FAQ
Find short answers to the questions people ask first about Alvo: its status, packages, authentication, databases, scope, CEL, errors and licence.
Is Alvo production-ready?
Section titled “Is Alvo production-ready?”Not yet: Alvo is pre-v0.1, nothing is released, and the descriptor format’s unfinished parts and the Management API may still change. What it runs is tested on every change, and Running in production shows how to configure it for real use; Roadmap and status lists what may change and the known issues.
Is there a NuGet package or a Docker image?
Section titled “Is there a NuGet package or a Docker image?”The image, yes; the packages, not yet. The standalone image is published as ghcr.io/burgyn/alvo, for linux/amd64
and linux/arm64, with an edge tag built from main; Quick start runs it
with one downloaded compose file. Publishing the MMLib.Alvo.* packages, and the first versioned image tag, is the
v0.1 release; until then an embedded host references the projects or a local package feed
(Embed in ASP.NET Core).
Can I use my own authentication?
Section titled “Can I use my own authentication?”In an embedded host, yes: your users sign in to your app, and your own endpoints pass Alvo their id, roles and tenant, so the descriptor’s rules decide what they may do (Use your own authentication). The generated API itself accepts only Alvo’s API keys today, and publishing your signed-in user to it is planned (#210).
Which databases does it support?
Section titled “Which databases does it support?”PostgreSQL and SQLite, with the same rules, events and tenancy on both; PostgreSQL is the one the published performance numbers were measured on. The SQL a database spells differently sits behind one dialect interface, so another engine can be added without touching the rule engine, but no other engine is in this build (Architecture).
Does it do realtime or file storage?
Section titled “Does it do realtime or file storage?”No. Both are planned components; an entity’s realtime setting is accepted and sends nothing, as
Capabilities in this build states. What works today
lists what does run.
Why CEL, and not C# lambdas?
Section titled “Why CEL, and not C# lambdas?”A descriptor is data: a lambda cannot live in a JSON file, be checked when the descriptor is applied, be read by an agent, or be rendered into the SQL that filters rows, and CEL can do all four while being unable to loop or reach the network (CEL in Alvo). When you do need C#, an embedded host registers it as a function the descriptor’s hooks can call (Custom CEL functions).
Where are the errors documented?
Section titled “Where are the errors documented?”Every refusal is an RFC 9457 problem document, and each type slug has its own section, with causes and fixes, in
Problem types. Handle errors shows how a
client should branch on them, including why an excluded row is a 404 and an excluded page is empty, not a 403.
Can an AI agent build and change my backend?
Section titled “Can an AI agent build and change my backend?”That is what Alvo is designed for: one schema-described JSON file, refusals that say how to fix them, and a Management API with dry runs, revision checks and idempotent applies (For coding agents). The dashboard’s schema assistant proposes checked changes, and only a person applies them.
What does it cost?
Section titled “What does it cost?”Nothing: Alvo is open source under the Apache License 2.0, and the core stays under it. Only enterprise add-ons and optional hosting may ever be commercial (License).