Open Source Distributed Systems Projects
Distributed systems are collections of independent computers that coordinate over a network to provide shared services or process data. They help applications handle growth, remain available when components fail, and operate across locations. Designing them involves challenges such as network delays, data consistency, coordination, fault recovery, and balancing performance with reliability.
Open source tools in this area include databases, message queues, job processors, storage and replication systems, and deployment or orchestration platforms. When choosing one, consider its maturity, license, maintenance activity, documentation, operational requirements, scaling model, and compatibility with your existing stack. These tools are useful for developers, architects, and operators building resilient services, as well as learners exploring system design and distributed computing concepts.
24 repositories · updated October 4, 2026
SwarmLLM: Run Local and Distributed AI Models
SwarmLLM runs open AI models on your computer and can pool resources with other computers to run larger models. It also provides OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible APIs for local apps and agents.
taOS: Run Self-Hosted AI Agents Across Your Hardware
taOS is a self-hosted platform for running AI agents, local models, chat, and memory on hardware you control. It combines a web desktop with optional distributed compute, making it suited to privacy-focused users who can manage a beta system.
dramatiq: Process Background Tasks in Python
Dramatiq is a Python library for sending work to background workers through RabbitMQ or Redis. It suits Python applications that need distributed task processing without tying task execution to a web request or other foreground operation.
mrq: Run Distributed Python Task Queues
MRQ is a Python task queue that uses Redis, MongoDB, and gevent to schedule and run distributed jobs. It suits teams needing queue management, worker visibility, and parallel execution for mixed I/O- and CPU-bound tasks.
system-design-resources: Find System Design Reading and Videos
A curated collection of articles, papers, videos, and tools covering system design and distributed systems. Useful for engineers preparing for design interviews or exploring specific architecture topics.
KurrentDB: Store and Stream Application Events
KurrentDB is an event-native database for applications built around event sourcing and distributed messaging. It stores ordered events and provides an integrated streaming engine, with self-managed and managed-cloud deployment options.
typesense: Build Fast, Typo-Tolerant Search Experiences
Typesense is a C++ search engine for adding low-latency, typo-tolerant search to applications. Use it when you want a straightforward, self-hostable alternative to hosted search services, with options for filtering, faceting, vector search, and clustering.
callfs: Provide Filesystem Storage Over a REST API
CallFS is a Go storage server that exposes filesystem-style file operations over HTTP, using local disks, S3-compatible stores, or a cluster of nodes. It suits applications that need shared file storage without relying on network filesystem mounts.
grpc-go: Build Go Services with gRPC
grpc-go is the Go implementation of gRPC, a high-performance RPC framework built around HTTP/2. Use it to define and implement RPC clients and servers in Go, especially for service-to-service communication.
yjs-cf-ws-provider: Relay Yjs Collaboration over Cloudflare
A serverless WebSocket provider that relays Yjs updates using Cloudflare Workers and Durable Objects. Intended for learning and demonstrations, it supports Yjs WebSocket clients and can persist document state to R2.
sidequest: Run Durable Background Jobs Without Redis
Sidequest is a Node.js job processor that stores durable background jobs in PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, or MongoDB. It suits teams that want distributed workers and job monitoring without adding Redis to their infrastructure.
tau: Build and Run Distributed Cloud Applications
Taubyte is a Go-based platform for building and deploying applications across local and self-managed cloud environments. It combines serverless functions, web hosting, databases, object storage, and messaging for developers and AI-assisted workflows.