Quick Start

This guide walks you through creating your first Intention Space application — a simple service health monitor that uses pulses to declare and validate system state.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Basic familiarity with JSON and JavaScript

Step 1: Define Your Pulses

Create a file called pulses.json:

{
  "pulses": [
    {
      "name": "service-healthy",
      "description": "The target service is responding within acceptable latency",
      "conditions": {
        "http_status": 200,
        "latency_ms": { "max": 500 }
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "monitoring-active",
      "description": "The monitoring system itself is operational",
      "depends_on": ["service-healthy"]
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Create a Design Node

const HealthChecker = {
  name: "HealthChecker",
  receives: ["monitoring-active"],
  produces: ["service-healthy"],

  transform: async (pulses) => {
    const start = Date.now();
    const response = await fetch(process.env.TARGET_URL);
    const latency = Date.now() - start;

    return {
      pulse: "service-healthy",
      value: response.status === 200 && latency < 500,
      metadata: { latency, status: response.status }
    };
  }
};

Step 3: Run and Observe

Every pulse state change is logged, every transition is traceable. No hidden logic, no silent failures.

Next: Learn about Design Nodes and how they compose into complex systems.