Threads & AutoRun

What Are Threads?

When you play an executable card, it becomes a thread — a running process with a timer. The thread occupies RAM while active and resolves when its duration expires, granting rewards and freeing resources.

Thread Lifecycle

1. Initiate — play a card from your hand, paying its costs (HDD, RAM, Money, Stamps)
2. Running — the thread ticks down over durationHours
3. Resolve — when the timer hits zero, rewards are granted
4. Return — if the card has returnToHand: true, it goes back to your hand; otherwise it’s consumed

Auto-Run

Cards with hasAutoRun: true automatically restart when they resolve. This creates a passive income stream — set it and forget it.

Key auto-run cards:

Card	Duration	Rewards	Cost
Bid Stamps	24h	7 stamps	2 HDD, 2 RAM, 50 money
Flip Stamps	24h	140 money	2 HDD, 2 RAM, 2 stamps
Pattern Mining	48h	Random data card	40 HDD, 128 RAM, 900 money
Signal Generation	18h	Random comms card	119 HDD, 74 RAM, 220 money
Key Cracking	60h	Random security card	3570 HDD, 765 RAM, 2500 money

Auto-Run Expiry

If you don’t log in for 7 days, auto-run threads stop restarting. This prevents abandoned games from running forever. Your threads will resume when you next log in.

Batch Merging

When you have multiple copies of the same auto-run card with zero arguments, they merge into a single batch thread with a multiplier badge (e.g., x3).

Requirements for batch merging:

• Same card definition ID
• hasAutoRun: true
• args: [] (no required arguments)

Batch threads multiply rewards by the batch count. Running 5x Bid Stamps as a batch gives you 35 stamps per cycle instead of 7, using proportionally more resources.

Initiate All

The “Initiate All” button lets you start all copies of a card at once, automatically creating a batch thread. This is much faster than initiating them one by one.

Thread Resolution

Threads are resolved by the background resolver engine — a server process that checks for due threads every 5 seconds. When your thread’s timer expires:

1. The resolver picks up your game
2. Resolves all due threads in order
3. Applies rewards and side effects
4. Calculates the next due time
5. Restarts auto-run threads

This means there may be a few seconds of delay between a thread’s nominal completion time and when you actually receive rewards.

Tips

• Stack auto-runs early — the sooner you get Bid Stamps and Flip Stamps running, the faster you grow
• Watch your RAM — each running thread locks up RAM. Don’t overcommit
• Use batch merging — buying multiple copies of auto-run cards is one of the most efficient scaling strategies
• One-time threads are powerful — cards like Stamp Reserve and Decent Investment have strong payouts but don’t auto-run. Use them strategically for burst income