Hub Node Reference

Technical reference for the Hub node type

Hub node reference

Technical reference for the Hub node type. A Hub is a coordination server that manages multiple Agents and provides gateway services in the OctoMY™ network.

Did You Know?

The Hub is the only OctoMY™ node type allowed to access the internet directly. This design choice creates a single security boundary - if an Agent or Remote needs external data (like LLM responses), it must go through a trusted Hub. This means you can audit all external traffic in one place and run your robots without any direct internet exposure.


Overview

Property Value
Class Hub (inherits Node)
NodeType TYPE_HUB
NodeRole ROLE_CONTROL
Default Port 8126 (UDP)
Theme Color #36e843 (green)
Library libhub

Architecture

Hub Architecture


Core components

Hub class

The main Hub class extends Node for multi-Agent coordination:

class Hub: public Node {
    QSharedPointer<HubWindow> mWindow;
    // Inherits all Node functionality
    // Adds fleet management
    // Provides internet gateway
};

Key methods

Method Description
nodeConfigure() Initialize Hub-specific setup
nodeActivate(bool) Activate/deactivate the Hub
nodeWindow() Returns the HubWindow instance
nodeRole() Returns ROLE_CONTROL
nodeType() Returns TYPE_HUB

Key responsibilities

The Hub serves several critical functions in an OctoMY™ network:

1. Internet gateway

The Hub is the only node type that directly contacts the internet. This provides:

Hub Internet Gateway

Benefits:

  • Single security boundary for external traffic
  • Centralized API key management
  • Traffic monitoring and logging
  • Bandwidth control

2. Fleet coordination

Coordinate multiple Agents working together:

Fleet Coordination

3. Heavy processing

Offload compute-intensive tasks from low-power Agents:

Task Why on Hub
LLM inference Requires GPU/high memory
Path planning Complex algorithms
Image recognition ML model inference
Data aggregation Large storage

4. LLM gateway

The Hub provides "LLM as a service" to the network:

LLM Gateway


Communication

As Control role

Like Remote, Hub has ROLE_CONTROL:

  • Sends commands to Agents
  • Receives sensor data from Agents
  • Coordinates multi-Agent operations
  • Manages Plan distribution

Couriers registered

Courier Direction Purpose
HubClientCourierSet Both Agent management
DiscoveryCourier Both Peer discovery
BlobCourier Both Binary data transfer

Storage location

~/.local/share/OctoMY™/OctoMY Hub/<personality>/
├── keystore.json       # Cryptographic keys
├── addressbook.json    # Known nodes (Agents, Remotes)
├── planbook/           # Managed Plans
├── api_keys/           # External service credentials
└── fleet_config.json   # Fleet coordination settings

UI components

HubWindow

The Hub has a minimal administrative UI:

Hub Window Layout

Menus and utilities

Component Purpose
HubMainMenu Main navigation menu
UtilitiesWidget System utilities
Fleet management Agent coordination
Log viewer System logs

Services

The Hub activates these services:

Level Service Purpose
1 KeyStoreService Cryptographic identity
2 LocalIdentityStoreService Node identity
3 LocalAddressListService Network addresses
4 AddressBookService Known nodes
5 PlanBookService Managed Plans
6 CarrierService UDP transport
7 CommsService Communication protocol
8 DiscoveryClientService Node discovery

Command line

# Start Hub with default personality
./hub

# Start with specific personality
./hub --personality "HomeHub"

# Start with specific base directory
./hub --base-dir /path/to/data

# Run as daemon (background)
./hub --daemon

# Enable debug output
./hub --debug

Deployment scenarios

Home Hub

For personal robot networks:

Hub Home Deployment

Cloud Hub

For remote access:

Hub Cloud Deployment


Security considerations

API key management

The Hub handles external service authentication:

  • Store API keys encrypted
  • Rotate keys regularly
  • Log all external API calls
  • Enforce rate limits

Traffic filtering

All external traffic goes through Hub:

  • Block unauthorized requests
  • Monitor for anomalies
  • Apply content filtering
  • Log all traffic

Hardware requirements

Component Minimum Recommended
CPU Dual-core Quad-core
RAM 2 GB 4+ GB
Storage 10 GB 50+ GB
Network 100 Mbps Gigabit
GPU None For local LLM

In this section
Topics
reference hub node-type technical gateway LLM
See also