LabNet

LabNet lets experiment programs anywhere on a lab network use instruments attached to other computers safely: one user at a time, through typed operations, with the instrument's own computer staying in charge of the hardware.

• New here? The Quickstart runs a whole simulated lab on your computer in two commands.
• Writing experiments? See Clients.
• Adding an instrument? See Writing a driver.
• Setting up a lab? See Deploying a lab.

How the network fits together

There are three roles. In the lab each role runs on its own computer; for development all three run on your laptop. Each role reads one settings file.

Role	Command	Settings file	Listens on	Job
Central	labnet-central --env-file central.env	central.env	HTTP 127.0.0.1:8008 (HTTPS :443 via Caddy in the lab)	Users and API keys, the device directory, exclusive leases
Lab PC	labnet-lab-pc --env-file lab-pc.env	lab-pc.env	gRPC :50051; health 127.0.0.1:9001	Owns the attached instruments and serves their operations
Client	your script, using LabClient.from_env()	client.env	nothing	Leases a device from Central, then talks directly to its Lab PC
Control Center	labnet-control-center --env-file control-center.env	control-center.env	HTTP 127.0.0.1:8080 (HTTPS via Caddy in the lab)	Web interface; a client of Central like any other

                  ┌─────────────────────────────┐
                  │           Central           │
                  │ API keys · devices · leases │
                  └──▲──────────────────▲────┬──┘
1. register devices, │       2. log in, │    │ 3. Lab PC address
           heartbeat │        request a │    │    + lease id
      5. check lease │            lease │    │
                     │                  │    │
                     │                  │    ▼
              ┌──────┴──────┐         ┌─┴──────────┐
              │    Lab PC   │◄────────│   Client   │
              │  + drivers  │         │(your code) │
              └─────────────┘         └────────────┘
                      4. gRPC + lease id, direct

1. At startup a Lab PC connects its instruments and registers them, along with its gRPC address, with Central. It keeps sending heartbeats.
2. A client logs in to Central with an API key and requests a lease on one device.
3. Central grants the lease only if nobody else holds the device, and returns the Lab PC's address and a lease id.
4. The client connects straight to that Lab PC and sends the lease id with every call.
5. The Lab PC checks the lease with Central before touching the hardware.

Leases last 60 s and the client renews them automatically every 20 s. If a client crashes, its lease expires and the device frees itself. Central also expires a lease after 15 minutes with no device commands.

License

LabNet is licensed under the MIT License.