A Realm is a URL-oriented place to store files. Files can be code, data, or assets.
It provides a file server that enables reading, mutating or deleting source code of cards, or data in JSON blobs.
The capabilites of the realm are:
The entry point that serves these requests handle function in realm.ts file. Depending on the Accept header (the recognized ones are application/vnd.card+json, application/vnd.card+source, application/vnd.api+json, text/event-stream, text/html) and the HTTP verb (GET, PATCH, POST, DELETE ), it will perform one of the actions listed in the above list. The routing that depends on the MIME type and HTTP method is defined in router.ts. There’s a special case of requesting the realm root (/) with GET and application/vnd.card+json. This looks for a card instance at index.json to return.
The different types of requests, together with its params, are documented in realm-server-test.ts.
The realm also has an internal capability to transpile card code using Babel transforms. handle function has an option to
respond with a Glimmer template (.gts file) which is compiled to JavaScript. This is useful for browsers to be able to
actually execute the card code.
The realm is isomorphic JavaScript code meant to be run in any environment, and there exists a RealmAdapter whose job is to provide environment specific implementations for 2 different types of realms.
This realm runs in a Node.js environment on a server.
This is a realm that is used in the tests.
We are planning to introduce a set of permissions that a realm can enforce against the cards it contains. The permissions will not be card specific but they will apply to all cards in the realm, which implies the idea of identity that will be supported by realms.