Data

Tools

Indexes

Applications

Experiments

Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

https://github.com/aannoo/hcom

Let AI agents message, watch, and spawn each other across terminals. Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, OpenCode
https://github.com/aannoo/hcom

agent agent-skills ai ai-agents ai-tools automation claude claude-code claude-code-hooks cli codex coding-agent communication developer-tools gemini-cli multi-agent opencode orchestration subagents terminal

Last synced: about 4 hours ago
JSON representation

Let AI agents message, watch, and spawn each other across terminals. Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, OpenCode

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

          
# hcom



[![PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/hcom)](https://pypi.org/project/hcom/)

[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

[![Rust](https://img.shields.io/badge/Built_with-Rust-dea584)](https://www.rust-lang.org/)

[![GitHub stars](https://img.shields.io/github/stars/aannoo/hcom)](https://github.com/aannoo/hcom/stargazers)



> **Hook your coding agents together**



Prefix agents with `hcom` to let them message, watch, and spawn each other across terminals.



https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1ce23ed9-f529-4be0-8124-816aa4c2fd43



---



## Install



```bash

brew install aannoo/hcom/hcom

```



Other install options



```bash

# Shell installer for macOS, Linux, Android (Termux), and WSL

curl -fsSL https://github.com/aannoo/hcom/releases/latest/download/hcom-installer.sh | sh

```



```bash

# With PyPI

uv tool install hcom  # or: pip install hcom

```



---



## Quickstart



```bash

hcom claude  # gemini / codex / opencode

```



Prompt:



- `send a message to codex`

- `review what claude did and send fixes`

- `spawn 3x gemini, split work, collect results`

- `fork yourself to investigate the bug and report back`



Open the TUI:



```bash

hcom

```



---



## What agents can do



**Message** each other in real-time, bundle context for handoffs.



**Observe** each other: transcripts, file edits, terminal screens, command history.



**Subscribe** to each other: notify on status changes, file edits, specific events. React automatically.



**Spawn**, **fork**, **resume**, **kill** each other, in any terminal emulator.



---



## How it works



Hooks record activity to a local SQLite database and deliver messages from it.



```bash

agent → hooks → db → hooks → other agent

```



For **Claude Code**, **Gemini CLI**, **Codex**, and **OpenCode**, messages arrive mid-turn (injected between tool calls) or wake idle agents immediately. Any other AI tool can join by running `hcom start`. Any process can wake agents with `hcom send`.



Collision detection is on by default: if two agents edit the same file within 30 seconds, both get notified.



Hooks go into tool config dirs under `~/` (or `HCOM_DIR`) on first run. If you aren't using hcom, the hooks do nothing.



---



## Terminal



Every agent runs in a real terminal you can see, scroll, and interrupt. Any emulator works for spawning; **kitty**, **wezterm**, and **tmux** additionally support closing panes from `hcom kill`.



To configure a custom terminal open/close setup, tell agent to run:



```bash

hcom config terminal --info

```



---



## Cross-device



Connect agents across machines via MQTT relay.



```bash

hcom relay new                 # get token

hcom relay connect      # on each device

```



```bash

hcom relay status              # check connection

hcom relay off|on              # toggle

```



Relay Security



### Security



- Relay payloads are end-to-end encrypted. Brokers do not see data.

- Treat the join token like an SSH key or API key.

- If the token may have leaked, run `hcom relay off --all` to disconnect all devices.

- Use a private/custom/self-hosted broker with `--broker` and `--password` for better security.



### Security model



`hcom relay` is one trust domain for one operator's devices. Membership is all-or-nothing. There are no scoped roles, read-only peers, or per-device permissions.



Relay payloads use a shared PSK with XChaCha20-Poly1305. The encryption binds each payload to the relay, topic, and timestamp. A replay guard drops duplicate envelopes inside a freshness window.



Brokers and network observers cannot read or forge payloads without the PSK. They can still see metadata: topic names, timing, message sizes, and connection patterns.



### What the token means



The join token contains the relay ID, broker URL, and raw PSK. hcom does not ask a server to validate it. It has no expiry, no scope, and no revocation list.



