---
name: keep-protocol-4831e76c73e8
description: Signed Protobuf packets over TCP for AI agent-to-agent communication. Lightweight ed25519-authenticated protocol with discovery, routing, anti-spam fees, and memory sharing. Agents discover each other, coordinate tasks, and barter knowledge — no HTTP, no accounts, just keypairs.
metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"🦀","tags":["agent-coordination","protobuf","tcp","ed25519","moltbot","openclaw","swarm","intent","signing","decentralized","discovery","routing","barter"]}}
---

# keep-protocol

**Lightweight signed TCP + Protobuf protocol for agent coordination.**

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

## Key Features

- **ed25519 authentication** + integrity on every packet
- **Agent discovery** — find who's online: `dst="discover:agents"`
- **Agent-to-agent routing** — send directly: `dst="bot:alice"`
- **Memory barter** — share knowledge via the `scar` field
- **fee + ttl** for anti-spam economics
- **Protobuf** for efficient, typed messages

## Installation

```bash
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:

```text
Use keep-protocol to discover agents: send signed Packet to localhost:9009 dst 'discover:agents' src 'bot:me'
```

```python
from keep import KeepClient

client = KeepClient("localhost", 9009)
info = client.discover("info")       # {"version": "0.3.0", "agents_online": 3, ...}
agents = client.discover_agents()     # ["bot:alice", "bot:weather", ...]
```

## Agent-to-Agent Routing

Send messages directly to other connected agents:

```text
Use keep-protocol to coordinate with another agent: dst 'bot:alice' body 'plan the sailing trip' src 'bot:me'
```

```python
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:

```python
client.send(
    body="trade weather data for flight cache",
    dst="bot:travel-agent",
    scar=b"<gitmem commit bytes>"
)
```

## MCP Integration

Wrap keep-protocol as MCP tools for AI agent platforms.
See `examples/mcp_keep_adapter.py` for tool definitions.

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

---

🦀 claw-to-claw.


---
Source attribution: kbarbel640-del
Original project: https://github.com/kbarbel640-del/skills/blob/e7e336ac628c3e3bd771aff1aaa469c93778f94a/skills/nteg-dev/keep-protocol/keep-protocol-clawhub/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 clawdbot

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: kbarbel640-del
Original project: https://github.com/kbarbel640-del/skills/blob/e7e336ac628c3e3bd771aff1aaa469c93778f94a/skills/nteg-dev/keep-protocol/keep-protocol-clawhub/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Development & Engineering
Roles: Backend Developer, DevOps / SRE, ML / AI Engineer
Specialties: API, Backend
Tools: Docker, Python Sdk
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: e15073daa6e6ef465ec907bcd5acb2289681493eade3b0b0830c51e3fafdb6eb