Skip to content

borellion/beacon

Folders and files

NameName
Last commit message
Last commit date

Latest commit

 

History

50 Commits
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Repository files navigation

Beacon

A JavaScript library for registering spatial web experiences with Relay servers. Part of the Distributed Spatial Internet Graph (DSIG).

What is a Beacon?

Beacons allow 3D/spatial web applications to announce themselves to Relay discovery servers. When you add a beacon to your app:

  1. Your world gets indexed on the relay for discovery
  2. Active user sessions are tracked in real-time
  3. Your world appears in the relay's directory for others to find

Installation

NPM

npm install @zestyxyz/beacon
import Beacon from '@zestyxyz/beacon';

CDN

import Beacon from "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@zestyxyz/beacon/index.js";

Quick Start

import Beacon from '@zestyxyz/beacon';

const beacon = new Beacon("https://relay.zesty.xyz");
await beacon.signal();

That's it! Your world will be registered with the relay and appear in its directory.

HTML Meta Tags

The beacon automatically reads metadata from your page's <head>. Add these meta tags for best results:

<head>
  <!-- Required -->
  <meta name="application-name" content="My Awesome World">
  <meta name="description" content="An immersive 3D experience">

  <!-- Recommended -->
  <meta property="og:url" content="https://myworld.example.com">
  <meta property="og:image" content="https://myworld.example.com/preview.png">
  <meta name="keywords" content="vr,game,multiplayer,adventure">

  <!-- Optional: Mark as adult content -->
  <meta name="rating" content="adult">

  <!-- Optional: Owner verification (see below) -->
  <meta name="zesty-verify" content="your-verification-code">
</head>

Meta Tag Priority

Data Primary Source Fallback
Name application-name document.title
Description description og:description
URL og:url document.location
Image og:image A-Frame screenshot → Canvas capture → None
Tags keywords Empty string
Adult rating="adult" false

Configuration Options

You can override auto-detected values by passing options to the constructor:

const beacon = new Beacon("https://relay.zesty.xyz", {
  name: "Custom World Name",
  description: "Custom description",
  url: "https://custom-url.example.com",
  image: "https://example.com/custom-preview.png",
  tags: "custom,tags,here",
  stripQueryParams: true  // Remove query params from URL (default: true)
});

await beacon.signal();

BeaconOverride Options

Option Type Description
name string Override the world name
description string Override the description
url string Override the canonical URL
image string Override the preview image URL
tags string Override tags (comma-separated)
stripQueryParams boolean Strip query params from auto-detected URL (default: true)

How It Works

Registration

When you call beacon.signal(), it sends a PUT request to the relay's /beacon endpoint with your world's metadata:

{
  "url": "https://myworld.example.com",
  "name": "My Awesome World",
  "description": "An immersive 3D experience",
  "image": "https://myworld.example.com/preview.png",
  "tags": "vr,game,multiplayer",
  "adult": false,
  "active": true
}

Session Heartbeats

After registration, the beacon automatically sends heartbeat signals every 5 seconds to track active sessions:

{
  "session_id": "uuid-v4",
  "url": "https://myworld.example.com",
  "timestamp": 1234567890123
}

This enables real-time "users online" tracking on the relay.

Owner Verification

After your world is indexed, you can verify ownership to edit its details on the relay:

  1. Visit your world's edit page on the relay (e.g., https://relay.zesty.xyz/world/my-world/edit)
  2. Click "Get Verification Code" to receive a unique code
  3. Add the verification meta tag to your site's <head>:
    <meta name="zesty-verify" content="your-code-here">
  4. Click "Verify Ownership" on the relay
  5. Once verified, you can edit: name, description, image URL, tags, and adult flag

Verification grants a session cookie valid for 7 days.

Iframe Support

If your world runs inside an iframe, the beacon will attempt to read meta tags from the parent document (same-origin only). For cross-origin iframes, use the override options to specify metadata directly.

A-Frame Integration

For A-Frame scenes without an og:image meta tag, the beacon will automatically capture a screenshot using A-Frame's built-in screenshot component as a fallback.

Example: Full Integration

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta name="application-name" content="Space Explorer VR">
  <meta name="description" content="Explore the cosmos in virtual reality">
  <meta property="og:url" content="https://space-explorer.example.com">
  <meta property="og:image" content="https://space-explorer.example.com/preview.jpg">
  <meta name="keywords" content="vr,space,exploration,multiplayer">
</head>
<body>
  <!-- Your 3D content here -->

  <script type="module">
    import Beacon from "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@zestyxyz/beacon/index.js";

    const beacon = new Beacon("https://relay.zesty.xyz");
    await beacon.signal();

    console.log("World registered with relay!");
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Related

  • Relay - The discovery server that indexes worlds
  • DSIG Documentation - Learn more about the Distributed Spatial Internet Graph

License

MIT

About

Connect your world to the open web

Resources

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Packages

 
 
 

Contributors