Show HN: Fostrom, an IoT Cloud Platform built for developers
Source: Hacker News
Introduction
Hey HN! Arjun and Sid here.
Fostrom is an IoT Cloud Platform designed for developers to make it easy to get started and scale fleets.
Features
- Device SDKs (Python, JavaScript, Elixir, more coming soon)
- Typed Schemas
- Per‑Device Mailboxes
- Programmable Actions
- Four global regions for lower‑latency connections
Origin
We built Fostrom to solve a real need we faced in our previous startup, which involved building a fully automated indoor vertical farm. Most of our time was spent figuring out IoT infrastructure rather than writing automation logic. Fostrom is the platform we wish had existed back then.
Architecture
We experimented with many technologies and settled on an architecture we consider elegant:
- A Go‑Elixir bridge to execute JavaScript code in WASM for Actions.
- A DuckDB library for Elixir.
- A Device Agent written in Rust that runs in the background of our SDKs (see the repository: ).
Data Layer
After years of trying distributed databases and building complex layers on top of them, we realized the limitations around consistency and querying. To provide operational correctness, rich insights, and reliability, we decided to use a SQL database for fleet data. We built a DuckDB‑based replicated multi‑tenant data layer. It simplifies the rest of the codebase while keeping operational complexity in a few places.
Vision
Our goal is to create a powerful IoT platform that enables developers to build correct, secure, and reliable connected systems without dealing with plumbing or infrastructure.
Upcoming Work
- Launch of our CLI
- Automatic device monitoring added to the Device SDKs
- Improved debugging experience
- More blog posts detailing our architecture and journey
Launch Blog Post
We published a launch blog post that goes into more detail about our vision, what we’ve built, and our future plans:
Call for Feedback
We’d love for you to try out Fostrom and share your feedback and thoughts.