> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/s2-streamstore/s2/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> S2 is a serverless datastore for real-time streaming data built for durability and performance

# Introduction to S2

S2 is a serverless datastore for real-time streaming data. It provides a simple, durable API for building streaming applications without managing infrastructure.

## What is S2?

S2 combines the simplicity of cloud storage with the performance of streaming databases. Your data is always durable on object storage before being acknowledged, ensuring you never lose a record.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quick start" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Get started with S2 in minutes
  </Card>

  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="/installation">
    Install the CLI and SDKs
  </Card>

  <Card title="Concepts" icon="book" href="/concepts/overview">
    Learn core S2 concepts
  </Card>

  <Card title="API reference" icon="code" href="/api/overview">
    Explore the REST API
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Key features

### Durable by default

Every record is persisted to object storage before being acknowledged. Your data is safe even if servers fail.

### Real-time streaming

Read from streams in real-time as new records arrive. S2 supports both historical catchup and live tailing in a single session.

### Serverless architecture

No infrastructure to manage. S2 scales automatically based on your workload.

### Self-hostable

Run S2 Lite locally for development or deploy it to your own infrastructure using Docker or Kubernetes.

## Use cases

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Event streaming" icon="stream">
    Build event-driven architectures with guaranteed delivery
  </Card>

  <Card title="Data pipelines" icon="pipe">
    Stream data between services with durable queues
  </Card>

  <Card title="Real-time analytics" icon="chart-line">
    Process streaming data as it arrives
  </Card>

  <Card title="Integration testing" icon="flask">
    Use in-memory S2 Lite as a test fixture
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How it works

S2 organizes data into **basins** and **streams**:

* A **basin** is a container for streams, similar to a database
* A **stream** is an ordered, append-only log of records

You can interact with S2 using:

* The **CLI** for command-line operations
* **SDKs** for Rust, TypeScript, Go, and more
* The **REST API** for direct HTTP access
* **S2 Lite** for local development and self-hosting

<Tip>
  S2 Lite is embedded in the CLI and provides a fully compatible S2 API implementation that you can run locally or deploy to your own infrastructure.
</Tip>

## Next steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install the CLI">
    Follow the [installation guide](/installation) to install the S2 CLI
  </Step>

  <Step title="Try the quick start">
    Complete the [quick start guide](/quickstart) to create your first basin and stream
  </Step>

  <Step title="Explore the SDK">
    Build applications using the [Rust SDK](https://docs.rs/s2-sdk) or other language SDKs
  </Step>
</Steps>