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S2 Lite is a self-hostable server implementation of the S2 API. It’s a single-node binary with no external dependencies beyond object storage, making it easy to run on AWS S3, Tigris, MinIO, or any S3-compatible storage.

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What is S2 Lite?

S2 Lite is embedded as the s2 lite subcommand of the S2 CLI. It provides:
  • Zero dependencies: Single binary with no external services required (besides optional object storage)
  • Multiple storage modes: In-memory, local filesystem, or S3-compatible object storage
  • Durable by default: Data is always persisted to object storage before acknowledgment
  • SlateDB engine: Uses SlateDB for storage, designed specifically for object stores
  • Full S2 API: Compatible with all S2 SDKs and the CLI

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Architecture

S2 Lite consists of:
  • HTTP server built with axum
  • Stream tasks: Each stream runs as a Tokio task (“streamer”) that owns the tail position, serializes appends, and broadcasts to followers
  • SlateDB storage: Embedded key-value store backed entirely by object storage
  • Pipelined appends: Improved performance against high-latency object storage

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Storage Modes

In-Memory

No persistence. Perfect for development, testing, and CI environments.

Local Filesystem

Persist to local disk. Good for single-node deployments with attached storage.

Object Storage

Durable persistence on S3-compatible storage. Production-ready.

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Key Features

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Simplified Deployment

No distributed consensus, no coordination services, no complex cluster management. Just a single binary and object storage.

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Development-Friendly

Run in-memory mode for instant local development and testing: 
s2 lite --port 8080

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Production-Ready

Deploy to Kubernetes with the official Helm chart, or run as a Docker container with S3 backend.

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Full API Coverage

S2 Lite implements the complete S2 v1 API, including basins, streams, records, and streaming sessions. The only exception is access token management (not needed for self-hosted deployments).

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Use Cases

Development & Testing
  • Local development without cloud dependencies
  • Integration tests with in-memory mode
  • CI/CD pipeline testing
Self-Hosted Production
  • On-premises deployments
  • Private cloud environments
  • Cost-optimized workloads
Edge & Regional
  • Edge computing scenarios
  • Regional data residency requirements
  • Low-latency local processing

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Compatibility

S2 Lite works with all official S2 SDKs and tools:
  • CLI: ✅ v0.26+
  • TypeScript SDK: ✅ v0.22+
  • Go SDK: ✅ v0.11+
  • Rust SDK: ✅ v0.22+
  • Python SDK: 🚧 Migration to v1 API in progress
  • Java SDK: 🚧 Migration to v1 API in progress

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Performance

Pipelining is currently disabled by default for safety. Enable it with S2LITE_PIPELINE=true to improve performance against high-latency object storage. This will be enabled by default in a future release.
For performance testing, use the built-in benchmark: 
s2 bench my-basin --target-mibps 10 --duration 5s

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Next Steps

Quick Start

Get S2 Lite running in minutes

Deployment

Deploy to production environments

Kubernetes

Deploy with Helm to Kubernetes

Configuration

Configure S2 Lite for your needs

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