> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.internetobject.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.internetobject.org/collections/data-streaming.md).

# Data Streaming

Because a collection is a sequence of independent records, it is naturally **streamable**: a producer can emit records over time and a consumer can process each as it arrives, without waiting for the whole document.

```ruby
~ $schema: { name: string, address: { street, city, state }, active: bool }
---
~ John Doe, { Red Street, Phoenix, AZ }, T
~ Alex, { Carnival Street, San Francisco, CA }, T
```

Further records for the same collection can be sent later in additional batches; a processor merges them into the same collection. Each record is validated on its own, so a malformed record does not interrupt the stream.

> **The full protocol lives in its own chapter.** Framing, the stream-item model, schema and state, the error model, and reader and writer obligations are specified normatively in the [Streaming](/streaming/streaming.md) chapter. This page only shows why a collection is streamable; the contract is there.

## See Also

* [Streaming](/streaming/streaming.md) — the normative, platform-agnostic streaming protocol
* [Collection](/collections/collection.md) · [Collection Rules](/collections/collection-rules.md)
* [Creating Collections](/collections/creating-collection.md)


---

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