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Rivet Engine ​


Rivet Engine

What is Rivet Engine? ​

Rivet Engine is the backend engine that powers Rivet Actors at scale. It's an optional component of the Rivet ecosystem that provides enterprise-grade infrastructure for running stateful workloads with long-lived processes, durable state, and realtime capabilities.

While you can use RivetKit (the TypeScript library) with a file system or memory driver for development, Rivet Engine provides production-ready infrastructure for:

  • Automatic scaling from zero to millions of concurrent actors
  • Distributed state management with fast, in-memory state storage
  • Actor lifecycle management with hibernation and instant wake-up
  • Built-in resilience with automatic failover and recovery
  • Edge deployment for low-latency global distribution

Think of it as the production runtime that takes your RivetKit actors and scales them effortlessly across distributed infrastructure.

Key Features ​

  • Production-Ready Scaling: Automatically scale from zero to millions of concurrent actors with no cold starts
  • Distributed State Storage: State is stored on the same machine as your compute for ultra-fast reads and writes with no database latency
  • Actor Lifecycle Management: Actors automatically hibernate when idle and wake instantly on demand, only consuming resources when active
  • Built-In Realtime: Native support for WebSockets and SSE for realtime state updates and broadcasting
  • Resilient Infrastructure: Automatic failover and recovery with state integrity preservation
  • Edge-Ready: Deploy actors close to users for instant interactions
  • Multi-Runtime Support: Works with Node.js, Bun, Deno, and Cloudflare Workers
  • API Integration: RESTful API for managing runners, actors, and namespaces
  • Built on Web Standards: Uses standard HTTP, WebSockets, and SSE protocols

Use Cases ​

Rivet Engine powers applications that require:

  • AI Agents: Durable AI assistants with persistent memory and realtime streaming capabilities
  • Realtime Collaboration: Collaborative documents, whiteboards, and tools with CRDTs and realtime synchronization
  • Durable Workflows: Multi-step workflows with automatic state management and recovery
  • Local-First Applications: Offline-first apps with server-side synchronization and conflict resolution
  • Chatbots & Automation: Discord, Slack, or autonomous bots with persistent conversation state
  • Per-User Databases: Isolated data stores for each user with zero-latency access
  • Multiplayer Games: Authoritative game servers with realtime state synchronization
  • Background Processing: Scheduled and recurring jobs without external queue infrastructure
  • Rate Limiting: Distributed rate limiting with in-memory counters and state

How It Works ​

Rivet Engine provides a backend runtime that:

  1. Manages Actors: Coordinates actor lifecycle, hibernation, and wake-up across distributed infrastructure
  2. Handles State: Stores actor state in memory for fast access, with persistent backup to storage backends
  3. Routes Requests: Efficiently routes client requests to the correct actor instance
  4. Scales Dynamically: Automatically spawns and destroys actor instances based on demand
  5. Ensures Resilience: Monitors health and automatically recovers failed actors with state preservation

Integration with RivetKit ​

Rivet Engine works seamlessly with RivetKit, the TypeScript library for building actors:

  • Development: Use RivetKit with file system or memory drivers for local development
  • Production: Deploy to Rivet Engine for automatic scaling and enterprise features
  • Self-Hosted: Run Rivet Engine on your own infrastructure for full control
  • Managed: Use Rivet Cloud for 1-click deployment with managed infrastructure

Deployment Options ​

Deploy Rivet Engine on:

  • Self-Hosted (Coolify, Docker, Kubernetes)
  • Cloud Platforms (Vercel, Railway, AWS ECS, Google Cloud Run, Hetzner)
  • Rivet Cloud (Managed, 1-click deployment)

Storage Backends ​

Rivet Engine supports multiple storage backends for actor state:

  • PostgreSQL
  • File System
  • Memory (development/testing)
  • Custom storage adapters