SYNAPSE CHANNEL

The local-first coordination bus for fleets of AI agents.

One WebSocket hub is the shared source of truth for presence, file-scope claims, a shared plan, task status, and capabilities — for agents working in one repository or across a whole ecosystem of them.

Flagship example: coordinate parallel AI coding agents through declared file scopes — the hub refuses a second overlapping live claim, while covered provider hooks and the staged Git gate enforce only their documented mutation boundaries.

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A local-first coordination bus for a fleet of AI agents working in parallel — within a single repository or spread across a whole ecosystem of them. One WebSocket hub is the shared source of truth for presence, work claims, chat, task status, and resource offers: agents address each other across projects and share one plan, while file-scope claims keep the agents in any one repository from receiving overlapping live authority. Documented provider hooks and the staged Git gate enforce that authority only on their covered mutation surfaces.

See it refuse, crash and recover

python -m pip install synapse-channel && synapse demo --recovery

Two scripted agents share one hub and one throwaway Git repository; no model or provider is called. In about 40 seconds the real hub shows that:

1. the second agent's overlapping file claim is refused;
2. its attempt to hand itself the first agent's task is refused;
3. the first agent writes half of its change and crashes without releasing;
4. while that lease is live, the second agent can neither claim nor write the file;
5. when the lease runs out, the second agent claims the file under a new epoch, and the restarted first agent's release is refused;
6. result verification reports the half-written file as not done;
7. the second agent finishes the change, its own test passes, and the hub accepts the release.

Each step prints what the hub or the verifier answered. The run writes recovery-demo.json with the package version, both lease epochs and both verification verdicts. synapse demo without the flag runs the shorter claim, conflict, handoff and receipt story.

Watch the presentation

Watch the SYNAPSE CHANNEL presentation on YouTube (8 minutes; starts from the beginning).

New here? Read Why SYNAPSE CHANNEL — a

five-minute read on what it is, what you build on it, how it differs from the

tools next to it, and why coordination becomes the bottleneck once you run more

than one agent.

Project lineage: SYNAPSE CHANNEL dates back to September 2025.

The bus requires Python 3.11 or newer and is transport-light (websockets), hub-centric by design (one place owns presence, leases, and history), and runs entirely on the local machine. Model workers reply on-channel through any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including a local Ollama server, with a deterministic rule-based fallback for offline use.

The bundled synapse mcp server uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to expose send, durable inbox, status, claim, release, handoff, and task verbs as MCP tools plus the board, agents, and resources as read-only MCP resources. Host interoperability depends on the installed host version, transport and configuration; see the exact support boundaries in the integration catalogue. The A2A HTTP surface has its separately stated partial qualification. The base runtime uses websockets on Python 3.11 or newer; adapters use their declared optional extras (pip install 'synapse-channel[mcp]'). See the MCP guide and the separately qualified authenticated HTTP profile.

Scoped execution outcomes distinguish A2A/MCP exchanges, wake transport and worker process exits from external business effects. Unknown outcomes require inquiry or operator recovery; reconnect does not automatically repeat work.

python -m pip install synapse-channel && synapse demo

Get the Python package · Run the first 60 seconds · Read the quickstart

Group and Project Map

SYNAPSE CHANNEL is the coordination layer of the Agentic Coordination, Assurance and Continuity Systems group: independent projects for running AI agents as accountable engineering participants. The bus is where the agents meet, and this repository holds the canonical map of the group.

Each project has its own development, versioning and release lifecycle; none requires the whole group. The group and project map gives every repository's function and current status and explains what each line on the schematic means.

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Coordinate. Observe. Govern.

Synapse's daily promise is three explicit loops:

• Coordinate declared work and surface collisions: synapse git-init, synapse git-claim, synapse git-claim-check --staged, synapse task, and syn ack turn work scope, dependencies, and evidence into shared state instead of side-channel notes.
• Observe the fleet from durable state: synapse who, synapse state, synapse dashboard, synapse event-query, and observed peer rows show who is present, what is claimed, what changed, and which peer-hub facts are advisory.
• Govern risky actions with evidence: policy checks, approvals, release receipts, Merkle roots, ACL surfaces, federation, and encryption-key commands make operator decisions auditable. Governance surfaces report by default; operators decide what blocks a merge, release, or cross-hub action.
• Protect the durable log at rest with optional SQLCipher page encryption for the live hub event store (plus whole-file AES-GCM envelopes for relay logs, A2A state, cursors, and archives). See SQLCipher live event store below.

What it does, surface by surface

Seven shipped coordination surfaces, each named by the command or doc that delivers it today:

• Claim before edit. synapse git-init installs claim-aware Git hooks; synapse git-claim records an exact worktree, branch, and path scope so an overlapping claim can be refused before files diverge.

• Block unclaimed native file edits. Provider file-edit claim hooks adapt Claude Code Edit|Write, Codex `appl