On public brokers, a leaked token gives an attacker full control of the relay. They can decrypt captured traffic, publish authenticated relay traffic, send text to listening agents, launch agents on enrolled devices, kill running agents, and use remote relay RPCs. If those agents can run tools, treat that as shell access on every enrolled device in the relay.



On private brokers with `--password`, the token still leaks the PSK, so captured traffic is still exposed. But the token alone is not enough to publish unless the attacker also has the broker password. Use a private broker when broker-side access control matters, or when the metadata shape of your traffic is itself sensitive. `--password` is broker access control, not another layer of message encryption.



### Limits by design



- Forward secrecy. A leaked PSK can decrypt old captured traffic.

- Per-device attribution inside a relay. Sender identity is routing metadata, not authorization. Every enrolled device speaks with full authority.

- Prompt injection from an authenticated peer. Enrollment is total trust — a peer can launch, kill, and drive agents via RPC, not just send messages. Only enroll devices you would give shell access to.

- Local OS compromise. hcom trusts the local user account and `~/.hcom/config.toml`. It does not defend against another user on the same account or malware with filesystem access.



### Storage



The PSK is stored in `~/.hcom/config.toml`. On Unix, hcom writes that file with mode `0600`.



hcom keeps the PSK out of environment variables. Remote `config_get` and `config_set` refuse `relay_psk`, `relay_token`, `relay_id`, and the broker URL. `hcom relay status` shows only a short fingerprint so two devices can verify they share the same key without printing it.



Anyone who can read that file — another user on the same OS account, malware, or a backup written without preserving permissions — has the full PSK.



### Incident response



Run `hcom relay off --all`. It asks every reachable trusted peer to disable the relay, then disables it locally, so your agents stop acting on attacker messages. It is best-effort damage control, not containment: the attacker's device ignores the request.



The PSK cannot be revoked. There is no server to notify and no denylist to update. Anyone who has the PSK can keep using the old relay until you stop using it.



To keep using relay after a leak, create a new relay with `hcom relay new` and move every trusted device to the new token. Rotation also changes the `relay_id`, so retained state on the old broker topics is orphaned.



---



## Troubleshoot



```bash

hcom status           # diagnostics

hcom reset all        # clear and archive: database + hooks + config

hcom run docs         # tell agent to run

```



---



## Uninstall



```bash

hcom hooks remove                     # safely remove all hcom hooks

brew uninstall hcom                   # or: rm $(which hcom)

```



---



## Reference



Tools



### Supported tools



| Tool | Message delivery | Connect |

|---|---|---|

| Claude Code | automatic | `hcom claude` |

| Gemini CLI | automatic | `hcom gemini` |

| Codex CLI | automatic | `hcom codex` |

| OpenCode | automatic | `hcom opencode` |

| Anything else | manual via `hcom listen` | `hcom start` (run inside tool) |



```bash

hcom r            # Resume a session started outside hcom

hcom f            # Fork a session in hcom

```



#### Claude Code headless and subagents



Detached background processes in print mode stay alive. Manage through the TUI.



```bash

hcom claude -p 'say hi in hcom'

```



For subagents, run `hcom claude`, then prompt:



> run 2x task tool and get them to talk to each other in hcom



CLI



### CLI commands



What you might type from a shell. Agents run their own commands that they learn from the hcom CLI primer (~700 tokens) at launch. `hcom  --help` for full flags.



### Spawn



```bash

hcom [N] claude|gemini|codex|opencode   # launch N agents

hcom r                 # resume agent

hcom f                 # fork session

hcom kill               # kill + close terminal pane

```



hcom launch flags:



| Flag | Purpose |

|---|---|

| `--tag ` | Group label — agents can be addressed as `@tag` |

| `--terminal ` | Where windows open: `default` (auto-detect), `kitty`, `wezterm`, `tmux`, `cmux`, `iterm`, etc… |

| `--dir ` | Directory where the agent launches |

| `--headless` | Run in background with no terminal window |

| `--device ` | Spawn on a remote device (via relay) |

| `--hcom-prompt ` | Initial user prompt |

| `--hcom-system-prompt ` | Append to system prompt |



Anything else is forwarded to the tool: `--model sonnet`, `--yolo`, etc.



