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How Beam Works

Beam is a new kind of cloud provider that makes the experience of using the cloud feel almost the same as using your local machine.

It’s powered by an open-source container orchestrator that launches containers in less than 1 second.

This makes it possible to iterate on the cloud an order of magnitude faster than using Docker.

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Functions

You can run functions on the cloud, either once, or on a schedule.

Functions

One-off Python functions, like training runs, scraping, or batch jobs.

from beam import function

@function()
def handler():
    return {}

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Runs locally
    handler.local()
    # Runs on the cloud
    handler.remote()

Scheduled Jobs

Functions that run based on a schedule you specify.

from beam import schedule

@schedule(when="every 1d")
def handler():
    return {}

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Runs locally
    handler.local()
    # Runs on the cloud
    handler.remote()

Run Your Function

You’ll run your functions like a normal Python function:

python app.py

Even though it feels like the code is running locally, it’s running on a container in the cloud.

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Endpoints

You can also deploy synchronous and asynchronous web endpoints:

Endpoints

Synchronous REST API endpoints, for tasks that run in 60s or less.

from beam import endpoint

@endpoint(name="quickstart")
def handler():
  return {}

Task Queues

Asynchronous REST API endpoints, for heavier tasks that take a long time to run.

from beam import task_queue

@task_queue(name="quickstart")
def handler():
  return {}

Testing Your Code

Beam provides a temporary cloud environment to test your code.


These environments hot-reload with your code changes. You can test your workflow end-to-end before deploying to production.

beam serve app.py:handler

Deploying to Production

When you’re ready to deploy a persistent endpoint, you’ll use beam deploy:

beam deploy app.py:handler

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