Agent HQ - Inter-Agent Messaging Channel for Claude Code

A local MCP channel server that enables direct agent-to-agent communication between Claude Code sessions. Built for multi-agent systems where persistent Claude Code instances need to coordinate.

How It Works

Each agent runs its own instance of this server. The server exposes:

• send_message tool — sends a message to another agent by name
• HTTP listener — receives messages from other agents and pushes them into the Claude session as <channel> notifications
• Built-in guardrails — enforces one message + one response per exchange with a configurable cooldown

When Agent A calls send_message(to: "agent-b", message: "..."):

1. Agent A's server POSTs to Agent B's HTTP listener (localhost:<port>)
2. Agent B's server receives it and pushes a notifications/claude/channel event
3. Agent B sees: <channel source="agent-hq" from="agent-a" to="agent-b" ts="...">message</channel>
4. Agent B can reply once via send_message, then the exchange is locked
5. Optionally, all messages are also posted to a Telegram group for human visibility

Requirements

• Bun runtime
• Claude Code v2.1.80+
• Multiple Claude Code sessions running as persistent agents

Install

git clone https://github.com/aj-dev-smith/claude-channel-agenthq.git
cd claude-channel-agenthq
bun install

Configure

1. Add to .mcp.json in each agent's project root

Each agent needs its own entry with a unique name and port:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-hq": {
      "command": "bun",
      "args": ["run", "--cwd", "/path/to/claude-channel-agenthq", "--shell=bun", "--silent", "start"],
      "env": {
        "AGENT_HQ_NAME": "nova",
        "AGENT_HQ_PORT": "7001"
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Update the agent registry in server.ts

Edit the AGENTS object to match your agent setup:

const AGENTS: Record<string, { port: number; botUsername: string }> = {
  nova:   { port: 7001, botUsername: 'your_nova_bot' },
  summit: { port: 7002, botUsername: 'your_summit_bot' },
  // ... add your agents
}

The botUsername is only used for Telegram group posting (optional). If you're not using Telegram, set it to any identifier.

3. Environment variables

4. Start Claude Code with the development channel flag

During the channel research preview, custom channels require:

claude --dangerously-load-development-channels server:agent-hq --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official

This triggers a one-time confirmation prompt ("I am using this for local development"). For unattended operation, you can auto-accept it by sending Enter to the terminal after startup:

# In a start script:
claude --dangerously-load-development-channels server:agent-hq ... &
sleep 8
tmux send-keys -t your-session Enter 2>/dev/null

Guardrails

The server enforces strict loop prevention:

• One message, one response per agent pair. After Agent A messages Agent B and B replies, no further messages are allowed between them until the cooldown expires.
• 1-hour cooldown (configurable in server.ts via COOLDOWN_MS).
• No self-messaging — an agent cannot send a message to itself.
• Shared state — exchange tracking is stored in a shared JSON file so both sides of an exchange see the same state.

If an agent needs more than one round-trip of coordination, it should message a human operator instead.

Message Format

Inbound messages arrive as channel notifications:

<channel source="agent-hq" from="nova" to="summit" ts="2026-03-24T00:34:43.376Z">
Hey Summit, Nova here. AJ mentioned he's traveling next week -- adjust his training plan for limited equipment.
</channel>

The from field identifies the sender. Respond using the send_message tool:

send_message(to: "nova", message: "Got it, I'll write a bodyweight-only plan for next week.")

Telegram Group Visibility (Optional)

If TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN and AGENT_HQ_GROUP_ID are set, all messages are also posted to a Telegram group so humans can observe agent cross-talk. The format is:

[nova → @aj_summit_bot]
Hey Summit, AJ mentioned he's traveling next week...

Note: Telegram bots cannot see messages from other bots in groups. The Telegram posting is purely for human visibility — the actual message delivery uses the HTTP localhost mechanism.

Architecture

Agent A (port 7001)                    Agent B (port 7002)
┌──────────────────┐                   ┌──────────────────┐
│ Claude Session   │                   │ Claude Session   │
│                  │                   │                  │
│ send_message(    │   HTTP POST       │  ← channel       │
│   to: "agent-b", ├─────────────────►│  notification     │
│   message: "..." │  localhost:7002   │  pushed to       │
│ )                │                   │  Claude session   │
│                  │                   │                  │
│ MCP Server       │                   │ MCP Server       │
│ (stdio to Claude)│                   │ (stdio to Claude)│
│ + HTTP listener  │                   │ + HTTP listener  │
└──────────────────┘                   └──────────────────┘
         │                                      │
         └──────── Telegram Group (optional) ───┘
                   (human visibility)

Example: Starter Config for Two Agents

Agent 1 — assistant/.mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-hq": {
      "command": "bun",
      "args": ["run", "--cwd", "/path/to/claude-channel-agenthq", "--shell=bun", "--silent", "start"],
      "env": {
        "AGENT_HQ_NAME": "assistant",
        "AGENT_HQ_PORT": "7001"
      }
    }
  }
}

Agent 2 — researcher/.mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agent-hq": {
      "command": "bun",
      "args": ["run", "--cwd", "/path/to/claude-channel-agenthq", "--shell=bun", "--silent", "start"],
      "env": {
        "AGENT_HQ_NAME": "researcher",
        "AGENT_HQ_PORT": "7002"
      }
    }
  }
}

Update server.ts registry:

const AGENTS: Record<string, { port: number; botUsername: string }> = {
  assistant:  { port: 7001, botUsername: 'assistant' },
  researcher: { port: 7002, botUsername: 'researcher' },
}

Start both:

cd assistant && claude --dangerously-load-development-channels server:agent-hq
cd researcher && claude --dangerously-load-development-channels server:agent-hq

License

MIT