### Other commands



```bash

hcom                                # TUI dashboard

hcom send -b @luna -- hey           # one-off message to an agent

hcom list                           # show all active agents

hcom term [name]                    # view/inject into an agent's PTY screen

hcom events --wait          # Block until match for scripting

hcom update                         # update hcom version

```



`hcom --help` for all commands.



Config



### Configuration



Config lives in `~/.hcom/config.toml`. Precedence: defaults < `config.toml` < env vars.



```bash

hcom config                       # show all values with sources

hcom config                  # get

hcom config           # set

hcom config  --info          # detailed help for a key

hcom config -i  ...    # per-agent override at runtime

```



### Keys



| Key | Purpose |

|---|---|

| `tag` | Group label — launched agents become `tag-name` |

| `hints` | Text appended to every message the agent receives |

| `notes` | Text appended to bootstrap (one-time, at launch) |

| `auto_approve` | Auto-approve safe hcom commands (send/list/events/…) |

| `auto_subscribe` | Event subscription presets: `collision`, `created`, `stopped`, `blocked` |

| `name_export` | Export instance name to a custom env var |

| `terminal` | Where new agent windows open (`hcom config terminal --info`) |

| `timeout` | Idle timeout for headless/vanilla Claude (seconds) |

| `subagent_timeout` | Keep-alive for Claude subagents (seconds) |

| `claude_args` / `gemini_args` / `codex_args` / `opencode_args` | Default args passed to the tool |



### Scope



```bash

hcom config tag mycrew                          # global

hcom config -i luna hints "respond in JSON"     # per-agent

HCOM_TAG=dev hcom 3 claude                      # per-launch env

```



### Per-project isolation



```bash

export HCOM_DIR="$PWD/.hcom"    # isolate state + hooks to this folder

hcom hooks remove && rm -rf "$HCOM_DIR"

```



Run `hcom config  --info` or `hcom run docs --config` for the full per-key reference.



Edit `~/.hcom/env` to set external env vars passed to every launched agent.



Workflow Scripts



### Multi-agent workflows



Bundled and user scripts (`~/.hcom/scripts/`) for multi-agent patterns:



```bash

hcom run                   # list available scripts

hcom run debate "topic"    # run one

hcom run docs              # tell agent to run this to create any new workflow

```



### Included Scripts



Tell agent to run them:



**`hcom run confess`** — An agent (or background clone) writes an honesty self-eval. A spawned calibrator reads the target's transcript independently. A judge compares both reports and sends back a verdict via hcom message.



**`hcom run debate`** — A judge spawns and sets up a debate with existing agents. It coordinates rounds in a shared thread where all agents see each other's arguments, with shared context of workspace files and transcripts.



**`hcom run fatcow`** — headless agent reads every file in a path, subscribes to file edit events to stay current, and answers other agents on demand.



Custom scripts: drop `*.sh` or `*.py` into `~/.hcom/scripts/` — auto-discovered, override bundled scripts of the same name. Ask an agent to author one; `hcom run docs --scripts` is the authoring guide.



Build



### Building from Source



```bash

# Prerequisites: Rust 1.86+



git clone https://github.com/aannoo/hcom.git

cd hcom

cargo test

cargo build

```



### Using local build



Two options:



**Symlink** — simple, dev build is global.



```bash

ln -sf $(pwd)/target/debug/hcom ~/.cargo/bin/hcom

```



**dev_root** — works regardless of how hcom was installed (brew, pip, etc.); picks the newer of debug/release automatically:



```bash

hcom config dev_root $(pwd)

hcom config dev_root --unset  # revert

hcom -v    # run local build

```



For concurrent worktrees, scope each to its own DB:



```bash

HCOM_DIR=$PWD/.hcom HCOM_DEV_ROOT=$PWD hcom claude

```



---



## Contributing



Issues and PRs welcome. The codebase is Rust.



```bash

cargo test && cargo build

hcom config dev_root $(pwd)

hcom -v

```



---



## License



[MIT](LICENSE)