Spanda

The Autonomous Systems Platform — with a safety-first programming language at its core.

Build. Verify. Simulate. Deploy. Operate.

Spanda is a safety-first Autonomous Systems Platform with a dedicated programming language at its core. It orchestrates robots, devices, AI agents, vehicles, humans, and intelligent environments using a unified Entity Model and built-in capabilities for readiness, assurance, recovery, trust, health, distributed autonomy, and governance.

Spanda implements a Cognitive & Resilience Architecture inspired by proven engineering principles observed in biological nervous systems — functional concepts (reflexes, homeostasis, immunity, fusion, attention, memory) without biological anatomy in code.

Spanda is not a biologically inspired AI platform and does not attempt to model consciousness, emotions, or neural structures.

Spanda is an autonomous systems platform centered on the Spanda Language (.sd files): typed robot programs, safety gates, hardware verification, cascading TOML configuration, simulation, replay, fleet operations, mission assurance, mission continuity, and 38 official packages.

Spanda focuses on Readiness, Assurance, and Diagnosis for safety-critical autonomous systems.

Repository: github.com/Davalgi/Spanda

Current release: v0.6.3 (2026-07-04) — evaluation / beta. Suitable for pilots, demos, and integration testing. Not a full production claim: default AI and IoT paths are mock-backed unless live env is configured. See docs/known-limitations.md · docs/release-readiness.md · path to v1.0: docs/organizational-gates.md.

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Philosophy

Hardware is the body.
Sensors are the senses.
AI models are the mind.
Actuators are the muscles.
Spanda is the intelligent pulse that transforms perception, intent, and safety into action.

Autonomy is layered — reflex, spinal cord, brain — with the mind proposing and the pulse enforcing. Nervous system →

Spanda uses a Cognitive & Resilience Architecture inspired by proven engineering principles from biological nervous systems: local reflexes, distributed coordination, sensory fusion, homeostasis, platform immunity, operational memory, adaptive recovery, and attention management. The goal is not to imitate biology, but to apply measurable resilience patterns to safety-critical autonomous systems. Cognitive & Resilience Architecture →

Spanda is not a biologically inspired AI platform and does not attempt to model consciousness, emotions, or neural structures. Biological concepts are used only where they provide measurable engineering benefits.

Spanda (Pronounced SPUN-duh (/ˈspʌndə/)) is a Sanskrit term meaning the divine pulse — the creative vibration of consciousness and energy that manifests as expansion and contraction in all entities, bridging stillness and movement within consciousness; and the first stir of awareness that creates and sustains the universe.

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What is Spanda?

Spanda is an autonomous systems platform built around the Spanda Language — a typed programming language where sensors, AI models, actuators, safety rules, and deployment targets are first-class concepts in source code.

You write a robot block with sensors, actuators, safety zones, and agents. The compiler enforces physical units, validates AI proposals before they reach hardware, and checks that your program fits the deployment target before you ship.

robot SafePatrol {
  sensor lidar: Lidar;
  actuator wheels: DifferentialDrive;
  ai_model planner: LLM { provider: "mock"; model: "patrol"; }

  safety {
    max_speed = 0.5 m/s;
    stop_if lidar.nearest_distance < 0.5 m;
  }

  behavior patrol() {
    loop every 100ms {
      let proposal = planner.reason(prompt: "Plan motion", input: lidar.read());
      wheels.execute(safety.validate(proposal));
    }
  }
}

What Spanda is / isn't: docs/overview/what-spanda-is.md · Why Spanda (detail): docs/overview/philosophy.md

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Platform navigation

Spanda is a product ecosystem — not only a language repository.

Platform Pillars	Language · Compiler & Runtime · Verification · Device & Fleet · Security · Operations · Developer · Packages
Official Solution Blueprints	Warehouse · Search & Rescue · Healthcare · ADAS · Smart Factory · Agriculture · Critical Infrastructure · Environmental · Maritime · Transportation · Space · Defense · Research · Spatial HRI
Architecture overview	Components, workflow, product family
Platform Architecture v2.0	Layers, dependency rules, ownership, CI validation — 0 production upward waivers
Full roadmap	Ownership model, dependency maps, timeline (Now / Next / Later / Long Term / Research)

Product family: Spanda Language → Runtime → Verify → Readiness → Assurance → Diagnosis → Recovery → Trust → Control Center → Registry → SDKs

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Unified Entity Model

Everything managed by Spanda is represented as an Entity — robots, humans, devices, wearables, packages, providers, missions, facilities, and cloud services share one common architecture for identity, health, readiness, trust, relationships, and lifecycle.

