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Blok

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A new kind of backend development.

Most backend frameworks focus on features. Blok focuses on clarity. It gives developers the power to build modular, testable, observable systems from the ground up—without having to adopt complex orchestration platforms or serverless lock-in.

As a Blok developer, you don’t build backends by routing HTTP requests into controllers. You build workflows composed of focused nodes, observe them in real time, test each unit independently, and deploy them across runtimes or teams.

This is backend development that finally feels intentional, measurable, and scalable in design, even before it’s deployed.

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Why Blok ?

Because backend development shouldn’t be a black box.

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Traditional frameworks:

  • Mix logic across controllers, services, and middleware
  • Make it hard to write isolated tests
  • Offer little to no runtime observability
  • Limit flexibility in how and where code runs

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Blok gives you:

  • A structured way to build with nodes and workflows
  • Built-in support for test-driven development
  • Real-time metrics via Prometheus
  • Multi-runtime support for logic written in Node.js, Python, Bun, and more
  • SDKs to invoke logic from any system—even legacy ones

It’s not a serverless platform. It’s not a monolith. It’s a clean developer-first architecture for building composable logic that can evolve over time.

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The Developer Experience

Being a Blok developer means:

  • You write small, focused nodes with pure logic.
  • You compose those nodes into workflows, defining clear logic flows.
  • You run your service with npm run dev and immediately get real-time Prometheus metrics on execution time, CPU/memory usage, and data I/O.
  • You test every node independently with simple unit tests—because the architecture makes it natural.
  • You reuse nodes across multiple workflows.
  • You expose your workflows via multiple triggers like HTTP or gRPC—with no extra code.

And when it’s time to modernize existing legacy systems, the Blok SDKs make it possible to invoke individual nodes directly from a wide range of programming environments—including older or enterprise-grade languages.

The SDKs act as a bridge—letting you modernize one node at a time, without needing a full rewrite or migration.

This isn’t just about what you build—it’s about how confidently and clearly you build it.

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Key Concepts

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Nodes

A node is the smallest unit of logic—self-contained, reusable, and testable. Nodes are registered and grouped in the src/nodes.ts file.

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Workflows

A workflow defines how multiple nodes execute together. It includes branching logic, context passing, and output formatting. Workflows are defined in JSON.

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Context

The CTX is a shared execution object that flows through your workflow. It carries:

  • Parameters
  • Inputs and outputs
  • Secrets
  • Runtime metadata

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Triggers

Workflows can be triggered by:

  • HTTP
  • gRPC
  • More to come (e.g. Cron, events, queues)

Triggers are defined declaratively and allow the same logic to be accessed from multiple interfaces.

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CLI-First Development

Everything starts with the official CLI, nanoctl:

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Create a project:

npx nanoctl@latest create project

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Run locally:

npm run dev

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Build:

npx nanoctl@latest build

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Deploy:

npx nanoctl@latest deploy

Projects include Prometheus metrics out of the box and provide optional Docker + Grafana dashboards for real-time introspection.

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Built for the Modern Stack—and the Legacy One

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Runtimes supported today:

  • Node.js
  • Bun
  • Python 3

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Runtimes on the roadmap:

  • C# / .NET
  • Java
  • Go
  • Rust
  • PHP

You can even combine multiple runtimes in the same project, giving teams the freedom to write in the right tool for the task.

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SDKs That Bridge Eras

The Blok SDKs let you call any registered node from external code—no matter the language.

This means you can:

  • Keep your existing system (e.g., a .NET 2.0 ERP or a Java 8 financial service) fully operational
  • Gradually offload business logic into modular blok nodes
  • Invoke those nodes as remote functions via HTTP or gRPC, using lightweight SDKs tailored for each language
  • Keep old systems running while introducing modular, testable logic

For example:

  • A legacy .NET 3.5 desktop application can call a Python node that performs ML-based pricing.
  • A Java 8 backend can delegate PDF generation to a Bun-based node.
  • A Spring Boot system can execute a reusable workflow written entirely in TypeScript.
  • A VB6 app (through a .NET wrapper) can send data to a modern, testable workflow.

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Summary

Blok is not an orchestration platform or cloud service. It’s something different.

It’s a developer architecture. One that gives you:

  • Clear, modular logic design
  • Native support for testing and observability
  • Runtime and language flexibility
  • Smooth integration with new and old systems

And most importantly: it’s a framework that trusts you to build systems that grow well.