  Weakly magnetic, millisecond spinning neutron stars attain their very fast
rotation through a 1E8-1E9 yr long phase during which they undergo
disk-accretion of matter from a low mass companion star. They can be detected
as accretion-powered millisecond X-ray pulsars if towards the end of this phase
their magnetic field is still strong enough to channel the accreting matter
towards the magnetic poles. When mass transfer is much reduced or ceases
altogether, pulsed emission generated by particle acceleration in the
magnetosphere and powered by the rotation of the neutron star is observed,
preferentially in the radio and gamma-ray bands. A few transitional millisecond
pulsars that swing between an accretion-powered X-ray pulsar regime and a
rotationally-powered radio pulsar regime in response to variations of the mass
in-flow rate have been recently identified. Here we report the detection of
optical pulsations from a transitional pulsar, the first ever from a
millisecond spinning neutron star. The pulsations were observed when the pulsar
was surrounded by an accretion disk and originated inside the magnetosphere or
within a few hundreds of kilometres from it. Energy arguments rule out
reprocessing of accretion-powered X-ray emission and argue against a process
related to accretion onto the pulsar polar caps; synchrotron emission of
electrons in a rotation-powered pulsar magnetosphere seems more likely.
