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Key concepts (beginner)

What you’ll learn​

  • What “decentralized compute” means in Acurast
  • The roles in the ecosystem: providers, developers, and end-users
  • How Hub, deployments, and processors relate

Acurast roles​

  • Compute Providers: run the Acurast Processor app on smartphones and provide compute.
  • Developers: deploy apps (“deployments”) that run on processors.
  • Token holders / delegators: can participate in network economics (e.g. staking / staked compute).

Processor types (Lite vs Core)​

From the official processor overview:

  • Processor Core (Android-only): dedicated device, factory reset, locked down for higher reliability/performance.
    Reference: https://docs.acurast.com/acurast-processors/
  • Processor Lite (Android + iOS): run on your everyday phone (e.g. while charging overnight), no factory reset.
    Reference: https://docs.acurast.com/acurast-processors/

Hub​

The Acurast Hub (https://hub.acurast.com/) is the web console used for onboarding processors, viewing activity, and interacting with the ecosystem.

Deployments (developer mental model)​

At a high level:

  1. You write an app (commonly Node.js/TypeScript).
  2. You bundle it into a single JS file.
  3. You configure acurast.json (how it should execute).
  4. You deploy via the Acurast CLI / console.
  5. Processors execute it.

Start with the official “First App Deployment” tutorial: https://docs.acurast.com/developers/deploy-first-app/