/pulsebeam

Open-source, real-time media stack in Rust. Simple, reliable, and built to scale.

Primary LanguageRustGNU Affero General Public License v3.0AGPL-3.0

PulseBeam

Lightweight end-to-end stack for real-time video/audio/data.
Rust WebRTC SFU core. HTTP signaling (no WebSockets). Modular services.

Report a Bug · Request a Feature · Discord

PulseBeam is an opinionated real-time media stack designed to be simple, reliable, and easy to extend.

  • Rust SFU core – fast, memory-safe, no garbage collector pauses.
  • HTTP signaling – WHIP/WHEP-compatible, extended for multi-party and server-side use cases. No WebSockets required.
  • SDK optional – any client that speaks WebRTC (browsers, mobile, embedded, bots) can connect directly; thin SDKs will exist for convenience.
  • Modular by design – features like recording, analytics, or AI live outside the core as separate processes.

If your client can do WebRTC, it can talk to PulseBeam.

Clients (browsers, mobile, embedded, bots)
          ↕
      PulseBeam
          ↕
 External agents (recorders, transcoding, AI)

Quickstart

The easiest way to run PulseBeam is with Docker:

docker run --rm --net=host ghcr.io/pulsebeamdev/pulsebeam:pulsebeam-v0.1.8

Other ways to run:

  • Binary: download from Releases
  • Source: cargo run --release -p pulsebeam

Demo: Broadcast

Use browser-native APIs — no SDK lock-in:

Publisher (sends video)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@picocss/pico@2/css/pico.min.css">
</head>
<body>
  <h3>Publisher</h3>
  <video id="localVideo" autoplay playsinline style="width:320px;height:240px;border:1px solid #ccc;"></video>
  <button id="startBtn">Start Publishing</button>
  <span id="status">Not connected</span>

  <script type="module">
    const status = document.getElementById("status");
    const localVideo = document.getElementById("localVideo");
    document.getElementById('startBtn').onclick = async () => {
      const pc = new RTCPeerConnection();

      const stream = await navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({ video: true, audio: false });
      localVideo.srcObject = stream;

      pc.addTransceiver("video", { direction: "sendonly" }).sender.replaceTrack(stream.getVideoTracks()[0]);
      pc.onconnectionstatechange = () => status.textContent = pc.connectionState;

      const offer = await pc.createOffer();
      await pc.setLocalDescription(offer);

      const res = await fetch("http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rooms/demo", {
        method: "POST",
        headers: { "Content-Type": "application/sdp" },
        body: offer.sdp
      });

      await pc.setRemoteDescription({ type: "answer", sdp: await res.text() });
      console.log("Publishing started");
    };
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Run it immediately: Open Publisher JSFiddle

Viewer (receives video)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@picocss/pico@2/css/pico.min.css">
</head>
<body>
  <h3>Viewer</h3>
  <video id="remoteVideo" autoplay playsinline style="width:320px;height:240px;border:1px solid #ccc;"></video>
  <button id="viewBtn">Start Viewing</button>
  <span id="status">disconnected</span>

  <script type="module">
    const status = document.getElementById("status");
    const remoteVideo = document.getElementById("remoteVideo");
    document.getElementById('viewBtn').onclick = async () => {
      const pc = new RTCPeerConnection();
      pc.addTransceiver("video", { direction: "recvonly" });
      pc.ontrack = e => remoteVideo.srcObject = e.streams[0];
      pc.onconnectionstatechange = () => status.textContent = pc.connectionState;

      const offer = await pc.createOffer();
      await pc.setLocalDescription(offer);

      const res = await fetch("http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rooms/demo", {
        method: "POST",
        headers: { "Content-Type": "application/sdp" },
        body: offer.sdp
      });

      await pc.setRemoteDescription({ type: "answer", sdp: await res.text() });
      console.log("Viewing started");
    };
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Run it immediately: Open Viewer JSFiddle

Roadmap

  • ✅ Prototype: working video-only Rust SFU + demo
  • 🚧 Core stability: simulation testing, end-to-end tests (current focus)
  • 📅 Bandwidth estimator, audio and data handling, video simulcast
  • 📅 First-party services (recording, etc.) + JS SDK
  • 📅 Built-in multi node or cascading SFU.

License

  • Server → AGPL-3.0
  • Client libraries/tooling → Apache-2.0

Internal/company use is fine. Need a different license? → lukas@pulsebeam.dev

Community

PRs welcome.