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Typed actors, without the heavy runtime

Nixie is a small in-process actor framework built on the .NET Task Parallel Library. Actors own their state, process messages asynchronously, and communicate through strongly typed references.

caller ── typed message ──▶ actor inbox ──▶ Receive(message)
       ◀── typed Task<T> ────────────────┘  (Ask only)

What you get​

  • Compile-time contracts. Request and response types are part of every actor interface and reference.
  • Two messaging styles. Use Send for fire-and-forget work or Ask for a typed response.
  • Explicit overload behavior. Bound an inbox, check admission with TrySend or TryAsk, and prioritize control messages.
  • Useful actor variants. Class, struct-message, aggregate, and router APIs cover common performance and distribution patterns.
  • Managed lifecycle. Name and look up actors, schedule messages, stop timers, shut actors down gracefully, and wait for pending work.
  • Familiar .NET integration. Constructor injection and Microsoft.Extensions.Logging work without a separate hosting model.

When Nixie fits​

Nixie is a good fit when a single .NET process needs isolated mutable state, serialized per-actor work, or high-volume message passing without coordinating locks by hand. It does not provide cluster membership, remote transport, or durable message storage; choose a distributed actor runtime when those are requirements.

Requirements​

  • .NET SDK 8.0 or later
  • Nixie 1.2.5
  • Nullable reference types are recommended

Install Nixie and build your first actor →