Syntax

References in Hyperactor follow a uniform concrete syntax that can be written as strings and parsed at runtime.

String Form

The canonical string syntax supports hierarchical references, from procs down to ports:

addr,proc_name
addr,proc_name,actor_name
addr,proc_name,actor_name[pid]
addr,proc_name,actor_name[pid][port]

These forms can be used wherever a reference is accepted as a string, such as command-line arguments, config files, and logs.

Examples:

• tcp:[::1]:1234,myproc — proc reference

• tcp:[::1]:1234,myproc,logger[1] — actor named logger, pid 1

• tcp:[::1]:1234,myproc,logger[1][42] — port 42 of that actor

The parser is robust and fails clearly on invalid syntax.

Runtime Parsing

The Reference type implements FromStr, so you can parse strings into references:

use hyperactor::reference::Reference;

let r: Reference = "tcp:[::1]:1234,myproc,worker[0]".parse().unwrap();

It returns a strongly typed enum: Reference::Proc, Reference::Actor, Reference::Port.