Architecture
How Helix's layers connect — from device firmware to the cloud control plane.
Helix spans the full stack, but every layer is an independently adoptable library or SDK. You compose only the pieces you need, and they all speak one transport-neutral protocol.
The layers
Embedded firmware
ESP32 (ESP-IDF) and Arduino/AVR (FreeRTOS) firmware are built on a shared, transport-abstracting protocol core: packet, dispatch, endpoint, and transports. Application services — OTA, secure MQTTs provisioning, file transfer, a durable event queue, and an on-device store — layer cleanly on top.
Edge Linux OS
A minimal, purpose-built Linux image for Jetson, Raspberry Pi, and x86. It ships only what the workload needs and is fully manageable end-to-end over MQTTs.
Cloud platform
All backend capability lives in one reusable package: the database, tRPC routers, storage providers, PKI, the event queue, an MQTT bridge, and the releases/OTA control plane. Apps are thin wiring over composable server roles (gateway, ingest, writer).
Clients
A React/Next.js web app and a BLE-first native Android (Compose) app, both built on the same protocol/service/transport split. They talk to devices locally over BLE/Serial or remotely over MQTT/WebSockets.
The unifying seam
Every layer meets at the Helix protocol: a typed request/response and query/mutation surface that abstracts the transport. Add a transport without touching services; register a service without touching transports.