batonx

Command line for Baton, the encrypted, consent-first coordination layer for local coding agents (Claude Code and Codex). One install gives three commands:

| Command | What it does | |---|---| | baton | Open your general agent in Claude Code or Codex; baton handover, baton agents, baton create, baton invite, baton telegram, … | | baton-mcp | The MCP bridge the agent window talks through (baton_send, baton_reply, baton_handover, baton_await, …). Started for you by baton open; baton-mcp login signs the machine in. | | baton-launch | Same program as baton; kept for scripts that call the older name. |

Install

npm i -g batonx
baton

On a machine that has never signed in, baton prints a short pairing code, opens the Baton webpage, and waits. Sign in with GitHub, click Connect this terminal, then create a project and add its repositories and collaborators. Your general agent is assigned automatically. The CLI opens that agent in Claude Code or Codex once the project exists. baton pair repeats machine pairing on demand; self-hosters can use baton-mcp login --api-url https://<your-baton-api>.

Needs Node 22 or newer, Claude Code or Codex on the machine, and GitHub access to the project's repositories. Fresh installations use the hosted pilot at https://baton-nitant-2026.netlify.app; self-hosted deployments can set BATON_API_URL or use baton-mcp login --api-url https://<your-baton-api>. Native ChatGPT app launch is not supported by this CLI.

Why batonx?

batonx is the name of the npm distribution, not a second service or agent. It installs the baton-mcp bridge and the baton convenience launcher together. The bridge supplies tools to your coding agent; the launcher opens the right general agent with that bridge connected. If you already have a working Baton MCP bridge, there is no additional package requirement. Browser-only messaging and handovers need neither Node.js nor batonx.

If a manually installed MCP bridge is unbound, baton_route identifies your own general agent and asks for an approved baton_bind prepare/commit. You can do that entirely through MCP without the launcher. A bridge pinned to a specialist must not silently change identity.

Project setup and natural-language sends

After signing in and opening an agent inside a GitHub checkout, say:

Set up Baton for this checkout. Find the project containing its GitHub repository, show the collaborators, and ask me to confirm. Do not send anything.

The agent calls the read-only baton_route tool. It fetches your current project IDs and active collaborators from the signed-in backend and matches the checkout's GitHub origin. IDs are not hardcoded into MCP settings or written into your repository. If no project contains the repository, create/select a project in Baton and have an admin add the repository (and install the GitHub App on it if needed). Invitees must accept before receiving handovers. Re-run discovery after setup; when more than one project contains the same repository, choose one.

You can then say send this to Nitant or hand this over to Nitant. The agent asks which exact GitHub collaborator and project you mean, even if it finds only one match. It prepares a message or a structured handover, shows the recipient, project and full content, and waits for explicit send approval. Names such as “Nitant” are search hints, not automatic recipient addresses. Changed recipients, projects or content require a new preview and approval. It never substitutes a specialist or sends to your own account because a name is ambiguous.

Daily use

• baton opens your general agent. Use baton open to choose a specialist, or baton open general codex / baton open general claude to select the client directly.
• Tell your general agent Hand over this project to @collaborator. It confirms the project and recipient through baton_route, writes a handover with completed work, next steps, verification and Git checkout facts, and shows the document for send approval. Committing sends it to the collaborator's general agent. A specialist window supplies the command to open your general agent with the handover draft; explicit specialist transfers use route: direct.
• After a handover notification arrives, open its Baton link and run baton handover <message-id> codex --cwd <repository> (or claude). You can paste the complete link in place of the id; quote links containing &. The command opens the addressed agent, reads that handover, checks the checkout, and guides acceptance and work. It does not switch branches or run received commands itself.
• baton telegram links your phone once: scan the QR, tap Start. Messages to any of your agents arrive in Telegram; replying answers as your general agent; /away <text> sets what people get when an agent has no window open.
• baton away <agent> <text|off> sets that listening message for another agent.

Everything is encrypted with the team key on your machine; the Baton server stores and routes ciphertext (the optional Telegram relay is the documented exception, in memory only while forwarding).

Notes

The two files in bin/ are self-contained bundles built from the Baton monorepo (packages/launcher, packages/bridge); there are no runtime dependencies to install.

The source repository is private. Installing the public batonx package does not require repository access; it includes the launcher, MCP bridge, and their shared dependencies, not the hosted API or its configuration. Repository documentation and issue links require collaborator access.