Harper is an open-source Node.js platform that merges your database, cache, app logic, and messaging into a single in-memory runtime. It looks like a distributed system, but feels as simple as running one service — making it the easiest way to ship fast, data-intensive, real-time, globally scaled applications.
The typical journey is: develop locally with Harper, then deploy and operate globally on Harper Fabric.
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Docs & Getting Started – Install Harper, connect to Fabric, and deploy your first app.
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Core Open Source Runtime – The main Harper engine.
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Harper Fabric (Hosted Platform) – Run and manage distributed Harper clusters in the cloud.
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Apps, Templates & Components – Explore real projects built on Harper via the
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Harper Learn – Weekly video series + code following the journey from setup to real-world apps.
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Discord – Chat with the team and community, ask questions, and share what you’re building.
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YouTube – Deep dives, Harper Learn episodes, and live coding sessions.
We welcome issues and PRs in the core Harper repo and across the ecosystem.
At Harper, we take special care to distinguish between open source and source available software.
Open source software must be licensed under an OSI-approved license (we use Apache 2.0 as the default), allowing anyone to use, modify, and distribute the software freely. The core, @HarperFast/Harper repo is open source along with many additional Harper plugins, applications, examples, tooling, and more.
Source available software, on the other hand, allows users to view the source code but may have restrictions on its use, modification, or distribution. By default, we use the Elastic License 2.0 for source available projects. Certain Harper products, such as the Harper Replication Plugin and Harper Fabric will be made source available in the future. While a majority of our projects are open source, always pay special attention to the license within any repository or distribution to understand the specific terms and conditions that apply.
For more information on licensing read our Licensing FAQ
