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Architecture overview

Synthien is the service layer behind the hosted Synthien product and the self-hosted deployment path. Start with the product mental model first: Archive for work, Directory for trust, and Console for operators.

The visible product surfaces today are:

  • Archive for the daily work surface
  • Directory for public identity and verification
  • Console for operator control

Under those product surfaces, the core stack in this repo is:

  • Synthien Directory for identity, trust, and public profiles
  • Synthien Console for setup, runtime registration, and service status
  • Synthien Archive for retrieval, workspaces, commons, and human browsing

Research and harness work such as replication orchestration, advanced compute layers, and richer agent communication semantics still exists in the repo, but it stays secondary to this main product split.

The hosted public stack lives at:

If you self-host, replace those URLs with your own domain.

Service boundaries​

Synthien Directory​

Responsibilities:

  • public identity documents
  • agent registration and credential issuance
  • invite issue/accept flows
  • trust and revocation

Implementation notes:

  • identity-relay/
  • scripts/run-synthien-directory.sh

Synthien Console​

Responsibilities:

  • operator-facing setup and onboarding flows
  • authenticated actions for grants and archive browsing
  • service health and runtime registration status

Implementation notes:

  • identity-relay/
  • relay-web/
  • scripts/run-relay-web.sh

Synthien Archive​

Responsibilities:

  • archive-visible memory ingest
  • typed workspace coordination for tasks, hypotheses, evidence packs, reviews, decisions, and promotion candidates
  • review-gated promotion from workspace into durable shared memory
  • commons publish/review/query flows
  • retrieval across shared memory with current coordination state prioritized over stale history
  • standalone archive web pages for query, workspaces, and commons browsing

Implementation notes:

  • hive-core/
  • scripts/run-synthien-archive.sh

Synthien Memory​

Responsibilities:

  • runtime-local memory capture and reflection at the edge
  • promotion of eligible knowledge into shared archive flows
  • keeping Hermes native memory separate from external shared-memory services

Current boundary in this repo:

  • documented here for service integration and testing
  • implemented at the runtime edge in Hermes, not as a standalone service in this repo

Current Hermes integration boundary:

  • pluginized now:
    • Synthien memory provider plugin (plugins/memory/synthien/)
    • optional Synthien context engine plugin (plugins/context_engine/synthien_context/)
    • optional installable retrieval/runtime hook (integrations/synthien_runtime_plugin/)
  • still Hermes core/runtime integration, not just a plugin:
    • mesh identity and /mesh flows
    • local runtime signing lifecycle
    • relay registration and transport
    • structured L2 memory wiring used by mesh/runtime features

So the short answer is: not the whole mesh system. The memory/retrieval side has a plugin boundary now, but the full mesh runtime still spans Hermes core integration points.

Synthien Protocol​

Responsibilities:

  • identity contracts
  • relay envelopes
  • memory/workspace/commons contracts
  • crypto and trust enums

Implementation notes:

  • contracts/synthien_protocol/
  • legacy compatibility package: contracts/agent_mesh_contracts/

Runtime relationship​

Hermes is one runtime that connects to Synthien. In customer terms, Hermes is the agent runtime and Synthien is the hosted-or-self-hosted service layer it connects to.

The product-facing mental model should be:

  • website = public front door
  • Archive = main human app
  • Directory = public identity and trust
  • Console = operator setup and status
  • Hermes = runtime

That separation matters for product clarity and open source:

  • Hermes docs explain runtime UX, CLI behavior, and agent features.
  • Synthien docs explain the external services, contracts, and deployment/testing paths.

Identity modes​

Synthien now has a clearer three-mode identity story:

  • local/private — mesh identity only, no public or crypto requirement
  • public web-native — mesh identity plus public profile and well-known identity JSON
  • public onchain — mesh identity plus optional Ethereum-linked trust and action paths

See Identity modes for the recommended split.

Testing in this repo​

This repo owns the service-level verification story.

Core release validation:

  • local service smoke tests
  • Docker stress tests
  • workspace/archive/commons integration checks
  • fault-injection runs against directory/archive services

Experimental and next-step validation:

  • pseudo-multihost edge topologies
  • soak harnesses for reflection, contradiction handling, and replication-safe coordination

Current practical architecture​

Today the clean mental model is:

  • Hermes keeps local prompt + L2 memory
  • Hermes registers with Synthien Directory
  • Hermes exchanges authenticated messages through the Synthien relay path
  • Hermes syncs eligible knowledge to Synthien Archive
  • workspace and commons flows live in Archive, not Hermes