Subsystem map
This page routes a task to the system that owns it. The map reflects current source families, not only the original engine core.
Core runtime
| System | Owns |
|---|---|
| Mail and kinds | addressing, payload identity, delivery and replies |
| Concurrency | actor seriality and safe blocking boundaries |
| Scheduler | bursts, ready work, worker policy and cost-aware dispatch |
| Frame lifecycle | ordered stages, subscriptions, advance and shutdown |
| Tracing and settlement | causal trees, holds and exact completion |
| Logging | per-actor rings and out-of-actor diagnostics |
| Configuration | argv/env/file layering and resolved dumps |
Start with Core runtime systems before editing a scheduler or settlement invariant.
Hosted code and discovery
For the hosted-code overview and replacement boundary, start with Hosted code and live replacement.
| System | Owns |
|---|---|
| Components | wasm publish/spawn/load/drop, exports, config and state transfer |
| Inventory and transforms | live names, kind schemas, native handlers, value transforms |
The hub's stored artifact and an engine's loaded instance are different things. The operating chapter covers that lifecycle.
Platform and network I/O
| System | Owns |
|---|---|
| File I/O | namespaced host files and transform-folded fetch |
| HTTP egress | bounded outbound requests |
| HTTP server | inbound routes, streaming and websockets |
| TCP | framed listeners and session actors |
| RPC | hub/engine process transport |
| Clipboard | text clipboard with system / in-memory backends |
| Content generation | the provider-component pattern, the aether.process CLI edge, and staged media |
These all cross trust or blocking boundaries. Read Platform and network I/O for the common rules.
Media, interaction, and product tools
For the media and product-tools overview, start with Media, interaction, and product tools.
| System | Owns |
|---|---|
| Rendering and camera | GPU draw queues, textures, materials, capture and matrices |
| Render programs | authored GPU programs, bindings, transients and passes |
| Text | the renderer's fonts, glyph atlas, layout and metrics |
| Mesh authoring | DSL, parser, tessellation and viewer load |
| Audio | realtime events, scheduling, instruments, tracks and effects |
| Input | key, pointer, text, IME and subscription streams |
| Window | window lifecycle, mode/title, menu and cursor chrome, unsupported replies |
Native capabilities own devices; guest actors (aether-kit's camera and mesh viewer) compose them into product behavior.
Fleet and operation
The hub/engine control plane spans process topology, engine fleet and stores, and the MCP harness. It is separated from engine-local systems because spawn/upload/selector semantics live outside a child registry.
Find the current contract
Use the capability index for mailbox/source
routing and engine-scoped describe_kinds, describe_handlers, and
describe_component queries. The guide explains meaning; code and live schemas
answer exact signatures.