Lenia Swarm

1. Read the Lenia docs map.
2. Open the Compendium Inspector to browse published creatures. For schema, taxonomy, and artifact details, use the schema and taxonomy docs.

• March 1, 2026
  Lenia cabinet docs rebuilt with current contracts, internals, and universe lanes.
• February 3, 2026
  Taxonomy/ecology/morphometrics synthesis reflected in docs and generated analysis notes.
• January 20, 2026
  IMGEP and activity-tracking surfaces were documented in generated implementation analysis.

Flow Lenia generalizes cellular automata to continuous state, time, and space. Two functions define the dynamics: a kernel K for neighborhood sensing and a growth function G for updates. Every persistent structure emerges from those two, from gliders and walkers up to self-replicators. The flow variant adds mass-conserving transport, so a creature stays a coherent object rather than a wave of growth and decay. We use it to search parameter space and index what stays alive.

For the mechanics with interactive widgets, see A Primer on Lenia.

Under perturbation, a Flow Lenia creature either returns to its baseline trajectory or settles into a different attractor. Each trial runs matched control-versus-intervention pairs across two environments, flat and high-theta, with three perturbation families. init_state re-seeds the initial mass placement. flow_regime halves the integration timestep. param_noise re-rolls the growth function, holding architecture fixed but resampling rule parameters.

Recovery is graded across the families. init_state perturbations leave the trajectory intact in nearly all cases. flow_regime perturbations recover in some. param_noise perturbations recover in few, and the failed recoveries sit far from baseline.

Continuous-CA creatures live in the same morphospace as biological development. Lenia parameters reach shapes that EmbryoMaker embryos and adult fish occupy, and all three populations share the same first-order topology. The genotype-to-phenotype map π carries universal non-trivial structure: its local derivative reliably stretches parameter distance more than morphology distance, for every specimen we tested. Closed-loop holonomy, a sharper curvature test, surfaces at specific hotspots rather than across the cohort.

What the measurements say:

• Across 4,802 flow-supported specimens, transported state closure exceeded phenotype closure for every one (median ratio 3.16, minimum 1.82). The bundle is non-trivial specimen by specimen, not just on average.
• Matched loop-versus-axis-retrace deltas in local m.0/s.0 coordinates were centered near zero across the cohort. 109 specimens (2.3%) passed a strict positive-surplus criterion at small, medium, and wide rectangle scales for both state closure and ratio.
• Shared 12-axis shape-descriptor space across substrates: 4,096 Lenia specimens carry 3,383 first-order cycles (top persistence 0.66), 859 EmbryoMaker embryos carry 283 (0.36), 232 Dryad fish carry 62 (0.89). Each cloud has one path-connected H0 component.
• Each fish's nearest Lenia neighbor sits at median 5.8 normalized units, comparable to the within-Lenia pairwise mean of 4.8.

The Geometry of a Synthetic Morphospace covers the bridge studies, the holonomy analysis, and a polynomial-functor decomposition into kernel interfaces and arrangement.

Controller-worker topology over a SWIM gossip cluster, with an MLX Swift engine for GPU-accelerated Flow Lenia across Apple machines. Worker failures are detected automatically and pending jobs requeued.

• LeniaCore: physics engine, distributed actors, search infrastructure.
• LeniaCLI: headless workflows under discover, orchestrate, index, analyze, intervene, publish.
• LeniaStudio: macOS SwiftUI app for local exploration, host mode, and worker mode.

For deeper internals see the Universe Primer and the cabinet docs.