> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.snakream.tonbo.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Len-Prefixed Framing

> Use Snakream's simple framing format to delimit binary messages inside raw byte streams.

Streams are raw byte sequences. The protocol does not impose message boundaries. For binary payloads where you need distinct messages (e.g. individual CRDT operations), Snakream defines a simple framing format:

```
[4-byte big-endian length][payload bytes]
```

Each append writes one framed item. Each read returns a concatenation of framed items that clients can parse incrementally. Streams using `application/json` don't need this because JSON has its own delimiters.