Entity
 ├── Health / Readiness / Trust
 ├── Capabilities & Relationships
 └── Verification (verify_entity)
         ↓
   Platform Services (Verify, Readiness, Device Pool, Fleet)

• Browse: spanda entity list --config crates/spanda-config/tests/fixtures/warehouse/spanda.toml · Control Center Entities tab · GET /v1/entities
• Verify: spanda entity verify rover-001 --config crates/spanda-config/tests/fixtures/warehouse/spanda.toml · POST /v1/entities/{id}/verify
• Graph: spanda entity graph --config crates/spanda-config/tests/fixtures/warehouse/spanda.toml · GET /v1/entities/graph

Guide: docs/entity-model.md · APIs: docs/entity-apis.md · SDK: docs/entity-sdk.md · Examples: examples/entity/ — Stable tier; SDKs 0.4.2 on crates.io, PyPI, npm

Entity CLI commands require a project spanda.toml or --config (warehouse fixture above).

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Quick start

# Install (from clone)
git clone https://github.com/Davalgi/Spanda.git
cd Spanda && ./scripts/install.sh
# Or: cargo install --path crates/spanda-cli --locked

spanda demo rover          # flagship platform demo
spanda demo assurance      # mission assurance CLI suite
spanda demo self-healing   # recovery policies, heal/recover/sim
spanda recovery plan examples/showcase/self_healing/rover.sd --failure gps  # orchestrator
spanda recovery explain examples/showcase/self_healing/rover.sd --failure gps
spanda demo continuity     # takeover, delegation, succession
spanda decision list examples/showcase/distributed_decisions/main.sd  # brain/spinal-cord/reflex autonomy
spanda reflex list --json              # Cognitive & Resilience reflex catalog
spanda homeostasis check --json        # platform stability snapshot

# Or step by step:
spanda check examples/showcase/killer_demo.sd      # type-check
spanda verify examples/showcase/hardware_compatibility.sd  # hardware fit
spanda sim examples/showcase/killer_demo.sd        # simulate

Install options: docs/installation.md · First project: docs/getting-started.md · Troubleshooting: docs/troubleshooting.md

Official SDKs (Control Center API clients):

cargo add spanda-sdk
pip install spanda-sdk
npm install @davalgi-spanda/sdk

Guide: docs/sdk.md · Publish: docs/sdk-publishing.md · Desktop: docs/desktop-release-runbook.md · Versioning: docs/control-center-versioning.md (desktop-v0.6.3)

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Explore further

Topic	Guide
5-minute eval & flagship demos	docs/overview/flagship-demos.md
Where should I start? (by role)	docs/overview/where-to-start.md
Signature capabilities	docs/overview/signature-capabilities.md
Platform components	docs/overview/platform-components.md
Feature status	docs/overview/feature-snapshot.md · docs/feature-status.md
Known limitations	docs/known-limitations.md · mock/live backend setup in docs/troubleshooting.md
v0.6.3 → v1.0 gates	docs/organizational-gates.md · field soak + security audit
Distributed decisions	Stable — docs/distributed-decisions.md · docs/distributed-decision-demo.md · spanda decision simulate-attack
Cognitive & Resilience Architecture	Beta — docs/cognitive-resilience-architecture.md · docs/cognitive-resilience-maturity.md · domain SDK clients · Control Center Cognitive & Resilience tab
Recovery Orchestrator	Stable — docs/recovery-orchestrator.md · REST /v1/recovery/* · Control Center Recovery tab
Demos & examples	docs/overview/demos-and-examples.md
Code samples	docs/overview/code-samples.md
Differentiators	docs/overview/differentiators.md

Full overview index: docs/overview/README.md

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Documentation

Start here	Description
ROADMAP.md	Product roadmap — pillars, blueprints, timeline
docs/getting-started.md	First robot in 10 minutes
docs/control-center.md	Control Center — start API/UI, rebuild, serve with --config and --program
docs/control-center-versioning.md	Control Center versioning — UI/CLI/API semver, desktop-v* auto release
docs/troubleshooting.md	Symptom-first fixes — CLI, SDK install, verify, fleet, ROS2, Control Center
docs/known-limitations.md	Honest scope limits, mock backends, organizational gates
docs/organizational-gates.md	v0.6.3 → v1.0 path — field soak, security audit, exit checklist
docs/sdk.md	Official SDKs — cargo add spanda-sdk, pip install spanda-sdk, @davalgi-spanda/sdk
docs/platform-overview.md	Platform components and workflow
docs/spanda-language.md	Language guide
docs/solutions/README.md	Official Solution Blueprints
docs/tutorials/README.md	Tutorials and learning paths
examples/README.md	Runnable examples library
docs/plugins.md	Plugin system — install, trust tiers, Control Center panels
docs/README.md	Full documentation index
docs/ci-architecture.md	Tiered CI — Fast / Integration / Nightly, branch protection

CLI reference: spanda man <command> · docs/man/ · Language API: docs/spanda-reference.md

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Contributing

CONTRIBUTING.md · CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md · CI tiers: docs/ci-architecture.md

./scripts/ci-fast.sh

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License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE.