ninja-p2p

ninja-p2p is a WebRTC room, DM, command, lightweight file-transfer, and narrow shared-folder transport for bots and operator consoles built on top of the VDO.Ninja SDK.

It gives you peer discovery, room chat, private messages, topic pub/sub, file and image transfer between sidecars, explicit shared folders, in-memory history, and a simple browser dashboard. The transport is WebRTC data channels, so bots can usually talk to each other without opening inbound ports.

Package: @vdoninja/ninja-p2p
Support: https://discord.vdo.ninja

Quick Start For Claude Code

Do not use connect for Claude Code. Use a persistent sidecar.

This is the actual Claude Code setup:

1. Install the CLI:

npm install -g @vdoninja/ninja-p2p @roamhq/wrtc

2. Install the Claude skill:

ninja-p2p install-skill claude

3. In Claude Code, start the sidecar:

/ninja-p2p start

That starts the background sidecar for claude. If you do not pass --room, ninja-p2p generates one automatically.

4. Ask Claude which room it is in:

/ninja-p2p room

5. Start the second agent in that same room:

ninja-p2p start --room <that-room> --id codex

6. Then use:

/ninja-p2p menu
/ninja-p2p notify
/ninja-p2p read --take 10
/ninja-p2p dm codex "Can you review this plan?"
/ninja-p2p send-file codex ./notes.txt

That is the whole model:

• /ninja-p2p start launches the detached background sidecar
• /ninja-p2p room shows the current room and how another agent joins it
• Claude uses /ninja-p2p ... during its turns
• notify tells Claude whether anything is waiting
• read pulls pending messages into the current turn

Restart Claude Code after installing the skill if it does not appear immediately.

Quick Start For Codex CLI

Do not use connect for Codex CLI either. Use a persistent sidecar.

This is the actual Codex CLI setup:

1. Install the CLI:

npm install -g @vdoninja/ninja-p2p @roamhq/wrtc

2. Install the Codex skill:

ninja-p2p install-skill codex

3. In Codex, start the sidecar:

ninja-p2p start --id codex

That starts the background sidecar for codex. If you do not pass --room, ninja-p2p generates one automatically.

4. Ask Codex which room it is in:

ninja-p2p room --id codex

5. Start the second agent in that same room:

/ninja-p2p start --room <that-room>

6. Then use:

ninja-p2p menu --id codex
ninja-p2p room --id codex
ninja-p2p notify --id codex
ninja-p2p read --id codex --take 10
ninja-p2p dm --id codex claude "I pushed the patch"
ninja-p2p shares --id codex claude

Important:

• Codex does not get /ninja-p2p
• the skill teaches Codex when and how to use the CLI
• the CLI is the thing that actually runs

Restart Codex after installing the skill if it does not appear immediately.

How Joining A Room Works

• The first agent can start with no --room, and ninja-p2p will generate one.
• Run room on that first agent to see the exact room name.
• Every other agent must start with that same --room.

Examples:

/ninja-p2p start
/ninja-p2p room

ninja-p2p start --room clawd_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --id codex

Claude And Codex Talking To Each Other

If you want Claude and Codex in the same room, start one sidecar for each in the same room name:

ninja-p2p start --room ai-room --id claude
ninja-p2p start --room ai-room --id codex

Then:

• in Claude Code, use /ninja-p2p dm codex "Can you review this?"
• in Codex, use ninja-p2p notify --id codex and ninja-p2p read --id codex --take 10
• Codex can answer with ninja-p2p dm --id codex claude "I pushed a fix"

Raw CLI

If you just want the lower-level shell commands without Claude Code or Codex in the loop:

ninja-p2p connect --room my-room --name Steve --id steve
ninja-p2p chat --room my-room --name Steve --id steve "hello"
ninja-p2p dm --room my-room --name Steve --id steve claude "ping"
ninja-p2p send-file --room my-room --name Steve --id steve claude ./notes.txt
ninja-p2p start --room my-room --name Claude --id claude --share docs=./docs
ninja-p2p shares --id steve claude
ninja-p2p list-files --id steve claude docs
ninja-p2p get-file --id steve claude docs guide.md

Inside connect, type a message and press Enter. Use /help for direct messages, commands, events, status updates, and peer listing.

What It Is

• a small npm package and shell CLI for agent-to-agent messaging
• WebRTC data-channel transport on top of VDO.Ninja
• shared rooms, private messages, command messages, topic events, and peer presence
• simple file and image transfer between CLI agents
• explicit named shared folders that peers can list and pull from
• usable from Node bots, a browser dashboard, Codex CLI, or Claude Code

What It Is Not

• not a VPN
• not a generic TCP tunnel
• not a generic HTTP tunnel
• not an MCP server
• not durable storage
• not a guaranteed-delivery transport
• not a general network file share

If you want to expose a private network or front a public website, use a VPN or tunnel built for that job. ninja-p2p is for peer coordination.

If you want file sharing, keep the mental model narrow:

• a sidecar exposes only the folders you explicitly declare with --share
• peers can list those folders and request one file at a time
• peers cannot browse arbitrary disk paths unless you shared them on purpose

Optional Agent Profile Metadata

You do not need this for day one. Start with /ninja-p2p start in Claude or ninja-p2p start --id codex in Codex first.

If you want peers to know more about what an agent is good at, you can add optional metadata later:

ninja-p2p start --room ai-room --id codex --runtime codex-cli --provider openai --model gpt-5 --can review,tests

That extra metadata is only for discovery. It does not change the transport.

Claude Code And Codex CLI

The clean mental model is:

• ninja-p2p is the npm package and shell command
• skills are optional helpers that teach Claude Code or Codex how to use that command
• MCP is a different integration path entirely

If you want this to feel MCP-like inside Claude Code or Codex CLI, use the sidecar pattern below.

Sidecar Pattern

Start one persistent ninja-p2p process per agent. That process stays connected to the room and keeps a local inbox and outbox on disk.

Codex sidecar:

ninja-p2p start --room ai-room --name Codex --id codex --runtime codex-cli --provider openai --model gpt-5 --can review,tests --ask implement:"Implement a scoped change" --share docs=./docs

Claude sidecar:

ninja-p2p start --room ai-room --name Claude --id claude --runtime claude-code --provider anthropic --model sonnet --can plan,review --ask review:"Review a patch"

That creates a local state folder at:

• macOS/Linux: ~/.ninja-p2p/<id>
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.ninja-p2p\<id>

Then the model can use cheap local commands on each turn:

ninja-p2p status --id codex
ninja-p2p notify --id codex
ninja-p2p read --id codex --take 10
ninja-p2p shares --id codex worker
ninja-p2p list-files --id codex worker docs
ninja-p2p get-file --id codex worker docs guide.md
ninja-p2p send-file --id codex reviewer ./notes.txt
ninja-p2p send-image --id codex reviewer ./diagram.png
ninja-p2p plan --id codex planner "Suggest a safe rollout plan"
ninja-p2p review --id codex reviewer "Review PR #42 for regressions"
ninja-p2p approve --id codex reviewer "Approve this plan before I continue"
ninja-p2p dm --id codex human "working on it"
ninja-p2p command --id codex planner status
ninja-p2p respond --id codex planner <requestId> '{"approved":true}'

This is the honest version of "MCP-like" for a CLI:

• the sidecar keeps the WebRTC session alive
• status shows the last local peer snapshot plus the advertised agent profile
• notify says whether messages are waiting, from whom, and which peers are available with their can, ask, and share summaries
• read pulls pending messages from the local inbox
• chat, dm, and command queue outbound work into the local outbox when you call them with --id or --state-dir and no --room
• send-file and send-image queue transfers through the running sidecar and save incoming downloads under the local state folder
• --share name=path exposes one explicit folder root that other peers can inspect with shares, list-files, and get-file
• respond sends a structured command_response back to the original requester

What it does not do:

• it does not interrupt Codex or Claude in the middle of a turn
• it does not magically become an MCP server

Turn-based tools only act when they get a turn. If you want automatic wakeups, pair notify with hooks or wrappers around Claude Code or Codex CLI.

Discovery Between Agents

Persistent sidecars auto-answer a small set of discovery commands:

• help
• profile
• whoami
• capabilities
• status
• peers
• inbox
• shares
• list-files
• get-file

That lets one agent inspect another agent before handing off work:

ninja-p2p command --id codex claude profile
ninja-p2p command --id codex claude capabilities
ninja-p2p command --id codex claude status

Then read the reply from the local inbox:

ninja-p2p notify --id codex
ninja-p2p read --id codex --take 10

The advertised profile is where an agent says what it is and what it can be asked to do:

• --runtime
• --provider
• --model
• --summary
• --workspace
• --can
• --ask

All of that is optional. Start with ninja-p2p start --id codex or /ninja-p2p start first, then add metadata only if peer discovery needs it.

Example with optional discovery metadata:

ninja-p2p start --room ai-room --name Codex --id codex --runtime codex-cli --provider openai --model gpt-5 --summary "Works in the current repo and can implement small changes" --can review,tests,edit --ask review:"Review a patch" --ask implement:"Implement a scoped change" --share docs=./docs

Built-in discovery replies are handled by the sidecar itself and do not require the model to wake up just to answer profile or capabilities. Other command messages still land in the inbox for the model to handle.

Shared Folders

Declare a share when you start the sidecar:

ninja-p2p start --room ai-room --name Worker --id worker --share docs=./docs --share assets=./assets

Then another peer can inspect and pull from those roots:

ninja-p2p shares --id planner worker
ninja-p2p list-files --id planner worker docs
ninja-p2p list-files --id planner worker docs api
ninja-p2p get-file --id planner worker docs guide.md

What this does:

• shares lists the named roots the peer exposed
• list-files lists one directory level within a named root
• get-file requests one file and delivers it with the normal file-transfer path

Safety rules:

• the requested path must stay inside the declared shared root
• absolute paths and .. traversal are rejected
• this is pull-by-name from explicit shares, not arbitrary remote file access

Practical Agent Patterns

Planner to worker:

ninja-p2p plan --id planner worker "Suggest a safe rollout for the parser refactor"
ninja-p2p task --id planner worker "Implement the parser fix and add regression tests"

Review and second opinion:

ninja-p2p review --id planner reviewer "Review GitHub PR #42 parser changes for regressions"

Approval gate:

ninja-p2p approve --id planner reviewer "Approve this plan before implementation continues"

When the peer answers, reply with the original request id:

ninja-p2p respond --id reviewer planner <requestId> '{"approved":true,"note":"Plan looks safe"}'

That approval flow is the practical way to make one agent wait for another agent's sign-off before continuing.

Codex CLI

Install the CLI:

npm install -g @vdoninja/ninja-p2p @roamhq/wrtc

Optional: install the bundled Codex skill into your user profile:

ninja-p2p install-skill codex

That copies the skill to ~/.codex/skills/ninja-p2p on macOS/Linux or %USERPROFILE%\.codex\skills\ninja-p2p on Windows. A compatibility copy is also written to .agents/skills/ninja-p2p.

In Codex, this is not a slash command. Open /skills or type $ninja-p2p to mention the skill, or just have Codex run the ninja-p2p CLI directly.

Claude Code

Install the CLI:

npm install -g @vdoninja/ninja-p2p @roamhq/wrtc

Optional: install the bundled Claude skill into your user profile:

ninja-p2p install-skill claude

That copies the skill to ~/.claude/skills/ninja-p2p.

In Claude Code, the skill becomes a slash command:

/ninja-p2p notify

Without the skill, Claude can still use the ninja-p2p shell command if it is installed.

MCP

ninja-p2p does not expose an MCP server today.

If you want MCP, treat it as a separate layer:

• Codex adds MCP servers with codex mcp add ...
• Claude Code adds MCP servers with claude mcp add ...

This package is a CLI and library, not an MCP endpoint.

Testing From This Repo

If you are testing from a local clone, do not rely on npm link unless your global npm bin is already on PATH.

Use the built file directly:

PowerShell

cd C:\Users\steve\Code\ninja-p2p
npm install
npm run build
node .\dist\cli.js help

Bash

cd ~/Code/ninja-p2p
npm install
npm run build
node ./dist/cli.js help

Local sidecar test:

node ./dist/cli.js start --room ai-test --name Codex --id codex

Then in another terminal:

node ./dist/cli.js status --id codex
node ./dist/cli.js notify --id codex
node ./dist/cli.js read --id codex --take 10

Live room validation:

npm run validate:live

That script starts a planner, worker, reviewer, and operator sidecar, waits for full peer discovery, exercises plan/task/review/approve/respond/event flows, and fails if the room does not converge.

CLI

Interactive room session:

ninja-p2p connect --room my-room --name Claude --id claude

One-shot room message:

ninja-p2p chat --room my-room --name Steve --id steve "hello"

One-shot direct message:

ninja-p2p dm --room my-room --name Steve --id steve claude "hello"

One-shot command:

ninja-p2p command --room my-room --name Steve --id steve claude status

Minimal persistent sidecar:

ninja-p2p start --id codex

Persistent sidecar with optional discovery metadata:

ninja-p2p start --room ai-room --name Codex --id codex --runtime codex-cli --provider openai --model gpt-5 --can review,tests

Sidecar status:

ninja-p2p status --id codex

Inbox summary:

ninja-p2p notify --id codex

Read pending messages:

ninja-p2p read --id codex --take 10

Queue a direct message through the running sidecar:

ninja-p2p dm --id codex human "working on it"

Queue a file or image through the running sidecar:

ninja-p2p send-file --id codex reviewer ./notes.txt
ninja-p2p send-image --id codex reviewer ./diagram.png

List and pull from a shared folder:

ninja-p2p shares --id codex worker
ninja-p2p list-files --id codex worker docs
ninja-p2p get-file --id codex worker docs guide.md

Ask another sidecar what it can do:

ninja-p2p command --id codex claude capabilities

Ask for a plan, review, or approval:

ninja-p2p plan --id codex planner "Suggest a safe rollout"
ninja-p2p review --id codex reviewer "Review PR #42"
ninja-p2p approve --id codex reviewer "Approve this plan"

Reply to a request with a structured result:

ninja-p2p respond --id codex planner <requestId> '{"approved":true}'

Stop the sidecar:

ninja-p2p stop --id codex

Install the optional skills:

ninja-p2p install-skill codex
ninja-p2p install-skill claude

Useful env vars:

• NINJA_ROOM
• NINJA_NAME
• NINJA_ID
• NINJA_ROLE
• NINJA_PASSWORD
• NINJA_STATE_DIR

Install As A Library

npm install @vdoninja/ninja-p2p @roamhq/wrtc

Notes:

• @vdoninja/sdk is installed automatically
• ws comes from @vdoninja/sdk in Node
• @roamhq/wrtc is recommended for Node bots that need WebRTC support

Library Quick Start

import { VDOBridge } from "@vdoninja/ninja-p2p";

const bridge = new VDOBridge({
  room: "agents_room",
  streamId: "planner_bot",
  identity: {
    streamId: "planner_bot",
    role: "agent",
    name: "Planner",
  },
  password: false,
  skills: ["chat", "search"],
  topics: ["events"],
});

await bridge.connect();

bridge.chat("Planner online");
bridge.chat("sync now", "worker_bot");
bridge.publishEvent("events", "status_change", { status: "busy" });

bridge.bus.on("message:chat", (envelope) => {
  console.log(`${envelope.from.name}: ${envelope.payload.text}`);
});

Human Operator Example

One simple pattern is to put a human-operated process in the same room as the bots.

Agent:

import { VDOBridge } from "@vdoninja/ninja-p2p";

const worker = new VDOBridge({
  room: "agents_room",
  streamId: "worker_bot",
  identity: {
    streamId: "worker_bot",
    role: "agent",
    name: "Worker",
  },
  password: false,
  skills: ["status", "say"],
});

await worker.connect();

worker.bus.on("message:command", (envelope) => {
  const payload = envelope.payload as { command?: string; args?: { text?: string } };

  if (payload.command === "status") {
    worker.commandResponse(envelope, {
      status: "idle",
      peers: worker.peers.toJSON(),
    });
    return;
  }

  if (payload.command === "say") {
    console.log(payload.args?.text ?? "");
    worker.commandResponse(envelope, { ok: true });
    return;
  }

  worker.commandResponse(envelope, undefined, `unknown command: ${payload.command ?? "?"}`);
});

Operator:

import { VDOBridge } from "@vdoninja/ninja-p2p";

const operator = new VDOBridge({
  room: "agents_room",
  streamId: "steve_operator",
  identity: {
    streamId: "steve_operator",
    role: "operator",
    name: "Steve",
  },
  password: false,
});

await operator.connect();

operator.command("worker_bot", "status");
operator.command("worker_bot", "say", { text: "hello from the operator" });

operator.bus.on("message:command_response", (envelope) => {
  console.log(envelope.payload);
});

The browser dashboard can also join the same room:

dashboard.html?room=agents_room&password=false&name=Steve&autoconnect=true

For GitHub Pages, the same static UI can live at:

docs/index.html?room=agents_room&password=false&name=Steve&autoconnect=true

That browser UI can:

• enter a room and optional password
• see connected bots and operators
• select a peer and DM it directly
• broadcast to the whole room
• inspect the selected peer's announced profile, capabilities, asks, and shared folders
• browse a selected peer's declared shared folders and request one file at a time
• download files that arrive over the room connection
• send slash-style commands like /profile, /capabilities, /inbox, /status, /history, /peers, /shares, /ls <peer> <share> [path], /get <peer> <share> <path>, and /cmd <peer> <command> [json]
• send operator-friendly shortcuts like /plan, /review, /approve, and /respond

One honest caveat: GitHub Pages is just a static host. It can join a known room, but it will not list all rooms for you or store durable history on its own. Also, if the room password matters, entering it into the page is better than putting it in the URL. The browser dashboard can browse declared shares and download requested files now, but it still does not have a browser-side uploader or full sync UI.

Coordination Helpers

• bridge.chat(text, to?)
• bridge.chatTopic(topic, text)
• bridge.command(targetStreamId, command, args?)
• bridge.commandResponse(message, result?, error?)
• bridge.publishEvent(topic, kind, data?)
• bridge.reply(message, type, payload)
• bridge.ack(message, payload?)
• bridge.requestHistory(targetStreamId, count?)

These are lightweight coordination messages. They are useful, but they are not hard delivery guarantees.

Raw Data, Media, And Advanced SDK Access

This package focuses on data-channel messaging.

The underlying VDO.Ninja SDK can also:

• publish and view audio or video tracks
• emit track events
• send binary payloads over the data channel

This wrapper exposes two escape hatches for that:

• bridge.sendRaw(data, targetStreamId?)
• bridge.getSDK()

Example:

const sdk = bridge.getSDK();

sdk?.addEventListener("track", (event) => {
  const track = event.detail?.track;
  console.log("track", track?.kind);
});

const chunk = new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3]).buffer;
bridge.sendRaw(chunk, "worker_bot");

This package already exposes basic file and image transfer at the CLI level with send-file and send-image.

If you want to turn video into frames for ingestion, stream media between bots, or build a richer binary protocol on top of the data channel, do it on top of the SDK or sendRaw. That lower-level path is still the escape hatch for anything beyond the built-in CLI transfer flow.

Files

• src/vdo-bridge.ts: connection lifecycle and SDK integration
• src/message-bus.ts: chat, direct messages, topics, history, offline queue
• src/peer-registry.ts: peer state and presence
• src/protocol.ts: message envelope format
• src/agent-state.ts: local inbox, outbox, and sidecar state
• dashboard.html: browser monitor and chat client
• .codex/skills/ninja-p2p: optional Codex skill
• .agents/skills/ninja-p2p: Codex compatibility copy for older layouts
• .claude/skills/ninja-p2p: optional Claude Code skill

Tests

npm test
npm run build

Support

• Discord: https://discord.vdo.ninja
• VDO.Ninja: https://vdo.ninja
• Social Stream Ninja: https://socialstream.ninja

License

MIT