OTP Essentials

Use before any GenServer, Supervisor, Task, Agent, Registry, or ETS work.

Processes isolate and schedule work. Modules organize code. Put business logic in pure modules; call them from thin callbacks.

Quick Reference

RULES — Follow these with no exceptions

1. Processes are not modules — never invent a GenServer just to “group functions” 2. Thin callbacks — handle_call / handle_cast / handle_info / perform only coordinate; pure code computes 3. Fast init/1 — defer heavy work with {:ok, state, {:continue, term}} 4. Public API module — callers use MyApp.Foo.do_thing/1, never raw GenServer.call/2 5. @impl true on every callback 6. Supervise everything long-lived — no orphan processes 7. Registry over dynamic atoms for process names 8. ETS: owner process + :protected (or deliberate design); reads can bypass GenServer; writes serialized 9. Handle async_stream exits — match {:ok, _} and {:exit, reason} 10. Let it crash under a supervisor — avoid blanket try/rescue in callbacks

Thin GenServer (FCIS)

❌ Bad: business logic inside the callback

@impl true
def handle_call({:quote, items}, _from, state) do
  total =
    Enum.reduce(items, 0, fn item, acc ->
      if item.active, do: acc + item.price, else: acc
    end)

  {:reply, total, state}
end

✅ Good: pure module + thin callback

defmodule MyApp.Pricing do
  def quote(items), do: Enum.reduce(items, 0, &(&1.price + &2))
end

defmodule MyApp.QuoteServer do
  use GenServer

  def start_link(opts), do: GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, opts, name: __MODULE__)
  def quote(items), do: GenServer.call(__MODULE__, {:quote, items})

  @impl true
  def init(_opts), do: {:ok, %{}}

  @impl true
  def handle_call({:quote, items}, _from, state) do
    {:reply, MyApp.Pricing.quote(items), state}
  end
end

GenServer skeleton

defmodule MyApp.Counter do
  use GenServer

  # --- Client API ---
  def start_link(opts \\ []), do: GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, 0, Keyword.put_new(opts, :name, __MODULE__))
  def value, do: GenServer.call(__MODULE__, :value)
  def increment, do: GenServer.cast(__MODULE__, :increment)

  # --- Server ---
  @impl true
  def init(count), do: {:ok, count}

  @impl true
  def handle_call(:value, _from, count), do: {:reply, count, count}

  @impl true
  def handle_cast(:increment, count), do: {:noreply, count + 1}
end

handle_continue for heavy startup

❌ Bad: block init/1 with I/O

@impl true
def init(opts) do
  {:ok, %{data: Loader.load!(opts)}}  # delays process start / supervision
end

✅ Good: continue after the process is up

@impl true
def init(opts) do
  {:ok, %{opts: opts}, {:continue, :load}}
end

@impl true
def handle_continue(:load, state) do
  data = Loader.load!(state.opts)
  {:noreply, Map.put(state, :data, data)}
end

Supervision

children = [
  {Registry, keys: :unique, name: MyApp.Registry},
  MyApp.Repo,
  {MyApp.QuoteServer, []},
  {Task.Supervisor, name: MyApp.TaskSupervisor}
]

opts = [strategy: :one_for_one, name: MyApp.Supervisor]
Supervisor.start_link(children, opts)

Prefer :one_for_one unless children are tightly coupled (:rest_for_one / :one_for_all with care).

Tasks

❌ Bad: ignore failures from async_stream

user_ids
|> Task.async_stream(&fetch_user/1, max_concurrency: 4, timeout: 10_000)
|> Enum.map(fn {:ok, result} -> result end)

✅ Good: handle exits and timeouts

user_ids
|> Task.async_stream(&fetch_user/1, max_concurrency: 4, timeout: 10_000, on_timeout: :kill_task)
|> Enum.reduce([], fn
  {:ok, result}, acc -> [result | acc]
  {:exit, reason}, acc ->
    require Logger
    Logger.warning("task failed: #{inspect(reason)}")
    acc
end)
|> Enum.reverse()

# One-off async
task = Task.async(fn -> fetch_profile(user_id) end)
profile = Task.await(task, 5_000)

# Supervised fire-and-forget
Task.Supervisor.start_child(MyApp.TaskSupervisor, fn -> send_email(user) end)

Agent (simple state only)

defmodule MyApp.Counter do
  use Agent
  def start_link(v \\ 0), do: Agent.start_link(fn -> v end, name: __MODULE__)
  def value, do: Agent.get(__MODULE__, & &1)
  def increment, do: Agent.update(__MODULE__, &(&1 + 1))
end

Use Agent for trivial state; use GenServer when you need timeouts, multi-message protocols, or clear OTP semantics.

Registry

# supervision tree
{Registry, keys: :unique, name: MyApp.Registry}

def start_link(room_id) do
  GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, room_id,
    name: {:via, Registry, {MyApp.Registry, {:room, room_id}}}
  )
end

def get_room(room_id) do
  case Registry.lookup(MyApp.Registry, {:room, room_id}) do
    [{pid, _}] -> {:ok, pid}
    [] -> {:error, :not_found}
  end
end

ETS (read-heavy shared state)

Owner GenServer creates a :protected named table; readers call :ets directly; writers go through the server.

defmodule MyApp.EtsCache do
  use GenServer
  @table :my_app_cache

  def start_link(opts), do: GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, opts, name: __MODULE__)

  def get(key) do
    case :ets.lookup(@table, key) do
      [{^key, value}] -> {:ok, value}
      [] -> {:error, :not_found}
    end
  end

  def put(key, value), do: GenServer.call(__MODULE__, {:put, key, value})

  @impl true
  def init(_opts) do
    :ets.new(@table, [:named_table, :set, :protected, read_concurrency: true])
    {:ok, %{}}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_call({:put, key, value}, _from, state) do
    :ets.insert(@table, {key, value})
    {:reply, :ok, state}
  end
end

Common pitfalls

Integration