architecture designed for distributed, edge-first computing. Each layer builds on the next, letting you start simple and scale as your app grows.

At a high level:

  • Core services handle data, networking, and files.
  • Plugins layer in reusable features (REST, GraphQL, Next.js, etc.).
  • Applications bring everything together to deliver user-facing functionality.
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đź’ˇ Why it matters: You focus on building your app, while Harper takes care of scaling, networking, and consistency behind the scenes.

Core Services​

Harper ships with three essential services:

  • Database → Fast storage, queries, and transactions.
  • Networking → REST/HTTP, WebSockets, MQTT, and cluster communication.
  • Component Management → The system that loads, configures, and connects components (applications, plugins, resources) so they work together consistently.

Think of these as Harper’s foundation—every extension and app builds on them.

Applications & Extensions​

Most of your work will happen here.

Applications​

Applications sit at the top layer. They’re where you implement user-facing features. Examples:

  • A Next.js app served directly from Harper.
  • A basic app from the Getting Started guide that defines a schema, adds a table, and automatically exposes REST endpoints with the rest extension.

Applications don’t re-invent core logic—they declare the plugins they need.

Component Configuration​

Every Harper project starts with a root configuration.
This configuration declares which components (applications, plugins/extensions, resources) should be loaded and how they should be initialized.

Some components are self-contained, while others include configuration that ties into additional components. For example:

  • An application in the root config might load the rest plugin.
  • The rest plugin exposes data from the database, so its configuration links to graphqlSchema.
  • graphqlSchema defines the tables that the database service makes available.

This layering of configuration is what makes Harper composable: by declaring one component in your root config, you can enable entire sets of functionality.

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đź’ˇ Why it matters: Instead of wiring everything manually, you declare the root config, and Harper initializes the components in the right relationships.

Resource API​

At the heart of Harper is the Resource API. It gives you a unified, consistent way to interact with data.

  • get() → fetch data
  • post() → create data or trigger actions
  • put() → replace existing data
  • patch() → update part of a record

Every call is wrapped in a transaction, so multi-table operations stay consistent without extra boilerplate.

For the complete API, see the Resource reference.

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💡 Why it matters: You can build reliable features—like signups, payments, or analytics—without hand-rolling transaction logic.

Transaction Model​

All requests run inside automatic transactions:

  • Read/write across multiple tables in a single request.
  • Automatic change tracking.
  • Guaranteed consistency at commit.
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💡 Why it matters: You don’t have to think about database race conditions or half-finished writes—Harper guarantees integrity by default.

✅ With this architecture in mind, you can see how Harper scales from “hello world” to complex, distributed applications. Next, try putting it into practice by building your first app.