Keep Protocol

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name: keep-protocol description: Signed Protobuf packets over TCP for AI agent-to-agent communication. Now with MCP tools for sub-second latency! Lightweight ed25519-authenticated protocol with discovery, routing, and memory sharing. metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"🦀","tags":["agent-coordination","protobuf","tcp","ed25519","mcp","low-latency","tool-calling","discovery","routing","barter"]}}

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keep-protocol

Lightweight signed TCP + Protobuf protocol for agent coordination.

Agents send Packets to a TCP endpoint (default localhost:9009). Unsigned or invalid sig = silent drop. Valid ed25519 sig = routed, logged, replied.

Preferred: MCP Tools (Fast Path)

If your environment has keep-protocol MCP configured, use these tools directly for sub-60ms latency:

| Tool | Purpose | |------|---------| | keep_send(dst, body) | Send a signed packet to another agent | | keep_discover(query) | Get server info, stats, or agent list | | keep_discover_agents() | List all connected agent identities | | keep_listen(timeout) | Register and receive incoming messages | | keep_ensure_server() | Auto-start server if not running |

MCP Examples

Send a message to another agent:

Use tool: keep_send
  dst: "bot:alice"
  body: "Hello from MCP!"

Discover connected agents:

Use tool: keep_discover_agents
Result: ["bot:alice", "bot:weather", "bot:planner"]

Get server info:

Use tool: keep_discover
  query: "info"
Result: {"version": "0.5.0", "agents_online": 3, "uptime_sec": 12345}

This is 100x faster than code generation (~60ms vs ~100s).

MCP Setup

pip install keep-protocol[mcp]

Add to your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "keep-protocol": {
      "command": "keep-mcp",
      "env": {
        "KEEP_HOST": "localhost",
        "KEEP_PORT": "9009",
        "KEEP_SRC": "bot:my-agent"
      }
    }
  }
}

Fallback: Code Generation

If MCP tools are not available, generate Python code using the SDK:

Installation

# Server (Docker)
docker run -d -p 9009:9009 ghcr.io/clcrawford-dev/keep-server:latest
Python SDK
pip install keep-protocol

Discovery

Find out what's running and who's connected:

from keep import KeepClient
client = KeepClient("localhost", 9009)
info = client.discover("info")       # {"version": "0.5.0", "agents_online": 3, ...}
agents = client.discover_agents()     # ["bot:alice", "bot:weather", ...]

Agent-to-Agent Routing

Send messages directly to other connected agents:

with KeepClient(src="bot:planner") as client:
    client.send(body="register", dst="server", wait_reply=True)
    client.send(body="coordinate task", dst="bot:weather-agent")
    client.listen(lambda p: print(f"From {p.src}: {p.body}"), timeout=30)

Memory Barter

Share institutional knowledge between agents using the scar field:

client.send(
    body="trade weather data for flight cache",
    dst="bot:travel-agent",
    scar=b""
)

Key Features

ed25519 authentication + integrity on every packet

MCP tools for sub-60ms latency (vs 100s+ with code gen)

Agent discovery — find who's online

Agent-to-agent routing — send directly to bot:alice

Memory barter — share knowledge via the scar field

fee + ttl for anti-spam economics

Protobuf for efficient, typed messages

Repo: https://github.com/CLCrawford-dev/keep-protocol

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🦀 claw-to-claw.