# holepunchto/hyperswarm

A distributed networking stack for connecting peers.

Repository: https://github.com/holepunchto/hyperswarm
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/hyperswarm
Homepage: https://docs.holepunch.to
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-26T14:40:31+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2907, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1326, forks 113 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:22.670841+00:00)

## What it is
Hyperswarm is a JavaScript library providing a high-level API for finding and connecting to peers interested in a shared 32-byte topic over a distributed hash table (HyperDHT). Connections are end-to-end encrypted with Noise, and peers can act as servers (announcing) or clients (looking up) for each topic.

## Use cases
- build a peer-to-peer chat app without servers
- find and connect to peers sharing a common topic
- create a serverless P2P network for my JavaScript app
- replicate data between peers over a DHT
- announce and discover services on a distributed hash table
- establish encrypted peer connections with hole punching

## When to choose
- you want serverless peer-to-peer networking in JavaScript
- you need topic-based peer discovery with encrypted connections
- you are building on the Holepunch/Pear ecosystem (Hypercore, Hyperdht, Pear)

## When to avoid
- you need a traditional client-server architecture with centralized infrastructure
- you are not working in JavaScript or a Bare/Node-compatible runtime
- you need guaranteed low-latency connections that a DHT-based swarm cannot provide

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: networking, p2p, rpc
- domain: networking, microservices, developer-tools
- platform: cross-platform, cli
- tags: peer-discovery, dht, hole-punching, noise-encryption, hyperswarm, holepunch, pear, peer-to-peer, nodejs

## Member repositories
- holepunchto/hyperswarm (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:22.670841+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:46:22.182834+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/holepunchto/hyperswarm (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:22.670841+00:00, sha c3adf5592501)
  - homepage: https://docs.holepunch.to (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:41.014698+00:00, sha 59e1c729fa30)
  - site_page: https://docs.pears.com/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:41.023766+00:00, sha 68b11b75ef11)
  - site_page: https://docs.pears.com/explanation (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:41.025892+00:00, sha 4cbafca4a9a2)
  - site_page: https://install.pears.com (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:41.027925+00:00, sha 7baa75f28dd3)
  - site_page: https://docs.pears.com/reference/pear/cli (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:41.029648+00:00, sha 3a3a510f2414)
  - site_page: https://docs.pears.com/getting-started/from-a-template/start-from-hello-pear-electron (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:41.032382+00:00, sha f8b26fc69f57)
  - site_page: https://docs.pears.com/getting-started/from-a-template/start-from-hello-pear-bare (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:41.034553+00:00, sha 44387ffa9dd6)
  - site_page: https://docs.pears.com/how-to/operate-an-app (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:41.037384+00:00, sha 7b8fbc4db941)
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- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.